The folks over at Dulles Metro extension are breaking out the construction tools … and the credit cards. $900 million of the $2.83 billion price tag of the initial 11.6-mile leg is in that Transportation Department spending bill tied up in Congress and under threat of veto by President Bush. But with or without the money, officials plan to start work, reports The Examiner. Is it just us, or does this violate everything you ever…

Well, folks, it’s happened. Everyone who lives in, commutes to, travels through, or even gets near Virginia in a car, bus, or train can breathe a little easier. Yesterday, as expected, the Virginia legislature approved Governor Tim Kaine’s changes to the transportation bill, which we detailed last week. The expected revenue certainly won’t dig Virginia out of the hole it’s in with respect to transportation. But hopefully, it can keep the hole from getting any…

>> Do college students like having fun? Well, DO THEY!? Sounds like a job for Laura Sessions Stepp! Pull-quote highlight: “[Professor Frederic D.] Homer and graduate assistant Rodney Wambeam wanted to know what students meant when they said they were in college to have fun. They wanted to know why students rarely included classwork in that definition. What they heard surprised them.” That means if Stepp, herself, was surprised, it could potentially bring the total…

Written by DCists Ryan and Colin Every morning, we enjoy thumbing our copy of The Washington Examiner. With strong local coverage that Express sometimes lacks, we have been glad to make The Examiner part of our morning routine. Yesterday’s edition of the paper, however, featured an editorial that is as treasonous to Washington D.C.’s interests as it is uninformed and poorly argued. The piece offers 475 irresponsibly ideological words attempting to convince us that…

The office of D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and some in Congress are questioning whether the federal burden being placed on the District during the upcoming Inaguration is too much, the Post reports. The office of Virginia Rep. Tom Davis (R) — who chairs the House Government Reform Committee, which oversees the District — said the White House is putting forth an “unfunded mandate.” The White House says homeland security funds are being used to…