Metro has taken its share of heat this year for the way it’s handled crime on its trains and in stations, so it’s not surprising that the agency sent out a triumphant press release this morning announcing the arrests of five people in connection with a robbery and assault on Dec. 9 that may have been fueled by homophobia. According to the release, Metro Transit Police have arrested one adult and four juveniles for assaulting…

D.C.’s jazz community lost its matriarch when Ronnie Wells (pictured right) succumbed to lung cancer in March 2007. One of D.C.’s premier jazz vocalists, Wells began her career in the mid-60s when she started performing at clubs throughout the city. Over the course of her career, her music took her to festivals and around the world. In 1983, she accepted an appointment to the University of Maryland’s music program, where she designed a jazz vocal…

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it’s important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too – two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the…

>> Tonight, Baltimore-based funk/fusion act Basshound comes to DC9 for a night of highly danceable grooves. With Hello Society and DJ Robinson. 8:30 p.m., $8. >> On Thursday, the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage presents Ecuador’s Jazz Envoys, a group that blends the indigenous sounds of its homeland with jazz to create a unique groove. The free show begins at 6 p.m. >> Latin jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera comes to Strathmore on Thursday to play with…

This week we’d like to congratulate the -ist network’s Mother Hen, Gothamist’s Jen Chung, who found herself a recipient of Wired Magazine’s Wired Rave Award. If that doesn’t sound terribly exciting, keep in mind another recipient was J.K. Rowling. Yep, that’s right, the -ist network and Harry Potter now have something in common. Go us. Austinist has a chat with the ever-fashionable Golden Girl Rue McClanahan, and managed to catch some local fashionistas making…

>> The DC Independent Film Festival (DCIFF) opens tonight with a special tribute to Academy Award winning Executive Producer John Daly (Terminator, Platoon), and DCist will be there. Daly will be presented a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the film industry. Having trouble choosing between which of the 139 films being offered this year? DCist will have a slew of reviews over the course of the festival. We’re especially excited about DCIFF’s move…

Chances are you’ve already seen or heard the Robbers on High Street but just don’t know it. The band has been through D.C. a handful of times in the last two years, supporting artists like Fountains of Wayne, The Sleepy Jackson, Ambulance LTD and VHS or Beta. They’ve been the house band on Last Call With Carson Daly and also had songs featured on The Wedding Crashers Soundtrack as well as Six Feet Under…

The sixth annual Washington D.C. Independent Film Festival (the “Ground Zero of Washington D.C.’s Indie Scene” according to their website) kicks off March 2 at the City Museum. The festival includes a smorgasbord of films including features, documentaries, shorts, and animation by local, national and international filmmakers. DCIFF’s opening night includes the world premiere of “Aryan Couple ,”a feature-length film by John Daly, the pioneer of independent film financing. (His previous productions include “Platoon,” and…