If you haven't yet watched The Artist, maybe you should -- the region's local film critics chose it as their 2011 pick of the year. more ›

In which we share some thoughts on being a state and a little-d District. more ›

The problem with tongue-in-cheek humor? It pushes your said muscular hydrostat so far off to the side that your ability to spit fire is somewhat limited. To wit: GQ's "Welcome to Congress!" feature, which purports to serve as "the Freshman Orientation [new Congressmembers] need to make the most of your time here saying no to the status quo!" -- and specifically, the feature's map to places of note that new Congressmembers should be aware of. more ›

The District of Columbia has always suffered from an identity crisis. It's in the city's DNA. Here we are, sitting in a space that some people around the country still consider a second-class territory, simply the place where a bunch of people in suits come and spend their hard-earned money inside big buildings coated with pearly white paint. We all know better, of course; but sometimes, it just feels like an endless battle. more ›

In yesterday's Go Home Already, I linked to a story which talked about the results of a report conducted by Wider Opportunities for Women. The report discussed the amount of money that people under certain conditions in different areas around the Washington metro area need to make in order to feel financially "secure." Of course, there's serious wiggle room in that phrase, and plenty of commenters argued the validity of the numbers cited -- for instance, a single person without children to support in the District was deemed to need a yearly income of $32,000 per year to be "stable." I finally got a chance to peruse the report, titled "The Basic Economic Security Tables for the Washington, DC Metro Area," this morning, and thought that I'd share some of the information inside of its pages for you to squabble over. more ›

August 24, 1814 -- the day that the British came to Washington and lit it ablaze. Certainly the most memorable moment of the War of 1812, the Burning of Washington was conducted by British forces in retaliation for Americans' burning of the city of York (now Toronto) in 1813, and remains the only time since the 1780s that the American capital has been occupied under a foreign flag. more ›

DDOT told the world this morning that it would be opening up its vault of historical D.C. images and sharing them on Flickr. We know that you're just as nerdy as us when it comes to these kind of historical Washingtonian documents; not surprisingly, DDOT has unearthed some really neat stuff from its archives. For instance, the photograph to the right of Connecticut Avenue NW, taken in 1958. (Check out the separate tunnel for the streetcars!) We could pore through this stuff all day: photos of John Marshall Place Park in 1965 (when Moultrie Courthouse was nothing but a parking lot), Rosslyn before it got all those big shiny buildings, Barney Circle in 1948 and the intersection of H Street and Benning Road NE in 1945 all struck our fancy. more ›

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the leader of the Pakistani Taliban threatened today to carry out a terrorist attack in Washington, D.C. At the same time, Baitullah Mehsud claimed credit for an attack on a police academy in Pakistan. more ›

Over the weekend we all excitedly talked about President-elect Barack Obama's impromptu visit to District mainstay Ben's Chili Bowl. Goofy as it may seem to outsiders, Obama's choice of a half-smoke before even officially becoming president speaks volumes to his understanding of the symbolic gulf that has existed between Washington and the District. more ›

Here's a few more reports by DCist contributors from all over the city last night. Spontaneous celebrations erupted across Washington when Barack Obama was declared the winner of the 2008 presidential election. more ›

Video from 11th and U Streets from voteprime more ›

I'm still processing what happened last night. One minute, I was gathered in a living room with friends, watching election returns come in. The next minute, Barack Obama had been declared the winner, his moving acceptance speech was over, and I was in the middle of the intersection at 14th and U Streets NW with thousands of other D.C. residents, yelling, singing, high-fiving and hugging total strangers. more ›

Former Republican Senate staffer Kellie Boyle has put together a website called "Hockey Moms for McCain-Palin." The LM&O marketing consultant worked with a friend on the web site, which launched today. Boyle, a longtime Republican campaign volunteer, told ABC News that the organization is "pure grassroots," and unaffiliated with the national campaign it is named after, supports, links to and extensively quotes. more ›

With a number of area teams gearing up for a playoff run, it's an exciting time for sports in the Washington area. Here's what you should be watching this week. Don't hesitate to leave your own suggestions in the comments, and, if you're so inclined, shoot me an email with suggestions for next week. more ›

The Washington City Paper's Angela Valdez provides a two-pronged update today to the monstrosity that could be the Late Night Shots reality TV show we told you about earlier this month. more ›

Good morning, Washington. Supporters of Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Barack Obama are riding high off their caucus victories in Iowa last night, but locally, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty continues to suffer some bumps in the road after one year in office. Just weeks after the resignation of Attorney General Linda Singer, Fenty's former deputy chief of staff, Neil Richardson, has also resigned. Richardson, who was a key Fenty aide during his mayoral campaign, had been moved out of Fenty's "bullpen" in October and placed in an office called Serve DC, where he was tasked with creating a volunteer program to help the school system. Yesterday Richardson decided that the demotion, which came, according to the Post, after Richardson complained to the mayor that he was not listening enough to the public on key decisions, wasn't worth sticking around for, and tendered his resignation. WTOP has excerpts from Richardson's resignation letter, which reiterates complaints heard from others about Fenty's dictatorial governing style. more ›

