If it's the end of July, then it's time for The Hill's annual 50 Most Beautiful People issue. If you've lived here for any amount of time, you know the drill: it's when the paper sends out a small army of normally serious minded Capitol Hill reporters to track down crucial information such as whether an intern working for some no-name congressman enjoys horseback riding or not. It's also when we get to spend an......

>> Congress finally, finally went home. [The Hill] >> CFO Natwar Gandhi is "deeply sorry" for the Office of Tax and Revenue scandal: "It's tearing me apart." [City Desk] >> An MPD officer has been arrested and charged in a federal child sex sting. [WJLA] >> Gallaudet University received more than $6 million from a Fredericksburg woman who left the bulk of her estate to the university. [AP via WTOP] >> Alexandria's lackluster Landmark......

After a fire gutted Eastern Market last April, the stretch of 7th Street SE adjacent to the market building was closed off on weekends to accommodate vendors, construction of the temporary East Hall and reconstruction of the South Hall. In an interview on WTOP (link to audiostream) last week, Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells said he wants to keep 7th Street that way. The Hill picked up the story on Wednesday, and the Hilleast......

>> The Senate might have to work all weekend, in advance of a possible vote on Sunday on whether to take up a $50 billion war funding bill that calls for a troop withdrawal from Iraq in 12 months, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) warned. Be prepared to hear all your Senate staffer friends complain about this at happy hour tonight. [The Hill] >> Foxhall Road will be closed to traffic between MacArthur Boulevard......

The Hill is reporting that the Senate Hart and Dirksen Office Buildings were evacuated due to a fire just after 1 p.m. There are at least four fire trucks and an ambulance at the scene as hundreds of aides left the buildings. Senate staffers told The Hill that this was not a planned drill, though it is unclear why fire and rescue personnel were called. “Evacuating hart & dirksen due to confirmed fire & audible......

A frenzy over whether staff-led tours of the U.S. Capitol will continue began earlier this month. At issue is a proposal from the Architect of the Capitol that would require all Capitol tours to be led by professionally certified tour guides once the new Capitol Visitor Center opens in November 2008. Unlike the smaller tours currently led by Congressional staff and interns, visitors would be put into groups of 40, given earphones and shown a......

"The trouble with radicals,” goes a quote widely attributed to early 20th century economist Thomas Nixon Carver, “is that they only read radical literature, and the trouble with conservatives is that they don’t read anything.” That both sides of the political spectrum have proven that to be a lie will be apparent tomorrow tonight at the Trover Shop on Capitol Hill, which is hosting The Hill’s Sixth Annual Political Book Fair. Participating authors include current......

>> The ceremonial flame for the Special Olympics will pass through town tomorrow afternoon, starting at the White House at 12:15 p.m. and making stops on the National Mall before heading uptown to the Chinese Embassy. Expect minor traffic delays along the route. [WJLA] >> Is a Rita's Water Ice coming to the Washington Convention Center area? [Bloomingdale (for now)] >> Bob Mould is set to release his first ever live DVD, Circle Of......

If you've ever wondered how D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton keeps fired up, it's not just the indignity of being denied full voting privileges in the House -- it's race-walking and low-calorie smoothies. According to an article published yesterday in The Hill, Norton does her best to stay in shape, exercising and eating well to ensure that she never goes soft on anti-voting rights Republicans: On weekends, or days when she has more free time,......

Are you a resident of Washington, D.C. and looking for a new job? D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is hosting her 10th annual Norton Job Fair, at the Washington Convention Center's Hall C on Tuesday, July 10, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. You need to show proof of D.C. residency to attend (either a valid D.C. driver's license, or picture ID plus a utility bill with your address), the idea being to give D.C.......

Sparky's Has Indeed Been Shuttered Following our conversation last week about the Warehouse's impending closure, several commenters were asking about the fate of Sparky's at 14th and R, NW, which was suddenly shuttered a few weeks back. Phone calls to the shop lead to a message that doesn't recommend that you leave a message, because no one checks the machine We searched for something more official, but the closest we found was at Brightest Young......

We couldn't help but giggle when we heard an ad on WAMU today for The Nina Totin' Bag, a collectible canvas bag honoring NPR's Legal Affairs correspondent (who is certainly getting a workout lately with all the Supreme Court decisions being handed down in rapid succession), Nina Totenberg. Shouldn't it be the Nina Totenbag, then? Looks like The Hill had the first word on the collectible bags, which were passed around at an event in......

While most of us are eagerly awaiting the start of May sweeps, the network suits are already thinking ahead to next fall and tinkering with the pilots of new shows. If you're just a tiny bit nuts about television, like, ahem, some of us are, pilot season is a pretty exciting time to see what shows are in development and what might actually get picked up to air come September. D.C. is, of course, well......

We'll do anything to serve our readership here at DCist, including taking up valuable Internet real estate to inform you of yet another free coffee giveaway from a giant national chain. This time up, it's Dunkin' Donuts, the corporate force behind an inexplicable love and devotion for so-so baked goods and decent-if-not-amazing coffee that is buried deep inside the heart of every Bostonian. No one understands why, but those wacky New Englanders, especially the ones......

Given the District's status as something of a federal colony, members of Congress often find themselves expressing opinions about local matters or, worse yet, micro-managing the city. They hate our gun laws, propose using the District as a laboratory for a flat tax, threaten us over gay marriage and won't let us have medical marijuana. And now one is speaking out about the city's smoking ban. The Hill reports today that Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Col.),......

With the District's smoking ban now in force throughout the city's bars and restaurants, pretty much the only option for smokers set on enjoying a quick cigarette without heading outside was getting elected to Congress. Today, that changed. The Hill reports that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi officially banned smoking in the Speaker's Lobby, an ornate room beside the House chamber that for decades has been the refuge of smokers in Congress. The Post......

