D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton read the District of Columbia's nominating votes into the record in Mayor Adrian Fenty's absence. Drama during the roll call! As head of the D.C. delegation, Mayor Adrian Fenty was supposed to be the one to read the District's vote into the record at the Democratic National Convention -- but Fenty didn't turn up until at least 10 minutes after D.C. was called upon to cast its votes. D.C.......

Some D.C. politicians say they're miffed by what they perceive as a snub against the District of Columbia by Sen. Hillary Clinton during her marquee speech at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night. "I will always be grateful to everyone from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the territories, who joined our campaign on behalf of all those people left out and left behind by the Bush Administration," Clinton said during her nationally televised address.......

Here's the music video that played right before Eleanor Holmes Norton was introduced at the DNC. The go-go style song, "Demand the Vote", was commissioned by DC Vote and written by D.C. musician Joe L. Da Vessel and the band Melodic. The video was directed by Warren Wesley at G-light Films.......

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton delivered a speech calling for passage of the D.C. Voting Rights Act, which would grant full voting rights for the District's elected representative in the U.S. House. With delegations from most other states yet to take their seats in the Pepsi Center, the District of Columbia's delegation did their best to make up for the relatively empty house during D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton's speech by cheering loudly and......

D.C. Council chair Vincent Gray, left, and Ward 5 Council member Harry Thomas Jr., waiting for the opening of the second day of activity at the Democratic National Convention. D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is set to open the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Unlike Monday, the D.C. delegation has shown up bright and early to watch Norton speak. Most of D.C.'s section of the Pepsi Center is full at......

The District of Columbia's delegates to the Democratic National Convention gathered early this morning at the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown Denver for a collegial breakfast before heading out to lobby other delegations to support voting rights for D.C. Though they were far from home, some of the recent drama surrounding the D.C. Democratic Party did make an appearance. D.C. Wire has published rumors of a "feud" between D.C. Democratic Party Chair Anita Bonds and......

When the Democratic Party gathers in Denver next week for its national convention, the D.C. delegation will do what D.C. does best -- complain about our lack of voting representation. But even as they push for the District to be given a full voting seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, a group of frustrated voting rights activists are crying foul over the Democratic Party's failure to endorse full statehood in their national platform. In......

Last night a handful of D.C. Democratic delegates came together with organizers and volunteers from DC Vote for a pre-Democratic National Convention party at the Bohemian Caverns Mahogany Room. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton rallied the troops with a few remarks, urging delegates and voting rights volunteers not to forget that the District's delegation is "very different from other delegations." District residents can't attend the DNC for fun and games, she said, because they need to......

If you agree with some of the commenters in the Roundup that WUSA's account of Dick Heller's experience at the District's gun registration office this morning was a little confusing, seems like you're probably right. D.C. Wire has what appears to be a better report that Heller didn't even bring a gun with him to register this morning, but instead expressed "his frustrations with the District's continued ban on semiautomatic weapons." What's up with that......

As a former high school teacher, I sometimes hear that past students have joined the military. There’s a decent sized JROTC presence in the D.C. public schools, and it wasn’t unheard of to see a military recruiter around the campus. Students in the JROTC talked up its scholarship opportunities, and several students, usually male, but not always, argued in classroom debates that the military was a good option for kids who couldn’t afford or didn’t......

When we reported two days ago that an advisory committee to the U.S. Mint had recommended that Benjamin Banneker grace the District commemorative quarter, there was a predicted and understandable groan from many residents. But for D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the decision isn't final until District residents say it is. In a release posted on her website yesterday, Norton explained that the committee's proposal to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was just that -- a......

Both the Post and the Examiner have stories covering testimony provided by D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, among others, to a congressional subcommittee yesterday about the state of the National Mall. "We should all be ashamed" of what the average Mall visitor sees, Norton told the panel. “There’s no great national park that suffers from this kind of neglect." Norton introduced a bill last year to revitalize the Mall. Anyone who spends time on the......

The Politico has a story this morning on D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton's ties to real estate developers. A long list of powerful developers have recently made contributions to her re-election campaign, many of whom have projects underway that have benefited from Norton's political support. The list of Norton’s donors reads like a “Who’s Who” of well-connected real estate developers: the Ratner family, which controls Forest City; Victor MacFarlane, a San Francisco developer who owns......

Federal officials using the District as a testing ground on which to push their preferred domestic programs is nothing new, particularly when it comes to the city’s public schools (ahem, Sen. Landrieu). True to form, nestled deep within President Bush’s 2009 budget proposal is a $5 million increase for a school voucher initiative called the DC Opportunity Scholarship program (OSP). Currently, around 1,900 low-income students receive scholarships up to $7,500 to attend area private schools......

Over at Huffington Post, Andrea Batista Schlesinger of the Drum Major Institute has a nice roundup of what she thinks are the best public policy initiatives of 2007. Number six on her list is the D.C. Voting Rights Act, and she has a solid grasp on why congressional representation for the District is so important:Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C's indomitable delegate, can debate with the best of them, but without the D.C. Voting Rights Act, neither......

