Whilst browsing through our usual feed of transit news, we came upon this USA Today article about the Drive 55 campaign -- it was of modest interest, but nothing that seemed to be too D.C.-area related. After all, the speed limit for all our major highways in Maryland and Virginia have been set at 65 since the national limit was raised by Congress in November 1995 (see page 20 of this PDF), and only a......

The Associated Press is reporting this morning that the Obama campaign has announced former Virginia Gov. and current candidate for U.S. Senate Mark Warner will deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention later this month. Campaign adviser Mike Henry broke the news in an email he sent to Obama supporters in Virginia. The choice of Warner really drives home the importance the Obama campaign is placing on Virginia as a potential swing state......

Ick, ew, gross. Someone has illegally dumped waste from port-a-potties into Four Mile Run Stream near Westover Park in Arlington County. Arlington Alert sent out warnings earlier today telling residents not to fish in or have any contact with the waters – including wading or swimming – until further notice. The Post has a story up about the dumping, and quotes an Arlington parks official describing water near the spill as "blue, crummy and yucky......

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine refused to answer any direct questions this morning about whether the Obama campaign has told him they are considering choosing him as running mate. Kaine, who has been named as one of Obama's top three or four choices for VP over the last week, appeared on the "Hands Across the Potomac" show hosted by WTOP's Mark Segraves, alongside Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. It's "flattering to be......

I don't think I've ever seen a group work so hard to do nothing. It was doing nothing taken to an art. They had since February to come up with something and they came up with nothing. It was like a 'Seinfeld' episode, the show about nothing. - Virginia Governor Tim Kaine Well, we were planning to bring you some of the "highlights" from the recent special session of Virginia's General Assembly - but it......

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong Poor Virginia First Lady Anne Holton, wife of Gov. Tim Kaine. She was given the opportunity to introduce presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama at a town hall-style meeting in Fairfax, Va. yesterday, and all she got was this lousy perspective from AP photographer Jae C. Hong. Sure, Hong was just trying to make an event that's visually boring look a little more interesting, and highlight the message on......

Come on, Commonwealth. The Post is reporting that just about nobody is showing up to vote in today's congressional primaries in the 11th District. It's a pretty big race, with Rep. Tom Davis leaving his long-held office and four Democrats vying for the nomination. But people seem to be suffering from election-lag after the months-long primary season. Don't be discouraged; poling places are open until 7 p.m. The 11th District is one that carries......

Voters in the city of Falls Church made history this week as Lawrence Webb became the first openly gay black man elected to public office in Virginia. Webb announced his candidacy last fall and was up against several other candidates for the three open City Council seats in Tuesday's general election. He won a seat by a margin of 39 votes with all precincts reporting. Nader Baroukh and Robin S. Gardner won the other two......

Subscribers to the Arlington Alert email list received a message earlier with the news that some event in Northern Virginia this afternoon registered on the richter scale.The National Earthquake Information Center, via FEMA Operations, is reporting that Northern VA has experienced rumblings equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude 2 to 3. It remains unclear if this was an actual earthquake, or due to another cause. Arlington OEM will continue to monitor.Did you feel the rumble?......

Reader Amber Lupin writes in: I love DCist. You guys know more about D.C. than I could possibly fathom and for that reason, I come to you. Every day I drive up and then down Route 1 in Virginia from about Old Town to the Memorial Bridge. A few weeks ago, multiple airplanes and jets appeared on the side of the road. They are in varying styles, ranging from old-school designs (near the entrance......

AP Photo/Steve Helber By some miracle, so far no fatalities have been reported in the wake of three tornadoes and other violent storm activity in southeastern Virginia, with the worst of the damage having happened in Suffolk, Va., just under 200 miles from Washington. Dozens of photos of the destruction of homes and businesses are being posted online. The Suffolk News-Harold has a photo gallery up, and photos on Flickr tagged with suffolk offer plenty......

It hasn't exactly been hot for the last few days, but the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission wants to remind you that the dog days of summer will soon be upon us, and with them, a number of Code Red air quality days that will prompt the agency to provide free rides on Northern Virginia bus routes. So on Wednesday, April 30, all bus routes in Northern Virginia, including Metrobus, Arlington Transit, Fairfax Connector, Loudoun County......

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (D) today ended a two-week moratorium on lethal injections after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the execution method did not violate constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. In early April Kaine announced that he was suspending all executions pending the court's decision, provoking criticism from Republicans in what is the second most death penalty-loving state in the union. But with the court's decision, announced earlier today, Kaine put executions......

Today the Post is reporting some big, if symbolic news -- Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (D) decided yesterday to impose a moratorium on executions until the U.S. Supreme Court can issue a ruling on a case challenging the constitutionality of lethal injections. Kaine's announcement directly stayed two upcoming executions. Predictably, Republicans in Virginia have criticized Kaine's move as a step towards a permanent moratorium, something that would be unthinkable in the a state that has......

The Post reports on Virginia's move to ban the sale of dishwasher detergents that contain phosphates. Phosphorus has been found to be a major source of pollution in the struggling Chesapeake Bay. The ban won't go into effect until 2010, however. The Soap and Detergent Association successfully lobbied several states, including Virginia and Maryland, the latter of which which already passed a similar ban, to wait two more years to put their bans in place......

