Results tagged “mayorwilliams”

The Examiner ran a story on Monday about Bloomingdale's recent round of talks with the city regarding opening a new store in downtown D.C. Along with the recently approved development at the Old Convention Center site, sources in the Fenty administration told Michael Neibauer that the talks have included the controversial Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 9th and G Streets NW as a "possible option" for the store.

Good morning, Washington. Remember that recent weird burglary at Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry's house -- the one that Barry seemingly didn't want investigated in favor of telling the police they had more important things to do? Well, Harry Jaffe got hold of the police report, and it turns out Barry may have had good reason not to want it looked at it too closely. Apparently the former mayor had a large collection of...

Good morning, Washington. Buried at the bottom on the Post's updated story this morning on the controversy surrounding Monday's Adams Morgan fire, which has caused Mayor Fenty and Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham to start foaming at the mouth to take WASA to task for not replacing inadequate water mains fast enough, is a little human interest nugget. Apparently fire fighters managed to recover an engagement ring left behind by one of the building's...

Good morning, Washington. Does your commute include the Wilson Bridge? If so, enjoy this morning's trip — it's the last speedy one you're likely to have this week. As Fox 5 details, some of the traffic around the bridge will be redirected beginning at 10 a.m. this morning. But the worst will be saved for overnight on Friday, when traffic will be reduced to a single lane. Hateful Vandalism Galore: What the hell is going...

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. It wasn’t easy to keep up with the business flooding through the Council as the latest session neared its end. Amid the bills dealing with Greater Southeast Community Hospital, authorizing development bonds, addressing land deals in the West End and over the Center Leg Freeway, and placing moratoria on new Adams Morgan taverns, an interesting pattern nonetheless emerged. In just this past...

As you'll recall from last summer's round of Crime Emergency-associated legislation, teens in the District were forced to obey a curfew of 10 p.m. throughout the summer months in an effort to stem the tide of law breaking that was often blamed on youths being out on the streets, up to no good. Did it help? Not particularly as far we could ever tell, though it did allow police to release figures about how many...

Ahh. Fifty-eight degrees, Washington. Fifty-eight! That's what the temperature is right now according to my trusty OS X weather widget, and I couldn't be more pleased: with a broken office A/C office unit and a floor of the building prone to soaking up heat, things have been a little warm around here. A last-minute spring extension sounds great, and that's just what we're in for: temps will barely top 70 until the weekend (although...

Via City Desk, the excellent homeless publication Street Sense scooped everyone on a big story about the potential closing of the District's largest family shelter, D.C. Village Family Emergency Shelter in southwest Washington. Under a new city proposal, the shelter could close sometime this fall, to be replaced by a bus operations center for WMATA in advance of the opening of the new Nationals stadium. From Street Sense: ...more than 350 ... people - mothers,...

Yesterday we asked you to complete a very short survey about your opinion of Mayor Fenty's performance during his first 100 days — and here's the results. You'll note that we stupidly left the option to answer "Good" out of the first question, and that this survey is not at all scientific.

How do you feel about the quality of city services under Mayor Fenty?
Excellent
So-So
Not Good	9.4% (10)

What is your impression of how well Mayor Fenty followed through on his promises for his first days in office?
Excellent
Good
So-So	30.2% (32)
Not Good
Votes: 106

How optimistic do you feel about the future of the city under Mayor Fenty?
Very
Somewhat	40.6% (43)
No different from Mayor Williams
Not at all

What is your overall impression of the Mayor's job performance so far?
Excellent	17.9% (19)
Good
So-So
Not Good

Votes: 106

One of yesterday's major stories was the release of a new study indicating that about one-third of adults in Washington, D.C. are functionally illiterate. Wikipedia actually has a decent definition of functional illiteracy: "the inability of an individual to use reading, writing, and computational skills efficiently in everyday life situations." In other words, a person may be able to read somewhat, but nowhere near well enough to hold down a job. The reality of the...

Happy National Freedom to Marry Day, everyone! And that means everyone: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and straight. We figured with Valentine's Day approaching we'd give you a bit of a rundown on just how state-sanctioned your love is depending on if you live in a commonwealth, state or district. This year's NFMD brings mixed news for gay couples wanting to enjoy wedded bliss, or at least all the swag from their Crate and Barrel registry....

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...

Mayor Adrian Fenty’s major campaign pledges mostly dealt with the District’s troubled schools and public safety departments, so it’s no surprise that changes in those departments get the headlines during this transition period. However, in the new administration, no struggling agency is spared, including the underachieving Administration for HIV Policy and Programs (AHPP). After officially being sworn in on Tuesday, the Mayor noted that AHPP director Marsha Martin – who had only been on the job for 16 months – would not be reappointed.

If you still haven't spent any time perusing Mayor-elect Adrian Fenty's Official Transition Web Site, allow us to suggest you do so today. Not so much because it tells us anything we didn't already know about Fenty (what's that you say, he's an avid jogger and dislikes cigarette smoke? Shocking!), but because there is an entire section of the site devoted to using blogs as a key tool to get public input during the transition.

>> 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...

