This really smells like it is going to get so much worse. The death of Ronnie White, the 19-year-old man who was arrested over the weekend on charges that he murdered a Prince George's County police officer, has been ruled a homicide. White appears to have been strangled to death while in custody in a county jail -- he had two broken bones in his neck and medical examiners have determined he died from asphyxiation,......

Mayor Adrian Fenty announced this morning that Banita Jacks' four murdered daughters have been positively identified through a mix of dental records and DNA analysis. The victims can now be confirmed to be Brittany Jacks, Tatiana Jacks, N’Kiah Fogle and Aja Fogle, all sisters between the ages of 5 and 16. All four decomposed bodies were discovered Jan. 9 in their home on the 4200 block of Sixth Street SE. In a press release earlier......

With the books finally closed on 2007, we can take an official look at the crime statistics for the year. The Washington Post did so yesterday and found that, as expected, violent crime in the District was up last year as compared to the previous year. You can view some of the District's 2007 crime data at the MPD's site over here. It shows that 2007 saw 181 murders, up 7.7 percent from 2006, which......

Welcome back, Washington. We hope those of you who celebrate Christmas had a holly and/or jolly one, and that your stock of material possessions has been satisfactorily increased. As you might expect, not too terribly much happened while you've been away. Davis Mulls Eighth Term: Sure, it was published yesterday, but we imagine many of you may have missed the Post's analysis of whether Tom Davis will seek another term as congressman for Northern......

The Holiday season is in full swing in NYC, with holiday lights in Brooklyn, a giant snow globe in Bryan Park and Chanukah specials for ham. One citizen decided to go vigilante on annoying car alarms, a murder suspect used a fake Asian accent on the stand and a video of a man being beaten up by teenage girls on a subway shocked the city. And we interviewed soon-to-be-leaving-Gawker editor Choire Sicha, who said,......

>> "More than 50 nonunionized workers rallied against the new Nationals ballpark this morning, angry that more District residents did not receive construction jobs." [WaPo] >> "I saw firsthand the fragile relationship that exists between Mayor Fenty and the City Council Members. I heard tales of a delayed Comprehensive Annual Financial Review , rising murder rates and a Chief of Police who feels burdened by a system that won't help her, proposals to close......

Straight women and gay men all across D.C. were presumably disappointed by the news that came out over the Thanksgiving holiday that Brad Pitt had dropped out of the production of State of Play, a big-budget political thriller set to begin filming here in Washington this winter. You may recall that Pitt had stopped by the Washington Post newsroom in September to do some research on the character he was slated to play in the......

>> It's the first night of Hanukkah, so if you're not celebrating with family and friends at home, consider catching the Sinai Mountain Boys, a Maryland combo that melds the speedy strumming and twanging of bluegrass with Orthodox Jewish melodies. They'll be offering an hour of unique sounds for free beginning at 6 p.m. at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. >> The Washington Jewish Film Festival presents Diane Crespo and Stefan Schaefer's Arranged, the......

MONDAY: Cass R. Sunstein will be at Politics and Prose to discuss the book Worst-Case Scenarios. No, it's not one of those books that gives you tips on how to survive if you wake up next to someone whose name you don’t remember or how to retrieve a candy bar stuck in the lunchroom vending machine. It's actually about scary stuff, like nuclear bombs in suitcases or avian flu. We prefer learning how to jump......

>> A gas main break closed Route 1 in Alexandria this afternoon. Expect delays. [WaPo] >> The suspicious death of a two-year-old Silver Spring boy has been ruled a homicide. [WTOP] >> Authorities have arrested and charged a Clinton, Md., woman with attempted murder and other arson-related charges for her involvement starting fire in a Gaithersburg apartment building on Thanksgiving morning. [NBC4] >> An Oak Hill Thanksgiving: "Just days before, a riot broke out......

Good morning, Washington. Given that A Charlie Brown Christmas was on TV last night, this story seems especially rough. Apparently some folks stole $1500 worth of Christmas trees from the Boy Scouts that were selling them. Remember kids: leave your clearly marked tree receipt out for Santa if you want your presents delivered promptly and with a minimum of additional paperwork. Latest On Taylor Murder Investigation, Funeral: The Post reports on the few details......

Happy Day-After-Thanksgiving, D.C. Normally we like to get you your headlines in the a.m., so we hope you'll forgive us for rounding up the news later in the day today -- we needed to spend the morning rolling our much fatter selves out of bed and calling our doctors for a new Lipitor prescription. What do you mean, it isn't necessarily a good idea to put gravy on pumpkin pie? Breaking News: People are Shopping!:......

Good morning, Washington. Yesterday afternoon Roll Call had the story of a potential suspect finally being identified in all those strange Senate bathroom fires from the last few months. Capitol Police Officer Karen Emory recently has been suspended in connection with the fires, although it still hasn't been confirmed whether she is definitely a suspect in the case. No charges have been filed, but color us a little disappointed if it turns out a......

