The Air Force Memorial has a certain architectural elegance that makes it almost hard not to photograph well, but some certainly stand far above the others, and we especially like Flickr user mosely.brian's crisp version here. Did you miss our announcement on Wednesday? The DCist Exposed Photography Show contest is open and accepting entries for our 2008 exhibition. Not only might you get to show your original work on a real gallery wall at......

The White House Christmas Tree lighting ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday Nov. Dec. 6, at 5 p.m., which means without a doubt, if you can avoid driving your car in the city, you really should. The annual ceremony always screws up downtown traffic in an extreme way. Add the leftover snow and ice on the ground into the mix, and we can promise you a traffic clusterf*** of epic proportions tomorrow evening. If you'd......

>> The ticketing level of Dulles airport was briefly evacuated this afternoon due to a suspicious package. The area has already been given an all-clear, but flight delays are expected to continue throughout tonight. [NBC4] >> Police arrested dozens of anti-war protesters on Captiol Hill this morning, making your morning commute craptastic. [WaPo] >> The U.S. Air Force and the Maryland wing of the Civil Air Patrol are conducting training drills over Washington through Wednesday,......

Good morning, Washington. Remember that recent weird burglary at Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry's house -- the one that Barry seemingly didn't want investigated in favor of telling the police they had more important things to do? Well, Harry Jaffe got hold of the police report, and it turns out Barry may have had good reason not to want it looked at it too closely. Apparently the former mayor had a large collection of......

Allez Cuisine! From Jack Abramoff's Signatures to his own restaurant, Farrah Olivia, Morou Ouattara plans to step into a new venue. His eye is on Kitchen Stadium as he competes for the title of the Next Iron Chef. The first episode airs Sunday, 9 p.m. on the Food Network. Eight chefs with the help of Lufthansa Airlines (yay product placement!) will be traveling through Europe and competing against each other to join Mario Batali, Cat......

Written by DCist Contributor Fredo Alvarez In a 60-39 cloture vote, the U.S. Senate barely passed the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (S 1105) today as an amendment to the FY 2008 Defense Authorization Bill (HR 1585). The measure would expand protection against hate crimes to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, and would enable the Federal government to provide assistance in the investigation or prosecution of......

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. The Washington Highlands neighborhood of the District of Columbia is terra incognita for many Washingtonians. Tucked up against the District’s southeastern border with Maryland’s Prince George’s County, the area is walled off from the rest of the city by Oxon Run Park, the Anacostia Freeway, Bolling Air Force Base, and the Anacostia River, not to mention the yawning gap between its economic......

>> It's the annual Night of 1,000 Cakes at Fort Reno. Did we mention the Free Cake? Free Cake! (in the form of cupcakes). Also Aquarium, Benjy Ferree and Yell County. 7:15 p.m. >> Jammin' Java in Vienna is trying something different tonight with Porto Beat, a night of electronic music featuring four of the area's top DJ talents: Ross Lara, DJ Lantern, Ramiro and DJ Nexius. All ages show, $10 for under 21,......

>> Tonight, Yamomanem brings the funky sounds of New Orleans to the Wonderland Ballroom. The music starts at 9 p.m., no cover. >> A native of China’s Hunan province, vocalist Coco Zhao discovered jazz at 17 and later studied at The Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He comes to the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage tonight at 6 p.m. Free. >> Two guitarists come to town on Thursday. Jazz guitarist Wayne Wilkinson, a former member of the......

With military recruitment numbers continuing to spiral downward, this week's quote of the week got us thinking. All the military really needs is better marketing. You can't really envy their task in trying to get people to sign up for an unpopular war. Maybe they need to play down the grim realities. Play up the softer side of the military. Use things like the volleyball montage from Top Gun to show that doing your duty......

Instead of drooling over more astrophotograpy (you mean you missed this gorgeous sight on Saturday night?), let's bring the lens in a little and admire this shot by Flickr user Joshua Davis (articnomad). He stopped by the Joint Services Open House, an annual air show at Andrews Air Force base, and caught this guy, part of the U.S. Army's Golden Knight jump team, floating his way back to land. EXIF.......

Whoops. We neglected to bring you our weekly calendar of notable author visits yesterday, so here's your slightly abbreviated version. Go forth and enjoy the wordy goodness. TUESDAY: Get ready for the farmer's market season with Russ Parsons tonight at Politics and Prose, where he'll be discussing how (and how not) to squeeze and shake for the perfect piece of fruit when he reads from How to Pick a Peach. 7 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Turn off......

MONDAY >> A year ago, Rolling Stone called The Whigs one of ten bands to watch and "the best unsigned band in America." The Athens, GA trio has since been taking their pure rock-and-roll on the road in support of Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip, winning comparisons to the Replacements, the Strokes, REM, and the Drive-By Truckers along the way. The break hasn't come yet, but we've got a feeling it could......

Ramsey's Legacy Pondered: The Post has a front page story this morning mulling over exactly how outgoing Police Chief Ramsey will be remembered as he leaves his post. Often criticized for emphasizing public relations and merely reacting to crime issues instead of thinking ahead, but undeniably praised for bringing order to a corrupt department and out-of-control crime situation, council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3) probably assessed Ramsey's overall performance most accurately: "very mixed." Ford's......

As we continue to add to the Washington area memorials, we also add the many, many images from the photogs who are drawn to them. Whether you think the new Air Force Memorial is beautiful set of jet trails or a funny-looking sculpture, Flickr user davebushe sure captured a fine shot of it here. EXIF.......

