Good morning, Washington. If you experienced a power outage at some point on Sunday, you were not alone. Strong winds averaging close to 40 mph knocked out power to as many as 100,000 customers across the metro area yesterday. While not much ice or snow ever materialized during the weekend's storm, Sunday's chilly wind made for an uncomfortable time walking through downtown D.C. for many holiday shoppers -- we spotted at least one woman near......

The plot thickens for the Montgomery County-Live Nation concert hall deal. In September the county signed a non-binding letter of intent with concert promoter Live Nation for a Fillmore concert hall in Silver Spring, which would give the company $8 million in state and county funds, rent well below the market rate, and other perks. But now, county council members, groups of residents, and even the Howard County executive are questioning the county's deal and......

Happy Friday, Washington. DCist had our very own staff holiday party last night, and as you might imagine, we're all a little worse for the wear this morning. So we hope you'll forgive us for a late-breaking, hastily tossed together Morning Roundup. As soon as our heads stop pounding, we'll resume our regularly scheduled blogging. Metro Cries 'Uncle': After boat loads of Metro commuters sent in thousands of angry emails and messages reacting, shall we......

Well, being that it's Friday, make that three happy thoughts. But given that today marks the start of the World Cup and the last day that we'll hopefully ever have Tom DeLay in Washington, it's looking to be a great day. Host country Germany kicks off the tournament against Costa Rica -- this DCist's favored team -- today at noon, at which time DeLay will be packing boxes in his Capitol Hill office and trying......

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......

Those cancer-stick-up-the-butt forces have lined up their troops along the District's northern and eastern borders, and it's only a matter of time before they come goose-stepping across that thin line that seperates freedom from totalitarianism. Ok, that may be a little dramatic of a description, but it's somewhat true -- with the decision of Prince George's County to go smoke-free in bars and restaurants, Maryland's two counties that border the District will soon both officially......

Good morning, D.C. This lovely shot of some Eastern Market gourds was posted to DCist photos by easement. We'd love to tell you that we're in for the sort of brisk autumn weather that this photo evokes. But today's going to be cloudy, and tomorrow's going to be rainy. And, in even less cheerful news... Behl's Remains Found: The partially decomposed human remains found yesterday behind a Richmond farmhouse have been positively identified as those......

Howard County police have arrested an area man who made creative use of a list of NFL players phone numbers to bilk some of the games superstars out of a few thousand dollars. And while he's not crowing about it on his website (it actually doesn't appear as if he's doing much at all with his site), it appears that the scam was uncovered by Oakland defensive lineman Warren Sapp. According to the Post, Lewis......

Terror Threat Lowered: We aren’t in an orange mood any more. The Department of Homeland Security has lowered the terror threat to financial institutions in Washington, New York and northern New Jersey. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the terror threat has gone away, the Department of Homeland Security reminds us. That move has let the Capitol Police to dismantle security checkpoints on roadways leading to Capitol Hill. Also, the AP, via WTOP, reports that......