Tefera Zewdie was known for paving the way for many others in D.C.’s Ethiopian community to launch businesses of their own or find employment.

Dish of the Week: Bread Bread is often an afterthought, even though for most it starts off a meal. How many times have you walked into a restaurant to be served another rock hard piece of ciabatta with a pat of hard, cold butter? This is something Tim Carman points to in his sneak preview of a baguette roundup in Young & Hungry. We’ll be nice and not rain on Tim’s parade by listing…

Good morning, Washington. If you’re the sort of person who likes to start thinking about their lunch break just as soon as they sit down at their desks, we have excellent news for you in the form of a planned DC Vote rally for voting rights between noon and 1:30 p.m. today. Anyone who’d like to show their support for voting rights is encouraged to meet on the north side of Constitution Avenue between First…

Sex-Slave Trafficking Ring Broken Up: We’d always heard rumors that certain massage parlors in the District offered, ummmm, “happy endings” and other such services. Apparently, the rumors were true. Federal officials yesterday arrested 31 people along the east coast involved in a sex-slave trafficking ring that forced Korean women to work as prostitutes in massage parlors and spas, some of which were located in the District. Four men were arrested in the District following raids…

Good morning, Washington. We know that the news hasn’t been particularly uplifting since the crime emergency began. And, to be honest, today’s stories don’t really represent a change from that precedent. But we have good news! That’s right: Geraldo is coming to town to save us all. Now admittedly, this DCist’s Powerbook wasn’t able to coax any sound out of Fox 5’s new, impossibly Flash-heavy website, so it’s difficult to know the exact planks of…

Good morning, Washington. WaPo relays that the debate over D.C.’s cab fares is getting feisty, while WJLA tells us that the film industry is bringing some bucks to Virginia. On that note, for all of you documentary film buffs out there, today is the start of the fourth-annual SilverDocs film festival over in Silver Spring. From today until June 18, you can revel in the glory of the documentary. From one that follows the inspiring…

Though the area surrounding the intersection of 9th and U Streets is commonly known as “Little Ethiopia”, the neighborhood’s soul food roots have been experiencing a resurgence. First came the much celebrated Oohhs and Aahhs, then the arrival of Brown Sugar, and, just two months ago, A Taste of Carolina entered the soul food fray. Unlike Oohhs and Aahhs and Brown Sugar, A Taste of Carolina has eschewed the carry-out ambiance in favor of a…

Our email list is blowing up this morning with tips to check out this piece in today’s New York Times, a feature taking a look at the once again bustling U Street drag. The Times claims it can hear hipsters sneering in the opening paragraph, and a few of our favorite locales are omitted, but they avoid calling the area the U District, Hipster Handbook style, and overall it’s a pretty neat little read. NYT…

WJLA is reporting today that a new office within the District government has been created to better coordinate outreach to the growing population of African immigrants in the city and region. D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams has stated that the new office will help serve the 400,000 African immigrants that have come to the area in recent years, and will join similar offices that serve Latinos, Asians and Pacific Islanders and gay, lesbian and transgender people….

We first heard the name “midtown” used to refer to a neighborhood in D.C. by a friend who occasionally frequented the clubs along Connecticut Avenue between Farragut Square and Dupont Circle. Other friends have frowned on the term, arguing the name was simply lifted from New York. We’re split on the term: it can be a useful descriptor, though we tend to shy away from the New York-D.C. comparisons the word invites. Do you think…