Author Archive for Angela Valdez

Our Morning Roundup

Today we see if the House can pass our "rescue package."
Salon's Mike Madden comes out and says it: Palin did better (speaking in her "nasal snow-belt honk") than we expected but she still lost.
The Prince of Petworth wants to know where to find the best BBQ in the city.
I know their pain: students at Georgetown [...]

Crickets

I found this real live cricket taking refuge in my apartment building, near the elevator which actually works now, although it always stops on the first floor (which has no exits to the street). In other news from SoFi*, our building managers have turned off the AC for the season. Can they do that?
*A certain [...]

More on the Very Private Judge Erik Christian

Last week, I wrote about the extra steps taken by Judge Erik P. Christian to keep his private life private. He had his own domestic relations case sealed. Christian isn't the most popular judge on the D.C. Superior Court, and he has a reputation among many of the attorneys I spoke with for making unreasonable [...]

Eason Responds, Sort Of

So I guess I could have just gone to the big man himself. Earlier today I posted about the confusing, and concerning, documents filed by Creative Loafing, our parent company, in their application for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Well, blogger Rob Capriccioso, aka Big Head Rob, took it upon himself to forward my post to [...]

Fun With Bankruptcy, Nunc Pro Tunc and an $185,000 Retainer

Perusing the scanned documents from our parent company's Chapter 11 case, I'm finding a lot of lingo I don't totally understand (PDFs: Emergency Motion to Use Cash Collateral, Emergency Motion for Nunc Pro Tunc Authorization). But hey, here's one I think I get: Notice of Deficient Filing. It appears that Ben Eason's bankruptcy papers [...]

Economic Turmoil Hits the Charity Gala Circuit

What has the world come to? Apparently, amid our hand-wringing over bank failures and congressional flailing, the good citizens of Washington are getting stingy with their Franklins. At least one charity is offering a discount to ease the pain of $150+ dinner tickets. The CARMA Foundation, which raises funds for Haitian women and children in [...]

Aspiring Baltimore Cop Sentenced in DC for Assaulting a Prostitute

This item only made it into the Washington Times' briefs. The short story had these details: Colin Hatch, a 23-year-old Capitol Heights church deacon gets sentenced to 14 years in prison for sexually assaulting a DC prostitute at gunpoint.
Pretty bad. Here's what they left out: Hatch was two weeks from taking a new job as [...]

Judge Gets Records Sealed on His Own Case

There are certain privileges that come with being a judge on the D.C. Superior Court. You get a parking space, a courtroom, a law clerk and a secretary, upwards of $150,000 a year, and the job security of a 15-year presidential appointment. But it's still a job for mortals. Judges have to pay for their [...]

Our Morning Roundup

WaMu fails. JP Morgan picks up the scraps ("43,000 employees, more than 2,200 branch offices in 15 states and $188.3 billion in deposits"). It's the largest bank failure in the country's history, but still not the story of the day.
That would be, the flailing Republican plan to write a blank check to big business, thus [...]

Mitchell Gold: Send My Book to Wasilla

Living in the snug enclave of the coastal media, it's easy to forget that in some not-so-distant realms, Americans still face a massive cultural stigma against coming out as gay. A reminder of this reality comes from Crisis, a new book published by Mitchell Gold, one half of the high-end furniture retailer Mitchell Gold + [...]

Our Morning Roundup

Salon reports on how Sarah Palin's development initiatives in Wasilla fouled her own nest. And on Obama's need for Hispanic voters.
An autopsy confirms that the prisoner found dead in a PG county jail–after allegedly killing a cop–was the victim of homicide. Strangulation, to be exact, "possibly with a sheet, a towel or the "crux of [...]

Libertarian’s Shadowy Candidate Gets Serious

Damien Ober made it onto the ballot. He's soliciting contributions on a spiffy new website.

One and a Half Miles of Guns, Knives and Accessories

The Nation’s Gun Show took place this past weekend in Chantilly, Va. I attended looking to meet a few members of armed America and, hopefully, D.C. residents shopping for revolvers—so far the only handguns they can buy.
First things first. After spending several hours trolling “one and a half miles of guns, knives and accessories,” I [...]

Our Morning Roundup

The Smoking Gun has documentation on a baggy pants crackdown in Florida. Police reports detail the damning evidence: "black male" in "tan baggy shorts with blue and white boxer style undergarment below his waste." We continue on to hell in a hand basket with news that a priest in Illinois was dealing coke out [...]

You Know It’s Rock When You Can Smell the Singer’s Sweat

And when the drummer drums with a garbage can on his head, in the middle of the audience.

And when the singer sings with a girl in jeans in his arms.

Crazy-haired Israelis who call themselves Monotonix, last night at the Cat.