You know the deal — we read the D.C. Register so you don’t have to. Laws, orders, hearings, zoning adjustments — it’s everything that makes your local democratic government tick! This week: congressional inefficiency, new taxicab regulations, and more.

Are you ready for Georgetown to become “a party scene late at night with the streets overrun with cars, parking problems and people roaming around”? Me too! Wait….what?

The District’s neighborhood listservs provide one particularly valuable service to jittery residents: they’re searchable repositories of suspicious activity. Shady newspaper salespeople, magazine peddlers, people dressed as utility technicians — just a sample of the alleged scam artists who prowl the city’s residential streets in search of their next victim. Recently though, we’ve noticed another class of accused scammer popping up on the listservs: the guy who sells meat out of a van — who some residents aren’t just afraid will swindle their money, but perhaps also their digestive health.

After my initial pancake-related excitement over this announcement regarding hiring at the new IHOP in the DCUSA complex simmered down, my eye drifted to the “note of importance” at the bottom: applicants with a “food handlers license” would receive special consideration during the hiring process. Seems like this is pretty standard language in job announcements for the food services industry around town. Of course, I had just one question: how do you actually go about getting one of these licenses?