Last November, James Patock, seen at right, was arrested after the Park Police searched of his vehicle, parked on the Mall. Now, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Patock is seeking retractions, "return of property," and $20 million in damages. more ›

James Patock, a 66-year-old from Arizona, was arrested on Wednesday after a search of his vehicle, parked on Jefferson Drive, yielded four guns. A U.S. Park Police officer initially saw something suspicious about a camper Patock had parked in front of the Air and Space Museum, which led to a temporary closure of the Mall and surrounding streets, as well as at least one evacuation of a nearby museum. Charging documents reveal that the officer's suspicions were piqued when he noticed propane tanks hooked up to four car batteries and a generator on the rear of Patock's camper. Patock also had parked in a handicapped space, which raised eyebrows. more ›

The Obamas have finally ended the speculation about which D.C. church they would join - by picking none of them, Amy Sullivan reports in Time magazine. Instead, President Obama has reportedly decided to make the same choice as George W. Bush, and worship at Evergreen Chapel, the nondenominational church at Camp David. more ›

James Calder reports from Dupont Circle: more ›

When the Newseum opened this summer, some commentators reminded us that museums are places to house the archaic, outdated, and the useless—what a perfect place for print media! more ›

Adrian Fenty: Fine, I might not run this city, but I sure as hell beat Mayor Adrian Fenty in a bike race. No, seriously. A few weekends ago Fenty -- who runs, swims and cycles, sometimes all in one day in local triathlons -- participated in the Carl Dolan Memorial Spring Classic, an annual road race in Columbia, MD sponsored by local cycling team DC Velo. He was in my race. And I beat him. Fine, he probably didn't get much sleep the night before, what with the schools, crime, voting rights, meters in cabs, laundry, his kids wanting a drum set, and plenty of other things on his mind. But I showed him who was boss that morning. If you want to beat him and his fancy pants Cannondale, he's also been known to ride MacArthur Boulevard and up the famous Angler's Hill on weekends. more ›

>> There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Jenna Welch Bush, daughter of President and Mrs. George W. Bush, plans to honeymoon with fiancé Henry C. Hager at historic Guantanamo, Cuba. [NotionsCapital] >> When are we going to get our library? [Bloomingdale (for now)] >> Prozac needed at Wilson Building. [City Desk] >> Driving to work at NIH: teh suck. [WTOP] >> Are our iPods killing us? [RawFisher] Photo by krisetya... more ›

After a pair of hearings before two Senate committees, a proposal to grant the District a vote in the House of Representatives will be marked up tomorrow. The mark-up, which will occur at 10 a.m. before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, is the final step before the legislation -- which would grant both Utah and the District additional seats in the House -- reaches the floor of the Senate. Thanks to the... more ›

>> After bitching about extreme lack of tickets to Friday's sold out Arcade Fire show, our friends at Washingtonian Magazine alerted us to their ticket giveaway. Only one seat is up for grabs, you didn't want to bring your girlfriend anyway, right? Contest ends Thursday at noon. >> Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora Internet radio, hosts a meet up tonight at Be Bar. Open to listeners and non-listeners alike, guests can chat about the... more ›

Though Republicans managed to sink legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the chamber last week, voting rights activists haven't given up. In fact, they're going straight to the top. According to the Post, Mayor Adrian Fenty is slated to meet today with Joshua Bolten, Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush. We're not sure what the meeting will accomplish, though. The White House officially expressed its intention to veto the... more ›

President George W. Bush today formally declared his intention to veto legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives. In a Statement of Administration Policy released by the Office of Management and Budget, the Bush administration stated that "the bill violates the Constitution's provisions governing the composition and election of the United States Congress" and that any congressional endorsement would be swiftly vetoed. The statement quoted the section of... more ›

But of course! Something else has come between the District and its voting rights. Today the Post is reporting that President George W. Bush and various senators have expressed concerns over the constitutionality of legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives. According to the White House the legislation, which passed two House committees this week and may face a vote before the House as early as next week,... more ›

Given that the state of the District's public schools is one of the city's most pressing problems, we were excited to see Mayor Adrian Fenty host an online chat at the Post to clarify and explain his ambitious plans for a mayoral takeover. Unfortunately, the chat ended up sounding much like most of President George W. Bush's public appearances -- staged and scrubbed free of criticism. Fenty fielded 16 questions in total, none of which... more ›

This afternoon the House of Representatives passed a resolution expressing its opposition to President George W. Bush's 21,500 troop surge for Iraq. With a final vote of 246-182, fewer Republicans than expected jumped ship, though two that did are locals -- Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) and Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.). Davis, known to be a moderate on some issues, spoke on Wednesday, noting: Still, knowing what we know today, after almost four years of attempted... more ›

