New mayor Vince Gray's inaugural ball, featuring the aural stylings of go-go maestro Chuck Brown among others, will take place this Sunday -- and you can crash the party. Free tickets for the ball are available today, tomorrow and Thursday, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. inside Room 145 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. There are 7,500 tickets available to the public and a 2 ticket maximum per person -- you'll need to show valid D.C. identification to claim tickets. more ›

There might be some shakeups in the way that the District's government celebrates the inauguration. more ›

Sure, sure, we all know the big news about the D.C. Council allowing bars to serve alcohol until 5 a.m. And D.C. Wire delivered the scoop that the District government is hosting their Inaugural Ball "for the people" — at City Hall. This year, District pols are going with a "51st State" theme: For $51, attendees will enjoy the legendary Chuck Brown and an implicit lecture on statehood. Not a bad deal considering how Inaugural Ball tickets tend to closer to four figures. more ›

Have you been dying to get a few minutes to ask D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty questions about his controversial plan to take over the District's public schools? Washingtonpost.com will give you a chance this afternoon at 1 p.m., when they moderate an online chat with the Mayor about his proposal. You can submit your own questions for the Mayor here. We'd really like to know what the Mayor thinks about Colby King's idea to... more ›

About 15,000 people (though it felt like many more) got all dolled up Saturday night and headed to the Washington Convention Center for Mayor Adrian Fenty's Inaugural ball, and DCist was there to capture the revelry. Once we got inside, that is. Along with thousands of other Ball attendees, we were packed in like so many sardines near the entrance to the exhibit hall for over 30 minutes before we finally squeezed through what turned... 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 ›

Good morning to you, D.C. It may be raining, but temperatures will hover somewhere between the upper 50s and the lower 60s today, if you can believe that, so no need for a heavy coat. The rain will be gone by tomorrow, in plenty of time for all of us to safely head over to Mayor Adrian Fenty's Inaugural Ball. DCist will be there, and not just for a chance to snap some hilarious photos... more ›

High winds yesterday caused some power outages, and caused this house under construction near Howard University to collapse. Today will be mostly sunny with highs in the 50s. (The photo is Courtesy of D.C. Fire and EMS, via the AP.) Metro Board Doesn't Ride Metro: Following up on an issue raised during last month's first-ever town hall meeting, the Post has investigated just how much each member of the WMATA Board of Directors used... more ›