It wasn't a very merry Christmas for Michel Morauw, the manager of the Park Hyatt Washington Hotel. NBC4 reports that an MPD officer shot and killed Morauw's dog on Monday in a small park adjacent to Rock Creek Park at 24th and N Streets NW. The officer reportedly said he was on foot patrol and entered the park "when an unleashed dog attacked him." The officer fired his gun at the dog, and the dog......

>> Jenna Bush has been named 'Person of the Year' by Reliable Source. [WaPo] >> The owner of Tunnel Fine Wines & Spirits, which recently opened at 3rd and H Streets NW, was robbed at gunpoint in the store and shot in the leg late last week. [Penn Quarter Living] >> An elderly couple died in a house fire on the 3100 block of Oliver Street NW this morning. [WTOP] >> Area charities are......

The Associated Press brings the heartbreaking tale of a stolen car taken from near 10th and S Streets NW on Wednesday with a blind kitten inside that needs medical attention. Two employees from Homeward Trails Animal Rescue were getting ready to take two foster animals to the vet -- a dog, and Wonder, a kitten born without eyes. They said they were standing outside the car at about 4 p.m. for just a few moments,......

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,......

A happy Friday to you, Washington. Hopefully you all made it in to work on time despite Metro having reduced the speed of their rail cars in several areas this morning. Speed restrictions were in place until 8:10 a.m. along portions of the Orange line in Maryland and Virginia, the Red line from Union Station to Silver Spring and from Shady Grove to Grosvenor, and the Green line from Branch Avenue to Congress Heights......

According to one observer, when the monument the Revisiting Series examined this week was unveiled on M and Connecticut Streets NW, the place was absolutely buzzing. The heroic bronze figure sat draped in his academic robe, book in hand, and looked out on the streets packed with the wide spectrum of adoring fans: men, women, and children “of all races and nationalities.” It was May 7, 1909. The Marine Band played "The Star-Spangled Banner" and......

We're certainly woe to make the poor soul who was evicted from the tony condo building The Flats at Dupont Circle, at 20th and N Streets NW, this morning feel any worse. But after being tipped off by a resident of the building to the eviction and subsequent dumping of all of this woman's worldly belongings on the street corner, we couldn't help but feel it makes a rather striking image when you consider......

Following up on Friday's entry about a gay couple who was kicked out of the Rite Aid at 13th and U Streets NW, the New Gay is organizing a hug-in set to take place at the store tomorrow night at 7 p.m., just before the annual 17th Street High Heel Race. If you plan to go, be sure to pledge your attendance via evite. The New Gay asks two things for everyone participating in......

Once again Penn Quarter Living is on the ball with a newsworthy neighborhood post. They link to a Downtown Neighborhood Association announcement that Douglas Development has been negotiating with Whole Foods Market to lease them store space on 7th Street between E and D Streets NW. This is the same space that Balducci's was briefly considering before deciding against the move last year. Balducci's retreat from the location was met with a lot of desperate......

Being somewhat of a history buff, I remember being bummed when I first moved to D.C. to discover the National Archives were closed for renovations. A few years later, the doors opened again, and finally seeing these amazing, centuries old documents in person is something I won't forget. Flickr user FrogMiller took this crystal clear photo (with no flash, of course) of Mr. Hancock's famous signature. EXIF. Entrance to the Rotunda at the The......

Would you be willing to pay $25 for a photograph of yourself standing next to someone who looks eerily similar to your favorite celebrity? That's the question you'll want to answer before venturing in to the new Madame Tussauds wax museum at 10th and F Streets NW, which opens to the public today. Last night, DCist attended the opening party for the attraction. We say attraction purposefully, because Madame Tussauds isn't a museum at......

WMATA has issued a service alert that the entrance to the Metro Center station at 13th and G Streets NW is closed due to a police situation. A reader let us know that he can see bomb units on the scene from his office window, with a bomb-seeking robot being assembled to go into the metro entrance with a team of police dogs. The service alert indicates that only this entrance is closed and that......

Ahh, rise and shine, Washington! It's another beautiful fall day, so stretch and breathe in deep ... but not too deep, unless you enjoy inhaling some of the worst air in the nation. Scientists are putting numbers on information our lungs already knew: the D.C. area "produces more carbon dioxide than several medium-size European countries," the Post reports. This is due primarily to Maryland's coal-burning power plants and our stand-still traffic, we make more carbon......

WTOP is reporting that D.C. police are investigating a weekend attack near Shaw nightclub Be Bar as a hate crime. The victim, an intern who works for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Human Rights Campaign, was first shouted at by his assailant with a derogatory term for homosexual, and then beaten up. The victim was taken to an area hospital and has since been released. The incident took place at 10th and O Streets NW in......

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......

Flickr user philliefan_99 has become our resident birder, catching some amazing views of our local eagles, ospreys, and herons -- like this gorgeous one taking a dip off Roosevelt Island. The questioning pose of the great water bird and the awesome green reflecting off the water make for a spot-on nature shot. EXIF. Philliefan_99 was at our last DCist Photographer's Meet-Up; will you be at our next one? Join us at Solly's at the......

