Harry Jaffe: In writing something of a goodbye column to RFK Stadium, Jaffe recounts the many struggles the District overcame to attract a baseball team. And though plenty of people played important roles, he feels that one deserves extra attention -- former Mayor Anthony Williams. "The hero of the piece has to be Williams, an unpopular mayor who — despite his wandering attention span — kept swinging away at an unpopular crusade to use public... more ›

Jonetta Rose Barras: In a powerfully introspective column, Rose Barras details a recent trip to her destroyed family home in New Orleans. In recounting her visit to the site, Rose Barras writes of the struggles endured by her mother and sister in trying to return and rebuild, drawing comparisons to the District's own troubles. "Truth told, New Orleans looks and feels like Ward 8 circa 1985: few quality retail outlets, high crime, high unemployment, poor... more ›

Marc Fisher: As the Senate gets ready to debate the District voting rights legislation, Fisher lists the dozen top reasons why senators from both parties should vote to enfranchise the city's residents. The more and more we look into it, the better the case looks. Let's hope the Senate agrees. Tom Knott: You know Knott's verbal insanity is in good form when the title of his weekly column is "It's Gathering of Eagles vs. nitwit... more ›

Tom Knott: Once again, Tom Knott has managed to take what seems to be an isolated incident and turn it into evidence that liberalism of any sort is just evil. This week, Knott recounts the badly-handled trial of a Liberian immigrant accused of raping a seven-year-old girl in Montgomery County. Due to some bad decision by the trial judge, the charges were eventually dropped, though the county has stated that it will appeal. Regardless, it's... more ›

Jonetta Rose Barras: "The District government is spending millions to send children to a controversial special education residential facility in Massachusetts that uses electric shock to discipline students." Wow. Talk about an opening sentence. Rose Barras dedicated her column this week to the 10 District students who have been sent to the facility -- the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Canton, Ma. -- arguing that its unorthodox methods of treatment are reason enough to bring... more ›

We read all the local columnists, so you don't have to. This week we find meat-eaters being compared to Michael Vick, a lot of bum opinions on city schools and District residents being called "granola." Courtland Milloy: According to Milloy's Wednesday column in the Post, your choice to eat a hamburger isn't all that different than Michael Vick's decision to brutally fight, torture and kill dogs for money. "We'll kill a duck, deer, turkey --... more ›

Only three days old, and the District's smoking ban for bars and restaurants may soon get just a little tougher. WTOP is reporting that D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty has hinted that he may seek to make it harder for bars to apply for an exemption to the ban. Currently bars that lose 5 percent of their sales due to the ban can apply for an exemption; Fenty would like to see that raised to 15... more ›

Sex-Slave Trafficking Ring Broken Up: We'd always heard rumors that certain massage parlors in the District offered, ummmm, "happy endings" and other such services. Apparently, the rumors were true. Federal officials yesterday arrested 31 people along the east coast involved in a sex-slave trafficking ring that forced Korean women to work as prostitutes in massage parlors and spas, some of which were located in the District. Four men were arrested in the District following raids... more ›

The recent increase in violent crime in the District has once again exposed what may be the District's most obvious Achilles Heel -- the continuing racial insecurities and tensions that exist between affluent newcomers (who tend to be white) and a dwindling yet historic African American community. Two murders in the last week -- Andrew Senitt, white, young, in Georgetown; Chris Crowder, black, older, around Mount Vernon -- have brutally exposed the city's racial anxieties,... more ›

Discussion of recent crime activity continues today, but not in an encouraging way. The Post focuses on Chief Ramsey's comments yesterday, which noted that criminals are increasingly leaving their own neighborhoods and coming to wealthier places in the city, including areas of the National Mall. Ramsey says this is new and striking behavior, but it's hard to imagine that no one saw this coming. Luckily for Ramsey, the mayor is back and ready to begin... more ›

In the debate over illegal church parking in District neighborhoods, there has been, from disinterested and (presumably) conservative observers, the occasional upwelling of glee regarding the situation in which the (presumably) liberal residents of the concerned areas find themselves. The conservative asides generally say something along the lines of this: liberal types, who pride themselves on seeing the many shades of gray in any problematic situation, now find themselves calling for a black and white... more ›

