Thousands of the areas janitors are threatening to go on strike—they’re in the middle of negotiations over a new contract.

Bowser says she has a great relationship with the D.C. Council.

In case you missed this great Post article from Clarence Williams and Elissa Silverman this morning, be sure and read the whole thing. It’s the story of Simon Mahteme, owner of LeDroit Park Market, the center of a neighborhood struggling to improve itself in the face of continuing crime and violence. Mahteme’s store has been broken into ten times since October, and after this last incident, he had a customer help him place the…

Since 1983, Loose Lips, the City Paper’s weekly local politics column, has been the place to get quirky news and commentary on the District’s political figures. But today, James Jones, Loose Lips columnist for the last two years, bids farewell to the paper. Jones came to the City Paper after a stint at WAMU, and his first column was published on March 11, 2005. According to the folks at the City Paper, Jones has taken…

Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of “Friday Night Lights” production to New Mexico. Bostonist was happy they finally found an Anna Nicole Smith connection to their fair city and that an Apple Store was opening up. They were less happy that new rules have been established limiting underage shows and that their Governor is spending…

Many schools are still closed and roads and sidewalks still dangerously icy this morning as the region struggles to dig out of the winter storm that passed through earlier this week. Most of the really bad news continues to come out of the suburbs, where many homes are still without power, and injuries and at least one death have been reported. The Post has a good rundown of the extent of the metro area’s ice…

Classical Music Agenda by DCist contributor Charles T. Downey of Ionarts If you have not done your civic duty and Taken a Friend to the Orchestra yet this month, Washington is not the place to try to make that happen in late May. We don’t have much to suggest for your classical listening pleasure this week, but you can keep yourself informed by following our Classical Week in Washington column at Ionarts. FREE CONCERTS: >>…

It’s not clear if Elissa Silverman, the City Paper’s Loose Lips columnist, knew that her “Secret Santa” column late last year would be her final piece criticizing and poking fun at D.C. political figures. If she had known, we would have liked her to ‘present’ us with an announcement of her upcoming departure. Then we could have immediately applied for her awesome former job. According to the today’s print version of the City Paper, applicants…