FRIDAY: >> Bay Area songstress Goapele’s (pictured) musical background is almost as diverse as her ethnic background. Born to a South African political exile father and a mother whose parents survived the Holocaust, she studied at the Berklee College of Music and later would form musical partnerships with the likes of hip-hop acts like the Hieroglyphics crew and E-40. However her 2005 release, Change It All, established her as especially talented when it comes to......

The Police made their way back to the District last night, playing their first show in town in over 24 years. Their last D.C. show was on August 22, 1983, when they graced the stage at the Capital Center. The crowd at the Phone Booth welcomed Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland with a huge ovation when Summers strode on stage and began the riff for "Message In A Bottle." Were you in attendance......

Editors Note: We enjoyed the tour diaries J. Tom Hnatow wrote for us as part of These United States' last tour, so we asked him if he wouldn't mind doing it again as the band embark on their first ever intercontinental tour of the UK and Europe. He graciously agreed. Look for his dispatches from the road abroad over the next few weeks. Checking my pockets every ten seconds for passport, work permit, wallet, boarding......

Now this is a "Wow" photo. Flickr user chapulin colorado woke up at some ridiculous hour to take this early morning shot of a plane taking off from Washington National Airport. The dramatic 8 second exposure from Gravelly Point Park leaves us only with the light trails as they arch up into the air. EXIF.......

Good morning, Washington, and welcome to a world of omnipresent peril. That's what it seems like, anyway, given the constant stream of recalls that we've been facing lately. This morning's additions to the list of things that are trying to kill you and your family: children's cribs and Mattel toys. Oh, and microwave popcorn — but then, that stuff's so delicious that you probably already suspected its deadliness. Firefighter Sex Ring Press Conference: WUSA......

>> Mayor Fenty has named Shannon Lee Hader, an epidemiologist and public health physician who has directed the U.S. AIDS program in Zimbabwe, to head the District's HIV/AIDS Administration. [WaPo] >> D.C. Law enforcement officials are trying to seize control of a house at 1923 Rhode Island Avenue NE, a long-time location for illicit activity. [WJLA] >> A small plane crash landed in the Hollywood area of St. Mary's County. Two of three passengers......

Hey look, someone who writes for Gawker doesn't know where to go out in D.C., and thinks that everyone who lives here works for the government and never changes out of their work clothes! How adorable.Yesterday, I was trying to get home from Miami, but the weather had other plans, and the plane I was on got diverted to Washington, D.C. To Dulles Airport, to be exact, which is way farther outside of the city......

Good morning, D.C. If you're like us (and presumably since you're reading this, you are), you love to follow local news, especially for those few stories that come up every now again that manage to combine two of the local media's favorite tropes: fear mongering and funny names. For example, just when you thought the intersex fish problem in the Potomac had drifted off into the ethereal plane of being old news, the Sierra Club......

>> Sometimes you get a craving, and sometimes that craving is for fish somewhat pre-digested in citric acid. MMMMMM! Start your summer right and get your weekend-only ceviche at Taqueria Distrito Federal. [Counter Intelligence] >> United Airlines flight 897, scheduled to leave Dulles for Beijing today, had an engine flame-out soon after it took off at 12:55 p.m. The plane returned to the airport and landed safely The flight had 330 passengers and 19 crew......

Heck yeah, Washington! It's the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend, and we sure hope you're leaving early today. Whether you're staying in town to enjoy a little extra breathing room or escaping via bus, train, car or plane, we'd like to wish you a wonderful and safe weekend. If you're like me, you're driving out to the beach despite surging gas prices -- but according to the WaPo, we're not alone. According to AAA Mid-Atlantic,......

>> "Man, if I am ever refused service at a publicly funded institution for wearing a political shirt, I am leaving that fucking place in handcuffs. Someone gets their rights trampled on and she responds with a vegan cake? That is so fucking weak. Grow a pair." [why.i.hate.dc] >> "If you’ve always wanted one of Sen. John Edwards’ $400 haircuts, now’s your chance. Duvall’s Hair Co., in McPherson Square, put a sign outside its......

The Royal Shakespeare Company sure knows how to dress up a production. Whether it be looming sets, dramatic lighting effects, or gripping lead actors, the company adds a sense of gravitas to even the lesser of Shakespeare’s works. This is certainly the case for their commanding Coriolanus, now being staged at the Kennedy Center. Coriolanus isn’t the most layered of the Bard’s works – it has some interesting themes such as the danger of mob......

Yeah, it's just a plane. Sure, we're used to the familiar sounds of government officials buzzing around Washington in a fleet of helicopters, seemingly omnipresent in the city's skies. While not clogging up streets, the executive branch, along with many other agencies with their own choppers, can often be seen hovering over D.C. Tonight, though, the skies will be unusually busy due to massive military exercise. The North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, is......

>> University of Maryland students continue to protest on-campus housing cutbacks. Today the school's Board of Regents met, with residents of a growing tent city looking on. [The Diamondback] >> One of the best variations on D.C.'s endless tourist season is the junior high field trip. Metroblogging DC has some tips for students and residents. >> The National, who confirmed to DCist last year that they don't hate our city, will join Arcade Fire......