If you're anything like this writer, the last big election returns "party" you went to turned into a vast pit of sorrow and despair you'd like not to repeat. Or maybe you joyously tossed balloons and toasted champagne at your party's continuing reign. Either way, the fate of the next two years of our country is being decided and you need a place to go tonight to watch, with trepidation and a beer, as the......

We've been looking forward to the launch of Patrick Gavin and Jeff DuFour's new daily Beltway column, "Yeas and Nays", for a few weeks now, largely so we could finally be sure just what sorts of topics the two would be covering under the somewhat inscrutable decscription of "people, power and politics." C'mon guys, that could be about anything from the current brouhaha at The New Republic to what kind of toilet paper Vice President......

Hill staffers, it's your turn to bathe in the harsh glare of the reality TV spotlight. The new six-part Capitol Hill documentary series The Hill (not to be confused with the Laguna Beach spin off The Hills) shadows the young staff of Congressman Robert Wexler (D-Fla) as they navigate the slippery halls of political power. While a documentary about the wonky inner workings of a Hill office sounds mundane at best to us, we are......

Yesterday, we received an e-mail that nearly fell to its death in the spam filter. Hidden among Nigerian flim-flam scams, phishing attempts, and advertisements for products purporting to be able to enlarge our manhood (this morning's: "Does 8 incches enough 4 U?") was a message advising us that DC Style magazine seemed to be holding a "10 Hottest Chefs in DC" competition. First thing that sprang to mind? Glamour shots of cooking hotties sporting nothing......

Montmartre, Vous Êtes Mon Petit Napoleon It seems that the battle is on. Weeks after the closing of La Colline and the simultaneous news that Dupont Circle's Johnny's Half Shell would be taking over, another Hill business is moving in to secure the soon-to-be empty Half Shell space. Montmartre, the fantastic French bistro by Eastern Market, is expanding its territory. We'd like to think that it's a win for the Hill and a slap in......

This is the third entry in this week's Three Stars local music roundup. Check out Tuesday's piece on Death By Sexy and yesterday's take on Barakus. Today Jason Linkins spreads the news about Full Minute of Mercury. Pictures are from Full Minute of Mercury and Earlash, respectively. Full Minute of Mercury For many years, Washington’s most notable rock exports took the form of Dischordian austerity and the post-graduate sounds of the TeenBeat and Simple Machines......

You know it's August and the news has slowed down considerably when everybody starts running their "Who's The Hottest fillintheblank" type polls. The Hill ran their 50 Most Beautiful (which was appropriately snarked by the DCeiver, who in turn got a mention in Newsweek!); Gawker's already done a bunch of hottie media types; and now FishbowlDC is running their own media Hot-A-Thon, featuring several members of the D.C. media elite. The categories are Hottest On-Air......

Good morning Washington. With all the Supreme Court news this morning (no, Rehnquist hasn't announced his retirement yet, but here's Linda Greenhouse's piece in the NYT about the Ten Commandments ruling and Carol D. Leonnig's piece in the Post about what the next step is for Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper since the high court refused to intervene in their cases) we thought it fitting to feature Olivia Leigh's photo of the Supreme Court she......

When Executive Chef Drew Trautmann and proprietors Eli Hengst and Jared Rager (of Mendocino in Georgetown) announced that they were opening a restaurant where Il Raddichio used to be, Capitol Hill food watchers were understandably excited. On a block inhabited by a Burrito Brothers, the Capitol Lounge, and formerly a Chesapeake Bagel Bakery, the new American cuisine of the sort served at Mendocino was welcome change. The Hill has seen a few good new......

Washington, D.C., may not be a locale frequently visited by the flaws and foibles of A-List celebrities, but the nexus of power and politics nevertheless yields a generous supply of dish. Washingtonians know where to get their gossip, and they have a decent array of choice: such as kitten-with-a-whip Wonkette, the above-the-fray Reliable Source Richard Leiby, the unbuttoned back pages of The Hill and Roll Call's "Heard on the Hill," the window into vicarious living......

DCist reported a few weeks ago that Saturday breakfast service at the Market Lunch in Eastern Market was ending--and judging by the reactions of DCist readers and forum members over at eGullet, no one was happy about the decision. Well, good news for all you fans of blueberry pancakes and "The Brick": weekend breakfasts at the Market Lunch are back. Both The Hill (fourth item) and Roll Call report that Tom Glasgow, who runs the......

We swear to God, D.C. is the only town where every main street looks like a ghost town during the nights when prez and vice prez debates take place. You know what? You deserve a night out if you watched that entire snoozefest on C-SPAN yesterday evening. Have at it: The bluesy-rock act the Black Keys hit up the 9:30 Club. The Hill's Third Annual Political Book Fair takes place at Trover Shop, 221 Pennsylvania......

Local blogger Unsettled has posted a review of Ristorante Tosca. Tosca was the winner of the Washington D.C. New Restaurant of the Year Award in 2002, and has been positivally reviewed by both The Hill (Four Domes!) and the Washington Post. Her verdict: Overall? Tosca treats your mouth wonderfully. Classically inspired menu with a taste of combinations and dishes that aren't found at every corner chain. The food focus adds to your tastebuds enjoyment. The......

Meghan Keane, the editor of the popular local blog Swamp City, is calling it quits, leaving Washington and starting a newspaper job in New York. DCist wishes Keane well. She's been blogging for about a year and developed a loyal audience. We wonder who will carry the torch and analyze the "stellar" Capitol Hill feature writing of The Hill's Betsy Rothstein. Swamp City writes Washington a good-bye note: I know you think it's cute how......