UPDATE: We've now gotten word from intrepid boy reporter Kriston Capps that the D.C. Council's Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation voted to table Bill 16-734, in a motion brought by At-Large Councilmember Carol Schwartz, which carried 3 to 2 with Marion Barry, Schwartz and surprise vote Vincent Gray against Kathy Patterson and Phil Mendelson. What does this mean for the future of Williams' library plan? Hard to say. Tabling a bill is usually a...

As Adrian Fenty spends the day getting elected, we're reminded that he'll be seeing some serious dosh soon. Last month, Mayor Williams proposed legislation that would give his successor a 32% pay raise. He cited the discrepancy in the administrative pay scale in which some of the Mayor's aides make more than the actual top dog. So today DCist asks: How will he be using his $200,000? (Also, does he remember that fiver we loaned...

Morning, Washington. First things first: how freaking awesome was that field goal? Second, how wonderful was the gorgeous fall weather we had all weekend? Hope you all got out to enjoy the colors of the trees a bit -- 25,000 of which Mayor Williams has planted since he first took office eight years ago. This past Sunday, the city's biggest tree was honored (which begs the question of how one honors a tree, exactly)....

Hey folks. We're coming down off the high of the gorgeous fall weekend, but it's Monday, and the Redskins lost, again (heard this over the weekend and maybe we should save this for Overheard, but whatever: "I think Joe Gibbs should be elected to lead the country. Cause he's doing the same damn thing as the president: NOTHING!"). Anyways, here's this morning's news: More Transportation Woes: That privately-backed plan to build express tollways along...

Hey, D.C., are you like us? Does this odd time of year, when the days are shorter but we have yet to switch back off of Daylight Savings Time (that'll be Oct. 29 at midnight, in case you're wondering) and it's still dark in the morning when you wake up, leave you feeling a little discombobulated? We suspect the change in light might be responsible for a lot of people we've noticed feeling grumpy and...

Good morning, Washington. It looks like it's going to be much warmer today, with the sun peeking out from behind those clouds later this afternoon. Hope those gray skies didn't fool you into dressing in too many layers like it did for us, because we're currently sitting here sweating at our desks with nary a promise of air conditioning at this time of year. If only we had some kind of web site we...

Good morning, D.C. How're those new Metro express lanes treating you? We know it's only five stations for now, but we're pretty excited by the prospect of a nearly-50% speed-up through the turnstiles during rush hour. There's nothing more infuriating than finding yourself stuck behind a perplexed tourist who's fiddling with his farecard like a newly-tool-using ape at the beginning of 2001 — unless you count the encounter you just had with him on the...

So, apparently it rained last night...A tornado touched down in Severna Park, Maryland. The Post says that according to area utility companies, 30,000 customers across Maryland, Virginia and the District lost power last night. I know my Internet is out; can I blame the storm? In other news, today is the 116th birthday of Rock Creek Park: check out the National Park Service's list of activities celebrating the District's very own nature-y goodness. District Teen...

What a night, eh Washington? If you're like us, you were up late listening to Kojo and Jonetta break down the election results as they came in on WAMU. Our favorite moment of the evening came just before 10 p.m., when Mayor Williams told co-host Jonetta Rose Barras she was crazy to suggest that anyone believed he had waited too long to decide if he would seek a third term. For the record Jonetta —...

Good morning, D.C. How are you feeling this morning? Tired? Did you stay up late to watch the old Wilson Bridge be demolished? Yeah, us too. After waiting for what seemed like forever (due to, it turns out, some real geniuses who broke through the fence to get closer to the action) , the Bridge was finally blown, though we have to admit to being somewhat disappointed with the spectacle. Sure, the explosions were loud...

Happy Monday, Washington. Looks like we might start the week with a little rain, no doubt the salty tears of a thousand schoolchildren as they tuck away the summer toys and fill their backpacks with clean notebooks and sharpened pencils. School is back in session this morning for the D.C. Public Schools, and just as kids everywhere feel unprepared in the face of a new year, the schools themselves may be just as unprepared for them.

We promise you, Washington, we’ll let go of this soon. Very soon. By November 7th at the latest. Yesterday, George Allen placed a telephone call to S.R. Sidarth to apologize yet again for the slip of the tongue that has sent his campaign into a tailspin. Allen’s critics remain unimpressed, including the 50 protesters that greeted President Bush’s arrival at an Allen fundraiser yesterday with signs that included, "Hey, George, macaca is a bad word."...

If Washington seems a little more chatty today, it might be that the results of yesterday's primaries are finally starting to sink in. In the day's biggest race, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), lost to novice Ned Lamont, while Rep. Cynthia McKinney again lost her seat in a runoff election in Georgia. We're of varying opinions on the Lieberman loss, but we can say this much -- please Cynthia, don't go. Pull a Tom DeLay and move to Virginia. We could use the entertainment.

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....

Good morning, Washington. We know that the news hasn't been particularly uplifting since the crime emergency began. And, to be honest, today's stories don't really represent a change from that precedent. But we have good news! That's right: Geraldo is coming to town to save us all. Now admittedly, this DCist's Powerbook wasn't able to coax any sound out of Fox 5's new, impossibly Flash-heavy website, so it's difficult to know the exact planks of...