With all that went down this week, we thought we thought we’d cheer everyone up by giving everyone a double dose of dogs. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions this week at DCist. Like the rest of country, we were floored by the news of so many dead coming out of Virginia Tech, and with so many of the victims and their relatives from the D.C. area, we felt it important to pay…

If Washington seems a little more chatty today, it might be that the results of yesterday’s primaries are finally starting to sink in. In the day’s biggest race, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), lost to novice Ned Lamont, while Rep. Cynthia McKinney again lost her seat in a runoff election in Georgia. We’re of varying opinions on the Lieberman loss, but we can say this much — please Cynthia, don’t go. Pull a Tom DeLay…

Good morning, Washington. And the rain, it continues, though today looks as if it will be better than yesterday. As Maryland State Highway Administration spokesman David Buck was quoted as saying in an AP article on cnn.com, “It’s going to be a challenging week.” Challenging indeed — time to order some rain boots. WaPo tells us all about the rain, and though WJLA says crews are still pumping water out of Constitution Avenue, the traffic…

Well, being that it’s Friday, make that three happy thoughts. But given that today marks the start of the World Cup and the last day that we’ll hopefully ever have Tom DeLay in Washington, it’s looking to be a great day. Host country Germany kicks off the tournament against Costa Rica — this DCist’s favored team — today at noon, at which time DeLay will be packing boxes in his Capitol Hill office and trying…

There’s a whole wide world out there, and here’s the proof: DCist revels in The University of Maryland’s basketball triumphs, marvels at Metro’s security strategy, and applauds DC local Katie Couric’s new gig. Phillyist is all about the Philadelphia Film Festival. OK, not all about — they still have time for loitering, underage sex, and random wacky news. LAist would have to send a camera around the world to get shots as bizarre as Katie’s…

With an ethics storm brewing on Capitol Hill, politicians on both sides of the aisle are serving up proposals to stem abuses in the system of lobbying for Congressional access and attention. While the final content of a finished reform bill remains very much in doubt, it does seem clear that some restrictions will be made on gifts to lawmakers, privately funded Congressional travel, and the ability of former legislators to walk through the revolving…

L’Affaire Abramoff and the Culinary Scene If you’ve been following the Jack Abramoff/Tom Delay ethics scandal, you may have caught the piece in the New York Times yesterday that went into depth on the connections between the scandal and Abramoff’s (former?) downtown restaurant, Signatures. The article goes into depth on complimentary meals given to various political heavy hitters at the restaurant. The Times mentions that Abramoff is selling the restaurant, and we’ve heard that there’s…

A federal judge delivered mayoral hopeful Adrian Fenty a disappointing blow in his quest to ban the sale of malt liquor and other single-sale alcohol in certain parts of the District. Last year, Fenty, the councilman for Ward 4, pushed a measure through the city council that would have banned such sales. But a federal judge, Rosemary Collyer, intervened before the ban would have gone into effect and this past week, “struck down the law,”…

Taking cues from New York Press’ 50-Most Loathsome New Yorkers, DCSOB (with the help of DCeiver) evaluated, rated and put together a list of D.C.’s most loathsome people. There are a few surprises among a list of some more obvious candidates. DCSOB picked Ward 4’s Adrian Fenty for the No. 1 slot. But on the list include Washingtonienne aka Jessica Cutler (No. 25); James F. of why.i.hate.dc (No. 21); Carol Thompson, the former Riggs Bank…

Just weeks after the launch of Bostonist and Seattlest, the -ist empire moves south to the capital of Texas. Welcome Austinist, which launches its beta site today, just in time for the 2005 South by Southwest Interactive. As Jen notes over at Gothamist, our publisher, Jake Dobkin will be speaking on two SXSW panels: How to Create a Compelling Community Website and How to Create a Multimedia Moblog. And our colleague over at LAist, Jason…