On Tuesday we noted the death of Free Ride, the Washington Post Express blog that covered local D.C. news formerly helmed by DCist co-founder Mike Grass. Free Ride came to an end just a few months after Grass exited for Politicker, which took him to New York City. We also meant to note that Rob Goodspeed, the former DCist editor who co-founded this web site with Grass, is also moving away from the District. Goodspeed......

Make sure to check out this post by former DCist editor Rob Goodspeed over at Goodspeed Update about the costs of a Metrorail trip per mile. Contrary to the claims of former WMATA Board Member T. Dana Kauffman that the new Metro fare structure is a “raw deal” for suburban commuters, Goodspeed finds that most suburban Metro commuters "continue to enjoy costs substantially lower than driving" and shows that commuters with longer trips actually......

Amid growing, vocal frustration over dilapidated, abandoned buildings on the part of residents in neighborhoods like Shaw and Petworth, a D.C. Council committee approved a measure to double the tax rate on abandoned properties. As the Examiner notes, the move could generate millions in additional revenue while at the same time serve as an incentive for land owners to either renovate and develop their properties or sell to someone who will. The measure, introduced as......

Happy Birthday to us! We here at DCist can hardly believe it's been three years since the official launch of this humble little web site, so we couldn't let the occasion pass by without the slightest amount of fanfare. It was three years ago today that founding editors Rob Goodspeed and Mike Grass first launched DCist, the fifth site in the -Ist empire, which now includes fourteen cities all over the world. What started as......

Ever since we first launched in Sept. 2004, we've gotten plenty of questions about exactly how DCist works. What started as a volunteer staff of half a dozen writers has, over the last 2 and a half years, ballooned into a collective of over 30 dedicated bloggers who do what they can in their spare time to discuss important local issues and highlight the best cultural offerings of our fine city. At one point last......

Without a library since 2004, the Shaw neighborhood may finally be getting a place with walls to borrow books. The neighborhood's Watha T. Daniel library, as well as the Tenleytown, Anacostia, and Benning libraries, were supposed to have been renovated by 2006, but after a series of delays and cancelled contracts, there may be some book relief coming. We got an email from the D.C. Public Library via ANC commissioner Michael Bernardo saying a......

Well, it's officially one week until the big day, but it seems that law-enforcement's biggest fan isn't feeling the holiday spirit. The continuing toasty weather may also make it hard to believe you've only got five more days to purchase all the tacky reindeer sweaters you can find. Call us crazy, we're still crossing our fingers for the tiniest amount of snow by next Monday. Councilman, Sue Thy Self: Earlier this year, we made the......

Former DCist Editor Rob Goodspeed had a terrific post up over at his own site last week which asks an important question: Where are all the retail outlets that were supposed to go in the Washington Convention Center? Three years after the opening of the new Washington Convention Center, only three businesses are open among the building's 11 community retail spaces on 7th, 9th, and N Streets — Abou Master Goldsmith, Capitol Business Center, and......

It was on this day two years ago that DCist came to be, product of the inspired minds of founding editors Rob Goodspeed and Mike Grass. Or, if you're one of those creation adherents, it was sixteen days ago that some divine power willed us into existence. Either way, we're turning two today. More than 5300 posts and 40,000 comments later, we're getting a little slower, a little moodier, and a little more defensive about......

The -ist empire is expanding. It took a few blogger beatdowns to establish our presence, but we're now officially the only real blog in College Park, Maryland. Kidding. We totally got beat to that market. This morning we were tipped off to a new blog that will give the same attention to College Park that we give to the District and its environs. The College Park Site, in its own words, is: ...a news and......

Earlier this week Matthew Yglesias took us to task for referring to a "Mid-City" part of town when discussing a campaign for a new Trader Joe's near U Street. Matt is actually quite wrong to suggest "shady real estate cabals" are the architects of the term Mid-City, but the fault for his misinformation is likely ours. You see, last winter we ran a post mocking the MidCity Business Association's moniker, basically accusing them of trying......

It's going to be a bright and beautiful day here in Washington, and since we've had some less than sunny headlines so far this summer, we'd like to take a moment to point some good news. Believe it or not, your daily walks to work could actually begin getting easier. How, you say? Well we're just so glad you asked. It seems the city has begun spending money on rubberized sidewalks, which last longer than......

Former DCist editor Rob Goodspeed is pondering why it will take so long (2008?) to break ground at the old convention center site downtown, as well as what, exactly, the city will really end up doing with the area. His take is that an effort by the city to plan every inch of redevelopment themselves, such as the city's current plan for a $1 billion new main public library and entertainment complex with mixed-use......

So, we like to celebrate our little milestones here at DCist. We know, it's self-indulgent, but it makes us feel good to look back at the swath of D.C. miscellany we've cut in the internets over the past two years, and today you guys join us in our historical reverie. Just a few moments ago, we recorded our 30,000th comment, a dilly of a pickle left by frequent interlocuter WOV. The comment, WOV's 107th, was......

Today, the Post breaks out its election coverage for the races that yesterday went to the polls in Virginia. There are plenty of angles to consider but a few stories stand out. For one, it appears that Herndon voters didn't appreciate support for immigrants, as they yesterday unseated those who backed the public day-labor center constructed there (in fact, only 3,000 folks voted yesterday, suggesting that those with particularly strong feelings on the matter were......

