Image on the left, taken the morning of the Eastern Market fire, April 30, 2007. At right, the same view in the evening on April 15, 2008. Both photos by erin m It was one year ago today that District residents awoke to the sad news that a fire had torn through Eastern Market's South Hall, displacing the many food vendors who called the historic building home and shuttering a favorite weekend destination. And......

The United States Park Police, DDOT and MPD have released the following road closure advisories for Saturday's Veterans Day Parade. All closures should be re-opened by 5 p.m. Saturday. Roads closed at 6 a.m.: * Jefferson Drive from 14th Street to 4th Street, SW * Madison Drive from 4th Street to 15th Street, NW * Seventh Street from Independence Avenue to Constitution Avenue, NW Roads closed at 10:30 a.m.: * Lincoln Memorial Circle to Henry......

By DCist Contributor Matt Pelkey On the Fourth of July you light fireworks, on Memorial Day you grill hunks of meat, and on Labor Day you grill more hunks of meat. But how should you celebrate Emancipation Day this Monday? The voting rights march leaves little excuse for perverting another holiday into reason for a meaningless leisure activity. But if for some reason you can't be at the march, make up for it by heading......

Fringe. When most Washingtonians speak the word, it’s usually in the context of dangerous foreign militias or whatever wackadoo mental sputum has oozed forth from John Hinderaker’s brain that morning. But for the next eleven days, Washington is going to come to know the term in a whole new light, because today is the start of the first-ever Capital Fringe Festival, a merry and motley collection of unique theatre, dance, cabaret and decidedly “other” performances,......

More on the church parking issue, you say? Today we find the Washington Times reporting that some Logan Circle residents are fuming at what they see as a concession to the neighborhood's powerful churches, a day after D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams put off enforcement measures and instead appointed a taskforce to study the matter. After close to a year of complaints, city officials promised to start enforcing the city's double-parking laws on Sunday, going......

Friday, the day we wait for with giddy anticipation. In addition to the weekend being just around the corner, there's one more reason to be pumped up: tonight, you can hear a sneak preview of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs new album "Show Your Bones" before the album hits store shelves on March 28. Hosted by DCist and Interscope Records, the good times and good listenings will take place at Cue Bar, 1115 U Street,......

If your new place just screams for a Palladio Toss Pillow, Butler's Pantry Gourmet Dinnerware, or a Eurorack Spiral Wall-Mounted Towel Warmer, look no further than Gallery Place. Thanks to our friends at Gallery Place Living, we have been informed that last Tuesday the District's first Bed Bath & Beyond opened its doors along the ever-popular Seventh Street stretch in the heart of Chinatown. They write of the new store: If Bed Bath and Beyond......

Whether you like the sterile, quasi-corporate feel of the newly-invigorated Chinatown or not, it's near impossible to deny how far the neighborhood has come in recent years. It's brighter, louder, crowded with life, and packed with $5.3 billion worth of development spurred by the MCI Center. But is it the city's hottest nightspot? The Examiner's Harry Jaffe -- a longtime District resident and political observer -- thinks so. In a column published yesterday, Jaffe threw......

We first met Judge Skelly Wright in an earlier Stare DCisis, and today he again dropkicks the law forward in what is, in this DCist's humble opinion, the most important case anyone will ever read in law school. It's not hyperbole to say that if you read Williams v. Walker-Thomas, you understand the central tension in it, and you enjoy just how difficult it is, you have -- congratulations -- just completed the equivalent of......

DCist sources at this evening's book signing and reading by Jessica Cutler, aka Washingtonienne, tell us that the infamous Capitol Hill harlot-turned-author was served with papers at Olsson's bookstore on Seventh Street downtown. Yes indeed. Someone apparently representing Robert Steinbuch, the Judiciary Committee counsel for Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine (R), served Ms. Cutler with papers relating to Mr. Steinbuch's lawsuit which charges Cutler with invasion of privacy and emotional distress. Apparently, Steinbuch is R.S., who......

