A woman who reportedly jumped from the mezzanine level at Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center early on New Year's Day has died, reports the Bowie Patch. The woman plunged from the mezzanine level of the convention center around 2:30 a.m., falling approximately 20 feet to the atrium below. Most New Year's revelers had stopped partying at the hotel and convention center by the time the woman fell. The woman, who was not a registered guest at the hotel, was "relatively young" according to Prince George's County police. more ›

What a difference a year makes, eh? In preparation for last year's New Year's Eve revelry, the city was preparing to don heavy boots, an umbrella, or whatever else might be necessary to cope with the dreaded wintry mix as we moved from bar to bar, home to home, champagne toast to champagne toast. DCist took a positive spin on the news though, noting that "the New Year can only improve from wintery-mix conditions." And not to toot our own horn, but we were right! This year's New Year's forecast? Rainy, but featuring temperatures in the 50s, and possibly even the 60s -- somewhat of a heat wave to close out one of the coldest Decembers in D.C. history. more ›

It was a real head-scratcher: in reporting the excellent news regarding 2009's rock bottom homicide totals, the Washington Post ran with a total of 140, while WTOP and the Associated Press settled on a final tally of 143. So what's the deal? The Post sheds some light on the discrepancy this morning: the final number was corrected after a staggering five people were killed in the final 29 hours of 2009, pushing the actual total number of homicides last year to 143. The final figure is still the lowest one-year total in D.C. since 1966. Here's hoping that District police can keep up their good work -- MPD closed 75 percent of last year's homicide cases -- considering this disturbing eruption of violence. more ›

The first baby born in the D.C. metro area in 2008 was Stella Jones. WJLA reported that little Stella was born at George Washington Hospital at 12:02 a.m. on New Year's Day. more ›

Traditionally Christmas decorations stay up through New Year's Day, which means today is the official start of the "chucking your dried-up tree onto the sidewalk without regard for your neighbors or trash collection schedule" season. Allow DCist to help point you in the proper direction for Christmas tree disposal. more ›

Good morning, Washington. Well, this is it: the holidays are finally, tragically over. You're once again sitting at your desk. And now we begin the slow, terrible death march toward spring, with only brief, inadequate celebrations of Presidents' and MLK Day to sustain us. Stay strong, D.C. — we'll get through this. Can You Hear Me Now? Hello? Hello?: The ball dropped, the phones came out and... nothing. "Y2K8 Bug" doesn't sound very catchy, but that seems to be what Verizon Wireless customers experienced in the first few hours of 2008, as WTOP reports. A software glitch affected some calls and text messages until around 4 a.m. on New Year's Day. Virginia Considers Mining Uranium: Walter Coles' family farm in Pittsylvania County sits atop what is thought to be the largest deposit of uranium on the East coast — enough to power the nation's reactors for two years. But up until now he hasn't been able to do anything about it: as the Post explains, uranium mining has been banned in Virginia since 1982. Now Coles is undertaking a lobbying effort to have that changed. Although the landowner claims that he's avoided selling the land so that he can ensure the mining process proceeds safely and with a maximum benefit to the community, critics say that Coles is motivated solely by money and that uranium mining can't be conducted safely in Virginia's moist environment. String of Stabbings in Virginia: The Post reports on three separate incidents that occurred yesterday and overnight in Northern Virginia. A man was found stabbed in Falls Church; another in Reston; and three people sustained knife injuries after a man was barred from a party in Franconia. The Falls Church incident resulted in the victim's death. Police say the incidents aren't related. Briefly Noted: Maryland property assessments rising despite falling home prices... Third Democrat considers running for Tom Davis' seat... Union Station was briefly evacuated yesterday due to a french fry fire, lower level will remain closed today... Arlington chairman pledges to support affordable housing, pursue smoking/trans-fat ban and keep county pro-immigrant... This Day In DCist: One year ago Mayor Fenty was taking office, Washington was paying its respects to Gerald Ford, and the Post was cozying up to local bloggers. Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user Oblivious Dude more ›

We're frankly mostly of the mind that New Year's Eve is best spent at a house party with good friends -- going out to a club is almost always overpriced and often a big letdown. But in the event you don't have a party to attend, are new in town, or for any other reason are facing tonight without a firm plan, here's a few of our suggestions on how to have a fun and not too expensive evening at the last minute. more ›

Good morning, Washington. With a new year less than 24 hours away and an improbable playoff berth for the Redskins suddenly a reality, we frankly expect you to have been skipping in to your offices today, in a total and joyous rapture. Even if you've had to work straight through the holidays this year, we will tolerate no whining on this, or really any other matter, on this particular New Year's Eve. There will be only good cheer and winning humor today. Got that, D.C.? That is all. more ›

• SFist saw Christmas Day turn tragic after a Siberian tiger escaped from her pen at the San Francisco Zoo, killing a visitor and mauling two others.
• Phillyist counted down the top ten items on Philadelphia's New Year's wish list.
• Gothamist looked at the wooden bikes being offered for NYC's first bike share program on Governors Island.

