The D.C. Council voted 10 to 3 today to give Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee the power to fire nonunion central office employees. Council members Marion Barry, Phil Mendelson and Harry Thomas Jr. were the only votes against giving Rhee the power to fire. Thomas tried to get the council to approve an alternative bill that would have affected fewer workers, but the Council voted that alternative down 10-3 as well. The Washington Post story......

Good morning, Washington. It turns out that House Pages don't need lecherous congressmen's help to make scandalous headlines: two have just gotten busted for inappropriate behavior in a House elevator. They've been dismissed, bringing the year's total fired pages to five — two others were caught shoplifting, and one was booted for fighting. Needless to say, it looks like the program — the oversight of which has been in turmoil — will be getting......

Good morning, Washington. We hope you had a pleasant and restful evening despite the howling wind and bitter cold. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee had a bit of a rough night last night herself, as she was greeted by throngs of angry Ward 5 parents at the first community meeting that allowed her to present the school closures plan to the public. Ward 5 D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. had set up the separate meeting......

One of these guys might be the next president, so it's good to try and parse where they stand on District voting rights. At least that was the thinking over at D.C. Vote, who recently recorded and sent in a number of videos of District residents asking the presidential candidates from the Republican Party where they stood on D.C. voting rights. The videos, eleven in all, were submitted to CNN for the upcoming CNN/YouTube......

Good morning, Washington. It's the last Friday in July, and we can already feel the impending doom and gloom of D.C.'s traditional No News August, a time when the Washington Post publishes lengthy ruminations on humidity and local TV news begins investigating whether your children's toy water guns are really safe. But as if feeling the need to grant us one last interesting Friday before the new month begins, D.C. Council member Harry Thomas......

In response to the record temperatures outside, the District has opened eight of its public swimming pools today. If for some reason you're free for the rest of the afternoon, head on down to cool off.: The following pools were opened until 6 p.m.: * Fort Lincoln (3201 Fort Lincoln Drive NE) * Fort Stanton (1800 Erie St. SE) * Benning Park (5300 Fitch St. SE) * Kenilworth-Parkside (4300 Anacostia Ave. NE) * Fort......

Good morning, D.C. If you're like us (and presumably since you're reading this, you are), you love to follow local news, especially for those few stories that come up every now again that manage to combine two of the local media's favorite tropes: fear mongering and funny names. For example, just when you thought the intersex fish problem in the Potomac had drifted off into the ethereal plane of being old news, the Sierra Club......

The D.C. council is set to vote on legislation proposed by Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) tomorrow that would create exemptions to allow strip clubs displaced by the new Nationals stadium to relocate to Ivy City in Ward 5. As we told you previously, Ward 5 Council member Harry Thomas opposes the legislation and has offered several amendments to the bill, including one that was adopted that would give $3.6 million to improve the......

>> "Man, if I am ever refused service at a publicly funded institution for wearing a political shirt, I am leaving that fucking place in handcuffs. Someone gets their rights trampled on and she responds with a vegan cake? That is so fucking weak. Grow a pair." [why.i.hate.dc] >> "If you’ve always wanted one of Sen. John Edwards’ $400 haircuts, now’s your chance. Duvall’s Hair Co., in McPherson Square, put a sign outside its......

The controversial plan authored by Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham to relocate a number of strip clubs displaced by the new Nationals stadium into Ivy City, a neighborhood in Ward 5, got even more interesting this week. The D.C. Council on Tuesday agreed to spend $3.6 million to reduce the "impact" of the relocated clubs, in a rare earmarking of funds for a specific neighborhood. Ivy City is bordered by Bladensburg Road, New York......

Four hundred thousand people drive into D.C. each day for work and for fun, and the fact that none of them pays for the traffic and pollution they create has peeved more than a few city denizens. Asking drivers to cough up a few bucks to access our fair city is not a new idea, with everyone from local residents to the Post's Marc Fisher airing the idea out. Even Mayor Fenty (following the lead......

And a glorious Friday to you, Washington. Granted, it's not exactly pleasant out right now, but we're going to boldly agree completely with the National Weather Service about tomorrow: highs in the mid-50s, with plenty of sun (peeking through a few clouds). We'll take it. After the week we've had, we would have taken Antarctica, just as long as we got to sleep in a little and not have to think about work for at......

Brown Not Out: Well, we're a little red-faced today. Yesterday we guessed that mayoral longshot Michael Brown was bowing out of the race. He did, after all, send us an email in which he announced that a press conference held yesterday would include "major announcement regarding his plans for the future." Coupled with his fast-shrinking campaign finance account, we thought, "This guy is toast." How wrong we were. Brown didn't duck out of the race.......