As we mentioned in the Morning Roundup, the murder count in D.C. for 2007 stands at 169 as of today, which is the same number of total murders the city saw in 2006. The Post is reporting further that the 169th murder occurred over the weekend, and its victim was 25 year-old Timothy Spicer, a short-order cook at legendary U Street eatery Ben's Chili Bowl. Spicer's murder looks to be the result of a carjacking......

Good morning, Washington, and welcome back to what will be a rather short work week for most of us. While airports and train stations are sure to be jammed with holiday travelers this week, the city's roads and metro system should be a little less crowded than normal as folks head out of town early to celebrate Thanksgiving. Less congestion may not make much of a difference in road safety, however, if a new survey......

Civil rights leaders like Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III and others are gathering with supporters on Freedom Plaza at 10 a.m. this morning to march to the Justice Department in a "March Against Hate Crimes." NBC4 says that organizers hope the march will bring attention to racism and recent hate crimes against African Americans that have been popping up around the country. The march was also designed to bring attention to the Jena......

It’s November, so most minds are on turkey and stuffing, but two theater companies are getting a jump on Christmas festivities. While we won’t see Ford Theater’s annual production of A Christmas Carol until December, both Arena Stage and Synetic Theater have their own take on the classic. Arena's Christmas Carol 1941 emphasizes the DC Christmas experience (Nov 16), while Synetic's promises to be more choreography-driven (Nov. 24). The relatively new company Spooky Action Theater......

>> The Nationals might go ahead and pay to change the name of the Navy Yard metro stop themselves. [WTOP] >> Foxhall Road is closed to through traffic from Reservoir Road to Nebraska Avenue until Thursday, October 25, 2007 due to construction. [DDOT] >> Police make arrest in ten year old murder case. [WaPo] >> President Bush called the Dalai Lama a “universal symbol of peace and tolerance” during his ceremony to receive a......

As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in Venice......

>> DAM! Fest kicks of with its first night of shows featuring a dozen different bands at three venues, including New York's A Place to Bury Strangers (don't miss our interview with the band) and Dirty on Purpose at the Rock and Roll Hotel, Vandaveer and Julie Ocean at the Red and The Black, and Foreign Islands at DC9, among many others. Check out our guide to the DAM! highlights. >> Two film festivals open......

>> Mayor Adrian Fenty and Schools chancellor Michelle Rhee will reportedly ask city officials for an extra $81 million to fix D.C. Schools' totally screwed up special education system. Expect D.C. Council chair Vincent Gray to totally lose his shit tomorrow. [Examiner] >> Amazon begins offering same-day local delivery to D.C. [DC Metblogs] >> 6 reasons the Maryland Renaissance Festival did not suck. [Arjewtino] >> Police are investigating an apparent murder on the grounds......

Good morning, D.C., and welcome to another day without congressional representation — it seems we'll have plenty more of them thanks to yesterday's legislative disappointment. You can find the Post's post-mortem here. There's not too much new information in it, but there are words of consolation from Senate minority leader/arch-villain Mitch McConnell: "If the residents of the District are to get a member for themselves, they have a remedy: amend the Constitution." Thanks for......

With unseasonable weather descending upon much of North America, schools getting ready to reconvene, and sports seasons getting exciting, it's a busy time of year for us here in the Ist-a-verse. Luckily, even with all the things we have to do, we still managed to get together to let you know what we've all been up to. After cooling down from a hot weekend of many badass Sunset Junction Street Fair photo dispatches, LAist asked......

Good morning, Washington. An estimated 10,000 people attended the dedication Sunday of the official memorial for the 32 victims killed at Virginia Tech on April 16. Students at the university, about four hours outside D.C., begin classes for the fall semester today. On the same day as the dedication, about 23 Virginia Tech students living in an off-campus apartment building were taken to hospitals after showing signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. Several of the......

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......

It's now been a year since the murder of Robert Wone, the prominent D.C. attorney who was slain while he slept in a guest bedroom at the home of friends on the 1500 block of Swann Street NW. Wone, 32, was stabbed three times in the chest with a butcher knife that police have said came from the kitchen. Three other men were in the house at the time of the murder, and yet no......

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness – we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. After the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Bostonist did a little research and found that Massachusetts......

Well, it's August, D.C. Temperatures will be peaking, news will be slowing, and the non-workaholics among us will be fleeing the city for less sweltering vacation spots. We're not saying you ought to panic, exactly, but there are definite signs that Summer '07 may not be endless after all. Better get going on all that relaxing you had planned. PG County Cop Indicted For Murder: Seven months ago two Marlo employees made a delivery......

Chaos, hostility, and murder. The three items that Werner Herzog believes are the common denominators of the universe, according to the narration of his 2005 documentary, Grizzly Man. And the subject of his own obsession, expressed again and again in the choking jungles and obsessives heroes of his films. In Rescue Dawn, Herzog stabs at yet another heart of darkness, another soul driven to desperation in pursuit of a seemingly impossible goal. In this case,......

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......