While we soak in Barack Obama's historic victory over Senator John McCain (who delivered a moving and honorable concession speech), we can't ignore the change that came to our own backyard. Few of the results caught any of us by surprise. We did, though, rid ourselves of a pesky ANC commissioner, though. Yes, fellow District residents and ping-pong lovers alike, ANC 3F04 commissioner and ardent nightlife opponent Frank Winstead was handed a crushing defeat last......

Like D.C. Wire, we've heard reports of "Write-in Carol Schwartz" pencils being handed out to voters, some of which have then been left behind in voting booths, in violation of electioneering laws. Could this last-ditch pencil strategy be just the ticket for a Schwartz write-in victory? Maybe, but City Desk is reporting that Schwartz has failed to get her supporters out to a number of important precincts. Earlier today Mike DeBonis laid out a persuasive......

We might not have Joe the Plumber or $150,000 in stylish threads, but the final days before a number of local races are decided have gotten plenty exciting. There's internal fighting, a second-time-around endorsement and a drunk-driving charge. Council Divides Over Brown and Schwartz: Not wanting to sit out the increasingly close battle for non-Democratic At-Large seat that's up for grabs, this week members of the D.C. Council started throwing their weight behind either Independent-Democrat......

Over the last month, the safe assumption in District political circles was that the two At-large seats on the D.C. Council would be going Brown-squared come November 4 -- current Council member Kwame Brown would keep his seat and Democrat-turned-Independent Michael Brown would finally get elected to something. But things have recently gotten just a little more interesting. According to a late-September poll, Michael Brown was leading write-in Republican candidate Carol Schwartz for the second......

Maybe every political debate from now on should be held on a night where pretty much everyone has somewhere more important to be. At last night's debate between the candidates competing for two At-large seats on the D.C. Council, the looming second-round meetup between Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama pushed moderators Tom Sherwood and Mark Segraves to throw as many questions as possible at the seven hopefuls in an effort to get the......

This year's At-large D.C. Council race just won't go quietly into this goodnight, and neither, she announced today, will longtime Republican Council member Carol Schwartz. Even though she initially said last week that she would not launch a write-in campaign after losing the GOP primary to upstart challenger Patrick Mara, Schwartz today announced that she will now do just that. Schwartz's campaign web site already has the full text up of her speech this afternoon,......

Let's face it -- a local election in an off year and in the midst of a heated presidential campaign won't attract much attention, much less lots of voters. And tomorrow's District primary likely isn't much of an exception. While in 2006 the mayoral battle between Linda Cropp and Adrian Fenty and the contest for the chairmanship of the D.C. Council gave that year's electoral season a certain buzz, tomorrow's choices haven't provoked the same......

D.C.'s primary elections are less than a week away, this coming Tuesday, Sept. 9. By now you should have received your sample primary ballot, and, if you're a registered Democrat, are likely still trying to determine exactly what all those Democratic Party slates are -- stay tuned to DCist for plenty more primary election countdown posts to help you sift through it all in the coming days. The big news on the local primaries front......

It was 234 years ago Sunday that American colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor as part of a symbolic protest against being taxed by the British while not having a representative in the Westminster Parliament. Yesterday District voting rights activists remembered the event by holding their own tea party, this one to protest the union's last standing example of taxation without representation. Though the wind whipped across the Potomac River, about 80 activists and......

DC for Marriage, an eight-month-old group advocating same-sex marriage rights in the District, will hold a "Marriage Equality Community Forum" tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in room 412 of the Wilson Building. This is the group's first public event, which is co-sponsored by several local LGBT organizations including the DC Center, DC Black Pride, AQUA DC, and the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League, among others. Yesterday, DC for Marriage announced Sabrina Sojourner, the first open......

Last night a few of us made our way to Nellie's Sports Bar, where the Washington Blade was giving out its Best of Gay D.C. awards. We were honored to pick up the prize for Best Local Blog, with their kind description:When D.C. residents need to keep up on local events, art, sports, restaurants or pretty much anything else related to life in the District, they head to DCist.com... The blog is truly a community......

>> The District's poverty rate is the highest in nearly a decade, and the employment rate for African American adults is at a 20-year low. [WaPo] >> ACK! OMG! The Hair! The Hair! Blood on the Hair! [Princess Sparklepony] >> bam! smack!@ Pow! [craigslist] >> WASA says it has repaired the two holes that were leaking raw sewage into the Anacostia River. [WaPo] >> Adam Clampitt has filed papers to run as an independent......

Some D.C. Council members are dismayed at proposed $200,000 salaries that newly confirmed Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has offered to her deputy chancellor, Kaya Henderson, as well as her chief of staff. The pay range for District jobs at that level is normally $57,000 to about $153,000 at the most. Mayor Fenty's office is defending the salaries, claiming the administration now has the authority to hire staff at whatever level it chooses. Meanwhile, Carol Schwartz......

Today Mayor Adrian Fenty takes his school takeover plan back to the D.C. Council, where it's expected to get final approval. Earlier this month, the council voted 9-2 to give Fenty control of Washington schools, with wide berth to appoint a school superintendent who would report directly to the mayor and an elected school board serving only in an advisory capacity. Under the proposal, the council would maintain line-item budget control, be able to set......

