The rush to get out of D.C. to family Thanksgiving celebrations has already begun, but if you’re still reading DCist, you’re probably still at work and planning on leaving within the next 72 hours. Whether opening up that military airspace will really make a difference at Washington area airports remains to be seen, but WMATA has announced a special Thanksgiving weekend schedule that could stand to help out many of you trying to take public…

Some details are now available regarding the alleged scuffle involving Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), who represents San Diego, at Dulles Airport on Sunday night. It seems that Filner got a little frustrated while trying to find his bag in a United Airlines baggage claim office, and according to a Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police statement, then “attempted to enter an area authorized for airline employees only,” and “pushed aside the employee’s outstretched arm and refused…

The longest day of the year has just passed us by, the solstice bells have rung out, and far to the north they’ve seen the sun at midnight. Here in Washington, we brace for the brutal heat we’ve only just tasted up to now. There is some consolation for the misery mother nature heaps on D.C.’s coming dog days. For many lucky office drones, in summertime the living truly can be easy. That filing that’s…

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are in town today, thanks to Affleck having agreed to be the commencement speaker at Falls Church High School. The WaPo explains that the actor agreed to lend an unusual amount of starpower to the high school graduation ceremony thanks to his friendship with Falls Church senior Joe Kindregan. Kindregan and Affleck met when the actor was filming 1998’s Forces of Nature at Dulles Airport. Kindregan has ataxia-telangiectasia, a rare…

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. It’s easy to focus on the problems and pathologies at the margins of a rapidly growing city. The pains of congestion and growth are frequently more dramatic in the far flung counties, where populations increase annually by astounding percentages and where infrastructure is least developed. At some point, though, you have to realize that one of the best ways to fix the…

Good morning to you, D.C. It may be raining, but temperatures will hover somewhere between the upper 50s and the lower 60s today, if you can believe that, so no need for a heavy coat. The rain will be gone by tomorrow, in plenty of time for all of us to safely head over to Mayor Adrian Fenty’s Inaugural Ball. DCist will be there, and not just for a chance to snap some hilarious photos…

If you’re from D.C., like me, the one great thing about the holidays is that you never have to travel, and all your old friends come to you for a week or two, and that week or two turn into dozens of debaucherous, memory-filled nights, telling stories about the times you used to hang out at Amphora Diner in Vienna (anyone else? Anyone?). Unfortunately, I had one of those nights last night, so you’re…

Since when does HR-57, Washington’s Center for the Preservation of Jazz & Blues, also care about the preservation of giggles? The historic venue is arranged like an interactive music archive, with live jam sessions multiple times a week. All ages come to experience the Ellingtons and Armstrongs of past and present, but now the non-profit cultural center is trying its hand at another national treasure — comedy. The HR-57 organization — yes, notice the “dot…

Metro broke its all time annual ridership record, last week boarding over 205 million passengers since last July – a 5.3 percent increase from the previous year. Over the past week, Metro also recorded its seventh, eighth, and ninth highest ridership days ever. Officially, each of these records was attributed to baseball games. But The Examiner’s Steve Eldridge notes that those numbers don’t quite add up. Could it be that as D.C.’s population and…

If we’ve learned one thing from the effort to extend the Orange Line through Tyson’s to Dulles Airport, it’s that two billion and change can buy you a pretty substantial amount of rail transit. Or, if you please, it can buy you 18 miles of road. The Inter-County Connector passed its final hurdle today, receiving official federal government approval and allowing construction to begin on the highway in the fall. The road will travel from…