A reader brought to our attention this story from The Hilltop, Howard University's student newspaper, covering an apparent drive-by shooting in one of the campus parking lots last week. According to the article: At exactly 2 a.m. Wednesday morning in the West Towers parking lot, a drive by shooting occurred. Four gun shots, the sound of tires screeching and yelled explicits woke some students up abruptly. "All I heard was gunshots, so I walked to......

Howard University's soccer coach was arrested Friday in Louisa County, Va., for attempting to meet with an underage girl for a sexual encounter. The girl turned out to be an undercover police officer posing online as a 13-year-old. NBC4 reports that coach Joseph Okoh, 40, had previously coached at Wakefield, T.C. Williams and other high schools in Northern Virginia and Howard's website adds that he also coached at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Louisa......

We're getting ready for our staff holiday party tonight, so GHA and AT are combined into one super post! Have fun, y'all. We certainly will be. >> Two more people, both longtime friends of Harriette Walters, were arrested in connection with the Office of Tax and Revenue scandal today. [WaPo] >> The Rock and Roll Hotel is hosting a Trailer Trash dance night. 8 p.m. to close, free. >> Sadly we weren't able to......

Written by DCist Contributor Josh Kramer The Hatchet — George Washington University >>The big news at GWU this week is that Freshman Sarah Marshak, who reported six swastikas being drawn on her dorm room door's whiteboard, actually drew five of them herself, which she has now said she did to bring attention to the first incident. Marshak, who is Jewish and a former reporter for the Hatchet, was informed she will most likely be expelled.......

Written by DCist Contributor Josh Kramer The Hatchet — George Washington University >>David Horowitz, organizer of Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, spoke Thursday night at GWU. Horowitz criticized the university and for its reaction to the students who hung ironically critical posters on campus, but spent most of the talk explaining the history of the Ottoman empire and what he believes is the rise of "Islamo-fascism." Horowitz also tried to claim that he is not a racist.......

This week's Metro Weekly reports some disturbing news that a gay couple was kicked out of a local Rite Aid pharmacy without reason. Jay Hill and Mike Browne went into the store at 13th and U streets NW last Friday to make a purchase, and they embraced as they browsed an aisle. Hill told MW the manager walked by, saw them and did a double take. The manager then asked the security guard on duty......

Every time mid-October comes around, D.C.’s population swells for a weekend. Alums and non-alums alike descend on the District to partake in the ritual that is Howard University’s homecoming. Unlike some other schools with which you might be familiar, the traditional football game is almost an after-thought, albeit a sold out after-thought. Large, celebrity hosted parties and concerts are the big draws. But if you want to avoid long lines of overly pretentious people or......

In the department of that sounds completely and utterly effed up, via Feministing, a 19 year-old woman who attends Howard University is suing the District, Howard University Hospital and GW Hospital after being denied treatment on the night of and morning after her rape because she "appeared intoxicated." The GW Hatchet reports that the woman says that during an off-campus party near Howard in December 2006, the plaintiff was given a date-rape drug that rendered......

FRIDAY: >> Howard University alum Eric Roberson performs tonight at the Black Cat along with Emily King. Doors open at 9 p.m. $17. >> It's pretty much the end of times: Vanilla Ice will be at Foggy Bottom bar McFadden's tonight, "drinking, partying, and hosting the night" starting at 10 p.m. $5 Jager bombs and $2 Bud and Bud Light bottles are little enticement to make this event anything more than laughable, but maybe if......

You waited until the last minute to try to buy tickets for Saturday’s “Hip-Hop Honors” concert, only to discover it sold out. Fear not, because D.C. will be having a number of other noteworthy shows over the next week. First up is Eric Roberson’s Friday night set at the Black Cat. Who’s Eric Roberson? New Jersey native Roberson began his professional singing and songwriting career while a student in Howard University’s Musical Theatre program in......

Tuesday and today Howard University is hosting the Children's Defense Fund National Summit, which includes panel discussions on the Cradle to Prison Pipeline® Initiative, a project that seeks to end the cycle of poor minority children ending up destined to be shuffled in and out of the country's prison system. Yesterday Bill Cosby appeared on a panel titled "The Need for Personal and Community Responsibility" in conjunction with the summit, along with NPR's Juan......

>> Along with Hugh Masekela, pianist Abdullah Ibrahim (pictured) is one of the most influential jazz musicians to come out of South Africa. A professional musician since 1949, Ibrahim has toured all over the world with his blend of jazz harmonies and traditional rhythms. Tonight this week's must-see comes to Blues Alley for an evening of solo piano performance. Sets are at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m and tickets are available online. $25 + $10......

The Young Lions personify the resurgence of U Street as the focal point of D.C.'s jazz scene. The original version of the group, formed in 1996, was a collaboration mainly of students attending Howard University. Over the past decade, the group has undergone various lineup changes and eventually settled on the genre-bending trio that heats up U Street's clubs on a weekly basis. Though firmly rooted in tradition, the adventurous group explores and improvises......

MONDAY >> Today's Fort Reno show features local indie poppers Greenland (***) with Statehood and Kitty Hawk. The weather report calls for clear skies, but bring water. 7:15 p.m., free. >> How about another free event? The Black Cat backstage will feature movies about punk rockers Murder City Devils and Anti-Flag. 9 p.m., free. >> This week marks the sixth year of the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, sponsored by the DC Commission on the Arts and......

Good morning, Washington. Did you stay up late arguing the finer points of last night's Democratic presidential debate at Howard University? Or were you just hoping to get a table at Busboys and Poets but unable to shove your way through the crowd? Shaw and the U Street corridor were overrun with Democratic political operatives last night ... which really probably isn't any different than any other night. But forget about the substance of the......

