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With a small bit of fanfare, the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities unveiled a public art project at the Convention Center this week. This "pop-up" gallery transforms empty retail, window and display space at the Convention Center into works of art. more ›

The hugely delayed Washington Convention Center Hotel deal, which in July appeared to be back on track thanks to a city-brokered public financing deal with developers, is once again in trouble. Developer JBG Cos. is suing to stall the start of construction, claiming that the contracting process that gave a 99-year lease to Marriott was not up to snuff, the Washington Business Journal is reporting. The lawsuit could very well mean that the sale of bonds for the project could be delayed, which would in turn push back ground breaking on the project. The city's only hope to keep things on track will be if a judge agrees to toss out the case in short order, as construction has been slated to begin this fall. more ›

Non-profit job search web site Idealist.org is hosting a Graduate Degree Fair for the Public Good tonight at the Washington Convention Center. Prospective graduate students will have the opportunity to meet with graduate admissions representatives and attend a free information session offering advice on graduate degree options for people who are looking to make a difference. The event runs from 5 to 8 p.m., and registration is free. A list of participating graduate programs can be found here. more ›

The D.C. Council has gone ahead and approved $206 million in public financing for a Marriott Marquis hotel adjacent to the Washington Convention Center, the Washington Business Journal reports. The key approval makes way for construction on the long-stalled development to finally begin, after the financing fell apart amid the current economic crisis. Construction could begin as early as next fall, says the BizJo. “We went from a 100 percent publicly financed hotel to a deal that requires the developer to fund the majority of the costs," said At-large Council member Kwame Brown in a statement. "While it’s not the ideal result, in these tough economic times we can now look forward to revitalizing the Shaw neighborhood and putting District residents to work.” Brown, Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), and CFO Natwar Gandhi were all involved in negotiating the arrangement with the Convention Center. 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 ›

What's That You Say? is our roundup of the best comments from last week's posts. So help us out and keep saying funny, interesting, and weird stuff. We know you can. ------ Speaking of weird, in regards to the manhole fire post, Jeffrey has this to say about the Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers in our city: If I've said it once, I've said it thousand times: this city needs to launch a fire safety... more ›

The Washington Business Journal reported yesterday that the Washington Convention Center will be officially renamed to honor D.C.'s first elected mayor, Walter E. Washington. Apparently the D.C. Council approved the name change last year, though we can't recall having heard about it at the time. The idea is a fine one though, and Washington is certainly worthy of having his legacy honored. So what's the problem? As of Nov. 5, the building will officially become... more ›

The National Transportation Safety Board released its findings this afternoon from an investigation into the January derailment of a Green line train near the Mt. Vernon Square/Convention Center stop. The accident, in which the fifth car of a six-car train jumped the rails and hit a wall in the tunnel, injured 20 people and left around 60 passengers stranded in the tunnel for nearly 45 minutes. The Associated Press has the first word on the... more ›

It's round two of the official opening of the fall art season. If you didn't get to check out all the openings last week (and who humanly could have?), spend part of your Saturday afternoon perusing the rest -- our reviewer particularly enjoyed the show at Flashpoint. But block off your evenings for the parties to celebrate the following openings: >> Up in Bethesda, it's the big night for the Trawick Prize finalists, as they... more ›

>> Plans for the District's biggest hotel, with 1,400 rooms, near the Washington Convention Center, are on the verge of being shelved. [WaPo] >> A healthy baby boy was born on I-270 this morning, proving once again that life is really just God's cheesy network sitcom. [WJLA] >> Apparently those recent repairs at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library didn't include water fountains, ceilings or bathrooms. [City Desk] >> A photography exhibit that... more ›

Sitting at your desk, bored, thinking it's high time to find a new job? Mayor Fenty is hosting a Citywide Job Fair at the Washington Convention Center today, and you've still got a few more hours to stop by before it closes up shop at 4 p.m. Head over with a stack of resumes, and apply for D.C. city government jobs like these: >> Paralegal Specialist in the Office of the D.C. Attorney General >>... more ›

Looking around the web site for The Space, the new private club and concierge service that's opened recently across 9th Street from the Washington Convention Center, you get the sense that its proprietors want you to think it's a stuffy lounge space reserved for the wealthy -- there's the wedding invitation-style scroll fonts, the vague descriptions of what exactly this place is trying to be ("For those who love traveling, living, dreaming and discovering,") and... more ›

>> The ceremonial flame for the Special Olympics will pass through town tomorrow afternoon, starting at the White House at 12:15 p.m. and making stops on the National Mall before heading uptown to the Chinese Embassy. Expect minor traffic delays along the route. [WJLA] >> Is a Rita's Water Ice coming to the Washington Convention Center area? [Bloomingdale (for now)] >> Bob Mould is set to release his first ever live DVD, Circle Of... more ›

Are you a resident of Washington, D.C. and looking for a new job? D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is hosting her 10th annual Norton Job Fair, at the Washington Convention Center's Hall C on Tuesday, July 10, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. You need to show proof of D.C. residency to attend (either a valid D.C. driver's license, or picture ID plus a utility bill with your address), the idea being to give D.C.... more ›

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. This week, I (carefully) picked up and began reading The Power Broker, the epic (and massive) Robert Caro biography of infamous New York master builder Robert Moses. Bob Moses, it turns out, was one of the best-trained civil service experts of the age when he first began working for the city. He was, as Caro describes him, a consummate idealist, passionately dedicated... more ›

