It turns out Washington isn't that dirty, despite certain commentariats' insistence that the city is overrun with pooping hobos. 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 ›

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 ›

You might be able to take Metro during a government shutdown, but a bevy of other city services that Washington residents usually take for granted would grind to a halt. more ›

You probably already have at least one good reason to care about the D.C. budget deficit debate which will soon be upon the D.C. Council: higher taxes, cuts to social services, and so on. But even if you were still in need of a reason to care, it's worth noting that the city's financial issues are already having a manifest effect on things that most of us take for granted -- like garbage cans and recycling bins, both of which the city has run out of. more ›

Larry Hutchins, the 51-year-old man who was gunned down inside a Department of Public Works parking lot on October 13, will be laid to rest this Thursday. As a result, DPW has announced that they will postpone trash and recycling pickup on October 21, so that DPW employees can attend Hutchins' funeral. Hutchins had worked for DPW for 24 years. Thursday's collections will move to Friday, and Friday's collections to Saturday. Here's hoping that the individuals on the city's various listservs can control their rage about having to wait one day for their garbage to be collected this time around. more ›

Is anyone in the market for a 45-year-old tow boat? The answer is apparently yes -- and D.C. Water is primed to cash in. more ›

He who tops it off, drops it off -- certainly a motto to live by. Of course, such informal social arrangements tend to slip a bit in the wake of disruptive snowstorms. The District Department of Public Works doesn't care who is topping off recycling bins and street litter cans: DPW sent out word last night that neither will be collected or emptied, respectively, by crews next week. Regular trash collection will happen in front of buildings next week, but it'll be pushed back a day due to the Presidents' Day holiday on Monday. Dark plastic bags placed at the curb the night before the collection day will again be accepted for those whose normal collection happens in an inaccessible alleyway. DPW had hoped to get back to clearing out litter cans by Wednesday, February 10, but obviously, the second batch of snow put the kibosh on those plans. more ›

An anonymous reader sent DCist a series of photos of a D.C. Department of Public Works garbage truck driving through a recreation field in Rose Park in Georgetown last Saturday. The tipster described the truck as having hopped the curb to gain access to the "grass of a children's play area" in the park, and wondered whether this was safe. No one was injured, but a baby carriage in the foreground of the images certainly drives the point home: should city garbage trucks really be driving across recreation areas where children might be running around, not paying attention? more ›

In case you missed it in the briefly noted in this morning's news round-up, someone has been setting garbage can fires in Senate bathrooms for a few days now. On Wednesday there were four such fires between 10:45 a.m. and 2 p.m., thankfully quickly extinguished. Police say Wednesdays' fires are connected (duh). And it turns out that similar fires were lit last week. From (subscription-only) Roll Call:Three of the fires set Wednesday took place in... more ›

This is rich: apparently students living in on-campus housing at American University, and at other colleges around the country, are starting to get full-sized beds in their dorm rooms. The Post ran the story this morning as a trend piece, explaining that as universities continue to compete to attract top students, amenities like doing away with the standard, awkward twin-sized beds in college dorm rooms are becoming commonplace. DCist is here to say: this is... more ›

Via the DCist tipline, we heard there may have been a fire at year-old Mt. Vernon Square-area coffee shop Breakwell's, on the corner of 9th and M Streets NW. Sure enough, the windows at the front and along the side of the shop have been boarded up, and there is visible fire damage to the exterior of the building. While checking out the extent of the damage, DCist chatted with the proprietors of WIDE... more ›

>> Don't forget: thousands of dirty hippies and the gun-toting maniacs who hate them are getting together for a big ol' hootenanny down on the National Mall tomorrow morning. It's the War on War on War. >> At the Washington City Paper, editorial assistants who make mistakes aren't just named, they're taken out back and tortured with one million paper cuts using the latest issue while Erik Wemple screams "you're not good enough to... more ›

Registered voters in Wards 1 and 2 received a postcard in the mail a few weeks back announcing the special election scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 21 -- but in the off chance you quickly tossed in the garbage, allow us to fill you in: In April, D.C. Board of Education member Jeff Smith resigned his seat in protest immediately after the D.C. Council gave preliminary approval to Mayor Adrian Fenty’s school takeover plan, so now... more ›

Day 1 was hot. Day 2 was dusty. And there were enough Amy-Winehouse-inspired hairdos to sink a ship. Our feet hurt, our foreheads are burnt to a crisp, we've got indentations on our noses from wearing sunglasses so much, a serious nap is in order and it's going to take more than one shower to fully recuperate, but the second annual Virgin Festival delivered on its promises of good bands, ecological responsibility, copious amenities... more ›

