Many of us with loans through Sallie Mae have nightmarish stories regarding our dealings with the company, but we're hearing word of a new, special kind of financial screwing of which our readers may want to take note. Yesterday a college friend sent me this article, screaming that her FICO score suddenly dropped 120 points overnight. Apparently Sallie Mae switched the way they describe the "status" of loan holders who use the graduated payment plan......

The Post is reporting that in an 8-2 vote, Metro's finance committee has approved a series of fare hikes at their full meeting today. The plan they approved was the one recently offered by Maryland members of the board, which is less expensive for suburban customers who park and ride. The vote basically guarantees that the full board will approve the fare hikes later today. Here's how the new fares will break down: >> The......

In most any public or private sector job, losing $31 million on your watch is a surefire way to get yourself fired. CFO Natwar Gandhi's reputation for saving the city's finances has thus far protected him from what is to date the District's biggest corruption scandal. But his fortunes might be changing. Buried towards the end of an article from the Examiner today on an investigation into the tax refund scheme that milked the city......

Mark down an initial battle victory to the owners in the long and strained D.C. doggy wars. The Examiner reports on a change in the regulations governing the establishment of off-leash dog parks in the District that should make it easier to create fenced-in spaces for dogs to play. Dog owners in the city have long complained about a dearth of spaces where they could legally let dogs off their leashes to get exercise. Among......

Just like with the late-night votes in the D.C. Council on whether or not to finance the construction of a new stadium a few years back, we all hoped to wake up this morning and find out that the Senate had voted again and decided that voting rights for the District was a go. No such luck. We did, however, pick up a new champion for the cause. Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) was the only......

Tom Knott: Once again, Tom Knott has managed to take what seems to be an isolated incident and turn it into evidence that liberalism of any sort is just evil. This week, Knott recounts the badly-handled trial of a Liberian immigrant accused of raping a seven-year-old girl in Montgomery County. Due to some bad decision by the trial judge, the charges were eventually dropped, though the county has stated that it will appeal. Regardless, it's......

There seems to be no end to the drama playing out at the Smithsonian Institution. The story so far: Former Secretary Lawrence M. Small resigned back in March amidst allegations of gross financial expenditures and poor management decisions. He was replaced by acting Secretary Cristián Samper, and the Board then began an overhaul of the Institution based on a scathing report on the state of museums issued earlier this year. Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating......

Good Monday morning to you, Washington. We can officially declare that the dog days of August have arrived today, now that the House has finally, finally adjourned for their summer break. News junkies will want to note that before heading home they passed a modified version of the defense budget, which will increase spending for defense health care and military housing, among a list of other expenditures. Of course what Washingtonians really care about is......

Happy Friday morning, Washington. After the latest concerns over the quality and safety of the D.C. area's drinking water, did you think twice about drinking out of the tap yesterday? We mentioned it briefly at the end of the day yesterday, but the Post has a full story on how WASA and Washington Aqueduct officials are trying to calm our concerns about our tap water. Officials said high levels of chlorine toxins found in May......

>> What's more fun than gathering your friends to go see your very own art on the wall of a gallery? The Wall Mountables community event kicks off this week, so we hope you've pulled that painting/photo/whatever out of the closet and prepared it for the limelight. The first installation date was last night, but you've still got tonight, 3 to 8 p.m., and tomorrow night, 3 to 6 p.m., to grab a space of......

It sounded just like the political intrigue that makes for a good scandal. While running for office, a candidate for the D.C. Council accepted reduced rent for her campaign office from a local developer and allowed an unregistered political action committee to funnel money from developers to her campaign's coffers -- up to and beyond $100,000, in fact. The only problem? None of it seems to be true. The Post is reporting today that D.C.......

Yesterday's legislative action in the D.C. Council, typical of end-of-session days, was jam-packed with votes. Here's a few more you may have missed: >> The Council moved ahead on a bill that restricts interest rates levied by the so-called payday loan industry, an issue we've looked at before. The bill passed on an initial reading, and if implemented would place a 24 percent annual percentage rate cap on interest charged by lenders. The Examiner notes......

One of those longstanding D.C. arguments may be finally coming to a resolution, and you can feel the excitement in the air this morning, Washington. No, it's not the handgun ban, or taxicab meters, or anything to do with voting rights -- but there sure are a lot of longstanding arguments in this town, now that we mention it. Rather, metro riders should keep their eyes peeled for two railcars that will soon be sporting......

Ahhhh, the real start of summer: The consistently warmer temperatures ... the first night you venture wearing skimpy clothes out ... the year's first Code Orange Bad Air Quality Day. However you prefer measuring the start of the season, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments is predicting our first Code Orange air quality day today, meaning ozone levels are predicted to be extremely high and the air quality very poor. The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission......

Candidates in next Tuesday's special election to fill two open D.C. Council seats have collectively raised over $1 million in the course of the campaign. Voters will chose council members for Wards 4 and 7, after those positions were left empty by Mayor Adrian Fenty and at-large Council Chairman Vincent Gray. Voters in D.C. Public Schools' Second District will also elect a school board representative. In Ward 4, ANC Commissioner Muriel Bowser leads the pack......

When we spied a fire truck driving down Georgia Avenue on Saturday morning with a banner promoting Muriel Bowser, we were confused. After all, Bowser is a candidate in the coming special election for Ward 4, and last we checked, city vehicles are stricly off-limits for campaign purposes. Well, we weren't the only ones miffed by the emergency vehicle's use as a campaign tool. From yesterday's installment of themail, D.C. Watch's bi-weekly online newsletter: On......

