D.C. Council member David Catania (I-At-large) reassured local gay and lesbian business owners over the weekend that despite the success of initiatives like Prop 8 in California and other states, he's confident that a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia will pass the D.C. Council next year. Catania addressed the 2008 GLBT Economic Development Summit at the Washington Plaza Hotel on Saturday. He is one of two openly gay members of the......

The Religious Freedom & Civil Marriage Protection Act will be introduced by two state senators today. Senators Jamie Raskin and Rich Madaleno, both Democrats from Montgomery County, will be named as the bill's lead Senate sponsors. They will fill the sponsorship void left by Senator Gwendolyn Britt, who passed away a couple of weeks ago. The proposed bill validates marriages between "two people, not otherwise prohibited from marrying" instead of the one male and one......

Harry Jaffe: In writing something of a goodbye column to RFK Stadium, Jaffe recounts the many struggles the District overcame to attract a baseball team. And though plenty of people played important roles, he feels that one deserves extra attention -- former Mayor Anthony Williams. "The hero of the piece has to be Williams, an unpopular mayor who — despite his wandering attention span — kept swinging away at an unpopular crusade to use public......

Ever since January, when Baltimore Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock ruled that Maryland's law banning same-sex marriage is discriminatory and unconstitutional, the state has been a major battle ground for same-sex marriage advocates around the country. Today, Maryland's Court of Appeals put an effective end to this chapter of the struggle's future in the state, ruling that the ban does not violate Maryland's state constitution. The Associated Press via WTOP has more on the......

Even though the U.S. Senate is known as the best retirement home in America -- great healthcare, plenty of daily activities, and people continue to pay attention to you for some reason -- Virginia Sen. John Warner announced today that come next year, he's out. And while his announcement is big news, even bigger is the fight that's about to come to replace him. Consider the circumstances. The commonwealth is a political toss-up these days.......

In their coverage of the Capital Pride Festival, which kicked off yesterday and will culminate in a parade and street festival this weekend, the Post gives an account of a town hall meeting on GLBT issues last night at Studio Theatre where Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) said he plans to introduce a bill legalizing gay marriage in the District within the next two years. Graham appeared on the panel with several other openly......

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! Gothamist headed into the Memorial Day weekend with a number of tasks accomplished. They worried about Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name. They tried......

Given the District's status as something of a federal colony, members of Congress often find themselves expressing opinions about local matters or, worse yet, micro-managing the city. They hate our gun laws, propose using the District as a laboratory for a flat tax, threaten us over gay marriage and won't let us have medical marijuana. And now one is speaking out about the city's smoking ban. The Hill reports today that Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Col.),......

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. In Austin, bands are beginning to confirm for SXSW and the rumor mill is up and running. Good thing, too, because we all know how much Austinites love live performances. Austin also found itself in the national spotlight, with Longhorn Legend......

So you survived the coldest night of the season. Now enjoy a healthy serving of wacky traffic. Water somehow made its way onto several area streets and is gumming up the works in fine fashion. Waking up with temps in the teens makes today's high of 39 sound positively toasty! Are you ready to rock?: Metro is considering a plan to formally allow artists to perform outside subway stations beginning next year. The program would......

Written by DCist contributor Christopher Durocher Opponents to Virginia's proposed constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage, including Virginia Delegate Adam Ebbin and D.C. Council-member David Catania (I-At Large), will host a benefit tonight at the Human Rights Campaign's D.C. headquarters. The event is designed to bring together both members of the Virginia community who oppose the marriage ban, as well as District and Maryland residents who support their efforts. The benefit will raise money for......

The polling on the prohibition of gay marriage and the support for incumbent senator George Allen proves what we've always known -- Northern Virginia is becoming less and less like the rest of the state. But what to do about the polarization? Easy. Secession. D.C. Metblogs head honcho Tom Bridge, himself a Virginian, today proposed giving the District back the Virginia lands (and then some) that originally formed part of the city but were retroceded......

Morning, Washington. Hypochondriacs of the city, grab some Valium, because the area seems to be teeming with illness lately. The good news, we think, is that the Maryland Department of Health has determined that three of the reported E. coli cases were not related to contaminated spinach, though it's not clear where they picked up the bacteria. The Department is still investigating four cases, including the death of one woman, but with any luck, we'll......

Well, the swim may have been cancelled due to the nastiness in the Potomac River, but otherwise the inaugural Nation's Triathlon went off without a hitch. Well, spare the road closures that snared Saturday morning traffic by the National Mall, that is. And what they say is true -- Adrian Fenty really does run triathlons, and he's good. Gandhi to Keep Job: Phew! Natwar Gandhi, the District's Chief Financial Officer, must be breathing a......

We're barely getting over the September 12 Democratic primary and already we're hearing whispers of the 2010 election. Jonathan Rees, the Ward 3 candidate known for his, let's say, "creative" use of online resources to run his campaign, may be smarting from his trouncing on Tuesday (he mustered 29 votes for the council seat, or 0.21 percent of the total votes cast), but he's not out. Not at all. In a posting on a DCPages.com......

