>> One of two correctional officers assigned to guard the prison inmate who escaped from a Laurel hospital yesterday morning had taken a break and left his partner alone with the inmate. [WaPo] >> Del. Brian Moran (D-Alexandria) has announced he will run for governor of Virginia in 2009. [AP] >> Pest control downtown, revealed (and we'd have to agree about the band Ratt). [Penn Quarter Living] >> The N Street sidewalk by The......

Welcome back, Washington. We hope those of you who celebrate Christmas had a holly and/or jolly one, and that your stock of material possessions has been satisfactorily increased. As you might expect, not too terribly much happened while you've been away. Davis Mulls Eighth Term: Sure, it was published yesterday, but we imagine many of you may have missed the Post's analysis of whether Tom Davis will seek another term as congressman for Northern......

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,......

Good morning, Washington. We hope not too many of you were making your way into the city from Montgomery County this morning, as two separate water main breaks forced road closures in Takoma Park and kids to get the day off from school in Germantown. We'll admit it -- we're pretty envious of the students at Fox Chapel Elementary School, who get to spend the day doing whatever they please while we had to show......

>> The holiday gift season is officially here, which means we're going to start seeing a little more emphasis on the latter half of "arts and crafts" around the city, when the search for the perfect present for Aunt Sallie ends with you standing in front of a pile of handmade tea kettle cozies. You might want to start with the high quality stuff, and get to the Washington Craft Show this weekend at the......

Pour Out a Forty for the Childe Harold The pilgrimage is at its end. After 40 years nestled on 20th street NW in Dupont Circle, the Childe Harold has closed its doors for good. A victim of increasing rents and lessors unwilling to negotiate, the Harold is one more example of how the face of Dupont Circle is ever-changing. The venerable institution held a lot of history, partly because of its ties to the music......

Good morning, Washington. In case you didn't believe us when we first told you that this tax office corruption scandal was going to get bigger and badder as the week went on, just check out the trio of stories on offer from the Post this morning on the widening scandal. First and foremost, it turns out Harriette Walters and Diane Gustus allegedly worked together to steal $4 million more than originally thought, bringing the grand......

D.C. officials are apparently stunned to find that the money they've spent on the new Nationals stadium isn't translating into the sort of unconditional loyalty they might like. Turns out the team's 2008 Dream Foundation Dream Gala (it's dream-related, see) will be held at National Harbor in Prince George's County, Md., and the Examiner reports that Mayor Adrian Fenty, D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray and just about every other D.C. leader is throwing a temper......

>> Mayor Fenty has changed his mind and now says emails to and from city officials will be kept indefinitely. [WTOP] >> More Fenty decisions! He's considering a drastic change to the role of the hated D.C. Taxicab Commission. [Examiner] >> Several people on a Boston-bound flight out of DCA were taken to a hospital after complaining of feeling sick and were found to have elevated carbon monoxide levels. [WCVB] >> Jack Bauer spotted in......

What's That You Say? is our roundup of the best comments from last week's posts. So help us out and keep saying funny, interesting, and weird stuff. We know you can. ------ Speaking of weird, in regards to the manhole fire post, Jeffrey has this to say about the Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers in our city: If I've said it once, I've said it thousand times: this city needs to launch a fire safety......

The Washington Business Journal reported yesterday that the Washington Convention Center will be officially renamed to honor D.C.'s first elected mayor, Walter E. Washington. Apparently the D.C. Council approved the name change last year, though we can't recall having heard about it at the time. The idea is a fine one though, and Washington is certainly worthy of having his legacy honored. So what's the problem? As of Nov. 5, the building will officially become......

The National Transportation Safety Board released its findings this afternoon from an investigation into the January derailment of a Green line train near the Mt. Vernon Square/Convention Center stop. The accident, in which the fifth car of a six-car train jumped the rails and hit a wall in the tunnel, injured 20 people and left around 60 passengers stranded in the tunnel for nearly 45 minutes. The Associated Press has the first word on the......

Written by DCist Contributor Rebecca Cooper After much ado—and by that we mean delay -- the Old Dominion Brew House at the convention center opened in January, and from the looks of things, the bar and restaurant is still trying to combat the relatively light foot traffic in the area during off hours. With its seemingly countless flat screen TVs and copious "tailgate" specials for weekend football games (the bathrooms even have televisions so you......

If you missed the Green Festival at the Convention Center this past weekend, you missed an incredible event. Luckily event organizers will be posting video and audio of the plethora of speeches to their website in about two weeks. You'll also be able to download speech audio from this year’s upcoming San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago festivals. The Green Festival is sponsored by Co-Op America and Global Exchange. The event is largely volunteer-run, with 1300......

FRIDAY: >> Do the right thing and head to 9:30 Club for a show hosted by the strange gathering of the likes of Gypsy Eyes Records, The Federal Reserve and haberdasherie Propper Topper for a benefit for the DC Public Library Foundation. Kitty Hawk, Vandaveer, Revival, These United States and many more make up the crowded bill. 7:30 p.m., $20. >> The Brunettes (pictured right) perform sickly sweet but addictive pop duets, and they'll be......

