You may have noticed that our user profiles were down for the last week, but I'm happy to report that they are now back online and better than ever. Take a minute to check out their new look: log in with your commenter username and click on "View Profile" in the upper left hand corner of our home page. You'll see that you can now choose from three tabs across the top whether you......

>> LaVar Arrington, a former linebacker for the Washington Redskins, is in serious condition after being hurt in a motorcycle crash this afternoon. The details are still coming in, but a long thread of condolences has already developed at ExtremeSkins with updates being added frequently. ABC7 says that Arrington was not wearing a helmet, and that his injuries are not life threatening. [WTOP & ABC7] >> The White House press center was evacuated this......

>> Those little snow flurries you see outside your office window are just the warm-up for the arctic temperatures that await us tonight. Remember your long johns tomorrow morning, when temps will be in the teens and "strong northerly winds will create frigid wind chills." Oh, weatherman. You sweet talker. [ABC 7] >> Hey China, over here! You need 18 baby panda names, do you? We've got all the panda-naming experience you need right here.......

>> Is Smith Point Burning? If only Billy Frick were still around to ask the question. [Wonkette] >> Regular Flickr contributor techne has a problem with a new Breast Cancer awareness campaign ad, pictured right. Her words: "I strongly object to this ad. To put this extremely violent message on a young woman's headless torso sends an implicit message condoning violence towards women. I very much doubt that you intended to use the imagery of......

>> 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......

>> We don't know about you, but our mom used to tell us if we can't take care of our own toys, we didn't deserve them anyway. Which leads us to wonder how the FBI feels about having a cache of weapons and equipment stolen from two cars parked on Capitol Hill Sunday. Now the Feds are working with local authorities to find the pilfered guns. This begs the question: Is it sound policy to......

In what has to be the funniest thing we've read today, The New York Times has a profile in their Home & Garden section today of four roommates living in a row house here in Washington, dealing with typical group house issues, like whose turn it is to clean and how to deal with a rodent problem. Of course, the in-house drama reaches epic heights of satiric comedy when it's revealed who the tenants are:......

>> More than 450,000 federal employees failed to file income tax returns for 2005, and they owe the government, their employers, a whopping $2,799,950,165. Are you one of them? [WTOP] >> A woman was found dead in a rowhouse that caught fire near Georgia Ave. NW. Police and fire officials are investigating the death and the blaze. [WaPo] >> KILLER SQUIRRELS ARE INVADING D.C. HOMES OMG !!1! [OuttaMindOuttaSite] >> Supreme Court says we don't have......

We're honestly not quite sure what to make of what looks to be a T-mobile ad that's popped up on You Tube. Is it a real ad? Something done on spec by a fresh-out-of-film school director? A joke? Jessica Cutler herself isn't telling yet, but promises to "explain later" in a post on her blog today. Whatever it is, it sure is ... weird. And not very well done. We're shrugging our shoulders, and......

>> Travel + Leisure covers U Street and Logan Circle. Entire neighborhood now plans to move to Northeast. Also, we know it's technically correct, but does anyone actually call the downstairs at Saint-Ex, "Gate 54"? We've never heard anyone say that out loud. Commence bashing Travel + Leisure's coverage, a la The New York Times, in 5, 4, 3 ... >> Ward 4 Candidate Muriel Bowser kicks off her campaign by granting an interview to......

>> The White House could soon feel more like elementary school for reporters. It seems there are concerns that media personnel are roaming the halls unsupervised under the guise of going to the bathroom. Now White House officials are threatening to force journalists to be escorted to and from the john. Will this also stop the bad girls from smoking in the bathroom? [FishbowlDC] >> Apparently, someone in Rockville has had it up to here......

A bit of disheartening news today for local runners. According to an email sent by Richard Zeichik, National Director for the AIDS Marathon Training Program, the group will discontinue its popular training program in the D.C. area in 2007. It seems that the group's partner, the Whitman-Walker Clinic, has chosen to sever its ties with the organization. From the email: After nine incredible years of producing the AIDS Marathon Training Program on behalf of Whitman-Walker......

If you're heading out to lunch right now in the Dupont Circle area, consider stopping by to lend your support to a small protest against the imprisonment of 22 year-old Egyptian blogger Abdelkareem Soliman Amer, who was jailed by Egyptian government authorities for refusing to recant criticisms of repression and religious extremism on his blog. The protest started at noon, but they should be there for another 30 minutes or so, and we're all for......

>> Homophonic talking point alert: Those of you who work in the garment trade will know that the act of overcasting the raw edge of fabric to prevent unraveling is called "serging." But that's not what everyone will be talking about tonight. >> Still, the Myrtle Beach Sun-News is saying that tonight's address "may be most important of [Bush's] presidency." Dare you question the Myrtle Beach Sun-News? [Radosh] >> Tony Kornheiser will continue to serve......

In the comments for our post about the fire at the Columbia Heights Metro station, another CH problem caught our eye - mail. Apparently some Columbia Heightsters (or Height-ites?) have been having issues with their snail mail. Much of the thread is spent wondering about which post office actually serves the Columbia Heights neighborhood. Is it the station at 14th & T, or the one on 18th St. at Kalorama? (answer: depends on your address,......