FRIDAY more ›

The Metro can be a boring place. Next stop, yadda yadda, doors on the right, zzz. There are sometimes crazy people on the train, or somebody singing, or something amusing happening, but generally it's a snooze fest. Thankfully some Metro train operators like to change things up a bit, wishing people a good day or just being funny, rather than the usual "Next stop Judisherary Square" script. And we like that. Better not give this guy one of those popcorn tins though, you might get arrested. more ›

While the week between Christmas and New Year's is far from a dead zone for movies, most of the new fare that's going to be brought out before year's end has already come out, and those that the studios did save for Christmas day release look wholly uninteresting, from sequels to films that were horrible missteps to begin with, to overly earnest inspirational fare. Instead, we'll join the living in the past bandwagon and revisit our favorite big screen experiences of the past year. Much as we wouldn't mind going to the movies every day, life and work have an annoying habit of limiting just how much time can be spent in a darkened theater. Which, of course, means that it is (as always) highly subjective and hardly comprehensive. And don't let our failure to provide picks this week keep you out of the theater. In addition to all the great and funny stuff that's been coming out in recent weeks, the AFI's Rialto series continues with one of history's best heist movies, Rififi, and starts a Wes Anderson retrospective. And, there's a special midnight preview of P.T. Anderson's latest, There Will Be Blood, at Georgetown on Saturday. As of this writing, tickets are still available. more ›

Good morning, Washington. The week surrounding the holidays is almost always a certifiably slow news period, so you can bet good money every local media outlet in the country is shamefacedly relieved to be able to find their own angle on the terrifying fatal San Francisco Zoo tiger attack. Sister site SFist has the roundup of Bay Area coverage, and the Examiner steps up to the plate with the D.C. version of the story -- the National Zoo is "prepared to finetune safety protocols." Phew! More scintillating post-Christmas reporting below. more ›

>> Beginning tonight, piano legend Ahmad Jamal (pictured with bassist James Cammack) continues his annual tradition of closing each year with a week-long residence at Blues Alley. Daily 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. sets begin tonight and run through Sunday. Tickets are $30 + $12.50 surcharge/drink minimum. On New Year's Eve, the Keter Betts memorial band, which includes celebrated guitarist Paul Bollenback and local drumming ace Lenny Robinson, will join Jamal to ring in 2008 with 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. sets. Information on the New Year's packages is available here. more ›

Be sure to make a note of Metro's holiday schedule, which is available on WMATA's web site. more ›

This week the Washington Post published an article featuring three local pastry chefs creating recipes around exotic fruits. The article was a nod to the recent change that allows the legal importation from Thailand of rambutan, litchis, longans, new varieties of mangoes, and the "queen of fruits", the mangosteen. Many of these fruits were available fresh in Asian markets, but were often smuggled from Canada. The fruits will begin trickling in seasonally from Thailand, and initially be sold in gourmet markets such as Dean & Deluca, Balducci's, and Wegman's. more ›

Fans of Petworth bar Temperance Hall better get up there for their Sazerac cocktails as soon as possible—the bar is on its way out. Don't throw out your arms in plaintive questions to the heavens yet, though. While the bar will go, a bar will stay; the property has been sold to the folks behind Columbia Heights' The Wonderland Ballroom. Following a tip from Prince of Petworth, we caught the Wonderland owners, Matthew McGovern... more ›

Sure, it's December and we're all preoccupied with holiday cheer and making plans for that one New Year's party that will finally be worth the all the hype. But even though they've suffered some setbacks this year, D.C. voting rights activists are pushing the cause through the holiday season. On Thursday, December 6, the D.C. Council will hold a hearing to consider legislation that would place large electronic billboards outside the John A. Wilson Building... more ›

Just one night after the Season Opening Night Gala hosted by Washington National Opera, another set of patrons (and the critics of the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post) came together to fill the Kennedy Center Concert Hall to open the National Symphony Orchestra's season on Sunday night. In terms of funds raised, it was the most successful opening ball in the NSO's history, according to Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Blackstone... more ›