Just when you thought the District's public schools were facing enough hurdles these days. The Examiner reports that most of the Ward 3 public schools were without telephone service yesterday, in what appears to have been an error on the part of DCPS. The outages ocurred after DCPS gave the District’s Office of Finance a list of phone numbers they supposedly weren't using anymore. The disconnects began March 8 under the city’s Zero Usage Project,......

Well D.C., if you're reading this it means you're not one of the 3000 or so people in our area currently without power. NBC4 reported the outage in Foggy Bottom last night, although they focused on the problems for four ritzy hotels, rather than the 790 other folks left in the dark. D.C. Superior Court and the D.C. Court of Appeals are also closed today due to the lack of power. Then, there's the massive......

Ruh-roh. There's been some indication for a little while now that Mayor-elect Fenty's official campaign war chest has continued to grow even after he had won the election, and today the WaPo reports that the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance will review nearly $45,000 donated to Fenty after Nov. 7 to determine if the contributions violated city regulations. On Monday, Fenty (D) submitted a report that lists contributions and expenses from Oct. 11 to Dec.......

Oh, hey there, D.C. Yeah, we're a little grumpy this morning, now that the brilliance of Friday and Saturday's summer-like weather has turned into a drizzly, chilly late fall Monday morning that makes us just want to stay in bed all day. But please, don't take our failure to greet you in our usual friendly manner as any kind of slight or disrespect. Especially since, according to the Times, petty disputes are exactly the kinds......

During the torturous debate over the financing of the new stadium, opponents presented members of the D.C. Council with a stark choice — do you want the stadium, or do you want better schools? Baseball boosters were quick to point out that the stadium's financing would come from a new slate of taxes of big businesses and the sale of concessions, not city coffers, thus the anti-stadium argument was disingenous. Maybe not. As we mentioned......

Mayor-to-be Adrian Fenty is probably marveling at the sheer irony of the situation -- a project he voted against may become his first challenge as the District's chief executive. As the Post reported last weekend, the development plans for the area around the new stadium have largely fallen apart, virtually assuring that the April 2008 opening date will find the Washington Nationals playing in an area that remains desolate and under-developed. The problem? Developer Herb......

If you're looking for a change of pace and need an industry that is sure to remain in business for years to come, consider escalator repair. Taking after DeVry and ITT Tech, Metro has kicked off a $1.5 million training lab for escalator repair, writes the Post. The lab will train the next generation of escalator repairmen, who, as we all know from experience, will have no shortage of work anytime soon -- on......

In last week's agenda, I led with picks for modern and contemporary music (some reviews to come this week), and I am happy to do so again this week. September seems to be the month for hearing classical music composed in the 20th and 21st centuries, so get out there and listen, Washingtonians. NEW, SOMETIMES STRANGE: >> Modernist composers often write for new and unconventional instruments. Isabel Ettenauer will give a free concert at the......

Brown Not Out: Well, we're a little red-faced today. Yesterday we guessed that mayoral longshot Michael Brown was bowing out of the race. He did, after all, send us an email in which he announced that a press conference held yesterday would include "major announcement regarding his plans for the future." Coupled with his fast-shrinking campaign finance account, we thought, "This guy is toast." How wrong we were. Brown didn't duck out of the race.......

Late yesterday afternoon we received a call from mayoral hopeful Michael Brown's campaign office. "Tomorrow, 11 a.m., outside the Wilson Building," was about as much info as we could get out of the campaign volunteer. The call was followed up by an email adding that the press conference would include a "major announcement regarding his plans for the future." Uh oh. We might be jumping the gun here, but we're guessing that Brown, who we......

Debating Where to Debate: It was big news a few weeks back when Marie Johns challenged Adrian Fenty to a duel...errr...debate during a phone call she placed to a radio show Fenty was guesting on. The ambitious one-on-one challenge by Johns was set for August 12 at high noon...errr...9 a.m. But WTOP is reporting today that both Fenty and Johns may end up debating themselves, because they can't seemingly agree on a location for their......

Once again, everyone but the U.S. government might finally realize that the denial of voting rights for District residents is an affront to democracy and human rights. We've received word that Timothy Cooper, Executive Director of Worldrights, a human rights advocacy organization, testified on Monday before the United Nations' Human Rights Committee in Geneva. Cooper's grief? The lack of voting rights for District residents. In reference to the persistent injustice we constantly harp on, Cooper......

This post was written by DCist contributor Salima Appiah-Kubi. Warning: Some links contain nude photographs. This Saturday some of the leading ladies of modern burlesque will be taking it off for a good cause. Warehouse Theater will present Burlesque...As It Was, a night of classic striptease benefiting the Exotic World Burlesque Museum and Hall of Fame in Helendale, California. Produced by Kitty Victorian, the force behind much of D.C.’s burlesque scene, the benefit will......

Yes, it's been quite some time since we caught up with District politics, especially given that it's an election year. But here are some updates and tidbits. Fenty, Cropp, Fenty, Cropp: For those of you following the District's mayoral contest, the city's political establishment has whipped itself into a frenzy trying to predict whether Linda Cropp or Adrian Fenty will win the Democratic primary in September. Up until recently, the general consensus was that Cropp......