We once had a housemate who had a winter internship at the Smithsonian and worked in the Arts and Industries Building, that "2 1/2-acre fairy tale castle in polychrome brick" (according to an AIA guide) at Seventh Street SW and Independence Avenue. But during that winter, there was some concern that the 125 year-old roof couldn't support the weight of the snow. The building was closed to visitors, but was still somehow safe for workers,......

This Thursday marks the final 3rd Thursday of the Seventh Street gallery corridor before the summer hiatus. Various galleries and cultural organizations in the area will be open late and feature contemporary art exhibitions, artist talks, snacks and beverages, special screenings and an artist-guided gallery crawl. To join the tour, meet at the Goethe Institut at 812 Seventh St. NW at 6:30 p.m. >> Of special interest is "Gina Denton: Signal" at Flashpoint. This......

Coming on the heels of a weekend in which a well-known volunteer traffic officer was critically injured after being hit at the intersection of M Street and Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown, the District Department of Transportation has released a draft report detailing the city's most dangerous intersections. Topping the list with 13 crashes between 1998 and 2002 is the intersection at Benning Road and Minnesota Avenue in Northeast, pictured at left, followed closely by Seventh......

The Post reports today that a new experimental arts festival is planned for July 2006. The Capital Fringe Festival will be a 10-day showcase of local and visiting performers working in theater, dance, music and other disciplines. According to festival founder Damian Sinclair, director of marketing for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and a relative newbie to D.C., Capital Fringe will be concentrated downtown along the Seventh Street corridor in 20 venues, including theaters, galleries, lobbies,......

>> "Eva Zeisel: The Playful Search for Beauty" opens at Hillwood Museum today. Curated by Karen Kettering, Hillwood’s curator of Russian art, the exhibit is the first survey of the renowned designer's work in 20 years. Some of you may recognize her designs from an earthenware line available at Crate and Barrel. Zeisel sums up her career and her many designs as the product of a "playful search for beauty." Her "Prototypes for Modular......

From Curbed (now sponsored by nytimes.com/realestate ...), we learn that New York City will be soon trumping the nation's capital on yet another thing of cultural importance: a large Chinese arch. D.C.'s Chinese Friendship Gate, which arches over H Street at Seventh Street NW, is said to be the largest such arch on earth. But through the Daily News, we learn that the proposed New York arch will be the largest anywhere. And since......

It had been a while since DCist had visited Jaleo on Seventh Street NW in the District. The arrival of out-of-town guests called for a stylish lunch that would not break the bank. It was time to head back to the Spanish tapas restaurant that has remained so popular over the years. Perusing their menu reminded us of a great dish that can be thrown together quickly and on the cheap. Mussels are inexpensive, easy......

If you have any interest in the future of U Street and Shaw as a whole, the District’s Office of Planning and Economic Development and the Office of Planning is hosting a forum tonight on the future of planning in the neighborhoods, especially along the U Street and Seventh Street corridors in Northwest. The session will address "the redevelopment of key publicly-owned buildings and land, including the Howard Theatre and Grimke School on Vermont Avenue,......

We apologize if we're going into Inaugural overload. But when your city is effectively shut down, it is difficult to really avoid it. So last night, this DCist did a little tour to see what was going on around town. At dinner in Dupont Circle, a friend said of the regular stream of helicopters circling the city's central neighborhoods: "Is this like the Tet offensive? Limos of all sorts of flavors and colors (black, white,......

"We aren't looking to cry in our beers. No one is moving to Canada," says Cory Smith, who helped found the D.C. chapter of Drinking Liberally, an "informal, inclusive weekly Democratic drinking club" that has chapters across the nation. While they drink, they talk politics and hope to build the network of people they feel is needed to fortify the health and refuel the spirit of the Democratic Party, which you may have heard has......