If you're lucky enough to have your mom or grandma somewhere easily accessible, then you have the distinct pleasure of celebrating Mother's Day with the real McCoy. As for me, I'll have to settle for a teleconference with my mom while eating pancakes shaped like Mickey Mouse that I'll pretend she made for me. Sniff. I love you, Mom! more ›

At Overheard, we'll go for any excuse to have a party. New Year's? Obviously. Halloween? Let's find a costume. Housewarming? Sign us up. Bank error in your favor? Sounds like an occassion for celebration to us. If you stock the refrigerator, we will come. Still, we don't think we've ever been to a party with quite the sense of urgency as the one mentioned in this week's quote of the week. And we agree with the logic completely: 18 months (9 with good behavior?) is a long time after all. more ›

First of all, this is another suburban restaurant review, so let’s just get that out of the way. Second, yes, we went to the steakhouse and got the chicken. Third, this is a time of upheaval for Ray's the Classics, so we can’t make any promises. Executive chef Michael Hartzer left after New Year's Eve to do his own thing (though we presume that, of course, had absolutely nothing to do with much beloved owner Michael Landrum). We also read about an unfortunate staff walkout the day after we dined there. Hmm. more ›

The holidays are over. We're as sad to report it as you are to hear it, because next week, for the first time in over a month, we have to work a full five days. Some of you who had less lenient schedules may be primed to tell us to quit our whining. Those of us who spent the past month stringing together vacation days and holidays to make a patchwork of leisure time punctuated... more ›

We don't know about you, but it's friggin cold out there. Well, not for some of you. It seems as though places that are supposed to be cold are warm and places that are supposed to be warm are cold. Or maybe that's just us. Either way, we're freezing. more ›

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. In Austin, bands are beginning to confirm for SXSW and the rumor mill is up and running. Good thing, too, because we all know how much Austinites love live performances. Austin also found itself in the national spotlight, with Longhorn Legend... more ›

As we enter the final stretch-of-the-pants holiday eating season, perhaps we all feel a little tight in the trousers, but apparently not as much as the chatters last week over on TomChat offering their inane advice on what a poor patron who has undergone gastric bypass surgery should tell a waiter who wonders why so much of a meal has been left on the plate. The discussion dominated last week's last-of-the-year chat, thus crowding out any serious discourse on holiday cocktails or the pros and cons of dining out on New Year's Eve. more ›

In all honesty, it's tough to wholeheartedly recommend going out on New Year's Eve at all. We love the spirit of the holiday, but paying around $100 a person for a regular night of dancing dressed up with champagne is enough to make anyone feel like a schmuck. It's a safe bet most of us at DCist will be hitting various house parties to ring in the new year with friends at a more reasonable... more ›

As we look back over the wreckage of another spent year this week, we take a moment to honor the kinds of quotes that are the bread and butter of this column. Namely, the odd things seen and heard on mass transit, and the reliable adorability of lost and/or confused tourists. But remember, Karma always comes back around, so every time you have a chuckle at the expense of an exasperated commuter or weary... more ›

We know you're itching to get your perfect New Year's Eve plans in place, and we'll have a few suggestions for those of you still unsure what to do for the big night later in the day. But first a few of friendly reminders: Just like on Christmas Eve, D.C. liquor stores will in fact be open on Dec. 31 thanks to an amendment put in place by the D.C. Council to make exceptions when Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve fall on Sundays. Plus! Metro will run until 2 a.m. on Sunday night, and get this, last call isn't until 4 a.m. for one night only. For real. So don't fret: You will be able to purchase and consume insane amounts of alcohol with little interference from the pesky D.C. Government on New Year's Eve. Unless of course you choose to get behind the wheel -- and no DCist reader would do that, would they? Because you all already know about SoberRide. As a reminder, just call 800-200-8294 (TAXI) from a D.C., Maryland or Virigina phone number, and you can arrange for a free taxi of a fare up to $50 (though of course, it might take a while on New Year's Eve). more ›

Those of us stuck in quiet offices this week, staring blankly at wall clocks with increasing despair, have finally arrived at the Friday before New Year's weekend. Currently DCist is taking over/under bets on the median time of departure from work today (especially for you lucky duck Federal employees who've got Tuesday off). How late will you last? 4 p.m.? 3? Just not bother to come back from lunch? We have to admit the option... more ›