View Larger Map more ›

>> Oh noes! The Ron Paul blimp launch was delayed, and rescheduled for its D.C. appearance on Wednesday at 3 p.m. [via Wonkette] >> D.C.'s Beacon House Falcons of Edgewood Terrace won Pop Warner Football’s Pee Wee Division I Super Bowl championship on Saturday. [Notions Capital] >> Former D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey no longer thinks handgun bans are such a good idea now that he works for a city that doesn't have one.... more ›

Happy Thanksgiving, Washington. The streets are quiet this morning in the capital; one cab driver remarked to this writer that it was his favorite day to drive in the city -- no traffic, no tourists, and everyone he picks up tends to be cheery and a big tipper. The forecast in D.C. today is calling for an unseasonably warm high of 72 degrees, with a solid chance of afternoon showers and gastrointestinal distress. What's the... more ›

Last week Mayor Fenty ordered more beat cops out of their cars and on to the streets in the wake of a series of eleven shootings over the course of one weekend. Today, the MPD is launching something they're calling "Operation Full Stride." The name is easily mocked, but are its intentions? Two hundred officers will go door-to-door today in neighborhoods like Columbia Heights, Adams Morgan, the Georgia Ave. corridor, and North Capitol Street, handing... more ›

We kid. Kind of. According to the Washington Business Journal, the Uline Ice Arena and the surrounding area may be the next frontier in development in the District. The arena, which is just north of Union Station and hosted the first Beatles concert in the U.S. in 1964, is being looked at by developer Douglas Jemal as the anchor for a new entertainment district along the lines of the popular East End/Verizon Center area. While... more ›

The pattern has become almost predictable -- if violence breaks out somewhere in Ward 1, you can bet D.C. Council member Jim Graham will find the closest bar or restaurant, call it a "magnet for --------- (enter violent incident here)" and try to shut it down. Sometimes Graham's crusades are welcome, other times they are excessive. Graham last focused his energies on Joe’s Steak ’N Eggs, an eatery on 9th Street NW that was the... more ›

Good Morning, D.C. It sure is getting hot in here, and for once, we don't just mean the weather. The Post reports this morning that the Voting Rights Bill is making some progress in the Senate. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), a co-sponsor of the bill, announced that the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which he chairs, will vote on the legislation Wednesday. And in a meeting with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Mayor Fenty,... more ›

It's a good year to be a last-minute tax filer in Washington. (As if there's ever a good time to send your hard-earned dollars to the government.) First there was Emancipation Day, now the District Office of Tax and Revenue is granting an automatic two-day extension for filling your D.C. income taxes. This short reprieve is in response to yesterday's wind and rain, which knocked out power around the area. Local tax forms are now... more ›

By DCist Contributor Matt Pelkey Taxes. Yeah, we said it. Taxes, taxes, taxes, taxes. Nobody wants to think about them, nobody wants talk about them, but over the next two weeks, D.C.’s procrastinators will all be doing them. Luckily, the Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) will once again prepare your D.C. individual income tax returns for free, and today it added three and a half hours to its work day for the next two... more ›

What is it about historic D.C. firehouses that spark culinary ambition? A pair of in-the-works restaurants aim to address this burning question. As Express recently reported, a pre-World War II firehouse in the Bloomingdale neighborhood is slated to become an eatery called EC-12, whose name references the old Engine Company 12 that used to occupy the building. Architects are currently working on building plans, after which developers will be able to apply for a building... more ›

Good morning, Washington. It's December 20th. Are you still maintaining the farce that you're accomplishing productive work at the office? If so, we salute your spirit. Most of the DCist staff gave up days ago, opting instead to camp out in our office kitchens and wait for the arrival of gift baskets from vendors. How many Hickory Farms beefsticks is it healthy for an adult to eat per day, anyway? Christmas Comes To D.C. Government:... more ›

TUESDAY Tired of running into the virtual junta of returned Peace Corps volunteers living in our fair city and being forced to listen to story upon story about how working in an office every day will just never be as fulfilling as digging that well in Cameroon? Then this event is not for you. Former Peace Corps volunteers read from and sign A Life Inspired: Tales of Peace Corps Service. Peace Corps, 111 20th... more ›

As a Brookland resident, one comes to realize that cabbing home from District night spots brings its own set of difficulties. Despite living just blocks from major D.C. landmarks and minutes from downtown, neighborhood residents learn that when hailing a cab, they're going to have to get in the car before telling the driver the destination, they're going to have to give him detailed directions on how to get there, and they're going to have to reassure the driver several times that it's not much further. Brooklanders (myself included) are sometimes boggled by the cabbie response -- this is Northeast, after all, not the wilds of Outer Suburbia -- but I have come to accept it as part of living on the other side of North Capitol Street. more ›

Summer heat is one of those story-in-a-pinch type themes, there for newspapers when the vacation months grow long and no cat has been recently rescued from a neighborhood tree. It's hard to fault the Post for the attention today, though; after one of the mildest springs in recent memory, yesterday leaped to brain-boiling, shoe-sole-sizzling hot. Temperatures are predicted to moderate, back to around 80, after Thursday, but it's clearly time to banish thoughts of a mild summer. more ›

Right now both the Nats and DC United are planning to leave RFK Stadium in the next few years. That will leave his landmark empty and unused. The probable outcome is that it will be knocked down. Instead, I suggest building and hosting greyhound racing once a week inside the stadium. A track could be built pretty easily and without a lot of cost. It would allow use to continue to use the stadium in some fashion and enjoy a sport that is a lot of fun to watch. Unlike other greyhound parks, RFK could be turned into a kid friendly avenue where people who come to the park are educated about pets and their care, etc. Since there is nothing like this anywhere nearby, the dogs could be sponsored - potentially raising money for other government programs.

