Via Wonkette, we get this mind-blowingly angry letter to Examiner columnist Harry Jaffe (text doc) from Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry's chief of staff, Keith Andrew Perry. As you'll recall, Jaffe published a column last week wondering why Barry couldn't have used a rather expensive collection of watches and cuff links, which were recently stolen from his home, to pay some of his tax burden in the years when he was known not to... more ›

Download the original attachment Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration... more ›

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too – two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the... more ›

WMATA Adds Walking Directions to Website: We've wondered it, too -- how exactly does one get to and from certain Metro stations on foot? Lucky for us, WMATA has now added walking directions to the map function on its website, which pop up once the user has created a trip itinerary. This feature will be handy for us who rarely have any idea on how to get where we are going. more ›

People celebrate birthdays, holidays and anniversaries. This evening we acknowledge the day that an event and a phrase now embedded in the consciousness of the District were born. more ›

Coming straight out of left field, the Washington Times today is speculating that District City Administrator Robert Bobb is another maybe, potentially, who knows, we'll see candidate for mayor. Writes the newspaper: D.C. Democrats are talking privately about whether City Administrator Robert C. Bobb will jump into the already crowded race for mayor..."There continues to be a fair amount of discussion about Robert Bobb being a possible candidate for mayor," said Mr. Bolden, an at-large... more ›

Today will be mostly sunny earlier becoming partly cloudy, with highs around 80. Yes, folks - you read right - 80! The photo to the right was submitted to DCist Photos by Jim Tucker via Flickr. Spring is Here: For the Post's Fritz Hahn, this can only mean one thing: "Temperatures are climbing into the 70s. The sun sets after 7:30. It's time to move happy hour outside." With the city's plant life coming alive,... more ›

MLK Day Parade Canceled: The AP, via the Post, reports that the 27th annual Martin Luther King Day parade in Ward 8 has been canceled because of the cold temperatures. Apparently, the health of Ward 8's councilmember, former Mayor Marion Barry, had been speculated to have been partly to blame for the cancellation, enough so that the AP in the second paragraph flatly said that is wasn't to blame. (But perhaps we're just reading too... more ›

Name Games in the Wilson Building: Former Mayor Marion Barry will remain Mayor Barry to Mayor Williams but Linda Cropp isn't playing. Confused? The Post reports that Ward 8's new councilman, former Mayor Marion Barry wants to retain his old title for the sake of protocol. Officially, Barry wants to be known as "Mayor-Councilman Barry," which is naturally shortened to "Mayor" as under traditions of protocol, Barry's highest title would be the defacto title. While... more ›

New Councilmembers Protest Cropp Plan, Then Quiet Down: An incoming at-large councilmember and two ward councilmembers from Southeast voiced their opposition to a plan being pushed by D.C. Council Chairman Linda Cropp on how to assign committee chairmanship on the council. The three councilmembers, including former Mayor Marion Barry of Ward 8 (at right), complained that they were being denied committee chairmanships traditionally passed out to all the D.C. Council's 13 members. more ›

Barry: I Will Fight Baseball: Former Mayor Marion Barry, poised to retake his old Anacostia ward seat on the D.C. City Council, said even if the current councilmembers ink a deal with Major League Baseball to publicly finance a new stadium, he will do what he can to foil the plan when he officially takes office next year. Barry says that with the incoming council there are enough anti-baseball votes to repeal any new business tax or plan to build the stadium on public land. more ›

DCist is in awe of the power former Mayor Marion Barry has in this city. All he's done is cleared the Democratic primary hurdle (he still has to be "elected" on Nov. 2 and won't take his Ward 8 seat until next year) and he's now influencing major policy. more ›

Get ready, because the D.C. City Council just got a bit more interesting. Former Mayor Marion Barry, scorned by most of the nation but a cult hero to Anacostia, trounced current Councilmember Sandy Allen, 61 percent to 23 percent (16 percent went to other candidates) to recapture his old Ward 8 seat. As Barry's political stock soared, Harold Brazil, an at-large councilmember, tanked. Plaged by corruption allegations and confronted by a strong newcomer, Kwame Brown,... more ›

The D.C. Democratic primary is coming up Sept. 14 and two city council races are becoming more heated. Harold Brazil (shown here), who is defending his at-large city council seat from two Democratic challengers in the upcoming party primary, has taken the offensive, the W.Times reports. The campaign of the 14-year council vet sent out a mass mailer highlighting the fact that one challenger Kwame Brown as never voted in a District election. more ›

Barry draws a lot of double takes these days. He gets them when he's working on a T-bone steak at Players Lounge in Southeast Washington, or when he's shaking hands outside his campaign headquarters on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, or when he's pushing a shopping cart through the Safeway on Alabama Avenue SE. He looks more frail than the last time he was in the public eye, the waistline of his pants cinching under his belt, his swagger slowed by age and circumstance.

Former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry couldn't make a Sudan Campaign protest at the Sudenese Embassy yesterday because of a bad foot, but pledges to make another one on another day. As DCist has reported, numerous politicians, religious figures and ice cream's Ben and Jerry have been arrested at the embassy, located on Massachusetts Avenue near Sheridan Circle. Barry is running for the D.C. City Council, trying to reclaim is old ward seat in Anacostia.... more ›