Via WMATA:The Pentagon Metrorail station was closed at 2:42 p.m. this afternoon to allow officials to investigate a report of a suspicious package at the station. Trains are not passing through the station. Instead, Blue and Yellow Line stations are turning back at the stations on each side of the Pentagon Metrorail station--at Pentagon City Metrorail station and Arlington Cemetery Metrorail station. Officials have requested shuttle buses at those stations to move customers around the......

Once again, the country is in a tizzy over a conservative Republican senator doing naughty things. According to a Post report, Sen. Larry Craig (R-Id.) was arrested earlier this month in an airport bathroom in Minnesota after he became a little touchy with an undercover police officer. (Similar allegations were made against him here, though they allegedly occurred in a Union Station bathroom.) Our favorite part? That during an interview with police after the......

This post from DCist contributor Eddie Kim Isn't it the winter holiday season that's the time of year when we're supposed to gain those extra pounds from overindulgences? It doesn't help that several franchises– especially ice cream shops–have taken advantage of the spring months to hold promotional giveaways. Here's hoping you don't have a wedding dress to fit into anytime soon! In case you missed the Baskin Robbins and Ben & Jerry's giveaways earlier this......

If Illinois gets the slogan "Land of Lincoln," D.C. deserves "Land of Too Many Museums." To be fair, it's fun to spend a day catching up on exhibits at one of the many Smithsonians. It's free and you might learn something -- albeit sometimes a little dated. But what about those other museums? Well, if you're yearning for something slightly more informative and less terrifying than the Drug Enforcement Administration Museum and Visitors Center in......

We're all guilty of it. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in all the things we have to do to get ready for the holidays, that we begin to cast ourselves as the bright center of the universe that everyone else is trying to block out. Every parking space just missed, every biker riding in the road adding thirty seconds to our commute home, every shopper taking the last Wii off the shelf just before......

Just as we were done drying off from Deluge 2006, Mother Nature had to come along and dump some more rain on us yesterday. How rude. And now that NBC 4 is reporting that we may see some strong thunderstorms today and tomorrow, we're starting to question where her allegiances may lay. Rain, on the Fourth of July? For shame, Mother Nature, for shame. Slots Petition Drives Kicks Off: Does anyone wants slots in the......

This summer must be a particularly frustrating time to be an unsigned hip-hop artist. The southern rap offensive continues with wave after wave of purp-sipping, leaning, rocking and snapping singles which, although from time to time laudable, tend to wear thin (though they do make for some amusing YouTube fodder). So while Young Joc is telling us where it's going down (apparently the mall, though I was recently at Pentagon City and the place was......

If businesses seem a little slower than usual today, there's a good explanation -- today is the day that millions of immigrants across the United States will boycott work, part of a protest the demonstrate their economic weight and push for sensible immigration reform. The boycott has sparked divisions within the immigrant rights movement, though, with some groups and advocates in the area arguing that the action could turn public opinion against them. Locally,......

Have you ever been tempted to ditch your suit on the way to work? No, it’s not No Pants Day (not yet at least – that’s on May 5), but you can lose your pinstripes for charity tomorrow for the “Send A Suit” professional women’s clothing drive. Donate dry cleaned women's suits to Send a Suit, which will help low-income women in the D.C. area who are seeking employment. You also can donate gently used......

Every time we crossed the 14th Street Bridge, we wondered what the rotating bar atop the Crystal City Doubletree was like. This week we decided to stop wondering, and hazard the post-urban tangle of freeways around Crystal City on foot to check it out. After some Googling we found out the hotel calls the bar the Skydome Lounge, and that it's a bar with light fare during the week and restaurant on weekends. At worst,......

Where can I get some kitchen knives sharpened (preferably cheaply)? You are in luck. Sur la Table in Arlington (Pentagon Row) is offering a special sharpening deal during the month of October. You can have three knives sharpened for free, plus $1 per inch for each additional knife. The turn around time is a little longer, about three days, during this special offer, but hey, when you are getting three knives done for free, complaining......

Good morning, Washington. Today the temperatures will be in the mid 90s. With a heat index back up over 100 this afternoon the weather services has issued a heat advisory in effect from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m., so stay cool. Looking for something to do? Ben Folds is at Wolftrap, George Washington University is showing "Finding Neverland," and the National Building Museum is screening "How to Succeed At Business Without Really Trying," in the......

That banging sound people near Pentagon City and Crystal City will hear tomorrow morning may not be the usual cacophony of construction noises, but rather "flash-bangs" that are a part of a large-scale public safety exercise the Pentagon will be conducting in Arlington on Wednesday. From 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., areas around the Pentagon, Navy Annex and Jefferson Plaza in Crystal City will be swarming with emergency vehicles, role players, observers, and media types.......

Dupont Escalators to Close on Sunday. Because of escalator canopy construction at Dupont Circle, the 19th Street metrorail portal at the south end of the circle will be shut for most of Sunday. Weekend commuters should use the Q Street escalators, pictured in this photo posted by FurCafe in DCist Photos, instead. In 2005, escalators at the following stations will get escalator canopies: White Flint, Stadium Armory, Capitol Heights, Benning Road, Dupont Circle South, Woodley......

Tourist Time. They're here. Yes it is high tourist season and with it, comes heightened stress for locals. So with metorail during the tourist season, it is advisable to have your SmarTrip filled at all times, just to avoid long lines at farecard machines at some of the busier stations. Besides the main downtown transfer stations, Smithsonian, Union Station, Rosslyn, Pentagon City and Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan stations seem to have the worst tourist crowding on......

In his budget delivered to Congress, President Bush has given an important endorsement of WMATA's plan to build an extention through Tyson's Corner. The agency that oversees such matters has given the rail line from the West Falls Church station to Wiehle Avenue in Fairfax County a "recommended" rating. Considering ridership projections and cost-effectiveness, as the Post reports, the rating makes the project "eligible for 50 percent federal funding." But drivers of the Dulles Toll......

The Pentagon metrorail station has been temporarily closed to investigate what WMATA has termed a "potential hazmat situation." The closing was announced over the DC Text Alert system, and WMATA has posted this announcement on their website: The Pentagon station is closed to investigate a potential hazmat situation. Hazmat experts are responding to the scene. No trains are permitted to go through the station. Trains are turning back at Arlington Cemetery and Pentagon City. The......