Amid growing, vocal frustration over dilapidated, abandoned buildings on the part of residents in neighborhoods like Shaw and Petworth, a D.C. Council committee approved a measure to double the tax rate on abandoned properties. As the Examiner notes, the move could generate millions in additional revenue while at the same time serve as an incentive for land owners to either renovate and develop their properties or sell to someone who will. The measure, introduced as…

>> Dan Steinberg has some classic footage on “Bog TV’ of Preakness Race fans drunk off their gourds. One guy’s insistence that “this is what Maryland is all about,” and by “this” he means heavy drinking, is just fun for the whole family. [D.C. Sports Bog] >> Fairfax County police locked down Willow Springs Elementary School in Centreville this morning after reports of a shooting in the nearby area. The school re-opened around noon without…

Former DCist contributor Jeff Simmermon has a fascinating couple of posts (warning: photos of dead animals in that link) over at And I Am Not Lying for Real (hat tip: Free Ride) about an apparent feud between two Santeria practitioners in the Mt. Pleasant/Adams Morgan area. Those dirty white doves lying by the curb alongside three little samurai hats made of coconut, their car-flattened heads some distance away — they’re not just some sick coincidence,…

By DCist contributor Analiese Bendorf The Big Apple’s Harvest Export Attention, all ye who still doubt whether one may dine seriously in DC (and we hope there aren’t many of you left), you may soon be tempted to cancel that weekend jaunt to Manhattan. Washingtonian’s Todd Kliman reports in this week’s online chat that high-profile chef Eric Ripert, of N.Y.C.’s famed Le Bernardin, plans to bring his four-star culinary talent to D.C., where he will…

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…

Former DCist editor Rob Goodspeed is pondering why it will take so long (2008?) to break ground at the old convention center site downtown, as well as what, exactly, the city will really end up doing with the area. His take is that an effort by the city to plan every inch of redevelopment themselves, such as the city’s current plan for a $1 billion new main public library and entertainment complex with mixed-use…