Mayor Adrian Fenty held a press conference this morning to announce a slew of new cabinet-level nominations for his administration. Topping the list was his decision to go with current interim director of DCRA, Linda Argo, as his nominee to run the department. Argo was previously deputy director of DCRA, responsible for the agency’s public service enhancements. It's a somewhat uncharacteristic move from Fenty, who has tended to focus his hiring efforts on bringing in......

Disturbing news out of the Columbia Heights neighborhood, as reports emerge about a 9 a.m. shooting at a crowded bus stop this morning at the corner of Georgia Ave. and Columbia Rd. NW. A woman being described as a Latino woman in her mid to late 30s is in critical condition at Howard University Hospital after being shot in the head by a man who fled on a bicycle. The shooting ocurred as students at......

On Friday the Washington Post ran a story about the city's plans to step up their graffiti removal tasks after a recent rash of tagging in Wards 1, 2 and 4. The graffiti began appearing six to eight weeks ago, stretching from the Logan and Shaw neighborhoods to communities in upper Northwest along Georgia Avenue and 13th and 14th streets. Banneker Community Center near Howard University, under renovation, was among the places hit. But the......

Good morning, D.C. It was an eventful weekend across the District, with big to-do's tying up traffic in every direction. We hope you didn't spend too much time stuck in it. While we're genuinely thrilled to hear that Oprah Winfrey's commencement speech at Howard University was a big hit and was reported on all over the world, we're pretty disappointed to have it be Monday morning and still have zero reports from any of our......

Nestled between cherry blossom season and the influx of D.C.'s summer intern and tourist season is a hopeful time, when students turn away from keggers and exams to graduate into the real world -- at least in theory. For Washington's thousands of college seniors, this means job hunting, leaving the friendly confines of campus and the prospect of moving into your parents' basement. It also means a litany of platitudes, advice and well-wishes from commencement......

Happy Passover! This week’s theme: Legends. Not the Sasquatch/Grendel folk duo you've heard so much about, but living giants of their genre, era, or both. Several artists who have reached mythic status in popular culture are popping ‘round to say hello this week. Monday One of the best things about D.C. living is all the stuff there is to do for free. Tonight, the Kennedy Center offers some quality gratis jazz, presenting trumpeter Shunzu Ohno.......

First it was American, then Gallaudet and now Howard -- all in all, university presidents in the District just aren't having a good run. The Post reported over the weekend that the head of Howard University's faculty senate called for the removal of the university's president, H. Patrick Swygert, accusing him of financial mismanagement. Never one to see the glass as half-empty, Swygert, who has served the prestigious historically black university since 1995, fired back......

Well, D.C. we had a nice weekend together, didn't we? Perhaps we ran into you at the hugely successful opening of the inaugural DCist Exposed photography show on Friday, or we might have crossed paths out walking the dog in the fantastic spring weather. Or maybe it was just that extra hour of evening light created by Daylight Savings. In any case, it was good to see you. But now, it's time for coffee and......

FRIDAY: >> This weekend is filled to the brim with events surrounding the 2007 Urban Film Series tour just in time for Black History Month. Dozens of short and feature-length films addressing the black experience are being screened at Regal Cinema Gallery Place, many with panel discussions following. There's a bevy of established and rising talent to see, but our pick for Friday has to be a conversation and book-signing with the Wizard's own center......

Kicking off Friday with a one-hundred and seventy-five person audience at George Mason University, the fourth annual DC Improv's Funniest College tourney has officially started. Whatever their US News and World Report rankings, the eight D.C.-area universities participating have the chance to out-smart each other in the subject of Laughter. Spanning over the next eight weeks, the competition allows individual students (grad and undergrad) to perform stand-up against fellow classmates inner-collegiately and against rivaling schools.......

>> Do college students like having fun? Well, DO THEY!? Sounds like a job for Laura Sessions Stepp! Pull-quote highlight: "[Professor Frederic D.] Homer and graduate assistant Rodney Wambeam wanted to know what students meant when they said they were in college to have fun. They wanted to know why students rarely included classwork in that definition. What they heard surprised them." That means if Stepp, herself, was surprised, it could potentially bring the total......

>> As you've all no doubt heard, we're all Time magazine's Person of the Year. Unless you've never authored a blog post, a comment, or even submitted a loosely-sourced tip to a blogger who would irresponsibly publish it. Then you're nothing. [Time] >> Thieves rob hipster bar, police shrug. It's Christmas, after all. [City Desk] >> Police have responded to a shooting on the 1200 block of U Street that took place around 4 p.m.......

>> Metro police have arrested a 17-year-old from PG County in connection with the now 8 sexual assault incidents that have been reported in the past two weeks in and around Shaw and Howard University. For those detectives and officers involved in the arrest, allow us to say Thank You! You all get a lot of grief in this city, so here's to a job well done. [WUSA] >> Dude, Pareene, next time you crash......

Happy Friday, Washington, and welcome to the newly redesigned DCist.com. Yes, our benevolent overlords in New York have been rolling out their new design city-by-city, and today it's our turn. We're still getting used to it ourselves, and of course we already know you'll give us your full and honest opinions in the comments. So go crazy — we're all halfway there already, and so is the weather forecast today. You might actually need that......

Damn alarms. We're a little late on flipping through our newspaper this morning, so stay tuned as we live-blog the news. 9:29 a.m.: Since Adrian Fenty doesn't already have enough to do, he'll be fielding questions in an online chat over at the Post at 11 a.m. We'd like to know how he can spend the time keeping his head so nicely shorn when we're still trying to balance sleep, work, and shaving once......