The Reliable Source scoops everyone with perhaps the first heartwarming story about a former mayor Washington has ever been treated to. Anthony Williams personally stopped a thief on K Street yesterday afternoon. He was apparently walking by when he saw a guy nab a package from a UPS deliverman's hand truck. Our newly dubbed "Mr. Bow Tie" crime fighting superhero immediately started running after the culprit, catching up with him and getting the stolen package......

Federal officials using the District as a testing ground on which to push their preferred domestic programs is nothing new, particularly when it comes to the city’s public schools (ahem, Sen. Landrieu). True to form, nestled deep within President Bush’s 2009 budget proposal is a $5 million increase for a school voucher initiative called the DC Opportunity Scholarship program (OSP). Currently, around 1,900 low-income students receive scholarships up to $7,500 to attend area private schools......

The Examiner ran a story on Monday about Bloomingdale's recent round of talks with the city regarding opening a new store in downtown D.C. Along with the recently approved development at the Old Convention Center site, sources in the Fenty administration told Michael Neibauer that the talks have included the controversial Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 9th and G Streets NW as a "possible option" for the store. The library, as you'll recall,......

In most any public or private sector job, losing $31 million on your watch is a surefire way to get yourself fired. CFO Natwar Gandhi's reputation for saving the city's finances has thus far protected him from what is to date the District's biggest corruption scandal. But his fortunes might be changing. Buried towards the end of an article from the Examiner today on an investigation into the tax refund scheme that milked the city......

The Washington Post has the news in the Friday afternoon dump that Mayor Adrian Fenty just fired D.C. Department of Health Director, Gregg A. Pane, along with two of Pane's deputies. We noted back in January that Fenty had major plans to streamline the department in his first 100 days, starting with a consolidation of its eleven agencies into the current seven. Fenty eliminated many of the agency heads appointed by former Mayor Anthony Williams......

>> Runners at the Army Ten-miler are saying there wasn't enough water on the race course. [WTOP] >> Former Mayor Anthony Williams hearts Jenna Bush's new book. [Capital Comment] >> D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier speaks out to defend the records and reputations of the two officers involved in the killing of DeOnte Rawlings, while his father calls for their arrest. [WaPo and WJLA] >> Columbia Heights day was a bit of a bust.......

Harry Jaffe: In writing something of a goodbye column to RFK Stadium, Jaffe recounts the many struggles the District overcame to attract a baseball team. And though plenty of people played important roles, he feels that one deserves extra attention -- former Mayor Anthony Williams. "The hero of the piece has to be Williams, an unpopular mayor who — despite his wandering attention span — kept swinging away at an unpopular crusade to use public......

Well, this isn't exactly what we were expecting. Rather than voting to endorse a change to meters, or keeping the existing zone system, or the third-option of those "zone meters" we talked about yesterday, the D.C. Taxicab Commission today decided to do ... absolutely nothing. The Post has more, describing today's meeting as being deadlocked, which led to the non-decision to recommend that Mayor Fenty make the call all on his own. This is just......

In case you missed the news yesterday, the Washington Post has devoted an extraordinary amount of front page column inches to the record breaking temperatures D.C. saw yesterday. At 12:05 p.m. on Wednesday, the temperature hit 102 degrees at Reagan National Airport, according to the National Weather Service, breaking the previous all time high record for Aug. 8, of 101 degrees, set in 1930. The oppressive heat also had a number of other newsworthy......

It only took two years, but now Cornelius Kerwin can finally drop the "acting" part of his title. The Post is reporting that Kerwin, who took the helm of American University after petty cash-abuser extraordinaire Ben Ladner was forced to step down in 2005, will formally become the university's next president. The Board of Trustees had been engaged in a search since January -- former Mayor Anthony Williams was even floated as a possible nominee......

The Post's David Nakamura reports that Mayor Adrian Fenty plans to endorse Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. An official announcement has yet to come, but the actions of Fenty adviser Jim Hudson, who organized a fundraiser for Obama, suggest the mayor looks set to get behind the Illinois senator's campaign. Hudson collected $600,000 and endorsements from some of the mayor's more loyal D.C. Council members: Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4)......

Good morning, D.C. After Tuesday's false Friday, it feels pretty damn good finally to be heading into a real weekend. It's going to be hot, sunny and dry on Saturday and Sunday, so get out there and enjoy it. Police Shot Man Who Died: Two D.C. police officers shot a 23-year-old man near the intersection of 17th Street and Bladensburg Road NE this morning who may have been involved in a gun battle with another......

The Examiner reports that renovations are underway at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, the central branch of the D.C. Public Public system. The improvements come after former Mayor Anthony Williams' proposal to replace the building with a new flagship library two blocks away on the site of the old convention center was first tabled by the D.C. Council and then shelved by the Fenty administration. Improvements to the outdated and long-neglected MLK Library......

You heard it here first: The bloom is officially off the rose of the Fenty administration. On Monday, the Mayor held an opening ceremony for the District's public swimming pools, at which he failed to fulfill our simple request that he make sure somebody did a cannonball. The Examiner was there yesterday afternoon to witness the pitiful display of showmanship where Fenty opened the city's pools, not with a dive, but with a whistle. While......

Ever since he took office after eight years of Mayor Anthony Williams' tenure, the question has burned in our minds: Will D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty continue Williams' tradition by opening the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation's public swimming pools with a cannonball dive? He's been asked the question a number of times already, but always with a different answer. First Fenty said maybe his twin sons, Matthew and Andrew, would do the honors. Then......

