Speaking on WTOP today, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell insisted that a bill that would mandate ultrasounds "protects the dignity of women" by "providing them with all the information" before they choose to get an abortion. more ›

Political commentator and vocal statehood advocate Mark Plotkin has left WTOP, the Post's Erik Wemple reports. more ›

From alternative rock to Latino music to as much traffic and weather as you can handle -- 99.1 FM has again changed formats. more ›

For years, WTOP’s Mark Segraves has been visiting on and off with a man called “Naked Ned, the beaver man of the Potomac." Turns out, he actually prefers to be called “Chaosmi The Infinite." more ›

A commenter on radio message boards said it best: "From Rush to Rush!" As first reported by DCRTV, "105.9 The Edge" WVRX has switched formats from classic rock to a simulcast of sister station WMAL 630. more ›

Quick show of virtual hands: how many of you knew that WTOP, one of the largest radio stations in the country, was wholly owned and operated by a for-profit arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Anyone? I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that it took today's news that said conglomerate -- Deseret Management Corporation -- has sold WTOP and seventeen other stations to Hubbard Broadcasting Inc. to come to that realization. Taking the place of the Mormons is Hubbard, a "venerable family-run company" from Minnesota. Sounds delightfully charming! The best news for fans of the station? Their new owners won't be making any sweeping cuts to the workforce -- in fact, the acquisition will reportedly increase Hubbard's employee count five-fold. more ›

The role of the media when it comes to quote-unquote assisting with criminal matters is regularly categorized as not-so-helpful: the vicious pursuit of a bloody headline either leading to temptation to misconstrue the facts of an investigation during the mad rush to be first to report, or, even worse, casting wide stereotypical nets across large groups of people. But the media can play a helpful role; say, for instance, someone opens fire on a group of people and absconds with a vehicle in an attempt to flee. more ›

If there's one thing 'Law and Order' has taught everyone is that when the fuzz have you: clam up and don't say a word. We're pretty sure police departments, and PR folks alike, follow the same rule when confronted with the probing questions of a reporter. But for some, a 'no comment' answer from D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier is more than enough suspicion to raise the alarm. more ›

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Tally up another one for those who argue we definitely ought to be hunting and sterilizing our local deer population. WTOP reports on how one of its own, staffer Pat Puglisi, had two rampaging deer storm through his home in Damascus, Md. on Sunday.

"Debris was flying, chairs were coming apart, pots and pans were crashing. It was clear that these two deer had hit my front door like a SWAT team." more ›

Outgoing Virginia Governor Tim Kaine got quite a surprise today when a certain "Barry" called into WTOP today to speak to him. And no, it wasn't Marion. more ›

Martin kinda buried this at the bottom of his Morning Roundup, but do make sure to tune in to WTOP at 10 a.m. to catch him and reporter Mark Segraves battle it out on the issue of Mayor Fenty's police-escorted cycling shenanigans on Mark Plotkin's Politics Program. Considering the epic comment thread Martin's last story on this topic produced, it should make for some excellent radio. more ›

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty appeared on WRC/NBC4 this morning to take questions from Barbara Harrison on the whole cycling team police escort/WTOP brouhaha. The mayor actually did a pretty good job explaining himself to Harrison, noting (correctly) that his security detail has been greatly reduced since he first took office, but at the same time appearing contrite and promising to do away with the motorcycle escort during his training exercises from now on. more ›

Law-breaking, wasting public funds and an elected official who's increasingly unpopular -- the story had everything you would want in an exposé. So when WTOP's Mark Segraves reported Monday that D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty used a police escort and clogged up area roads on his daily bike ride, everyone jumped on it. Including us. more ›

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's obsession with physical fitness may be about to get him into trouble with his constituents. It seems that when he's out training with his cycling team, D.C. Velo, the mayor has been using a large motorcycle police escort that allow him to both flaunt traffic regulations and tie up traffic, WTOP's Mark Segraves is reporting. WTOP spotted Fenty and his team as they "rode on parkways where bikes aren't permitted, ran red lights and stop signs and created traffic backups wherever they went." These rides reportedly occur during weekday business hours, and there's evidence that they are responsible for a large amount of police overtime hours spent doing nothing but waiting for the mayor to show up for his ride. Plus, there's video! more ›

We've highlighted the oddball tendencies of WTOP's weekend web reporting in the past. But if you aren't reading this stuff over the weekend, you're missing out on a veritable goldmine of obscure and odd "news" -- some culled from the AP wire, others reported on in house, most of it good for a laugh. For example: did you know that the Maryland State Fair in Timonium is debuting a free arm wrestling competition this weekend? (Or that arm wrestling competitions have weight classes and that there is actually a national ranking system?) Rather than trudging out another long-winded story about unemployment figures, WTOP's weekend crew proactively gets out the word on opportunities: here's a comprehensive roundup of all the theme parks in the area that are hiring folks to wear costumes scare patrons at Halloween! (Hey, if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.) Lest we forget the McDonald's blood cone story that we mentioned in today's Saturday Morning Post. WTOP: a must-read for the person in your life who feels the need to spout quirky stories throughout the weekend's social gatherings. more ›

City Desk reports that reporter Mark Segraves was unceremoniously booted from one of the council's administrative meetings yesterday, and by council Chair Vincent Gray no less. Gray claimed that the meeting was closed to press because it dealt with matters of the council's operations, including personnel matters. Segraves countered that several issues from the council's January 6 breakfast meeting—which was open to the press%mdash;were put off and were to be dealt with at yesterday's administrative gathering. more ›