Washington Times columnist Tom Knott uses his column inches today to address the curious commenting habits of certain Ward 3 Council candidates. The piece (which magnanimously mentions this site and quotes my co-editor) focuses on alias-in-chief Thelma Roque and, I think it's safe to say, teases the inspiration behind her and her grammatically-challenged siblings. Mr. Knott, we hope you know what you're doing. Many have trod this ground before and suffered the consequences. The Post... more ›

We're not ones to agree with most of what Washington Times Metro columnist Tom Knott says. Well, to be honest, we tend to bristle at pretty much every one of his unhinged rants about the region. But last Thursday, writing on the church parking debate, Knott finally seemed to come to his senses. In reference to D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams' taskforce on the issue, Knott wrote: Perhaps the residents of Logan Circle could bring a... more ›

As we write, a bill to address immigration policy in this country is floundering in the Senate, sinking hopes that a compromise crafted in the upper house might win the day and salvage some Congressional humanity from the wreckage that is the cruel House of Representatives bill. Still, considering the potential explosiveness of the issue, the debate in the United States over immigration has been fairly subdued, if not always wisely conducted. Massive protests... more ›

From time to time, we have a little miscommunication here at the site, and the morning roundup doesn't get up as it normally does. Then we play a little game called live-blogging. First Stop: I'm sure it comes as a shock that we tend to hit the Washington Post first thing in the morning. Being a demographics geek, my eyes are immediately drawn to a story revealing that Virginia's Caroline and King George Counties, at... more ›

Making fun of the Washington Times has always been like shooting fish in a barrel, but Patrick Gavin at Fishbowl DC notes that soon we may not have the Times to kick around anymore, or train our house pets on. Founded by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon in 1982, the paper has long bled money, losing perhaps over $2 billion during its publishing run while being kept alive by cash infusions from Moon's Unification Church.... more ›

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... more ›

According to WJLA, the D.C. Council is considering legislation introduced by council-member and mayoral candidate Vincent Orange (D-Ward 5) to implement a living wage for public employees of $11.75 an hour, a move that could add $1.3 million to the District payroll. Orange's proposal comes straight from the top -- D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams argued for the increase last October. In related news, Maryland has put the final touches on legislation increasing the state's minimum... more ›

We've always been amused by Tom Knott, the Washington Times Metro columnist who on a weekly basis directs his wrath at someone or something in the District and beyond. He recently dedicated two entire columns to exposing the "red-light district of Wisconsin Avenue Northwest" and not long before that railed against car-sharing services, loudly arguing, "No one buys the logic of selling parking spots." And it was only a matter of time before Knott took... more ›

It was on December 8 that Washington Times Metro columnist Tom Knott used his perch to describe an ongoing feud between Town Hall, a new and upscale watering hole in Glover Park, and the bar's neighbors. It was also in this infamous column that Knott described the stretch of Wisconsin Avenue where Town Hall has set up shop as a "red-light district" and, even more poetically, as such: ...a fading commercial strip that features two... more ›

We often flip through the Washington Times, sometimes for some comic relief, sometimes to see how the conservative newspaper views local news. In perusing its pages today, we came across a column written by Tom Knott, the Times' answer to the Post's well-known and well-liked Metro columnist Marc Fisher. Today Knott -- often known for taking some creative license with his writing -- describes a conflict between a neighborhood bar and residents who want it... more ›

Politics can be dirty. And with the advent of the internet and its power to spread messages far and wide at almost no cost and at surprising speed, politics in these times can be anonymously dirty. While in decades past candidates and political activists had to act under cover of darkness and under threat of being caught red-handed, today they benefit from the ability to post and publicize information, rumors, and accusations with no... more ›

We didn't think we'd have enough fodder for two installments of our transit column this week, but the Washington Times really is the gift that keeps on giving. Today, we confirm that they do in fact hate car-sharing. And in other news, the Beltway may soon feature toll lanes, and Metro is trying to de-mystify the costs of commuting.... more ›

Good morning, Washington. There's already snow on the ground, as you can see in this DDOT traffic camera shot (around 8:45 a.m.) of the corner of Alabama and Pennsylvania avenues in Southeast. And more will be falling all morning and into the afternoon. Check out Capital Weather for all the details. We heard stirrings of weather bets in comments yesterday. How did you fare? Schools Out, for More Reasons Than Just Snow: The threat of... more ›