Mayor Adrian Fenty's plan to take personal control of D.C. Public Schools took one important step forward today, and may yet take another. In a 9-2 vote that took the proposal out of committee, the Washington Post reports the Council gave the takeover its first official blessing, paving the way for a first reading vote that could still happen in an extended session today. The committee vote took place after Lisa Comfort Bradford, a candidate......

An internal D.C. audit of the contract with Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services, which has managed the District's parking meters since the 1990s, found that privatization has cost about $2.2 million more than it would have if government employees had done the work themselves. Even lone D.C. Council Republican Carol Schwartz (R - At-Large) admitted to the Examiner that privatization hasn't actually maximized the District's economic efficiency. Quel libertarian nightmare! More from the Examiner's story:DDOT managers......

Wednesday, when a genial Police Chief Cathy Lanier met with the public, she addressed many sundry concerns about getting officers more time for crime prevention and increased face time with residents and business owners. Of course, with these lofty goals come a familiar set of barriers, among them paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork. Apparently carrying a gun doesn't exempt you from the tiny-cut-giving task of shuffling paper after just about any arrest or incident.......

Marion Barry dances with Council member Carol Schwartz (R At-Large) at Adrian Fenty's inaugural ball Saturday. Thanks to Amy over the Post's Reliable Source for the tip, who also mentioned hearing that in a moment of brilliant editorial planning, Fox 5 News apparently broadcast the YouTube video directly after a story about Barry's latest court appearance.......

About 15,000 people (though it felt like many more) got all dolled up Saturday night and headed to the Washington Convention Center for Mayor Adrian Fenty's Inaugural ball, and DCist was there to capture the revelry. Once we got inside, that is. Along with thousands of other Ball attendees, we were packed in like so many sardines near the entrance to the exhibit hall for over 30 minutes before we finally squeezed through what turned......

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......

>>You are hereby ordered to step away from the desk and immediately proceed to the DAM! venue of your choice. >>If you're way too cool for that, check out the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's event tonight. The best part? The inventor of the majestic Klingon language will be on hand. Qapla! >> Apparently it's hard to run for president without being master of your domain. [Yeas and Nays] >>Get ready to find those horny......

This graffiti's sentiment notwithstanding, today the Democratic voters of the city will express their concerns and hopes for the city through their ballots, and, in the process, likely determine what most of the city's government will look like for the next few years. You can find your polling place here, and the Post's election guide here. Redskins Fall To Vikings: You probably don't need to be told, but we'll say it anyway. Last night the......

As Ryan wrote earlier this morning, much of the District went to sleep last night thinking the stadium lease had been voted down, fearing that they may wake up to MLB announcing it was defecting to across the river. And surely enough, local newspapers thought much the same -- the Examiner's headline this morning reads "Council Rejects Stadium Lease Deal; Mayor Williams Cries Foul" while the Washington Times similarly proclaimed "Council Rejects Stadium Lease." We......

Reacting quickly to news that the D.C. City Council had passed a smoking ban, Mayor Anthony Williams released a statement late this afternoon noting that he supports protections for the health of workers but opposes a comprehensive smoking ban in bars, restaurants, and nightclubs. He stated: I support stronger health protections for workers in the District. Therefore, I am willing to support a smoking ban in most workplaces, including banks, educational facilities, health care facilities,......

The day many feared has finally come to the District -- the City Council this afternoon endorsed a smoking ban in restaurants on a 12-1 vote. Bars and nightclubs may be spared, though, as the legislation merely requires that they install special ventilation equipment or arrange special accomodations for smokers by January 1, 2007. The legislation allows businesses to seek a hardship waiver, should they prove that the law decresed their sales by 25 percent.......

Fear no longer, social drinkers -- that glass of wine with dinner won't land you in jail for the night. Today the D.C. City Council passed emergency legislation establishing .05 as the blood alcohol content level below which a driver is presumed not to be intoxicated. The measure, sponsored by Carol Schwartz (R-At Large), passed on a 9-3 vote. Only Sharon Ambrose (D-Ward 6), Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), and Phil Mendelson opposed the legislation, while......

After an extended summer recess, the D.C. City Council reconvenes today to do what it does best -- legislate, and, by extension, provide DCist with much needed political fodder. But beyond the daily duties of writing, debating, and passing laws, the City Council may well become a bit of a battleground between those seeking higher political office next year. Announcements have been made, money raised, teams assembled -- the season for political campaigning is......

This photo was uploaded to DCist photos by mgdistrict. Today will be partly cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms until mid afternoon and highs in the mid 80s. Defense Contractors Withhold Memorial Funds: As part as a major effort by the Examiner to encourage donations to the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Fund, the paper reports that although Vice President Dick Cheney has given $25,000 and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has given $100,000 to construct......

As DCist reported yesterday, a move is a afoot in the D.C. City Council to have Mayor Anthony Williams re-evaluate speed limits on city streets where cameras are used to catch speeders. Councilmember Carol Schwartz (R-At Large), who presided over yesterday's hearing, stated: If you're doing 40 mph in a school zone, I do want to get you. But a four-lane highway with a 35 mph speed limit, and there's no school there? It calls......

Safety tool or unwarranted invasion of privacy? Necessary law enforcement device or shameless moneymaking scheme? These may be some of the questions that city councilmembers ask today in a hearing dedicated to the issue of cameras in law enforcement. The Council's Committee on Public Works and the Environment, chaired by Carol Schwartz (R-At Large), is debating legislation introduced by Schwartz, Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), and Sharon Ambrose (D-Ward 6) concerning the District's six-year old program......