Written by DCist contributor Abby Lavin. Last year’s rioting in response to Danish drawings of the prophet Muhammad showed that, in some cases, cartoons are no laughing matter. They don’t just lampoon the political landscape; they have the power to shape it as well. Provisions Library’s current exhibit, Drawing Back: Cartoon Critiques of America, examines the power of cartoons as a means of social protest. Culled from twenty-five different countries, the 80 editorial cartoons are......

We at DCist get a lot of crazy stuff in our in-boxes. Today's addition to that list might prove to be a new highlight, if only because it was written by someone running for elected office. Experienced District political types will guess the author quickly enough, but we figured we may as well give everyone else a shot. As you read, just know this -- the author is serious. And without further delay, after the......

While a number of states continue to debate or enact bans on gay marriage, the District, long a progressive-minded town with an active gay population, has steered clear of the debate. Until now, it seems. A ballot initiative to define marriage as a union between a man and woman is set to be introduced before the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, DCist has been told. Lisa Greene, a 40-year-old Republican activist and founder of......

This has been a rough week for your -ist pals, though you wouldn't know it from the great posts all over the network. Plagued with server problems, our tech team (led by the great Neil Epstein) toiled around the clock to solve the glitches as they arose. Seriously, we've said, typed, and thought the phrase "server problems" more in the past week than we have for the last 35 years combined. Why not say it......

Should we just call the election now? Probably not. But Linda Cropp walked away with a small, symbolic victory yesterday, emerging the leader of a straw poll sponsored by the Ward 6 Democrats. Cropp walked away with 42 percent of the 203 votes, trailed by Marie Johns, who took in 21 percent and Adrian Fenty who received 17 percent. Michael Brown and Vincent Orange trailed behind, with 7 and 4 percent of the votes, respectively.......

Good morning, D.C. The picture to the right — posted to DCist Photos by Ryan Shepard — is an illustration of J. Cuthler's Brewery that was originally published in 1884. Fourteenth & E has changed a lot since then, but tonight you have a chance to help save different piece of Washington's brewing history: the Heurich House Happy Hour is this evening. You can find details on all the alliterative fun here. And while......

So, The United States is preparing to develop methods for generating fuel from switch grass. I don't know what switch grass is, but my gut tells me it's a lot like brush, and Bush stands to make a killing off this whole arrangement. There is a Better Way: So, Washington was host once more to the State of the Union. We continue to marvel at the fact that once a year, at a predictable time......

On the same day that we receive news the the District is elevating the level of importance they give to protecting and promoting gay, bisexual, and trangender rights, we find Virginia continuing its long march in the opposite direction. As we noted last week, Virginia's voters will have a chance this November to amend their state constitution so as to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, thus putting the final......

We spend plenty of time complaining about the state of the region's public transit network, be it delays on Metrorail, unpredictable arrival times for Metrobuses, or just too much traffic along area roadways. But at least we don't have to hitchhike to work. Today the Post features an entertaining feature on John Schindel, a Stafford County man whose decade-old DUI conviction has left him at the mercy of fellow motorists to get him to and......

All we really remember about the past week (and that hazily) was our first Happy Hour of the new year. There was plenty going on around town besides that, however, though we can't imagine any of it was quite as fun. Local and Federal police types made plenty of news in the District, while we noted a dangerous trend. DCist listened in on area conversations (don't forget you can add your favorite soundbites by......

In what seems to be the exact opposite of what Virginia has going on for it regarding gay marriage, today a Baltimore judge ruled that same-sex couples should be given the right to marry in that state. The suit was originally filed by nineteen gay men and women who were arguing that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional because it violated the guarantee of equal rights. As quoted in the Post, Judge M.......

Good morning, Washington. It's back to to work after a long weekend (though we know of, among others, certain embassy employees and corporate drones who had to go into the office yesterday). Though we're pretty sure we didn't need a survey to tell us this, a quality-of-life survey shows affordable housing and traffic are main concerns for District residents. Here is a run-down of other D.C. headlines this morning: Possible D.C. Parking Fee Price Hikes:......

In response to allegations that existing state law banning gay marriage hasn't gone far enough in protecting traditional marriages from corrosive homosexual influences, Virginia is now considering further defining marriage as only being between a man and a woman, reports WJLA. We thought that Virginia had made their opposition to gay marriage clear enough last year with their endorsement of "Traditional Marriage" license plates, but it's always good to err on the side of excess.......

For the first time since 1999, the suddenly hot Washington Redskins are going to the playoffs after a sweet but hard fought new year victory against the Philadelphia Eagles. Eat it, Phillyist! Murders in Washington Area Increase: While the District's murder tally for 2005 dropped for the second year running, homicides in the area rose as Prince George's County and Fairfax County increased their share, writes the Post. The region recorded 466 killings in 2005,......

So far the five mayoral candidates have fought to claim the high ground on some of the hot button issues expected to resonate most with voters in 2006 -- school modernization, affordable housing, citywide development, the new stadium, and others. But yesterday the first hint of what could be a split on social issues was revealed when three of the five candidates endorsed civil unions for same-sex couples, with the remaining two expressing their opposition.......