The United States Park Police, DDOT and MPD have released the following road closure advisories for Saturday's Veterans Day Parade. All closures should be re-opened by 5 p.m. Saturday. Roads closed at 6 a.m.: * Jefferson Drive from 14th Street to 4th Street, SW * Madison Drive from 4th Street to 15th Street, NW * Seventh Street from Independence Avenue to Constitution Avenue, NW Roads closed at 10:30 a.m.: * Lincoln Memorial Circle to Henry......

>> Yesterday we wrote about the Amish market in Burtonsville being relocated next summer when the shopping center where it's located will be demolished. The blogger at Just Up The Pike seems to have information that the owner of an acre-sized plot behind Route 198 has expressed interest in leasing to the market, thus keeping Burtonsville residents sated with an uninterrupted supply of delicious Amish fried chicken. >> Private tour buses are set to......

>> Four suspicious packages discovered near L'Enfant Plaza, which led to the closure of Independence Avenue between 7th and 12th streets and the evacuation of some buildings in southwest D.C. this morning, were determined to be non-threatening. [NBC4] >> D.C. firefighters were called to the scene of an apparent spill of a toxic industrial floor stripper inside a building in the 2400 block of 17th St. NW. The building was evacuated and about 50......

People have been asking us: What's that big film crew doing downtown today? Why must my commute be ruined by greedy Hollywood movie producers? The answer: Why it's National Treasure: Book of Secrets, the sequel to the polarizing Nicholas Cage swashbuckler, of course. Here's the details on the filming for today, though circuses of production vehicles will likely be popping up elsewhere around the city for a while longer. The D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT),......

> > Pour one out for Coach Janky Spanky. Clinton Portis will receive surgeries for his bum shoulder and broken hand, which means he's headed to the IR for the rest of the season. It'll be up to Ladell Betts to carry the rock, though, who knows? Maybe the coaches will remember their costly impulse-buy TJ Duckett, mouldering on the bench. [Washington Post] > > The U.S. House of Representatives is filled stem to stern......

As more and more details leak out concerning an ambitious terrorist plot to blow up U.S.-bound planes leaving London, District Police Chief Charles Ramsey isn't taking any chances. Yesterday Ramsey announced a series of measures police would enact in response to the threat, among them the following: Activated its Joint Operations Command Center, including the network of 19 Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in the downtown area. Notified MPDC personnel of the situation and encouraged......

There are some things we just don't want to know about our parents. What the inside of their colon looks like, for example. Or their taste in porn. When we find these things out, it usually means a trip to the therapist, or at the very least a long vent to a good friend. Doctor/patient confidentiality would preclude the former, so thankfully for us, someone overheard the latter. Have you heard something interesting? Or......

MONDAY Counterprogramming this week’s State of the Union Address will be activist Cindy Sheehan, who will ostensibly be discussing her book Not One More Mother’s Child tonight at All Souls’ Church tonight at 7pm. For anyone who’s either been hiding under a rock this past year or who hasn’t yet experienced the pleasure of being clouted in the forehead with a ball peen hammer by a member of the Free Republic, this reading is a......

March for Life Takes to National Mall: The National Mall will be a few hundred thousand people more crowded this morning, as pro-life activists participate in the annual March for Life, reports WTOP. Large sections of the Mall will be closed to traffic, including the area between Pennsylvania Avenue and Independence Avenue from Third Street to Fifteenth Street. District officials have announced that starting at 7 a.m. they will turn on their 19-camera CCTV......

MONDAY >> Who can forget T.C. Boyle's memorable turn in the movie Kinsey? Most of you, probably. Well, look: if you're an enthusiast of short stories, stop by Olsson's in Arlington this evening to meet T.C. Boyle, whose recent collection, Tooth and Claw, travels to the four corners of the globe to reveal men and women on the edge of primal fear, weird nature, and the threat of untimely death. 2111 Wilson Boulevard, 7 p.m.......

One of our favorite monuments in this city is the District of Columbia's World War I Memorial, honoring those from the capital who fought and died in the Great War. This DCist's late great uncle, who grew up in Foggy Bottom before George Washington University gobbled it all up, was a World War I vet. So we stop by when ever we stroll through West Potomac Park. On our Fourth of July tour of the......

