Yesterday's legislative action in the D.C. Council, typical of end-of-session days, was jam-packed with votes. Here's a few more you may have missed: >> The Council moved ahead on a bill that restricts interest rates levied by the so-called payday loan industry, an issue we've looked at before. The bill passed on an initial reading, and if implemented would place a 24 percent annual percentage rate cap on interest charged by lenders. The Examiner notes... more ›

Two recent developments involving the long-ignored Anacostia waterfront in Southeast, pictured at left, may mark the beginning of a long-standing process to revitalize the largely industrial riverfront property. more ›

WTOP reports that the Chesapeake Bay Foundation has awarded $200,000 in grants to three local development corporations for the construction of environmentally sensitive landscaped roofs ("green roofs") on office buildings to reduce runoff into the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, and ultimately into the Chesapeake Bay. Among the projects on tap is a 68,000-square-foot vegetated roof for the new headquarters of the U.S. Department of Transportation (shown here in a rendering from the building's developer, the... more ›