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December 4, 2008
This has been everywhere already, but we're still giggling over the story of how Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) hung up on President-Elect Barack Obama because she thought he was a prank caller. And then issued a press release about it, in which her office misspelled both Obama's first name and the last name of Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. Given how many media and communications professionals are being laid off around town these days,...
Continue Reading "Competent Press Secretary Needed for Fla. Congresswoman "
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add to del.icio.usWhen our pals at Chicagoist forwarded us a link to their post about how the U.S. Supreme Court is actually going to consider whether to take up a lawsuit challenging President-Elect Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship, we thought it had to be a joke. But no, this is sort of really happening tomorrow, and although it's almost assured of going no further than merely appearing on Friday's court meeting schedule, it will bring with it a...
Continue Reading "Obama Birth Certificate Doubters Coming to D.C."We already warned you, but just in case you are, for some totally insane reason, thinking of trying to drive or take a taxi anywhere near the White House in the next four hours, just say no! The National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony/pageant starts in one hour. Streets will be closed. Pedestrians will be EVERYWHERE. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to travel by motor vehicle through this part of downtown. Thanks for your cooperation....
Continue Reading "Friendly Reminder About National Christmas Tree Lighting"
The Presidential Inaugural Committee announced today that the entire length of the National Mall will be opened to the public for the inauguration of Barack Obama on Jan. 20, a first for any modern presidential inauguration. Here's The AP story. Previously, the far portions of the National Mall had been closed off for use as a staging area for the inaugural parade. The change will allow a lot more people to stand out in the...
Continue Reading "Entire National Mall to Be Open for Inauguration"We're excited to start running occasional DCist Videos original features. Consider this dispatch from the opening of the U.S. Captiol Visitor Center on Tuesday as a small taste of things to come....
Continue Reading "DCist Videos: The U.S. Capitol Visitor Center"Advertisement: DCist Continues Below!
December 4, 2008
In case you missed it, the Dulles Rail project, aka the Silver line, finally got official approval from the Federal Transit Administration for the first phase of the project yesterday. The approval allocated $5.2 billion for the Falls Church to Wiehle Avenue section of the line, while the extension to Dulles itself will come in the second phase. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and the Office of Management and Budget still need to sign...
Continue Reading "Dulles Rail Gets Crucial Approval"A memorial service for the victims of last week's terror attacks in Mumbai will be held this afternoon on the American University campus. The event, hosted by three Washington based Jewish organizations along with AU's South Asian Student Association and School of International Service, invites the public to "join the Indian and Jewish communities in expressing solidarity with the people of India." The memorial service is scheduled to run from 4:45-5:45 at the school's Mary...
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That’s What He Said: Last week, the Ravens creamed the Bengals as expected, while the Giants creamed the Redskins, which everyone should have expected. Defense, as usual, is the backbone of the Ravens’ organization – not good news for a ‘Skins team that managed only one touchdown Sunday against the Giants. The Ravens rank even higher than the Giants defensively (Baltimore is second overall). Meanwhile, Jason Campbell has been sacked more than any quarterback this...
Continue Reading "'Skins Week 14 Preview: @ Baltimore"
Access Hollywood gets the credit for the big scoop that Oprah Winfrey has announced she will bring her wildly popular television show to Washington for the presidential inauguration. The media magnate said she will broadcast from the Kennedy Center's Opera House during the week of Jan. 20. Washington is "the place to be,” she told the entertainment program. The New York Times says Oprah will tape one show here for sure on Jan. 19, and...
Continue Reading "Oprah Winfrey to Bring Her Show to D.C. for Inaugural Week"
Good morning, Washington. We know a lot of you were sweating the fate of Bethesda-based Chevy Chase Bank, the largest local bank in the D.C. area, so we're definitely curious to hear your reaction to the news that it has been bought by Capital One Financial Corp. for $520 million. Other than their fantastically annoying credit card commercials, none of us has much experience with Capitol One's commercial banking arm, which has only been around...
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup: Taking Out the Trash Edition"December 3, 2008
Photo by Pianoman75 The WashCycle gives good news to anyone (like this DCist editor) who has had all or part of their bicycle stolen lately: there's going to be a used bike sale on Saturday at Big Bear Cafe in Bloomingdale.The Citizens of Oakwood Street would like a few garbage cans and help cleaning up their block from DPW. The death of a Northeast man who died hours after being treated by paramedics is...
