Results tagged “thecitypaper>”

Friday has arrived at last, Washington. Despite the federal holiday on Monday, it's been a rather long week for many of us - though of course, we couldn't hold a candle to the week that D.C. CFO Natwar Gandhi has had. The Post writes about yesterday's lengthy D.C. Council hearing into the tax office scandal, which lasted until 9 p.m. and where it was apparently revealed late in the evening that authorities are investigating the...

Sietsema responds, sorta Last week, we asked Tom for a clarification of the star-rating system. During his Dining Guide chat, he linked to his ratings code, which he posted this past Monday. One of the chatters had the same questions we had, "Have you ever considered a different system for your ratings? So often you will write a review where you rave about the food but mention something else (service, appearance) that you didn't like,...

>> The Frederick Douglass Bridge is expected to re-open this Thursday, a week ahead of schedule. [WTOP] >> Nationwide S.A.T. scores fall, but local students fare worse than others; however, more students are taking the test than ever before. [Post] >> The Post revamped their Style section this week, and according to yesterday's online chat, it will include a new "Studio" feature that will showcase local artists and galleries. The City Paper is not...

Written by DCist contributor Sara Mead The District of Columbia’s Public Schools open today for the 2007-08 school year, the first for DCPS under control of Mayor Adrian Fenty and the leadership of Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Questions that have become an annual start of school ritual in D.C.—Will students have textbooks? Will there be enough teachers? Will the bathrooms work?—take on added weight this year, because their answers offer the first tangible results by...

It's not exactly breaking news, but the City Paper's cover story this week is about the George Washington University and its high tuition, tops in the nation. The somewhat basic article (at least to a GW grad and basketball blogger) talks to a few University officials and a couple of students, but seems a little thin. The article does make a good point (and one that we made months ago) — is it worth it?...

Via Editor & Publisher, the Washington City Paper, along with the Chicago Reader, which the City Paper owns, has been sold to Atlanta-based company Creative Loafing, publisher of four other alternative weeklies in Atlanta, Tampa, Sarasota, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C. The City Paper name will remain in place, despite the other four papers all carrying the "Creative Loafing" name. In a post to the City Paper's staff blog, City Desk, Senior Editor Mike DeBonis said...

It's been since last October that we heard much more about any rock throwing attacks in Columbia Heights. Despite the prevalence of these types of assaults last year, thought to be perpetrated by groups of neighborhood kids, they had seemingly stopped sometime over the winter and not begun anew, until now. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) has been circulating a couple of emails to District police officials and neighborhood listserves: one that reports a...

We got an email today from the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District announcing a little lunchtime commuter fair for tomorrow. It's a fairly benign event, but one little detail jumped out at us: Workers and visitors in downtown DC’s central business district can navigate Metro’s online trip planner, pick up bus schedules, register their bikes, get information on car sharing, and learn about MARC, VRE and commuter buses during a lunchtime commuter fair at Farragut...

>> You might want to pick up your porn before heading to the beach this summer. Ocean City has passed a moratorium on sex shops of all kinds. We can only see this as a boon to Washington's own hard-working purveyors of such merchandise. Not that anyone at DCist has any idea where such stores might be. [WTOP] >> One D.C. blogger has already had it up to here with clueless tourists on the Metro....

>> Normally, Adrian Fenty hearts the press, and the feeling goes both ways. So why did he assiduously try to keep the media out of his official swearing-in Tuesday? The City Paper has the skinny on the secrecy surrounding the event, including secret entrances for councilmembers, who were told to "arrive alone." [Loose Lips] >> Just in case there weren't enough stereotypes of women in power, new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hosted a tea party...

It's been a busy year in the world of D.C. media. People have come and gone, newspapers have struggled to salvage their readership, and blogs are more the rage than ever. Blogging's the New Black Everyone's blogging these days, and the D.C. media is no exception. The Post led the charge in 2006, throwing blogs at every issue that came its way -- 29 to date. While some have received rave reviews -- the D.C....

When Mayor-elect Adrian Fenty announced last week that he'd chosen Cathy Lanier, a 16-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department, to replace Charles Ramsey atop the police force, local media didn't do much more than throw together a few details on her history and her ideas for fighting crime in the District. The City Paper, though, started digging. The paper trail they uncovered on Lanier makes for relatively interesting reading by City Paper standards, though...

As I went up the steps to the Dance Party show at the Black Cat, I could hear the noise pouring out of the swinging doors. The stairwell echoed with shrill cheers of teenage girls, like a bygone episode of TRL. Instead of a Carson Daily or hot pop singer, lead singer Mick Coogan stood his ground in a bright lime green shirt. He thrust his guitar to and fro, shaking furiously onstage and delivering...

Ever had your bicycle stolen? Want to know what comes of it? One District resident did. Yesterday the City Paper reported on the efforts of Chevy Chase resident Evan McAnney, who was looking for ways to end a streak of thefts that had denied him of five bicycles in three years. His plan was to install a small radio transmitter into a bicycle, leave it unattended, and allow police to track it when it was...

D.C. Wire, the Post's blog on local politics, hasn't had it easy in recent months -- after a promising start, posting became somewhat sporadic, leading us to question whether or not the blog would survive or not. It has, and its contributors have been active as of late. Now it has another problem -- comments. It's not that there aren't enough -- it's that there are far too many. And beyond the sheer numbers, D.C....

