The Examiner ran a story on Monday about Bloomingdale’s recent round of talks with the city regarding opening a new store in downtown D.C. Along with the recently approved development at the Old Convention Center site, sources in the Fenty administration told Michael Neibauer that the talks have included the controversial Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 9th and G Streets NW as a “possible option” for the store. The library, as you’ll recall,…

What is Modern? Is it a teapot, an office chair, or the architecture of a building? Is it characterized by clean lines and minimalist tendencies? Something mass-produced for the worker and staunchly anti-Bourgeois? Is it an idealist utopia? This is the question that the Corcoran set out to answer in its exhibit Modernism Designing a New World, 1914 – 1939. Showcasing over 400 works encompassing a broad range of media, including industrial and graphic design,…

While D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty officially pays tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today at the University of the District of Columbia, one question comes to mind — how well has the District actually guarded and promoted King’s legacy? Given the state of a library and an avenue named after the famed civil rights fighter, not too well. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library stands as a contradiction at the corner of Ninth…

UPDATE: We’ve now gotten word from intrepid boy reporter Kriston Capps that the D.C. Council’s Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation voted to table Bill 16-734, in a motion brought by At-Large Councilmember Carol Schwartz, which carried 3 to 2 with Marion Barry, Schwartz and surprise vote Vincent Gray against Kathy Patterson and Phil Mendelson. What does this mean for the future of Williams’ library plan? Hard to say. Tabling a bill is usually a…

Top ‘o the morning to ya! It’s Tuesday and for many taking Thursday and Friday off, it’s already mid-week. Woo Hoo! Here’s your early hump-day roundup. Roads Are All the Rage: AAA says this Thanksgiving weekend will see nearly 39 million people hit the road. That’s an increase of 2.7 percent giving this year the title of Worst. Traffic. Ever. VDOT predicts Wednesday afternoon and evening will be the peak travel times and suggest arriving…

D.C. Mayor Williams officially introduced legislation Tuesday to approve the financing of a new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. Dubbed the Library Transformation Act of 2006, the Mayor’s plan calls for a new “State-of-the-Art Central Library” to be located at the nearby site of the old convention center. The new Library would act as an anchor for a larger development plan that would include “new office, retail and housing” space around the site. The…

There’s no question that something needs to be done with the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, which, after 30 years of neglect and mismanagement, is in about as good a shape as a D.C. group house populated solely by young men in their first two years out of college. The carpet is threadbare, nothing works like it’s supposed to, and it’s really a pretty depressing place to read. Not exactly qualities you hope for…

The Year of the Dog kicked off with a bang yesterday, as revelers celebrated the traditional Chinese New Year’s festivities by eating, eating, and eating some more, writes the Examiner. Residents and visitors alike packed Chinatown’s many eateries for chicken, dumplings, and mandarin oranges as a parade proceeded down H Street. Chinatown is home to a number of traditional Chinese restaurants, including China Doll, Chinatown Garden, Tai Shan, Li Ho, Chipotle, Hooters, Potbelly, and…

A letter writer in today’s Post responds to Marc Fisher’s Aug. 5 column on the plight of the D.C. public libraries, where he supported a plan to sell the old Martin Luther King Library downtown and move the library into the old convention center. The writer notes the proposal would create a “much smaller” library located “under a hotel” and she says “Any proposal to revitalize the city’s libraries must focus on investing in neighborhood…