>> 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] more ›

As we mentioned at the end of the day yesterday, Acting D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles has fired Alan Morrison, the lawyer who had been preparing to defend the District's handgun ban before the Supreme Court in March. The timing of this move leads to all manner of questions about how seriously the Fenty administration actually takes this Supreme Court case, and whether the Mayor and the Acting AG are capable of putting important legal proceedings above personal disagreements. more ›

Good morning, Washington. It really is freezing outside, people are dropping like flies from this terrible cold going around town, and over in Iowa, we hear there's some kind of a fake election going on that's going to dominate the news cycle all day. It could all be enough to get us down, but yet, we carry on ... until we read this story about an 11-year-old boy in Burke, VA who has been arrested on charges of breaking and entering and sexual assault. Eleven years old! Kid hasn't even gone through puberty yet. WTF? more ›

UPDATE: Local new outlets have the story that Poke was captured just before 4 p.m. in Prince George's County and is in police custody, while CNN.com says he was shot dead during a shoot-out with police. more ›

With the books finally closed on 2007, we can take an official look at the crime statistics for the year. The Washington Post did so yesterday and found that, as expected, violent crime in the District was up last year as compared to the previous year. more ›

The first baby born in the D.C. metro area in 2008 was Stella Jones. WJLA reported that little Stella was born at George Washington Hospital at 12:02 a.m. on New Year's Day. more ›

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, but that seems to be what Verizon Wireless customers experienced in the first few hours of 2008, as WTOP reports. A software glitch affected some calls and text messages until around 4 a.m. on New Year's Day. Virginia Considers Mining Uranium: Walter Coles' family farm in Pittsylvania County sits atop what is thought to be the largest deposit of uranium on the East coast — enough to power the nation's reactors for two years. But up until now he hasn't been able to do anything about it: as the Post explains, uranium mining has been banned in Virginia since 1982. Now Coles is undertaking a lobbying effort to have that changed. Although the landowner claims that he's avoided selling the land so that he can ensure the mining process proceeds safely and with a maximum benefit to the community, critics say that Coles is motivated solely by money and that uranium mining can't be conducted safely in Virginia's moist environment. String of Stabbings in Virginia: The Post reports on three separate incidents that occurred yesterday and overnight in Northern Virginia. A man was found stabbed in Falls Church; another in Reston; and three people sustained knife injuries after a man was barred from a party in Franconia. The Falls Church incident resulted in the victim's death. Police say the incidents aren't related. Briefly Noted: Maryland property assessments rising despite falling home prices... Third Democrat considers running for Tom Davis' seat... Union Station was briefly evacuated yesterday due to a french fry fire, lower level will remain closed today... Arlington chairman pledges to support affordable housing, pursue smoking/trans-fat ban and keep county pro-immigrant... This Day In DCist: One year ago Mayor Fenty was taking office, Washington was paying its respects to Gerald Ford, and the Post was cozying up to local bloggers. Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user Oblivious Dude more ›

>> A man was hospitalized this morning after his Ford Expedition crashed into a Metrobus at 8th St. and Massachusetts Ave. NE. [WJLA] more ›

A month ago, the Washington Redskins needed to win out the rest of their season and receive a ton of help from the rest of the NFC in order to make the playoffs. And it needed to start in the short week between a Sunday's loss to Buffalo and a Thursday night game with Chicago. And then it needed to start after Sean Taylor's funeral. And then it needed to continue despite losing starting quarterback Jason Campbell. And lastly, it needed to include three more victories over teams with playoff aspirations. Two of them on the road. more ›

Happy New Year! Jerrold M. Post will be at Politics and Prose to read from his latest book, The Mind of the Terrorist. Is there a more depressing way to start the new year than discussing the psychology of terrorism? Only in Washington. 7 p.m. more ›

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 only good cheer and winning humor today. Got that, D.C.? That is all. more ›

Over at Huffington Post, Andrea Batista Schlesinger of the Drum Major Institute has a nice roundup of what she thinks are the best public policy initiatives of 2007. Number six on her list is the D.C. Voting Rights Act, and she has a solid grasp on why congressional representation for the District is so important:

Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C's indomitable delegate, can debate with the best of them, but without the D.C. Voting Rights Act, neither she nor anyone else D.C. residents elect to Congress can cast a binding vote. No matter that the District's population is greater than, say, Wyoming's (two senators and a representative, thank you very much) or that its residents pay taxes and serve on juries, or even that the U.S. is a signatory to international treaties guaranteeing full voting rights.