Author Archive for Mike Madden

The Needle: Memorial Day Edition

Goodbye, Godfather: When U.S. presidents die, they lie in state in the Capitol. Now that the Godfather of the Go-Go has died, he'll lie in state, too—in a much more befitting spot. Fans will be able to wish Chuck Brown off well at the Howard Theatre on Tuesday, where a public viewing will take place all [...]

The Needle: He Biked That Way! Edition

Talkin' Bout the Money: Court documents released in today's guilty plea by a former Vince Gray campaign aide (as opposed to Tuesday's guilty plea by a former Vince Gray campaign aide) indicate the winning effort accepted money from at least one "straw donor," who gave funds actually provided by someone else. Which has the potential [...]

The Needle: Bus Blaze Edition

Gray Gored?: Maybe all that time listening to Sulaimon Brown babble in front of the D.C. Council wasn't wasted, after all. Federal prosecutors say the former chief money man for Vince Gray's victorious 2010 mayoral campaign, Thomas Gore, gave money orders for $535 to Brown's campaign using fake names and cash from Gray's own campaign [...]

The Needle: Long Live the Godfather Edition

RIP, Chuck: Godfather of the Go-Go Chuck Brown has died. He was a legend in D.C. and in the music world, and he'll be missed. One last time, everyone: "Wind us up, Chuck!" -10

Ward 5 Voter: Buildings Without Kids Are Racist!

The Ward 5 special election, in Tim Craig's telling in this morning's Post, is turning into the same thing virtually every recent D.C. election has become: a referendum on the city's changing demographics. And I'm sympathetic to most of the concerns longtime residents raise in Craig's story: development only arrives when wealthy, white residents do, [...]

The Needle: Doing Fine in Zone 9 Edition

Blue Line Blues: Everyone who rides Metro daily probably thinks the line they take is the worst one in the system. But unless they ride the Blue line, they're wrong. A new Metro study finds the worst on-time performance is on the Blue line, where 12.8 percent of trains were delayed. Best performance? The Orange [...]

The Needle: Rerouted Edition

Rain On The Parade: Georgia Avenue NW runs pretty far north into Maryland, but not quite all the way to Baltimore. Which is where the D.C. Caribbean Carnival, which in most years has rocked down the avenue in late June, is heading this year. Organizers couldn't get together the $179,000 they owed the city, city [...]

Dorothy Brizill and Gary Imhoff’s House Burns Down

The Columbia Heights house owned by D.C. watchdog/activists Dorothy Brizill and Gary Imhoff was badly damaged in a fire Friday night, which authorities told the Washington Post "wiped out" the home.
Brizill and Imhoff jointly publish DC Watch, an email newsletter that delves into the picayune details of District government and politics.
The two-alarm fire started shortly before [...]

The Needle: Natitude Edition

HTJ, Exit Stage Left: Stealing $350,000 from the District's coffers nets you 38 months in federal prison. Or at least, that's what it netted former Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. today, as a federal judge sentenced him to that plus another 36 months of probation for crimes he pleaded guilty to in January. The [...]

The Needle: Closing Time Edition

Last Call For The Alcohol: Closing time at District bars looks likely to remain 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends. A D.C. Council committee voted 3-2 to block Mayor Vince Gray's proposal to extend alcohol sales for an extra hour, instead recommending to raise taxes on drinks. Which, to be honest, is [...]

The Needle: He Took My Weed Edition

And Now, The Afternoon Predator Report: From Marine helicopters zipping around town to the occasional Space Shuttle flyover, District residents are fairly used to odd things passing overhead. Up next could be drones. Fairfax County Police Chief David Rohrer says to expect robo-planes to appear in the D.C. region sooner rather than later. No word [...]

The Needle: OMG Kim Kardashian Edition

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner: Most of the D.C.-based national media, as well as some D.C.-based national political operatives, elected officials, and other folks who are in charge of the country, will spend the weekend gussying up for the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner at the Washington Hilton. Having attended this event a few [...]

Take My BlackBerry—Please!

Pity the poor BlackBerry user in D.C.
For years, the devices carried a certain dorky status, at least among the Capitol Hill set; obsessively checking your email at happy hour showed you were important, or at least you thought you were. These days, though, the only thing carrying a BlackBerry tells people is that you haven’t [...]

The Needle: Caps Win! Edition

The Ice Of Boston Is For Losers: Not many hockey pundits picked the Washington Capitals to beat the Boston Bruins in the first round of this year's Stanley Cup playoffs. The Bruins won the whole thing last year, after all, and besides, the Caps are from D.C., where all things sport-related for most of the [...]

Hail to Robert Griffin III

No doubt in the minds of the Washington Redskins operation who the team will select with the second pick in tonight's NFL draft, apparently—this newsletter just went out from Redskins.com, with the subject line "Get Ready For Griffin!":

Griffin, of course, is the player soon to be known all around town as RG3, Baylor quarterback Robert [...]