>> Despite well-publicized problems at D.C. Schools, reading and math scores at 8th and 4th grade levels are both up in the District. [WaPo] >> Tonight is the second public meeting for the Fourteenth Street Transportation and Streetscape. 7-9 p.m. at the National City Christian Church at 5 Thomas Circle NW. [Logan Circle News] >> Westbound traffic on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is closed while an ambulance takes an injured worker to the hospital. [AP…

Classical music has come back from summer vacation, and that means you actually have a choice of concerts this week. Most importantly, many of the city’s leading groups are opening the season with glittering events. Look for reviews next week. >> Washington National Opera is opening its fall season with one of the most popular operas in the repertoire, Puccini’s La Bohème (September 15 to 30). For all its audience-pleasing qualities, this opera is a…

Santa’s workshop has come a long way in the last 40 years. In the most accurate historical documentary available on the subject, as recently as the mid-60s, the elves were equipped with only the skills necessary to turn out dolls, sleds, toy cars and trains, and other fairly rudimentary wood and fabric-based toys. Somewhere along the line, the Kringles must have signed up the little people for some intensive training, because the electronics coming…

Well, Washington, we are now two weeks into Christmas Concert Hell, and it’s only going to get worse. Non-holiday programs will increasingly be edged out by holiday ones, but this does not mean that there will be no good concerts to be heard, of either kind. Let DCist be your guide. We are planning to take some time off from the Classical Music Agenda for the holiday break: for concert information, read our Classical Week…