Death and taxes are but two of the only certainties in life, and even in death the government will get you on taxes. D.C. certainly isn’t complaining about that, though.

Ted LeonsisWashington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis pledged last night that despite an apparent negotiating rift between him and the estate of Abe Pollin, he would eventually succeed in his attempt to buy the Washington Wizards. Speaking at an event to promote his new book, The Business of Happiness, Leonsis was asked by an audience member to comment on the potential sale. Leonsis said definitively that his company, Lincoln Holdings, would eventually own the Wizards,…

Abe Pollin Today is Abe Pollin Day. D.C. continues to mourn the legendary sports team owner and local philanthropist, who died last month at age 85. The big memorial service for Pollin will take place tonight at 7 p.m. at, where else, the Verizon Center. The memorial, titled “Remembering Abe,” is free and open to the public, and will feature speakers including D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, Ward 2 D.C. Council member Jack Evans, Wizards…

Abe Pollin Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin has passed away at the age of 85, the Washington Post is reporting. In addition to owning the Wizards, the Mystics and the Capitals, Pollin’s work in developing the real estate deal that became the Verizon Center and Gallery Place retail complex has largely been credited with turning D.C.’s Chinatown neighborhood around. Pollin was also a longtime Washingtonian, having graduated from George Washington University in 1945. From…

As you may recall, the luxury suite at the Verizon Center that owner Abe Pollin gave to the city as a thank-you gift for that $50 million check to upgrade the facility has caused some bad feelings between Mayor Adrian Fenty’s staff and the D.C. Council. Each office thought they ought to have total access to the box, and the mayor’s office even tried to block the Council from getting their hands on Wizards tickets….

Now that the gloves have come off in the relationship between the D.C. Council and Mayor Adrian Fenty, it’s apparently time for more of their amusingly petty disagreements to become public. The Post has a hilarious story in today’s District Extra about a brewing battle over exactly how the city’s allotment of free Wizards tickets will be distributed. Turns out last week the mayor’s office slyly attempted to pick up all 24 tickets for the…

It was an awfully busy day for the D.C. Council Tuesday, so we thought we’d give you a quick glance at everything that went down in yesterday’s session. >> As expected after a 9-2 committee vote earlier in the day, the Council voted by the same margin to approve Mayor Fenty’s takeover plan for D.C. Public Schools yesterday. The council will need to give final approval in a second vote, and Congress is of course…

Mayor Adrian Fenty’s plan to take personal control of D.C. Public Schools took one important step forward today, and may yet take another. In a 9-2 vote that took the proposal out of committee, the Washington Post reports the Council gave the takeover its first official blessing, paving the way for a first reading vote that could still happen in an extended session today. The committee vote took place after Lisa Comfort Bradford, a candidate…

Good morning, Washington. Well, it was great while it lasted. But while it’s true that last night’s rains may have added to the treacherous icepack, and although WTTG has made a yeoman’s effort at convincing us that icy death could plummet onto us from above at any moment, we still can’t help but feel like the golden age of this winter’s weather paranoia may be drawing to a close. That’s Barely $2M Per Seat!:…

Ever since the District agreed to build the Washington Nationals a brand-new, $611 million stadium, pretty much everyone in the region who owns a sports team has been demanding a handout of their own — D.C. United has announced plans to build itself a new stadium on Poplar Point in exchange for the development rights of the surrounding land, and even the Washington Redskins have expressed interest in moving back to the city. Now Abe…