D.C.'s Chinatown is sometimes referred to as Chinablock. Once a multi-block neighborhood, Chinatown's identity has been slowly eaten away by the booming Seventh Street corridor and what some refer to as "neighborhood imperialism" from Penn Quarter's pushers. Although, we don't think that adding Chinese characters to signage at Hooters, Chipotle and Fado's has done much to stop Chinatown's erosion, there is still a good selection of Chinese restaurants and stores along H Street east of......

District shoppers should take note that next Friday, the District's annual holiday sales tax holiday goes into effect for 10 days. The AP, via WJLA, is reporting that D.C.'s 5.75 percent sales tax will be suspended on items $100 and less. This has been an initiative of Council member Carol Schwartz to spark interest in D.C. retail. A similar sales tax holiday runs in August for back to school shopping. DCist suggests taking advantage of......

On Friday, DCist got an advanced look at IndeBleu, the restaurant and lounge on G Street that is primed to set a new standard for service, design and taste in the District. Though IndeBleu is still under construction, you can tell from this DCist photo that the view from its second floor dining room will provide a great vantage point of the Seventh Street corridor, MCI Center and the National Portrait Gallery (whenever renovations are......

Punk rockers the Dresden Dolls hit the Black Cat. Count Zero opens. 8:30 p.m. $10. "Grace," a dark comedy from "Six Feet Under" writer Craig Wright, is now being performed by the Wooly Mammoth theater company at the Warehouse Theater on Seventh Street NW. 8 p.m. $24-32. Nick Swardson of "Reno 911" is at the DC Improv. 8:30 p.m. $15. The International Washington Horse Show has galloped into town. (Ha ha. Look at us. We......

— The Hirshhorn has kicked off its 30th anniversary with the opening of "Ana Mendieta: Earth Body, Sculpture and Performance 1972–1985," a major survey of the artist’s work, in which “art becomes the sheer, absurd impulse to impose your presence — which can include a female presence — on the world.” (Read more of Blake Gopnik’s review in the Post. Mendieta’s sculpture of black ritual candles will be lit again this Friday from 12-5 p.m.......

Before the City Paper makes the web version of last week's cover story inaccessible for general viewing, be sure to take a look at its article "Don't Shoot." In it, the CP went around to the city's more secure federal facilities to see whether security officers would allow them to take photos. The CP had some interesting results. While they ran into problems shooting the Independence Avenue headquarters for the Federal Aviation Administration, DCist had......

Bigger retail could be coming to the District's downtown area adding to the robust resurgence in shopping along some of the central city's main corridors. With Seventh and H streets the new epicenter for downtown shopping (the newly opened Benetton, Urban Outfitters, Ann Taylor Loft, et al) and Hechts and H&M over toward Metro Center, the Post took a look at the status of the rebirth of downtown Washington's shopping. Some critics might say that......

DCist got a report that the Beastie Boys are right now (2:45 p.m.) at the Asylum Wake Skate Snow store on Seventh Street downtown. While it is unclear if they are giving an impromptu performance, apparently there is a lot of "wooo hoo"ing. The Beastie Boys are set to perform at the Patriot Center at George Mason University this evening. Can anyone else fill us in with details?......

We hope you are good with logistics because Thursday is not only DCist's launch party/happy hour, but also the third Thursday of the month gallery walk in the Seventh Street corridor downtown. Tours depart at 6:30 p.m. from the Goethe-Institut at 812 Seventh St. NW. So if you can't check out our party on 18th Street, be sure to check out Seventh Street. (Shown here is a painting by Dupont Circle artist Ingrid Groller, whose......

DCist was in Gallery Place/Chinatown/East End/Penn Quarter (take your pick) last week to take a look at the massive soon-to-be-completed building at the southeast corner of Seventh and H streets. Already, Urban Outfitters and Benetton have opened their doors. A movie megaplex will open soon, along with some more retail, infusing the Seventh Street corridor with more pedestrian traffic. Unlike some new construction in the Seventh Street area downtown, DCist is most pleased with how......