... Wait, Google already does. Google has now put forth its Google Earth feature. It's in its beta testing period but here's what you'll be able to do: -- Fly from space to your neighborhood. Type in an address and zoom right in. -- Search for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels. Get driving directions. -- Tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings. -- Save and share your searches and favorites.......

We once had a housemate who had a winter internship at the Smithsonian and worked in the Arts and Industries Building, that "2 1/2-acre fairy tale castle in polychrome brick" (according to an AIA guide) at Seventh Street SW and Independence Avenue. But during that winter, there was some concern that the 125 year-old roof couldn't support the weight of the snow. The building was closed to visitors, but was still somehow safe for workers,......

FRIDAY: >> The Sixpoints Music Festival, which highlights good local music played at good local venues, continues this weekend. Make sure to check out the schedule here and support your local music scene. >> Ross Douthat, blogger extraordinaire and reporter at The Atlantic Monthly, managed to pull a pretty nifty trick: he attended Harvard, reaped the rewards of the degree, and then got a hefty advance to write "Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the......

DC 101.1 may have thought that WHFS's suprising demise earlier this year left them as the sole modern rock purveyor in the Washington area, but as DCist reported in late March, the infamous HFStival is still alive, still well, and ironically enough, better than it was when it was run by the late radio station. Not to be left behind, DC 101 recently announced the bands that would play this year's installment of the long-running......

We apologize if we're going into Inaugural overload. But when your city is effectively shut down, it is difficult to really avoid it. So last night, this DCist did a little tour to see what was going on around town. At dinner in Dupont Circle, a friend said of the regular stream of helicopters circling the city's central neighborhoods: "Is this like the Tet offensive? Limos of all sorts of flavors and colors (black, white,......

A federal contractor was taken to the hospital yesterday with non-life threatening stab wounds after some sort of confrontation with another employee. The USDA complex at Independence Avenue and 14th Street SW was put on lockdown as the situation was brought under control. But the details behind the stabbing are still quite sketchy, the Post reports. Like many federal departments and agencies, security at Agriculture is farmed out to private security contractors, but is overseen......

Veterans Day is tomorrow and the official observance of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month will bring a whole host of closures and modified schedules. Check out the District's rundown of Veterans Day events and closures. Veterans Day is rooted in Armistice Day, which remembers when the guns fell silent on the Western Front during the first World War. In a city that has memorials dedicated to Armenian earthquake victims,......

Watch out, D.C.! 15,000 runners are expected to hit the streets of Washington this Sunday. A local institution, the Marine Corps Marathon attracts competitive runners from all over the world as well as thousands of amatuers eager to punish their bodies by running through 26.2 miles of D.C.'s streets. This years race starts at Arlington National Cemetary, goes through Georgetown, much of Rock Creek Park, hits the National Mall, winds through Hains Point and......

Before the City Paper makes the web version of last week's cover story inaccessible for general viewing, be sure to take a look at its article "Don't Shoot." In it, the CP went around to the city's more secure federal facilities to see whether security officers would allow them to take photos. The CP had some interesting results. While they ran into problems shooting the Independence Avenue headquarters for the Federal Aviation Administration, DCist had......

There's lots going on this weekend. What are you up to? FRIDAY: -- "Team America: World Police" opens tonight at theaters everywhere. Reviews from the NYT, Post, Rotten Tomatoes -- Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players at Iota in Arlington, $12 -- Grand opening of Eclipse, an "electro, industrial, darkwave, alternative" dance night slated for the second Friday of the month at Between Friends (11th and U St). Resident DJs include Dirty B, MindCage, MissGuided, and Ras......

- The Washington Post reports that "Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) shows his enthusiasm for the Bush/Cheney ticket by planning to have their names trimmed into the hedge at his home in Northwest Washington," but also includes a photo of the hedge, already trimmed. Can a hedge be both not trimmed and trimmed at the same time? - The Post doesn't seem too impressed with the Capitol Police checkpoints:" ... Practices varied from checkpoint......

DCist recently saw "The Manchurian Candidate" and saw some startling similarities to Washington in the movie and Washington in reality. First off, our recent terror warning with checkpoints leading to Capitol Hill seems to fit in with the theme of the movie. But one thing was definitely off. The reception/lobbying schmoozefest/fundraiser at the U.S. Botanic Garden at the foot of Capitol Hill seems to not jibe with Senate rules. In the movie, Sen. Eleanor Prentiss......