When an advisory committee to the U.S. Mint proposed that Benjamin Banneker grace the District's commemorative quarter set to be released next year, not many D.C. residents were too happy with the decision. But thanks to a timely intervention by D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, voting was opened to residents, leaving them with the choice of Banneker, Duke Ellington, or Frederick Douglass. The city announced today that Ellington squeaked out a narrow victory in the......

The city opened up online voting for residents to choose their preferred design for the official District of Columbia quarter at the end of last week. You can vote for your preference between the three proposed designs, which depict Frederick Douglass, Duke Ellington and Benjamin Banneker, at this web site, with voting open between now and June 18. The U.S. Mint's Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee recommended earlier this month to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that......

A few months after a controversy erupted over the design of the District's state quarter, the Post managed to get images of three new possible designs on Friday. According to Post reporter David Nakamura, the three designs -- Benjamin Banneker appears on one, Duke Ellington on another, and Frederick Douglass on the third -- will be officially released soon and subjected to public comment before a winner is chosen in time for a 2009 rollout.......

>> 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......

Welcome back to work, Washington. Perhaps you're struggling to focus this morning, having only barely recovered from the weekend's Halloween festivities. Perhaps you just had a difficult time extricating yourself from your bed on this first cold morning of the year. Whatever the case may be, DCist recommends a strong cup of coffee with a dash of Rumbler to get your motor running today. The Rumbler is described as a "high-tech blaster" being used in......

>> Art Whino, the new 22,000 square foot exhibition and studio space at 717 N. Asaph St. in Old Town Alexandria, holds its grand opening tonight. The gallery's debut event will be soundtracked by DJ Stylo, and marks the start of two new exhibits: a solo show by artist Derrick Wolbaum and a group show of Pop-Surrealism work in the Permanent Gallery. The opening reception is tonight from 6 to 11 p.m, admission is free.......

After two long months of being shut completely for a major overhaul, the Frederick Douglass Bridge, aka the South Capitol Street Bridge, finally reopened to commuters this morning. DDOT actually reopened the Anacostia River crossing one week ahead of schedule overnight. When was the last time you remember a major construction project being finished early? Overall, it looks like the strategy to close the bridge completely, despite its inconveniences, was a good one. By......

>> The Frederick Douglass Bridge is expected to re-open this Thursday, a week ahead of schedule. [WTOP] >> Nationwide S.A.T. scores fall, but local students fare worse than others; however, more students are taking the test than ever before. [Post] >> The Post revamped their Style section this week, and according to yesterday's online chat, it will include a new "Studio" feature that will showcase local artists and galleries. The City Paper is not......

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......

Good morning, D.C. After Tuesday's false Friday, it feels pretty damn good finally to be heading into a real weekend. It's going to be hot, sunny and dry on Saturday and Sunday, so get out there and enjoy it. Police Shot Man Who Died: Two D.C. police officers shot a 23-year-old man near the intersection of 17th Street and Bladensburg Road NE this morning who may have been involved in a gun battle with another......

Ninety-six degress, Washington. That's what weather.com is predicting for today's high. That should put the heat index safely into the hundred range, and the city as a whole into the "justified complaining" range. And it's what made this photo from phillefan_99 catch our attention. It's hard to look at it and not think wistfully of summer days at Cameron Run, rubbing our backs raw on the waterslides and bobbing in the suspiciously salty wave......

Good Morning, Washington. It looks like another fine spring day from our vantage point at DCist headquarters -- weather fit for a queen, as it were. Thanks to Flickr user Jon-Miles for sharing some of his shots with us from yesterday's press event with President Bush and Queen Elizabeth II. Today is the final day of the Queen's tour of the region. Before a private dinner with the Bushes, she'll spend it by visiting the......

>> D.C.'s Rat Czar puts the city's war on rodents in perspective. Gerard Brown, program manager of the DOH's Rodent and Vector Control Division, tells the Examiner, "Rats are genius. They are going to be here after we leave." Is Stephen Hawking available for a little vermin abatement brainstorming? [Washington Examiner] >> Check out these simple steps to making politics funny. We'll see if President Bush can pull it off at tomorrow's White House......

FRIDAY: >> Don't forget to check out our guide to the Six Points Music Festival as it takes over the town in its second weekend. We're going to once again heartily recommend you head to Iota to catch Unbuckled alums Middle Distance Runner headline a show that also features Unbuckled alums These United States, plus Pittsburgh's Black Tie Revue. Get there early -- this is going to be a packed house for sure. $10, 9:30......