Editors Note: Yesterday afternoon a 27- year old Mason student fell to his death from the third story of the Johnson Center. This post was written yesterday afternoon, before the current facts were known, and is in no way meant to be insensitive. DCist extends every condolence to the young man's family and the Mason community. George Mason University, located in the middle of beautiful congested Fairfax, Virginia, is, apparently, one of the unhappiest college......

>> It's just gotta be a tough day for the MPD officer who had his gun, badge and wallet stolen out of his gym locker in Chantilly today. And you just know it's going to be an even tougher day for the idiot who stole them when he's finally caught, since he's been using the officer's credit cards all over Northern Virginia and even managed to get captured on a surveillance video. Duuude. And we......

Congratulations, everybody: Wired says that we're one of the nation's top ten tech towns, putting us in the company of undeniably geek-friendly cities like San Francisco, Austin and Seattle. But to be honest, Wired's methodology seems a little bit suspect. Other cities made the list on the basis of a high number of comic book stores per capita, the ubiquity of free wifi, or the popularity of the local Dorkbot chapter. Our qualifications? We're desperately......

>> Do college students like having fun? Well, DO THEY!? Sounds like a job for Laura Sessions Stepp! Pull-quote highlight: "[Professor Frederic D.] Homer and graduate assistant Rodney Wambeam wanted to know what students meant when they said they were in college to have fun. They wanted to know why students rarely included classwork in that definition. What they heard surprised them." That means if Stepp, herself, was surprised, it could potentially bring the total......

>> Soon-to-be Mayor Fenty has named Brian K. Lee as interim fire chief and attorney Matthew Cutts to chair the Sports and Entertainment Commission, as well as three mayoral appointments to the D.C. Board of Education: Laura McGiffert Slover, Tonya Vidal Kinlow, and Herb Scott. [WaPo] >> The Yellow Line extension is Coming! The Yellow Line is extension is coming! On Sunday. [AP via WTOP] >> Eric Schaeffer of Signature Theater reveals the wild partying......

>> 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......

> > Gerald Ford, remembered. [WTOP] >> The Metropolitan Police Department alerts us that the FBI will be doing a "fly over" above Washington, DC tonight until midnight. No, we don't have the slightest idea what this means either, but why take chances? Tonight, conduct your illicit activity from the safety of your own domicile, where, as the courts seem to agree, you have a reasonable expectation of privacy. >> Of course, as far as......

>> While we don't know anyone who's hit the new Posh supper club, if their VIP list is any indication, it's the new place to hobnob with B-list local celebs. We've just been waiting to get in good with "Northern Virginia moneymen Michael Saylor, Mark Ein and Joe Robert." Not! [Yeas and Nays] >> Our continuing search for a neighborhood that ISN'T a historic district is highlighted by an elderly couple's plight in newly-hot Mt.......

If you're anything like us here at DCist, you've really given up the pretense of doing any work, and are merely counting down the days to your holiday vacation. Despite the lack of cold weather, snow, or anything seasonal, actually, the spirit manges to make its way in to our cold, bitter, two-sizes-too-small hearts. Somehow. And one way that happens is via the various displays of awesome Christmas lights that can be found throughout the......

Afternoon, D.C. Hope you're enjoying your Tuesday, and that your holiday shopping is getting done. Ours sure isn't. Here's some news for you all to get you out the office door. >> We know some people who won't have any problems affording all the items on their Christmas lists this year. The D.C. Council just voted this afternoon to give themselves a raise, making themselves the highest-paid officials in the area. The Post gives us......

>> As you've all no doubt heard, we're all Time magazine's Person of the Year. Unless you've never authored a blog post, a comment, or even submitted a loosely-sourced tip to a blogger who would irresponsibly publish it. Then you're nothing. [Time] >> Thieves rob hipster bar, police shrug. It's Christmas, after all. [City Desk] >> Police have responded to a shooting on the 1200 block of U Street that took place around 4 p.m.......

Woooeee. As noted in the Morning Roundup, the DCist staff party was a bit of a killer last night. Ask DCist Adam about his recipe for Tom & Jerrys. Or, alternatively, if you want to live, don't. Here's some bits and pieces to send you out the door and, if your weekend is anything like ours, into a frenzy of holiday parties. >> Be careful if you're headed out and around the Shaw Metro stop......

>> Now fellas, we know circumcision is a serious issue, and everyone is pleased to learn that the procedure could protect millions from contracting HIV, but our inner ten-year-old also delighted in the Post's coverage today. Speaking about the foreskin research on behalf of the World Health Organization was none other than Kevin De Cock. Seriously. We're happy to see he has taken the problem firmly in hand and cut through social issues surrounding the......

>> Apparently, eighth-graders and cats have a lot in common. A Maryland teacher is accused of making three boys pee in a soda bottle, rather than escorting them to the bathroom during class. The school has a policy that students must be accompanied to the potty after a bout of vandalism and problems with kids "urinating in inappropriate areas." We'll go out on a limb and label soda bottles "inappropriate areas," too. [NBC4] >> On......

>> While the Post spends precious column inches on the risk of infectious disease in our produce, some GW microbiology students have dedicated their study to a more harrowing bacterial risk: those slimy, salmonella-ridden beer pong balls. [GW Hatchet] >> Rarely do you find hipsters and schoolmarms on the same side in a fight, but the collective force of the PTA and the retro-food lovin' Bohemians is united against the War on Cupcakes. [Washington Post]......