It's official: the Virginia House of Delegates killed the latest package of smoking ban proposals in a subcommittee Thursday. The set of proposed bans would have barred smoking in restaurants, offices and other public places. The bills' defeat means a state-wide ban won't come before the Virginia legislature again this year. The House had previously spiked their own versions of the smoking ban proposals. Yesterday's subcommittee action put an end to the bills that had......

The District, Maryland and Virginia are all heading to the polls tomorrow in a historic all-Potomac presidential primary. It's such an unusual primary schedule that, especially in the tight Democratic race, it's made the delegates up for grabs in the region significantly more important than they often have been in the past. If you haven't run in to an Obama or Clinton canvasser in the past three days, you apparently haven't been getting out at......

Virginia's latest effort at passing a smoking ban has received a predictable blow: The Richmond Times Dispatch reports that a House of Delegates subcommittee unanimously killed legislation Thursday to ban smoking in restaurants and most other indoor public places in Virginia. Similar legislation died in the House of Delegates last year. Gov. Tim Kaine has sponsored a package of similar bills in the Virginia Senate that seeks to ban smoking in most public buildings, bars......

The Associated Press is reporting that the Virginia State Board of Elections has received over 400 calls already this morning from confused voters wondering why their polling places are closed today. Some folks were apparently unaware that Virginia's Republican and Democratic primaries are being held Feb. 12, a week from today, along with Maryland and D.C. Virginia voters must be rather eager to cast their ballots. Either that, or Super Tuesday Fever is rather more......

Eep. Just a week after we first heard that the Federal Transit Administration was still a bit skeptical about the Dulles Rail project, which would require $900 million in federal funds to be completed, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, Sen. John W. Warner (R) and a few other state officials went down to Capitol Hill today only to be told by the head of the Federal Transit Administration, James S. Simpson, that the project doesn't seem......

Have you noticed that certain drinks are missing a certain oomph in Virginia? Do you find yourself traveling into D.C. for that special glass of sangria? It’s that oomph that is under debate in the Virginia General Assembly today. The Post reports that a House subcommittee will be debating a bill introduced by Del. Adam P. Ebbin (D-Alexandria) that would amend the 74-year-old Virginia code outlawing the mixing of wine or beer with spirits and......

If you caught the morning network news shows or read this Washington Post story detailing the whole affair, then you may already know the story of Devraj "Dave" S. Kori, a senior at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Fairfax County, who called the school system's administrator at home last week to give him a hard time about not declaring a snow day. Kori found a number for Dean Tistadt, chief operating officer for the......

Last month Flickr contributor sally henny penny posted this photo of a truck in a Metro parking lot in Maryland with a pair of big silver Bumper Nuts hanging off the back. Apparently these fake automobile testes have become popular decorations for a number of drivers in the region. So popular, in fact, that Va. Del. Lionel Spruill has introduced legislation that would ban them in Virginia. Spriull calls the fake balls a safety......

Now that the 2008 presidential primary season has officially begun, it's time to make sure you're registered to vote. The District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia will all hold their presidential primaries on Feb. 12, which means voter registration deadlines are looming. In D.C., you must register to vote 30 days before election day, so your registration form will need to be postmarked by Jan. 13 (which is a Sunday, so make that Jan. 12......

>> One of two correctional officers assigned to guard the prison inmate who escaped from a Laurel hospital yesterday morning had taken a break and left his partner alone with the inmate. [WaPo] >> Del. Brian Moran (D-Alexandria) has announced he will run for governor of Virginia in 2009. [AP] >> Pest control downtown, revealed (and we'd have to agree about the band Ratt). [Penn Quarter Living] >> The N Street sidewalk by The......

Everyone knows by now that talking on a cell phone without a hands-free device while driving in the District is illegal -- even if it is a poorly enforced and largely ignored law. But given the increasing popularity of SMS (and really, who actually talks on the phone anymore? I recently found myself incredibly frustrated that a close friend left me a voicemail. Who leaves garbled voicemail when you can shoot a quick, clear text?......

Good morning, Washington. Well, this is it: the holidays are finally, tragically over. You're once again sitting at your desk. And now we begin the slow, terrible death march toward spring, with only brief, inadequate celebrations of Presidents' and MLK Day to sustain us. Stay strong, D.C. — we'll get through this. Can You Hear Me Now? Hello? Hello?: The ball dropped, the phones came out and... nothing. "Y2K8 Bug" doesn't sound very catchy,......

Good morning, Washington. With a new year less than 24 hours away and an improbable playoff berth for the Redskins suddenly a reality, we frankly expect you to have been skipping in to your offices today, in a total and joyous rapture. Even if you've had to work straight through the holidays this year, we will tolerate no whining on this, or really any other matter, on this particular New Year's Eve. There will be......

Good morning, Washington. The week surrounding the holidays is almost always a certifiably slow news period, so you can bet good money every local media outlet in the country is shamefacedly relieved to be able to find their own angle on the terrifying fatal San Francisco Zoo tiger attack. Sister site SFist has the roundup of Bay Area coverage, and the Examiner steps up to the plate with the D.C. version of the story --......

>> Virginia Sen. Jim Webb has to work this week, too. [Politico] >> An 84-year-old Washington area woman won a Wii bowling tournament. [Examiner] >> "Presents, hugs, fun with daddy, tasty holiday treats, plus Post photog Gerald Martineau! Abominable." [City Desk] >> The spirit of Christmas, revealed. [AP via WaPo] Photo by cyaneyed......