>> A power outage at Union Station has been resolved, but not before it made everyone's commute home totally miserable. [WaPo] >> A pedestrian was struck by a police cruiser on Wisconsin Ave. NW this afternoon. [WTOP] >> Nats' new park on schedule, on budget. [MLB.com] >> Get your premature convention center hotel construction watch blogging over here. [Renew Shaw] >> A member of "retiring" Rep. Jerry Weller's staff comes to blows over having......

Good morning, Washington. Have you recovered from yesterday's local sports emotional rollercoaster yet? The Nationals bid farewell to RFK, and managed to close out their time there with a 5-3 victory over the Phillies. The Redskins, on the other hand, well ... we might still not be ready to talk about that last drive. Yet despite the despondent football fans across the region this morning, we get the sense that no one is sadder than......

It's round two of the official opening of the fall art season. If you didn't get to check out all the openings last week (and who humanly could have?), spend part of your Saturday afternoon perusing the rest -- our reviewer particularly enjoyed the show at Flashpoint. But block off your evenings for the parties to celebrate the following openings: >> Up in Bethesda, it's the big night for the Trawick Prize finalists, as they......

>> Plans for the District's biggest hotel, with 1,400 rooms, near the Washington Convention Center, are on the verge of being shelved. [WaPo] >> A healthy baby boy was born on I-270 this morning, proving once again that life is really just God's cheesy network sitcom. [WJLA] >> Apparently those recent repairs at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library didn't include water fountains, ceilings or bathrooms. [City Desk] >> A photography exhibit that......

Good morning, Washington, and welcome to September. After what was quite possibly the most beautiful weekend in the history of late summer weather in this city, we've finally arrived at the date many of us still associate with "back-to-school" -- the Tuesday after Labor Day. So sharpen your pencils, polish your lunchbox and make sure you have the right Trapper Keeper as we check out today's headlines. At Least Four Weekend Killings: The Examiner......

Today tens of thousands of District children return to school, leaving behind the late-morning starts, extended curfews and breaks at the public swimming pool that summer afforded them. And though the year will proceed as it usually does, they will be part of a school system that has seen drastic changes over the last few months. Now under mayoral control and led by new chancellor Michelle Rhee, the District's public schools have entered a new......

Sitting at your desk, bored, thinking it's high time to find a new job? Mayor Fenty is hosting a Citywide Job Fair at the Washington Convention Center today, and you've still got a few more hours to stop by before it closes up shop at 4 p.m. Head over with a stack of resumes, and apply for D.C. city government jobs like these: >> Paralegal Specialist in the Office of the D.C. Attorney General >>......

Looking around the web site for The Space, the new private club and concierge service that's opened recently across 9th Street from the Washington Convention Center, you get the sense that its proprietors want you to think it's a stuffy lounge space reserved for the wealthy -- there's the wedding invitation-style scroll fonts, the vague descriptions of what exactly this place is trying to be ("For those who love traveling, living, dreaming and discovering,") and......

>> The ceremonial flame for the Special Olympics will pass through town tomorrow afternoon, starting at the White House at 12:15 p.m. and making stops on the National Mall before heading uptown to the Chinese Embassy. Expect minor traffic delays along the route. [WJLA] >> Is a Rita's Water Ice coming to the Washington Convention Center area? [Bloomingdale (for now)] >> Bob Mould is set to release his first ever live DVD, Circle Of......

Exciting news this fine morning for the many Washingtonians who draw their paychecks from the USDA — you may still be paid after you die. The Post reports that the The U.S. Department of Agriculture distributed $1.1 billion over seven years to the estates or companies of dead people, though granted, they were actually all farmers instead of government employees. Now we just have to figure out the best way to pretend to be a......

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. Not too long ago this site, along with the D.C. Council and much of the rest of the Washington area, was actively debating the incentive package for the new Washington Nationals stadium. At the time I was well aware of the questions about costs and benefits and was familiar with research on the subject suggesting that new stadia did not boost metropolitan......

Good morning, D.C. First, some good news: today's high temperature will be a mere 93 degrees. Bring a sweater! Next, some bad news: AccuWeather puts today's "Thunderstorm Probability" at a robust 100%. Hmm. Finally, some great news: Unbuckled is tonight! Bring your sodden, sweaty selves — it'll make the experience that much more authentically Washingtonian. Prince William Co. Approves Anti-Illegal Immigrant Measures: WJLA reports on a new measure unanimously passed by the Prince William......

Are you a resident of Washington, D.C. and looking for a new job? D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is hosting her 10th annual Norton Job Fair, at the Washington Convention Center's Hall C on Tuesday, July 10, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. You need to show proof of D.C. residency to attend (either a valid D.C. driver's license, or picture ID plus a utility bill with your address), the idea being to give D.C.......

Sparky's Has Indeed Been Shuttered Following our conversation last week about the Warehouse's impending closure, several commenters were asking about the fate of Sparky's at 14th and R, NW, which was suddenly shuttered a few weeks back. Phone calls to the shop lead to a message that doesn't recommend that you leave a message, because no one checks the machine We searched for something more official, but the closest we found was at Brightest Young......

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......