Starting today, you'll no longer be slapped with daily fines when you forget to return a book to the D.C. Library. more ›

When the D.C. Library announced a two-month-long amnesty on fines for overdue books, the idea was to encourage patrons to return materials that they had long-ago checked out but never returned. The program, which ended earlier this month, was a more rousing success than anyone could have predicted. more ›

Before the D.C. Council gets things together and creates a souped-up debt collection agency, it may behoove those of you that have unpaid and overdue parking tickets or other driving-related fines to pay them before the end of January. more ›

Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. (D-Ward 5) may make $125,000 a year as a member of the D.C. Council, but not much of that is staying in his bank account. more ›

Hey, if the Office of Tax and Revenue and the Department of Motor Vehicles can do it, why can't the D.C. Public Library? The city's bookmasters announced this morning that -- beginning December 5 and through February 5 -- they'll be launching their own amnesty program, forgiving fines on overdue, lost or damaged books, CDs, DVDs, and other materials. more ›

Everyone knows -- or they should -- that it's illegal to hold a cell phone while you're operating a vehicle in the District of Columbia. But based on the number of citations police have again recorded this year, there's more evidence that most people just don't care. more ›

The D.C. DMV announced today that in the first month of its ticket amnesty program, deadbeat drivers paid 17,950 outstanding tickets worth $976,341 in revenue for the city. more ›

Last Friday, the District's Office of Campaign Finance filed a complaint against D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown, finding that Brown's 2008 campaign failed to report hundreds of contributions totaling in the six figures. But could Brown also be facing criminal charges as a result? more ›

Back in April, we let you know about a new Metropolitan Police Department pilot program which would enable police officers to fine those caught dumping trash on the streets and sidewalks of the department's Fourth District. Well, the warning period is over. more ›

The beginning of May not only means the start of the city's crackdown on littering, but it also brings about the return of the city's regulations regarding lawn work. As usual, the District's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs will be keeping an eye out for property owners who let their lawns get out of control starting this Sunday. more ›

You don't often have to go very far in this town to see litter -- and we don't mean just an overflowing trash can. The District's streets have somewhat of a reputation for serving as a dumping ground for chicken bones, shattered bottles, and all sorts of other disgusting refuse, which can pile up for weeks. The Metropolitan Police Department is now going to do something about it, though: starting May 1, MPD will kick off a pilot littering enforcement program, in which those caught dumping trash on the streets and sidewalks of the department's Fourth District will be ticketed and fined $75. more ›

When it comes to fleet management, the hits just keep coming for the District: WAMU's Patrick Madden reports that vehicles operated by the District's Department of Public Works, which is responsible for issuing tickets to illegally parked vehicles around the city, have -- wait for it -- racked up $30,000 in outstanding citations and fees of their own. Oooooh, can you feel the Morissetteian irony? more ›

According to a new law which went into effect on Friday, someone who is being excessively loud in the District could risk being put behind bars. The Georgetown Dish reports this morning about the new law, the Disorderly Conduct Amendment Act of 2010, which significantly bumps up fines for noise violations and continues to allow officers of the Metropolitan Police Department to place offenders under arrest, imprisoning those that are making noise which is "likely to annoy" for up to 90 days. more ›

If there's any District revenue-collection program which shows no signs of slowing down, it's the one which fines drivers for using a cell phone while driving, ticketing for which hit a record pace in 2010. Given the frequency with which D.C. drivers are ticketed, and considering the city's dire financial straits, perhaps the Council should take a cue from Virginia Delegate Vivian Watts of Annandale: Watts has introduced a bill which would criminalize all use of a phone while driving in Virginia -- yes, even with the use of a hands-free device -- and would ramp up the fines for chatting while behind to wheel to upwards of $500. Drivers, of course, aren't too pleased about the whole "not even with a Bluetooth?" aspect of the proposal, but there wasn't anyone cited in ABC7's report complaining about the increased monetary penalties. Currently, the District levies $100 fines to those that are caught yaking away without a headset while driving (and when the police actually enforce the law, of course), but think about it: by adopting the kind of fines that Watts is proposing, the District would be able to pay for Vince Gray and Kwame Brown's Navigators after only eight citations! more ›

On the same day that we found out that the District is owed $300 million in unpaid parking tickets, Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) announced this morning that she wants the city to have its own bounty hunters to track down scofflaws and make them pay up. more ›

Here's a story we missed last night from WJLA: as of January, bars in D.C. that are caught selling alcohol to minors for the first time now get a warning instead of a $1,000 fine and a two-day liquor license suspension. In a surprise twist, the change in the law pits Jim "Shut 'Em Down" Graham against the D.C./Va. chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), with MADD expressing concern over becoming too lenient on liquor sales violations, and Graham insisting the new law is more fair. Repeat offenders are actually penalized more now than they were before, Graham notes. more ›

We've been interested in D.C. Council member Tommy Wells's amendment to add additional fines for drivers who double park in bike lanes for a while. Greater Greater Washington has been all over this story from the beginning, so it's no surprise you can read the news there: yesterday the Council passed a set of new laws regarding new fines for drivers who endanger pedestrians and cyclists, and Wells's revised amendment was included. The fine for drivers who park in bike lanes will be $65. Wells said he believes drivers who are ticketed for double-parking, however, will generally not be issued two tickets for both infractions, so the fine may be limited only to drivers who park in bike lanes that are not adjacent to parking lanes. The same bill also raised the fine for drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians from $50 to $250. more ›

The D.C. Council was supposed to be on recess starting today, but they couldn't quite get through their packed legislative session Tuesday, so they'll be coming back for more on Thursday. Hopefully Carol Schwartz can stand being away from Rehoboth for a couple more days. more ›

A couple of days ago Prince of Petworth posted this picture, along with a query typical of his highly observant neighborhood blog: what do you do when you have a neighbor or an absentee landlord who doesn’t mow the lawn? more ›