The concert started with a guy in a leather speedo tearing off another guy's head, fake blood spurted high in the air and all over the crowd. No, not Belle and Sebastian. The offenders were the costumed monstrosities in GWAR, who brought their ridiculous stage show and very loud metal to the 9:30 Club on Sunday. more ›

>> While the Post spends precious column inches on the risk of infectious disease in our produce, some GW microbiology students have dedicated their study to a more harrowing bacterial risk: those slimy, salmonella-ridden beer pong balls. [GW Hatchet] >> Rarely do you find hipsters and schoolmarms on the same side in a fight, but the collective force of the PTA and the retro-food lovin' Bohemians is united against the War on Cupcakes. [Washington Post]... more ›

We here at DCist would like to extend our heartiest birthday wishes to Adrian Fenty, who turned 36 today. For comparison's sake, at 36, George W. Bush was still hitting the bottle and running Harken Energy into the ground, while Daniel Snyder purchased the Skins before his 36th. more ›

Amidst tough questions in an early afternoon press conference today on the loss of the House, the war in Iraq, and the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, President George W. Bush faced a question he wasn't expecting — on District voting rights. A reporter asked Bush on whether he would support legislation currently moving through Congress that would grant the District one voting seat in the House of Representatives and may come to... more ›

Written by DCist contributor Alex Hogan and Martin Austermuhle D.C. Mayor, City Council: Ok, so the September Democratic primary kinda took the air out of the District's official mayoral election, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go vote. Look for a crushing Democratic sweep, but give a little time and check out what the Statehood Green and Republican candidates, Chris Otten and David Kranich, respectively, have to offer. We'd like to think that someday their... more ›

Just when you thought you could escape politics, even briefly, in our fair city, there's a new menace lurking: the subversive marketing of yet another set of political trading cards. It happened on Monday, when exiting the Dupont Metro. The perfect storm of heels, gum and litter had left me with a little present. Further inspection revealed it to be a small piece of cardboard with an illustration of George W. Bush, surrounded by flames... more ›

Just south of Dupont Circle on Connecticut Avenue: more ›

It's easy to paint the protesters at Gallaudet University as young causeheads that have listened to too much Rage Against the Machine and idealistically mused on revolution. But theirs is not a battle to save the rain forest, stop sweatshops, or even impeach President George W. Bush. The continued intensity of their protest -- now in its second day of sucessfully locking down the Northeast campus -- is fueled by conflicts over culture, identity, and... more ›

Listen to President George W. Bush on any given day and you'll probably hear that Iraq is a little messy, but nothing that a little elbow grease and Republican determination couldn't handle. Listen to the Post's correspondents and, well, things seem a little less rosy. To date four of the newspaper's writers have produced books on Iraq, none of which Bush will likely be taking down to Crawford anytime soon. Bob Woodward's State of Denial:... more ›

Anyone living within two miles of Dupont Circle couldn't have missed the police lockdown last night. Starting shortly after 9 p.m., D.C. police cruisers took positions along Connecticut Avenue up to the intersection with Florida Avenue, eventually shutting down all traffic — pedestrian and vehicular — without giving an explanation as to why. Two helicopters loudly hovered overhead, while overly anxious police officers screamed loudly at anyone who dared cross the street (a man walking... 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 ›

And so ends the suspense -- Adrian Fenty is the Post's pick for mayor. Though Fenty has held a comfortable lead in recent weeks, the Post's endorsement was seen as Linda Cropp's final chance in what has become a hard-fought campaign. Today's endorsement is sure to give Fenty the win next Tuesday, with the Post recognizing his "can-do quality" and his "vision of the city that challenges the best in people." And maybe to add... more ›

Maryland Lt. Governor and candidate for the U.S. Senate Michael Steele must be red in the face these days -- after calling an association with the Republican Party and President George W. Bush "a scarlet letter" in an anonymous interview with the Post's Dana Milbank, Steele is now trying to limit the damage of his surprisingly honest comments. "I'm not trying to dis the president," he was quoted as saying by the Washington Times.... more ›

This week saw the official introduction of our newest service to make all of our social lives that much easier -- Last Call. For those of you that missed the news, our tech guru Tom Lee has set up a system through which you can check Metro arrival times, movies, weather and open tables at area restaurants by simply sending us a text message with your query. We're working to iron out any hiccups, so... more ›

Protests in D.C. are a dime a dozen, but demonstrations for causes as compelling as stepping up to save the people of Darfur deserve what little pimping we can give them. This Sunday the Save Darfur Coalition is taking to the National Mall, hoping to mass enough people to push President George W. Bush into taking more firm action to stop what has been referred to as a slow-moving genocide in the western Sudanese... more ›

Well, we still don't have voting rights, but this is about as good as the news will get. According to D.C. Vote, as of March 10, some 1,033,119 D.C. license plates bearing the message "Taxation Without Representation" have been distributed to District motorists. The license plates were first introduced on November 4, 2000 at a ceremony in which D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and various council-members replaced their old plates... more ›