Via the DCist tipline, we heard there may have been a fire at year-old Mt. Vernon Square-area coffee shop Breakwell's, on the corner of 9th and M Streets NW. Sure enough, the windows at the front and along the side of the shop have been boarded up, and there is visible fire damage to the exterior of the building. While checking out the extent of the damage, DCist chatted with the proprietors of WIDE......

We like our animal photos with a gallon of 'cute' and just a dash of 'omg ew.' Flickr user static-photo's perfectly timed capture of this cow's enormous schnozz as it tries to snack on his camera up in Frederick, Md. fits the bill. The wee beady eyes just peeking out from behind make the photo. Now someone go get a napkin already. EXIF. Get your cameras ready, folks, because it's time for another DCist......

FRIDAY: >> Though perhaps not quite as high profile anymore as some other D.C. bands from the mid-1980s, the cryptically-named 9353 always had, and still maintains, a dedicated group of fans. You may never have heard of them, but in addition to playing with some of the biggest local names like Scream, G.I. and Iron Cross, they also shared bills with Public Image Ltd, Sisters of Mercy and the Butthole Surfers back in the day,......

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......

Anyone who has tried to use one of the many crosswalks at the intersection of 16th and U Streets NW during rush hour knows that it can be a pretty dicey proposition. With New Hampshire Ave. running through it in opposite, one-way directions, and a number of confusing turns available to drivers, you really have to look four different ways at least twice before you can step out in to the road on the......

After some Columbia Heights residents raised a stink about the discount retailers at the DC USA shopping center and campaigned in vain for a Whole Foods, there's something they can be happy about: an organic grocery store, Richmond-based Ellwood Thompson's, could be coming to the neighborhood in 18 months. While the Express' FreeRide blog said the store will only move into an eco-friendly Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (or LEED) certified building, we contacted......

Near sunset on a Tuesday in the middle of May, Lana Labermeier and her husband Stuart Davenport were sitting outside their then-unfinished new Bloomingdale coffee shop, Big Bear Cafe, enjoying a hard earned cold beer after a long day of landscaping work. Unfortunately, their neighbors could hardly let them rest. "When are you gonna be open?" shouted one man from his car. "Are you hiring?" asked another. "What's this going to be?" "Aren't you......

A couple of odd and/or disturbing crimes that happened in the District this morning are making headlines. >> Metro Transit Police are investigating a stabbing outside the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro Station that took place early this morning. There are conflicting reports about exactly what happened. ABC7 says the unidentified victim told police he was stabbed from behind while he was going down the escalator at the metro entrance at 7th and H Streets NW. But......

Andre the Giant, Schmandre the Giant. The other day we noticed one of these stickers on a lamppost at about 13th and R Streets NW. It's good to see some grassroots (lamp roots?) support for the D.C. United star, and Dan Steinberg over at the D.C. Sports Bog has been on the case for some time. For those who don't know, "tiene un posse" is a reference to the Andre the Giant Has a......

FRIDAY: >> It may be that we've simply gotten so, so, so many press releases about The Horrors show tonight at the Rock and Roll Hotel, and we've been beaten into submission to mention it. Give the punky-garage rock revivalists a chance for $12 at 8:30 p.m., and let us know if they're worth all the fuss. Seattle's Schoolyard Heroes open, plus locals Scanner Freaks. >> One of the most anticipated new hip hop albums......

The main intersection in Georgetown, at Wisconsin and M Streets NW, could soon be known for more than over-priced boutiques and terrible traffic. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) has introduced a bill that would name the intersection "Joe Pozell Square," after D.C. reserve police officer Joseph Pozell, who directed traffic in the intersection for years. Pozell died in 2005 after being hit by an SUV in the very same intersection. Should the D.C. Council......

Four properties on 9th St. NW that are owned by Shiloh Baptist Church have been officially condemned by the city. Notices on the buildings indicate the city’s Board for the Condemnation of Insanitary Buildings considers the properties “in such insanitary condition as to endanger the health or the lives of the occupants thereof and/or persons in the vicinity.” Shiloh's vacant properties have been a subject of heated debate within one of the most acrimonious ANCs......

In the 2001 film Not Another Teen Movie, Chyler Leigh plays Janey Briggs, a misfit high school artist-girl who wears a ponytail, paint-stained overalls and horn-rimmed glasses. When the popular starting quarterback Jake Wyler bets that he can turn nerdy Janey into a prom queen, hilarity (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) ensues for the duration of the flick’s twisted Cinderella storyline. Near the end of the movie, Janey takes off her Woody Allen style spectacles,......

FRIDAY: >> Provisions Library's Cartoon Film Series continues tonight with Ducktators, Dutch director Wolter Braamhorst's look at the use of cartoons as propaganda during World War II. The film, originally released in 1997, sheds light on how entertainment and war have gone hand-in-hand since at least the 1940s, and features interviews with famed Loony Tunes animator Chuck Jones. 7 p.m., free. >> Be sure to check out the Arts Agenda for details on the gallery......