Two weeks ago, we took a look at the developing discussion over the fate of proposed development on the campus of the Armed Forces Retirement Home (which we'll refer to as the Home, or AFRH). The post prompted a long discussion and a stream of emails, so today we revisit the subject. The campus site currently consists of about 270 acres, most of which is open space (though closed to the public) but which does... more ›

We didn't mean to, but it seems that we set off an interesting discussion about new names for the city's neighborhoods. As we mentioned this morning, real estate prices in NoMa are fast rising. For those of you unaware of a neighborhood called "NoMa" within the District, it's a large swath of land north of Massachusetts Avenue and east of North Capitol Street, fanning out from Union Station and encompassing a once industrial wasteland that... more ›

We spend plenty of time complaining about the state of the region's public transit network, be it delays on Metrorail, unpredictable arrival times for Metrobuses, or just too much traffic along area roadways. But at least we don't have to hitchhike to work. Today the Post features an entertaining feature on John Schindel, a Stafford County man whose decade-old DUI conviction has left him at the mercy of fellow motorists to get him to and... more ›

In an interesting article highlighting the power of blogs and internet forums in promoting democratic discourse, the Examiner today reports on a heated debate that has developed on D.C. Watch's bi-weekly online newsletter concerning a new $400 million, 250-bed hospital being planned for Southeast. Gary Imhoff, longtime city activist and the newsletter's publisher, recognized the importance of new forums in allowing residents access to large audiences, stating, "There are few places where someone who doesn't own a printing press can really get his or her opinion out citywide." We'd like to think we offer readers the same soapbox, whether on issues as serious as the budget surplus and smoke-free bars or as mundane as cupcakes and gentrified bars. more ›

Catchy title, no? While this may not become a weekly, if even monthly feature, today brings us two pieces of news that may be of interest to cyclists in the District. The District Department of Transportation is holding a meeting today to discuss the possibility of building a bike station on the west end of Union Station. The bike station -- an innovative solution for cyclists currently used in Berkeley, Ca., Embarcadero, Ca., Palo Alto,... more ›

WMATA Plans Extra Rail Service for Saturday. There will be extra trains available before and after Saturday's Wizards and Nationals games, WMATA has announced. Expect crowding in the evening because the Nats play at 7:05 p.m., with the Wizards playing at the MCI Center an hour later. And for the first time, WMATA will run shuttle buses from RFK (at Lot. No. 3) to Union Station following a Nats game ... but only as... more ›

Tomorrow is the dreaded day on which tax returns are due. But for District residents filing at the last minute, the grudging march to the post office is coupled with the indignity of knowing that the 600,000 some-odd residents do not enjoy full Congressional representation. more ›

The weather today should be more of the same - mostly sunny, highs around 40, with temperatures dipping into the 20s tonight. The photo is of a statue at George Mason University, taken by John Windmueller. more ›

The Government Printing Office, headquartered at 700 North Capitol Street since just after the Civil War, may be looking to move out of its current location into smaller offices. The Washington Business Journal reports that the Printing Office has hired the Staubach Company as a real estate consultant to look into alternatives to the office on North Capitol Street, which would open the 1.5 million square foot building to private redevelopment. Because of improvements in printing technology, the Printing Office only needs about 500,000 square feet. The proposed move, according to a Printing Office press release, would save taxpayers an estimated $35 million dollars. There is no word on whether the Printing Office will remain in D.C. or move to the suburbs. more ›

Some residents on Capitol Hill are breathing a sign of relief now that the Route 96 and 97 metrobuses have been steered away from a temporary terror-related detour to a new fixed routing. The old 96 and 97 routings on First Street NE between the Russell and Dirksen Senate office buildings ended this summer when Washington's terror alert level was elevated to Orange. First Street was closed to traffic and metrobuses used Third and Fourth streets to navigate around security checkpoints, irking neighbors not accustomed to having multi-ton noisy buses cutting down their street. more ›

Everyone loves bagpipes. DCist sure does. From the Highland Games to any sort of firefighting ceremony, they draw attention and respect. That's why when DCist left the office yesterday, we were pleasantly surprised to hear bagpipes blaring from the corner of North Capitol Street and Massachusetts Avenue. But we were confused. With the bagpiper were two men from a Philly-area union pacing in front of the Dubliner. They were carrying signs denouncing new Labor Department... more ›

DCist is currently bogged down in the August doldrums. The work of democracy slows down and the workday is generally uneventful. But around 10 a.m., a spectacular multi-vehicle crash provided some excitement for DCist and other workers near Union Station. more ›