It was under sunny skies and in unseasonable weather that some 132 daring individuals on 22 teams ran around the District looking and acting like fools on Saturday. In short, a good start to what is to become an annual D.C. tradition -- the Idiotarod. We could have stopped by and interviewed racers. We could have. But pictures are worth a thousand words, and thanks to the camera work of DCist Editor-at-Large Rob Goodspeed......

Last November we wrote about a brewing development fight in Shaw, where the Shiloh Baptist Church was exercising considerable influence against the applications for liquor licenses for two restaurants, Queen of Sheba and Vegetate. Recently DCist's own Rob Goodspeed reported on the continuing struggle, writing that Vegetate was lobbying Council-member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) to act upon a clause in District law that would finally allow the vegetarian restaurant to get its liquor license. According......

To all those who hated Borf and his many tags across the region, your wishes may have come true -- according to NBC 4, Borf was sentenced to one month in prison today. Borf, born John Tsombikos of Great Falls, Virginia, was originally sentenced to 18 months in prison, but 17 of those were suspended. After he serves his sentence, he will have to complete 200 hours of community service, pay $12,000 in restitution, and......

Today and tomorrow, we'll be taking the opportunity to look back at the year in D.C. and the year in DCist. We'll retrieve for you what we've determined are the best and most interesting DCist pieces in dining, arts, music, and news. This year we've written over two thousand posts (generating over ten thousand comments), and we figured the best way to start the reminiscence was to bring back for you the most read DCist......

We told you once, we told you twice, we're telling you a third time just for good measure. DCist is having its very first birthday party tonight at Stetson's from 7 to 10 p.m., and you should be there. Here's just a few reasons why: >> Editor Rob Goodspeed has a tendency to remove articles of clothing after imbibing only 1.5 alcoholic beverages. What can we say, he's a bit of a lightweight. And fun......

You're the mayor. Through both sheer fear and skilled negotiations the City Council and U.S. Congress bow to your every demand. Your city coffers are suddenly flush with millions of dollars in surplus. What do you do? What do you do? In yesterday's Outlook section, the Post toyed with this quasi-realistic scenario and offered a variety of Washingtonians the chance to play God with the reported $300 million budget surplus the District is set to......

Editor's Note: After last week's decidedly labor-intensive roast chicken, Chef Scott has decided to take the week off. And with so many interns coming into town who may be having their first experience with an oven, we've decided to feature a recipe for the cooking novices out there. Our interim chef will be none other than DCist editor Rob Goodspeed, who's never made a mirepoix but has been known to use the microwave on occasion.......

We've written a lot about the proposal to tear down the Whitehurst Freeway and among planning posts we've done, the Whitehurst posts seem to attract a boatload of comments, ranging from the standard "it's ugly, tear it down" response, to the more class warfare rallying call "Georgetowners just want to boost their already-inflated land values" to the Virginian-Foxhallian-Palisadesian retort "just think of the traffic!" to the forward-looking "just think of what the waterfront could be"......

Buenos dias D.C. It looks like it will be a beautiful sunny Cinco de Mayo, though still a little colder than average. Temperatures should reach the mid 60's. The image above is of a train carrying hazardous materials taken by DCist Rob Goodspeed back in February. Toxic Trains Coming Back to D.C.: A federal appeals court has overturned the lower court rule that supported the city council's decision to bar trains carrying hazardous materials (usually......

Today will be partly cloudy in the morning then clearing, with highs around 80. Latte Driving: The Post analyzes the complications to the regular commute caused by coffee - what one researcher has dubbed the "Starbucks effect": "The two men represent what one researcher says is evidence that the national craving for gourmet coffee may be adding mileage to the morning rush hour." Nats Unveil Mascot: His favorite song? "Fly Like an Eagle," of course.......

With the city's red-hot housing market showing no signs of easing, dozens of luxury condominium projects are either under construction or opening soon throughout the city, especially downtown and near Metro stations. On the web, DCGentrification.com has listings of projects along U Street and in Columbia Heights, JD Land's Near Southeast webpage contains an impressive compendium of information about development in that region, and DCLofts.com has an exhaustive listing of "Lofts, loft-style, and urban condo......

We wish we would have had our camera last night. When this DCist was walking down Columbia Road near the Safeway, we spotted some more Borf graffiti, which isn't really anything new. Any DCist reader knows that Mr. Borf has been all over D.C. and has been making his presence known across the region. But the srcibble on a Washington Post Express distribution bin was something different, a slam on our neighbors to the north:......

Today will be partly cloudy with a chance of snow showers and temperatures in the 40s. Two Men Hit by Train: An Amtrack train hit two men in Rockville, killing one and seriously wounding the other. Although police ruled three deaths in the same area to be suicides, police said there's no evidence yesterday's accident was. EPA To Pay for Mercury Cleanup: The EPA's Superfund program is picking up the tab for the $150,000 the......

At an event that seemed at times more like a candidate rally than a celebration for achieving a party position, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean thanked supporters near Union Station today, pledging an unconventional tenure as head of the Democratic Party. Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont also made a brief appearance. The organization Dean founded, Democracy for America, has more photos and information. Click beyond the jump for more photos.......

Today will start cloudy and become partly sunny in the afternoon, with highs around 60. The photo is of the brand-new Music Center at Strathmore. Bush Budget Mixed Bag for Region: Although Chesapeake Bay cleanup and library programs would be cut, President Bush's budget would increase military spending in the region. See the Post article the budget's local impact. Whitman Remembered: Walt Whitman spent 10 years living in Washington, D.C., and the attraction to......