When in the closing days of 2006 we looked back on the year in D.C. voting rights, we optimistically hoped that 2007 would finally be the year that saw some movement on enfranchising the District's residents. Movement, yes; resolution, not so much. So as we wind down 2007, we're again left hoping that maybe the coming year will be the one. The primary mover in the D.C. voting rights movement in 2007 was legislation......

Earlier this month the Post revealed that the majority of mail sent from the District is bastardized with a postmark reading "SOUTHERN MD." or "SUBURBAN MD.," a practice imposed soon after a 2001 anthrax attack in a D.C. postal facility. District officials and voting rights activists were none-too-pleased -- after all, if they take our postmark, what's next? Our women and children? Today, the Post Office relented. Under pressure from D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton......

It was 234 years ago Sunday that American colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor as part of a symbolic protest against being taxed by the British while not having a representative in the Westminster Parliament. Yesterday District voting rights activists remembered the event by holding their own tea party, this one to protest the union's last standing example of taxation without representation. Though the wind whipped across the Potomac River, about 80 activists and......

>> The Senate might have to work all weekend, in advance of a possible vote on Sunday on whether to take up a $50 billion war funding bill that calls for a troop withdrawal from Iraq in 12 months, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) warned. Be prepared to hear all your Senate staffer friends complain about this at happy hour tonight. [The Hill] >> Foxhall Road will be closed to traffic between MacArthur Boulevard......

Morning, Washington. We hope you were out enjoying the fantastic weather, especially since the environment has been front and center in the news this weekend. As you must have heard, our former Vice President turned Global Warming Guru had to shove over the Oscar on his mantle to make space for half of a Nobel Peace Prize. Maybe after the news you were inspired to go check out the 20 amazing houses built on the......

Here's one more United States senator to add to your list of annoying congresscritters sticking their nose in the District's business. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has created an income test for participation in D.C.'s Tuition Assistance Grant Program, which provides financial aid for residents at all public and some private universities around the country. The program is designed to ensure that D.C. residents have the same opportunities as all other Americans to attend a university......

And so it was -- the U.S. Senate voted today 57-42 in favor of closing debate on legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, three short of what was needed to prevent a Republican-led filibuster. The measure, which passed the House in April, is now likely dead, and another attempt to correct a 200-year injustice has been thwarted. Of course, the legislation could be re-introduced, but it won't......

2:11 p.m. OK, we should be about ready to get going here. We've been told there will only be about 15 minutes of debate on this before a vote takes place to prevent a filibuster -- as you all know by now, we need 60 for the bill to move forward. I'll be posting updates as things get going, and Martin may pop in with his two cents if he can, so stay with us......

After letting us all enjoy a good summer break, next week the U.S. Senate will start debating legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives. And in preparing for what is sure to be a spirited battle, big-name voting rights activists have recently stepped up the pressure with two back-to-back op-eds in Washington papers. Yesterday Maryland's former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and former Oklahoma Republican Rep. J.C. Watts penned......

>> D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s plans to hold a “major Katrina anniversary hearing in New Orleans” on Aug. 27 fell apart due to congressional vacation schedules. A new date for the hearings has not been set. [City Desk] >> Former Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn (R-Wash.) died unexpectedly Tuesday night in Alexandria from a pulmonary embolism. As we mentioned earlier, Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio) also passed away last night unexpectedly, reportedly from natural causes, in......

Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) made national news last week when he asked President Bush to start bringing the troops home in time for Christmas. But of more importance locally has been the continued speculation as to whether Warner would run for another term in 2008, and if not, who would replace him. By way of FreeRide, we find out today that yesterday the Post's Sunday Fix briefly noted that Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) has been......

A new statue is heading to the National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol -- but it's not either of the long-requested two statues to represent the District of Columbia. Alabama has decided to replace one of its two statues, of Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry, a former congressman, Confederate general and professor who advocated for free universal education, with one of Helen Keller, the famed Socialist Party activist and the first deaf and blind......

Just this week, GQ published their annual "50 Most Powerful People in D.C." list. Populated by the likes of Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Karl Rove and Tim Russert, the list better describes the movers and shakers in "Washington", but not the District. And since we're snobs about local news and happenings, we threw together a little list of the people who really exercise influence in or over the lives of people who live and work......

Construction of the temporary building at Eastern Market has begun, though somewhat behind schedule. The Examiner reports that the estimated opening date of the temporary building that will house the South Market vendors has been pushed back to mid-August, even though Mayor Fenty promised the vendors they'd have a new home by the end of July. According to the article, delays in construction have been caused by delays in manufacturing of the steel for the......

Even though voting rights activists have pushed as hard as they can, it looks like legislation granting the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives may not come to the floor of the U.S. Senate before its month-long August recess kicks off at the end of next week. According to a press release from D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, discussions with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have yielded no concrete scheduled time......