Disgraced former Ward 5 councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. stole over $350,000 from the District, and it doesn't look like the city will be getting that back anytime soon. more ›

This morning, D.C. Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan announced that the city had come to a $6 million settlement with contractors who were renovating the Georgetown Public Library when a fire crippled the building on April 30, 2007. more ›

Spencer S. Hsu has the details on the final settlement in the lawsuit stemming from the mass arrests in Pershing Park in 2002. Yesterday's settlement will see the D.C. government pay another $8.25 million to around 400 people; a previous settlement of $13.7 million awarded in April for another similar incident in 2000 means that two Pershing Park arrests total the costliest total settlement ever paid by a city government in U.S. history. In addition to the cash, protesters who were part of the 2002 lawsuit will have their arrest records from the mass arrests expunged. In terms of where the money's going, named plaintiffs will get either $50,000 or $850,000, those who joined the 2002 lawsuit will get around $16,000, and lawyers for the plaintiffs will get about $2.5 million from the city. On the bright side, it's not there's in a budget crunch or anything happening around here in which we could really use an extra 22 million bucks! Oh wait, nevermind.
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Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman gave final approval to a $13.7 million class-action settlement in the lawsuit brought by individuals who were arrested in 2000 while protesting near the near the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The Post reports that arrested individuals deemed eligible will receive $18,000 and have the arrest expunged from the record; the settlement also requires police to undergo further training. Currently, 464 of the approximately 700 individuals who were arrested on April 15, 2000 have come forward to make a claim. more ›

D.C. Auditor Deborah Nichols will be allowed "immediate, unrestricted access to approximately 1,000 boxes of documents" related to real estate deals that came out of the now dissolved National Capital Revitalization Corporation and Anacostia Waterfront Corporation, thanks to a settlement agreement announced Wednesday. Nichols had been battling in court with D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles over access to the files, since Nickles had argued that the auditor's subpoena would place too big a burden on the city. Under the agreement, Nichols must provide copies to the OAG of all scanned or copied documents, and Nickles will be allowed to assert any privileges he sees fit. If the two end up disagreeing, they can consult a mediator or return to court. more ›

WMATA has reached a settlement agreement with Belgian KBC Group over after nearly three full days of court appearances and negotiations. more ›