What with Paris Hilton's release earlier this week and the upcoming celebration of American Independence (sorry, Londonist!), we've been thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom to vote, freedom to choose, and most importantly, freedom to blog. Here are a few things we're happy we've been free to blog about this week. Being the nation's capital, DCist felt especially proud to let freedom ring this week by exposing the really important issues, like how sad they... more ›

“I’m trying to save my ass,” Mike Reynolds says in the opening moments of Garbage Warrior, a superb chronicle of his 30-year quest to bring sustainable housing construction into the mainstream, or at least closer in from the fringes. “That’s a powerful force.” Reynolds, a wunderkind architect and engineer who builds self-reliant “earthships” from the oddly indestructible detritus of an industrial civilization – old tires and plastic bottles are among his most useful materials –... more ›

>> Mic Harrison (formerly of Superdrag) brings some alt-country goodness to the Velvet Lounge tonight, with The High Signs and Julie Ocean (ex-Velocity Girl). Show starts at 9 p.m. >> SILVERDOCS is in its first full day, so head on up to Silver Spring to check out a wide array of documentary film on offer. We'd recommend Oliver Hodge's Garbage Warrior at 8:45 p.m., about New Mexico architect Michael Reynolds, who builds homes out... more ›

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti... more ›

I heard some promising construction-like noises coming from the direction of the condemned Shiloh Baptist Church properties this morning, but alas, it seems I was fooled by some friendly garbage men doing their normal Monday pick-ups. Since the buildings were condemned on Wednesday and the church was given orders to complete a list of repairs, including cleaning the interiors, installing new roofs, fixing brickwork and installing gutters, Shiloh has pledged to complete the work... more ›

It was two years ago that we first took notice of D.C.'s new population of coyotes. Back then we worried about the threat of an international incident as the animals made their way to Embassy Row. Today the Post confirms that coyotes continue to roam the edges of Rock Creek Park, bringing them in much closer contact to city residents. This is one case of animal/human cohabitation that can't be blamed on urban development pushing... more ›

A Tenleytown hardware store was robbed by two armed, masked men this morning, prompting a mile-long police chase through the neighborhood, complete with accompanying U.S. Park Police helicopter. If your commute through this area was hell on Earth today, feel free to send these lovely robbers a thank-you note. The Post says that an employee of the Ace Hardware store in the 4500 block of Wisconsin Avenue NW was ambushed by the robbers while taking... more ›

The sun is out, the ice is receding and life in D.C. is returning to normal. So why is there still trash rotting on the corners? Yesterday's garbage-related post prompted comments complaining about the city's malingering trash service such as BrodyV's: Apparently I ought to work for the garbage crew in order to maximize my snow days— my trash hasn't been picked up in over 2 weeks. I guarantee that there's more than one... more ›

What does a young graffiti artist brought down in his prime do? Go back to tagging of course, but this time for a living. Borf, the notorious Virginia-based graffiti artist that spent the better part of two years brazenly tagging everything in the District from garbage cans to highway signs (a sampling of his work is pictured here), may just have found his dream job. After being sentenced to a month in jail last February... more ›

FRIDAY: >> January at 9:30 Club tends to be a no man's land of lots of dark nights with the occassional local line-up thrown in for good measure. So we think it's great that Taint, DC9's weekly queer dance night for electro-indie goodness, and Black Cat's popular Bliss have ganged up to create INFAMY, a late-night dance fiesta featuring DJ Will Eastman and New York's DJ Bill Coleman, with special guest Daisy Spurs. Doors open... more ›

You'd think we'd all have learned our lesson by now: if you say something even mildly embarrassing on the web, more people than your originally intended audience are eventually going to read it. Yet every week we find the wrong people saying the wrong things in the wrong places. This time, it's the Velvet Lounge, being perhaps a little over-zealous in policing its video policies. In June, local musician Lauren Heckman posted to YouTube a... more ›

Anyone who's turned on a television or seen a movie should be familiar with the good cop/bad cop paradigm, which we might describe as the tactic of someone grabbing your prejudices and outrage and lifting it to new levels you hadn't quite prescribed for them, while the other coos in your ear and softly leads you to a place you hadn't intended to go. If that's the case, then the title Good Cop / Bad... more ›

There's a lot of fear being sold these days in D.C. Yesterday District residents were treated to fear from both local and national leaders. President George W. Bush again played the terrorism card in a speech downtown, slyly insinuating that a Democratic victory in November's midterm elections would find Al Qaeda terrorists freely walking the streets of American cities. More locally, mayoral hopeful Linda Cropp doled out some fear of her own, warning of the... more ›

Breaking the law, breaking the law We -ist folks love us some crime, and no misdemeanor is too petty for a post on any of our sites. This week, join us for a rogues' gallery of miscreants major, minor, and alleged. Gothamist gets us started with "Law & Order", muppet style. Oh, you know what isn't a crime? Taking pictures on the MTA. So, why are cops stopping photographers? In other Gotham crime, a... more ›