Over the course of a year, Washington D.C. plays host to any number of events. Key industry conferences, cultural offerings from the four corners of the globe, and marching axe-grinders willing to protest just about anything. But this year, only one group will make this promise: "Nearly every quadrant of the city will feel the impact of Digestive Disease Week." MmmmmMMMMMmmM, yyEEAH! Are you prepared to FEEL IT, Washington? Because a quartet of medical societies... more ›

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. You have to love the really idiosyncratic corners of a city. The hundred year-old oddities with rich histories and lovely faces that look wholly out of place amid more recent arrivals. The Warehouse Theater is just such a place. Sitting quiet and unassuming on a small stretch of 7th Street NW near the hulking new Washington Convention Center, the Warehouse has been... more ›

While a couple of us on the DCist staff are still trying to wipe our minds of the image of the live circumcision performance art that happened last night at the Warehouse gallery (seriously, can you use soap on your eyeballs?), we will nevertheless try to explain that across the street at artDC ... wait, what was happening over there? Oh right, that international art show. When we told you about it last year, some... more ›

It's not over yet folks: April is about to culminate with the biggest art weekend in recent memory. Artomatic and ColorField.remix continue to bring us a healthy helping of visual and performance art, and now we get one big, fat cherry of an art fair to top it all off this weekend, sprinkled with about a billion other shows placed to coincide with it, including one at a particular venue that deserves your attention. >>... more ›

It's a slow beginning to the week as every venue in our purview seems to be dark Monday and Tuesday, but it'll give us all a good chance to refuel before the '07 concert season kicks into high-gear later this week. If you've got any tips for musical destinations this week, particularly tonight and tomorrow, let us know in the comments. WEDNESDAY >> Emily Haines of Broken Social Scene and Metric comes to the 9:30... more ›

About 15,000 people (though it felt like many more) got all dolled up Saturday night and headed to the Washington Convention Center for Mayor Adrian Fenty's Inaugural ball, and DCist was there to capture the revelry. Once we got inside, that is. Along with thousands of other Ball attendees, we were packed in like so many sardines near the entrance to the exhibit hall for over 30 minutes before we finally squeezed through what turned... more ›

The Washington Post reports what some of you who've been out using Metro today may have already heard: six-car train on the Green Line derailed just before 4 p.m. this afternoon near the Mt. Vernon Square/Convention Center stop, injuring 20 people, one of those seriously. The Associated Press has more, describing the 45-minute wait approximately 60 people had before being reached by fire crews and helped out of the tunnel. This from AP:The accident happened... more ›

FRIDAY: >> January at 9:30 Club tends to be a no man's land of lots of dark nights with the occassional local line-up thrown in for good measure. So we think it's great that Taint, DC9's weekly queer dance night for electro-indie goodness, and Black Cat's popular Bliss have ganged up to create INFAMY, a late-night dance fiesta featuring DJ Will Eastman and New York's DJ Bill Coleman, with special guest Daisy Spurs. Doors open... more ›

Welcome to the first morning of the Fenty administration, Washington. As we mentioned at the time, Mr. Fenty was officially sworn in yesterday. The Post reports that the ceremony was kept small in order to avoid distracting from funeral observances in President Ford's honor. Very tactful! Good job so far, Mr. Mayor. Fenty's inaugural address will occur today at the Washington Convention Center. Meet Your New First Lady: We're still not quite ready to... more ›

By DCist contributor Spencer Ackerman It's pretty appropriate for a cooking expo so near the Chesapeake Bay that the first olfactory experience greeting a visitor to the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show is a powerful blast of salty, baking fish. No one is going to mistake D.C.'s answer to the New York Fancy Food Expo -- a 100-stall extravaganza of middlebrow-to-high-end cooking, oenophilia, celebrity chefs and cheap wares -- for the food-porn original. But with... more ›

Back to the feeding trough, all. After spending a weekend in the beautiful and delicious Bay Area, it's nice to be back to the reality of dirty campaigning, impossible political prognostications, and the constant braying that the turrists are going to blow us up. I wouldn't be here if I didn't love it… Restaurants in Anacostia? Is it time to put a sit down restaurant in the middle of Anacostia? That's the question Washington Business... more ›

Former DCist Editor Rob Goodspeed had a terrific post up over at his own site last week which asks an important question: Where are all the retail outlets that were supposed to go in the Washington Convention Center? Three years after the opening of the new Washington Convention Center, only three businesses are open among the building's 11 community retail spaces on 7th, 9th, and N Streets — Abou Master Goldsmith, Capitol Business Center, and... more ›

With so many large cities boasting their own international fine art shows and biennials, isn't it high time that the nation's capital got a piece of that action? Finally, it looks like we have a major fine art show of our very own. You might have already heard the buzz about artDC, but now it's time to start marking your calendars. The fair's organizers have announced that the show will be held next April 27-30... more ›

By DCist contributor Christopher Durocher. This weekend, the Library of Congress, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) each honored the contributions of Franklin E. Kameny, an 81-year-old D.C. resident who has served as a civil rights icon for the past half a century. Kameny’s activism began in 1957, when he appealed his dismissal from the Army Map Service of being gay. He has continued to live an out, proud life... more ›