Last time we live blogged the House debate on District voting rights, things didn't go too well. We're hoping for a bit of an improvement today. From what we've heard on the Hill, debate kicks off at 10:30 a.m., and the legislation has been split up into two separate parts -- one covering the actual voting seats both D.C. and Utah would receive and the other dealing with the minor increase in annual spending the......

UPDATE: DDOT has also postponed the previously scheduled closures of the inbound lanes on the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge this weekend to accommodate the marathon. DDOT has rescheduled the bridge work for next weekend, weather permitting. Nearly 5,000 runners will take to District roads tomorrow to compete in the Wirefly National Marathon. The race is set to start at 6:30 AM at RFK Stadium. As it takes runners through every quadrant of the city,......

D.C. has one, Chris Rock joked about them and there are entire books about them: streets named for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Yesterday CNN posted an article about streets named for the civil rights leader, saying there are at least 777 in the country. The article says that Rock's joke and the stereotype about King streets, that they're poor and dangerous, may not be true. It quotes Matthew Mitchelson, a University of Georgia......

When the posters for the Washington Ballet's production of The Nutcracker hit the streets, accented with cartoon caricatures of George Washington, it was hard not to be skeptical. Would the Capitol dome become a prominent set piece? Would little children running around be designed to symbolize Congress? The possibilities were endless. But the skepticism is unwarranted: Choreographer Septime Webre's production, featuring everything from 19th century carousels to 20th century cherry blossoms, is wonderfully done -......

It's no wonder Congress doesn't take us seriously. Controversy has erupted in the District over -- of all things -- statues. As we have reported in the past, the District has been looking to place two statues in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall, a privilege granted to states with which they can recognize two of their most prominent residents. City officials went as far as to allow residents to choose the two Washingtonians that......

Will a Frenchman represent the District in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall? It looks like it. According to an online chat with WTOP Political Reporter Mark Plotkin over at the Post, Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the man George Washington charged with designing the District, has been chosen as one of the city's two statues for the famed hall in the U.S. Capitol. As we reported in April, the D.C. Commission on Arts and Humanities allowed......

About as close as many of us will ever get to the inner-workings of the White House is the annual Easter Egg Roll, set to take place this coming Monday. The National Park Service has announced that they will start distributing tickets for the event on Friday night, with more tickets to be given out on Saturday and Monday mornings. From what we hear, they were planning on having a password-protected internet pre-sale, but......

Late last September, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton requested that the District be allowed to place two statues in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall, alongside those chosen by the nation's 50 states. That idea may soon be moving forward. The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities is asking the public for its input as to who the District should immortalize in Statuary Hall, allowing residents to either pick from a list of 30......

Just in time to close out Black History Month, Cultural Tourism DC, in partnership with the Historic Preservation Office of the D.C. Office of Planning, is unveiling its first African-American Heritage Trail marker. The marker is to be placed at the Recorder of Deeds office at 515 D Street, NW. The Recorder of Deeds office is historically significant because in 1881 President James A. Garfield appointed American abolitionist and reformer Frederick Douglass as Recorder of......

If you're dreading your commute home already, we feel your pain. According to WTOP, the Metropolitan Council of Governments today published a report that found that traffic in the region had worsened since 2002. And the worst time to try and get home, according to the report? From 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., an hour that has experienced a 64 percent increase in congestion in the last four years. The report similarly listed the region's 10......

After a long week of much ado about the exploits of the avaricious, last Friday afternoon provided a fitting end. At 2:00 p.m., amidst a crowd of philanthropists, school-children, business leaders, and former president George Bush, our city's newest (and perhaps subtlest) monument was officially dedicated. The monument is called "The Extra Mile," and is composed of a path of fourteen bronze medallions embedded into the sidewalk, a tribute to some of our nation's most......

Yeah, it's raining (this DCist left his umbrella at the office, super!) and there are weather-related problems all over the region, including flooding. And look at the traffic from this D.C. traffic cam looking at the Suitland Parkway approach to the Frederick Douglass Bridge in Southeast. And it's going to be in the 20s tomorrow morning. Summer was bound to end sometime. And there are 15-minute delays on the Yellow and Green lines in......