Continue Reading "Go Home Already: The Shadow Knows"Remember the Christmas-themed White House Hannukah party invitations the Bushes sent out? Well the New York Post followed up today with news that the hubbub over the mistake forced the first family to send out a new round of invites yesterday, this time with a menorah on them and a note saying, "Please accept our apologies as the invitation you previously received had the incorrect artwork on it." Hopefully however many Jewish leaders there are...
Continue Reading "Bushes Send Out Revised Hanukkah Invites"WJLA says there is a scary cloud of noxious dust coming from a construction site at 17th and H Streets NW. We confess we haven't noticed such a cloud, but at least a few workers in the area are complaining of symptoms like burning eyes and difficulty breathing, according the report. Have any of you noticed this?...
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WTOP has a copy of a letter the D.C. Council sent to President-Elect Obama, urging him to place the District's "Taxation Without Representation" license plates on his presidential limousine. No big shock that the Council would push for the pro-D.C. voting rights symbol, but is it somewhat surprising that both Mayor Adrian Fenty and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton have said they will not press the issue with Obama? Probably not. Fenty and Norton want to...
Continue Reading "Should D.C. Push Obama to Use "Taxation Without Representation" License Plates?"D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced this afternoon that five men have been arrested for the killing of 13-year-old Alonzo Robinson and shooting of four other people in Trinidad last July. The shooting spree was one of the worst incidents in a wave of increased violence in Trinidad that lead police to establish controversial checkpoints in the area. Police say the five men, all from the Kenilworth-Parkside area, sprayed gunfire in the neighborhood in an...
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December 3, 2008
As the editor of a news web site, I can sympathize with the need to find a quick photo to accompany a short item. Sometimes, when you're in a hurry, you just need to grab the best thing you can find and slap it up there. But this Getty Image that NBC4 picked to go along with its story about how the city of Herndon is launching a campaign to educate citizens about how...
Continue Reading "Being a Day Laborer is Sexy!"
The National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony and the "Pageant of Peace" are set for tomorrow night at 5 p.m. Over at City Desk yesterday, Jule Banville hit the nail on the head by dubbing the Bush Christmas tree the "National Hairnet." Here's hoping she's right, and the Obamas will choose a Christmas tree decorating scheme that looks a little bit less like a "twinkling condom." To answer your other questions: No, there aren't any tickets...
Continue Reading "National Christmas Tree Program to Muck Up Thursday Evening Commute"
Perhaps it was WTOP's reporting that did it — they seem to think so. Or maybe the D.C. Taxicab Commission spent some time reading your comments and noticed that they haven't got a lot of fans these days. Either way, the $1 fuel surcharge will disappear starting at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday. Don't get too excited about cheaper cab fares, though. As we wrote about yesterday, it's looking like metered cab rates will be raised...
Continue Reading "Taxi Commission Lifts Fuel Surcharge"
Good morning, Washington. Sure, the economic downturn might be decimating our savings and local government services. But at least it prompts a lot more entertaining stories designed to make the corporate class look bad. The Post has the latest one, in which the leadership behind our local airports squirms and denies wrongdoing in the aftermath of earlier coverage that revealed lavish spending on first-class travel and accommodations. Council Extends Bar Hours For Inauguration: The...
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup: Courting the Wide Receiver Vote"December 2, 2008
Yesterday afternoon, the Examiner's Leah Fabel first reported that Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham planned to introduce legislation today that would allow D.C.'s bars and restaurants to serve alcohol until 5 a.m., and to keep doors open 24-hours per day, between Jan. 17 and Jan. 21 to accommodate inauguration tourists. We then linked to it in our end of the day roundup. D.C. Wire posted its own version this morning. Then about an hour...
Continue Reading "D.C. Blogs Play Telephone Over Late Night Bar Hours Proposal"
Since D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee hit the cover of TIME Magazine last week, our “Michelle Rhee” Google alert has been blowing up — there is something about Rhee that gets people’s attention and elicits a response. Take this quote from the TIME story:"The thing that kills me about education is that it's so touchy-feely," she tells me one afternoon in her office…"People say, 'Well, you know, test scores don't take into account creativity and...
Continue Reading "Schools Roundup: Talking Shop Edition"