Soprano Cristina Nassif is a 20-something native of the Maryland suburbs. The daughter of an opera singer mother and a pianist father, Nassif received a music degree at the University of Maryland and got her start on the stage in the Virginia Opera Young Artist Program. Last season, she triumphed with Virginia Opera as Violetta in La Traviata, which brought her to the attention of the hungry eye of Plácido Domingo, ever watchful for......

With a jam-packed weekend in the city that saw the dedication of the Air Force Memorial by the president as well as festive activities for Howard's homecoming and a crushing loss by the Skins, there doesn't seem to be too terribly much on the local news radar. But let's check it out. Gallaudet to Reopen: Despite the fact that over 100 students (133 to be exact) were arrested in continued protests on the school's campus......

Been wondering what that enormous sculpture erected on a hill near the Pentagon -- the one that looks like "wavy future grass," or "where Wolverine is buried," according to friends of ours -- is, exactly? Well, you can get your chance to find out this weekend at the dedication services taking place for what is the area's first Air Force memorial. Dedication services will be taking place all weekend long, starting with a ceremony at......

Good morning, Washington. You should check out DCMatt's photos of last night's lightning. The flashes prompted me to race home from a happy hour, hoping to escape what seemed like an inevitable deluge — but the downpour never came. And, looking at the forecast, it seems that it's not about to: the weather should continue to be pleasant through the end of the week. VA Loses More Veteran Data: It's happened again. WTOP reports......

Last month, Inside Higher Ed had a story you might have missed about a local effort to establish a U.S. Public Service Academy. Two veterans of Teach for America, Shawn Raymond and Chris Myers Asch, have put together a proposal for an elite national university modeled after the U.S. Armed Services academies (West Point, Air Force Academy, etc.), but instead of military service, students would receive a federally-subsidized education in exchange for 5 years of......

Well folks, today is 06/06/06. If you're unaware of the old wives tales associated with this date, Livescience.com may shed some light on it. And since it's somewhat hard to avoid an entire day, just watch out for any folks named Damien, the apocalypse, or devilish things today. Officers Placed on Leave after D.C. Jail Break: In what sounds like a Hollywood storyline, the D.C. jail break continues to make news. WJLA tells us that......

Large Sewage Spill Sours Potomac River: Some 17 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Potomac River on Saturday, reports NBC 4. The spill was caused by a three-hour power failure at the Blue Plains sewage treatment plant on the eastern back of the river. And though 17 million gallons sounds like a lot, the EPA has predicted that the spill won't have a major impact, a claim countered by the Anacostia Watershed......

Another story from NBC 4 worth reprinting, title and all: CAMP SPRINGS, Md. -- Prince George's County Animal Control officers were called to the area of Andrews Air Force Base in Camp Springs Thursday afternoon to search for a large cat. Animal control Chief Rodney Taylor said a woman at the base reported seeing the large cat -- possibly the size of a mountain lion or a large dog -- run on to the base......

Good morning, D.C.! It's Friday and the weather is beautiful. Shouldn't you be playing outside? Yeah, us too. Well, if you can't sneak away from your computer for some physical activity, you can at least sneakily watch others get theirs: WTOP is reporting that George Mason's afternoon practice is going to be webcast live, beginning at noon. You can tune in courtesy of NCAASports.com and Indianapolis' WISH-TV. Immigration Protest Draws Students To Ballston: The Post......

A couple of months back we posted information on a pre-sale for tickets to see the Foo Fighters in a special, one night only show at the 9:30 Club. Needless to say, our decision wasn't met with kind words from the band's "real" fans, who proceeded to leave us all types of dirty comments and even went as far as to post the address of yours truly on a 9:30 Club Forum thread. So when......

News today has it that the U.S. Capitol Police seemed to have forgotten about the First Amendment on Tuesday night, when they arrested anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and Beverly Young, the wife of a Republican representative, at the State of the Union address for wearing "expressive t-shirts." Ironically, Young's shirt was pro-military: "Support the Troops -- Defending Our Freedom." Capitol Police Terrance Gainer issued an apology and dropped the charges against the two. District Claims......

Good morning, Washington. Now that the Roe v. Wade protests and street closures have calmed down, your commute to work may be a little more worry-free. Here's is a look at today's news in the region. Is it a Bird, a Plane?: If you hear or see some low-flying jets this morning, don't fret; it's not time to evacuate the District just yet. WTOP reports that NORAD is conducting Exercise Falcon Virgo as a......

Mayor Williams got his wish. After planning to consolidate regional hearings in Baltimore, the Defense Department will hold Base Realignment and Closure Commission hearings in the District to look at the impact of the proposed closure or realignment of Defense Department facilities in D.C. From the mayor: “I am pleased that Secretary Rumsfeld and BRAC Chairman Principi have heeded my call to engage in a dialog with District residents on how closing Walter Reed will......

In case you haven't left the office yet and your commute involves going any where near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, be aware that the Beltway's inner loop in Maryland going toward the bridge is shut near Indian Head Highway and Interstate 295. The cause: a massive truck accident that involves at least five cars, leaking gas and miles of backups, according to the Post. While the outer loop toward Andrews Air Force Base and College......

DCist has some bad news today for fans of actors with blogs. We reported last week that Hollywood handsome Matthew McConaughey (Seen in this MTV photo) was traveling the country via Airstream trailer and keeping a blog to chronicle his adventures. Well, so far the blog is living up to its title, "Stream of Consciousness", but we are disappointed to learn that the actor blew by our little city without so much as stopping to......