Good morning, Washington. We've been hearing some excellent reports from the frontlines of the celebrations in Georgetown last night, after the Hoyas came back from a 10 point deficit to beat the Tar Heels 96-84. Thousands of students filled M Street in their exuberance, chanting "Hoya Saxa" at the top of their lungs. A smaller group apparently ran all the way to the White House, where the Secret Service asked them to keep it down.......

>> Was your commute this morning a mess thanks to a failure on the part of WMATA to plan for the DST switch? [DC Metblogs] >> Remember when we asked you about police presence in your neighborhood? Don't forget to fill out the MPD's official Community Survey before it closes on Wednesday, so you can tell them what's going on where you live directly. >> Army Surgeon General has requested early retirement in the......

While it might be a little premature to assume that we're definitely going to get a vote in Congress, the news from the Hill has caused us to spend the better part of the day pondering what the newfound freedom will feel like. And in our happy world, District residents will pour into the streets, embrace and break into spontaneous dance to the tune of "Dancin' in the Street" and "We Built this City."......

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. Austinist said goodbye to their co-editor (sell-out) and played rumor monger on the SXSW lineup. And when dozens of dead birds littered downtown Austin, it's......

Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan is something of an arthouse darling, having made a name for himself as a maker of slow, sprawling Antonioni-esque explorations of loneliness, isolation and emotional repression. In his latest film, Climates, he does not disappoint his usual audience. The film stars Ceylan and his real-life wife, Ebru, as a vacationing couple on the verge of a breakup. It takes place over three seasons, or three climates, as Isa (Ceylan), an......

There is nothing slow and steady about Middle Distance Runner. The local pop rockers have had quite an accelerated year of achievement and attention with the release of their debut album Plane In Flames back in June. It was a very promising record from a group of guys who have been playing together for a while but just recently started taking their work more seriously. And as a result, they have produced a collection of......

We couldn't help but ask ourselves a few questions after hearing that Matthew Fox would be in D.C. to promote his new movie, We Are Marshall. Did he finally get off the island for the interview, or were we just going to be in another one of his flashbacks? How would we get answers out of a man who spent days refusing to cooperate with "the others" in an old empty shark tank? Would it......

Here's bettin' that most of us will be hopping on a plane in the coming weeks to go visit friends and family over the holiday season. With increasing security lines, liquid fiascoes and general holiday logjams, the trip probably isn't one that anybody is looking forward to. But which airport will get us to our destination fastest? There can only be one... and it turns out the best and fastest place to begin your travels......

For once, we could afford to buy a CD at Tower Records. Unfortunately, the pickings were slim and the occasion sad. In October the national record store chain succumbed to the pressure of its online competitors, selling the assets from its 85 stores to a liquidation firm and marking the end of a generation of music buyers who preferred to curiously browse through unknown bands at the advice of knowledgeable, if surly clerks. Since then,......

We start off this Monday morning with the very sad news that Star Foster, a co-editor of sister site Phillyist, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday morning. Phillyist will be going dark for a few days out of respect for Foster, who was with the site since its inception. Here at DCist, and across the -ist network, we offer our condolences and thoughts for her friends and family. Gallaudet Taps New President: The board of......

Good morning, Washington. We apologize: it's not even December, and here we are running pictures of Christmas trees. But everyone else is doing it! More than one area radio station has already switched to 24x7 holiday music, and trees and tinsel are popping up everywhere. It's hard to resist when Flickrites like lancehayden start putting up appealing shots of the yuletide frenzy. Fairfax Restricts Handouts For The Homeless: It's getting tougher to feed the......

Happy day before Thanksgiving, everyone. The holiday weekend isn't getting off to the most auspicious start here at DCist, since our browser keeps crashing before we get a chance to save our work, thus the lateness of the usual morning roundup. But really we feel worse for those of you about to head out of town today, whether by car, plane, bus or train, everyone seems to be predicting the worst holiday travel day in......

Have you reached Snakes on a Plane-level saturation yet? Are you ready to smack the next person you hear doing a bad Kazakh accent? Do you just not see the humor in two grown men wrestling naked in a hotel room? Did you welcome a dozen channels of dedicated election coverage as a break from Borat media over-exposure, but really couldn't enjoy it because you lived in constant fear that Sasha Baron Cohen would crash......

As if we needed more rain and clouds in the forecast, today the District gets...more rain and clouds. There seems to be at least some hope of sunshine for the weekend, at least. Homeless Want Help, not Handouts: Yesterday, a task force comprised of government and private agencies had the first of many hearings to come about helping the city's homeless, with a particular focus on finding them shelter for fast-approaching winter. As NBC4 reports,......

Let's look back at a week in which no site in the -ist network adopted anyone from Africa... -Austinist reveled in the dumb antics of some U.T. law students and posted some great audio from former New Orleans natives who've decided to stay in Austin. But the best news for Austinist? They were voted Best Local Entertainment Web Site by the local Austin alt-weekly. Congrats, Austinist. -DCist gloried in being told their musical tastes made......

Halloween's just about here and there's a whole host of costume ideas you haven't yet explored. Forget going as a snake on a plane, a sexy devil/nursemaid/Little Red Riding Hood, or some sort of tasteless Mark Foley political reference. What about going as Lola from Damn Yankees? Adelaide from Guys And Dolls? M. Butterfly him/herself? Ok, these ideas may be too obscure for your typical Saturday night costumed blowout. But if you've got a theatrical......