Happy Friday, D.C. It's sunny out, this weekend is apparently going to be gorgeous (72 degrees!), and on Thursday, the D.C. Voting Rights Act passed the House of Representatives. In order to avoid a repeat of last time, Democrats broke the voting rights measure into two bills -- one that would add the extra seats in the house and the other a PAY-GO bill to fund them. They were both written so narrowly that Republicans......

It's the Ides of March and there's not much to fear, D.C. As long as we don't step on any cracks (and therefore break mothers' backs) or allow black cats free reign, we might not jinx our chances for voting rights. Stay tuned for full DCist coverage on the debate/vote today. On a more personal note, for all those who succumbed to the irrational exuberance of sartorial selection this week, temperance is due; it's back......

Well you can't say that we, along with every other local prognosticator, didn't warn you of the coming winter storm. Now feel free to look outside and share a mutual groan that the foretold snow event has so far materialized into something more like steady flurries or maybe just an unpleasant dampness which TV weathermen, in an effort to keep viewers interested, assure us could turn into a freezing deathtrap at any time! None......

>> Breaking News: Former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams has taken a new job at Friedman Billings Ramsey, an investment banking company involved in real estate investment trusts. A formal announcement is expected shortly. [NBC4] >> It's SotU time! Wonkette has details on where to go and exactly how much of which substances you'll need for a proper drinking game. Who will the president kiss while walking down the aisle this year, and how jealous will......

Around the time of last year's State of the Union address, we asked whether then-Mayor Anthony Williams should have foregone attending the annual event as a guest of First Lady Laura Bush, to make clear his continuing disappointment with the District's lack of voting rights. Some commenters thought the idea preposterous, with one going as far as to opine: Of course the mayor should attend. What the f*ck is boycotting it going to accomplish? Do......

Good chilly morning to you, Washington. Our neighbors to the north have officially got themselves a new rock-star Governor, as Martin O'Malley was sworn in yesterday afternoon in Maryland to the sounds of the Saw Doctors, an Irish rock band that flew from Dublin for the event, and later to his own band, O'Malley's March, at his inaugural ball. Not that we're jealous or anything, but does anyone know if Mayor Fenty plays an instrument?......

Now that's what we call efficiency. Not six hours after being officially sworn-in as the District's fifth elected mayor since Home Rule, Adrian Fenty's presence is already being felt on the city's official homepage. Gone is the image of former Mayor Anthony Williams atop the page, as is his "Mayor's Welcome." Both have been replaced by Fenty. Williams' blog is also gone, though it won't soon be missed -- it's last entry was dated March......

>> Yeah, you. You need to stay late tonight to make up for the crazy amount of time you're about to have off. That's right, those of us who do not work for the Federal Government are currently glaring up a storm at those of you who do, because the word from on high is now official: President Bush has declared January 2 as the official day of mourning for President Ford, which means Federal......

Holy Huge Metro Fare Increase, Batman: Metro budget officials are meeting with the WMATA Board today to propose a radically altered fare schedule for Metrorail and Metrobuses, that could have some customers paying $2.10 more than the current fare for a single ride during peak hours. The possible fare changes are multiple and fairly complicated, but on the whole are designed to encourage passengers to make use of SmarTrip Cards instead of cash or paper......

Boy howdy, yesterday sure was quite the hootinany over at the D.C. Council, as members scrambled to push their pet bills through before this year's session finally, finally comes to a close. Here's a quick rundown of what went on, gleaned from the WaPo and Examiner: >> We told you this was in the works before, but the council finally did pass a nice pay raise for themselves and incoming Mayor Adrian Fenty. From the......

UPDATE: We've now gotten word from intrepid boy reporter Kriston Capps that the D.C. Council's Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation voted to table Bill 16-734, in a motion brought by At-Large Councilmember Carol Schwartz, which carried 3 to 2 with Marion Barry, Schwartz and surprise vote Vincent Gray against Kathy Patterson and Phil Mendelson. What does this mean for the future of Williams' library plan? Hard to say. Tabling a bill is usually a......

Common sense took a bit of a beating today, courtesy of the Washington Redskins and D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams. As we learned from NBC 4 this morning, city officials and confidants of team owner Dan Snyder have started exploring the prospect of building the team a new stadium on the RFK site. Council-member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) and lame-duck Williams have tacitly endorsed the idea, with Williams noting: I've talked to him [Snyder] a couple......

Mayor-Elect Adrian Fenty’s most celebrated quality is his rigor for getting the small things done. Ward 4 supporters tell tales of the Councilman as Blackberry-brandishing musketeer, sweeping in to remedy urgent street repairs and the like. By contrast, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams’ supporters have always heralded his ability to dream big. Details be damned, he’s the guy with the grand vision: a growing, vibrant city; attractive to businesses and middle class residents, and with enough......

Yesterday, the D.C. Council decided to table emergency legislation to hike their own salaries, already the second-highest in the nation. In the discussion of the bill, first introduced by Chairman Linda Cropp at the urging of D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, the margin of pay increases slowly declined as the hours elapsed, a likely response to public criticism of the proposals. The first move, which came in response to criticism of a proposed 51 percent pay......

How much is public service in the District worth? This Tuesday the D.C. Council might tell us. In its last legislative session of the year, the council will be debating a number of measures and proposals, one that would provide funds for the trasitions of mayor-elect Adrian Fenty and council chair-elect Vincent Gray. But more than just provide them with the money needed to prep their teams for next January's handover of power, the legislation......