There appears to be something about the subjects of population, education, and growth in the District that makes local journalists a little nuts. That is what we're left to conclude after reading today's Post article on D.C. schools and the growing shadow they're ready to cast on this year's local elections. The main point of the piece is an incontrovertible one: despite some successes and increased government action, many District schools are failing to meet...

Back in January, I wrote this post on demographic trends in the District. The Census Bureau had just released its population estimates for 2005, which showed a drop in population in Washington of about 3,700 from 2004. I looked at Ward-level data and showed that growth in the western part of the city would likely reverse the population loss trend before long. I'm still happy with that piece, though if I had to do it...

The City Paper's City Desk blog noted yesterday that a Wednesday Superior Court hearing revealed that Christopher Barry, son of Marion, had tested positive for traces of marijuana. Barry was in court for an April arrest after driving his father's car without a valid license. The positive drug test also violates a pre-sentencing agreement from a 2005 arrest for assaulting a police officer. City Desk spoke to A. Scott Bolden, who is representing the younger...

Almost a month ago we reported on a incident where a cyclist riding up 11th Street was hit by a brick thrown from an overlooking building. The City Paper followed up on the story last week, reporting on similar incidents throughout Columbia Heights. Today we find that the news has been serious enough to warrant a response from Council-member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who represents the residents of the area in which the incidents occured....

We awoke this morning to a new and shocking sight -- the Washington City Paper, the District's godfather of alternative press, had redone their website. And not a minute too early, we might add. The City Paper's website was always, to put it mildly, stuck in 1998. Such an online presentation was a clear injustice to what was otherwise good writing, quirky features, and solid alternative journalism. The paper's new site is brighter, sharper, and...

Kickball always seemed the odd man out in the panoply of recreational sports in the District. But the game most of us abandoned in middle school took off, yielding ever-larger rosters of teams that walked the streets and crowded the bars with their brightly colored team shirts. And in typical American fashion, with fame and fortune has come litigation. The City Paper reports today on a lawsuit -- yes, you heard a right, a lawsuit...

Good morning, Washington. We imagine that by now you may have already heard about the fallout over 84 year-old Maryland Comptroller William Schaeffer's inappropriate remarks to one of Governor Ehrlich's female staffers. Schaeffer was initially unapologetic, but Ehrlich says that he later expressed regret — although it's not clear whether he has yet apologized to the young woman in question. The Post covers the issue here; ABC 7 has video of the incident here. Spotsylvania...

I was intrigued to see workers in front of the Source Theatre on 14th St. NW over the weekend hanging a marquee sign for the opening of David Mamet's Boston Marriage on Feb. 17. For one thing, the Source Theatre Company has been basically closed for 2 years. For another, I had heard last month at a neighborhood association meeting that the building was likely being sold to the owners of Bedrock Billiards, who plan...

New development in the historic Shaw neighborhood has put two restaurateurs' liquor licenses on uncertain footing and sparked a conflict about the future of the neighborhood. The restaurants are located on Ninth Street between the new Convention Center and Rhode Island Avenue, just blocks from both the Mt. Vernon Square and Shaw Metro stations and steps from where this DCist lives. They also both happen to be located a stone's throw from Shiloh Baptist Church,...

Wondering about the Next Kliman After yesterday's news that Todd Kliman was leaving the City Paper, we got to wondering about who his eventual replacement would be. Kliman -- like many food writers -- did not get the position from any formal "food writing" training, but from a love of writing and food. In a prior life, he was one of Howard University's coolest professors, and it took him a year to finally land a...

We hope you had a good weekend Washington. This photo was taken by DCist's Kyle Gustafson at The Futureheads' show at the 9:30 Club on Saturday. Read our review of that show and Spoon's performance on Friday. In the meantime, here's what you may have missed on DCist over the past few days. -- Current newspapers to wed Voice of the Hill. -- Have you ever wondered what it's like to prod a poodle with...

Sorry for the lack of posts today. This DCist was run off the road by a black Volvo while biking yesterday after work up near Battery Kemble Park. We're OK, for the most part (no broken bones), but our body really hurts after hitting a tree. So we're at home in bed (laptop nearby) and Kyra Phillips' voice on CNN is starting to cause acute ringing in our ears. Additionally, when we read the City...

The City Paper has an enjoyable cover story about the slow disappearance of jukeboxes in D.C., and how jukebox junkies are reacting.Today, D.C. Vending operates about 125 jukeboxes, about half of them in bodegas and other Latin-music joints. "They stopped playing music like they used to," Tom says. "There's not as many 'Cheers' around....That's given way to the T.G.I. Friday's, the big places." The big places like to supply the music for free, via a...

A massive new condominium and retail development will break ground Friday in Columbia Heights, a community which is for many the poster child for gentrification in D.C. The City Paper shone a light on some of the more absurd and sobering events in the neighborhood this week with a cover story featuring excerpts from a public neighborhood listserv, where tensions between old and new residents crackle in terse emails. Among our favorites, not included in...

This week's City Paper cover story examines gentrification in Columbia Heights from an unusual source: a busy community email list active since 1999. The City Paper writers delve into this email list in search of poignant, funny, and ridiculous stories from a neighborhood in transition. (Oddly, they didn't provide a link to the group anywhere in the story.) Between a brief contextual introduction and the "Illustrations by Derf" the entire article is drawn from the...