In July, Washington City Paper reported on the tensions and troubles at Henson Ridge, a new mixed-income housing development. Crime was an issue. The fall-out from the real estate market had also slowed sales of homes. Despite the well-manicured lawns, houses got shot up. Someone had been stabbed. And now, the U.S. Attorney's Office reports [...]
It was reported a few weeks ago that two D.C. Fire Investigators are now checking fire hydrants after claiming the Eastern Market fire was arson. Now, a firefighter is under scrutiny for critiquing the way the Mount Pleasant fire was handled. The Fire Department brass is allegedly blaming the catastrophe on one firefighter–saying she should [...]
A belated kudos to the Washington Post editorial page, for nailing a thoroughly reported editorial-cum-investigative piece on the DeOnte Rawlings situation. Though we've already cited the piece in our fabulous Loose Lips Daily, a more complete breakdown is in order.
Rawlings, 14, was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer on Sept. 17, 2007. Subsequent [...]
In a "Special 40th Anniversary Issue" of its newsletter, the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs noted that the District recently made some big news. The city offered the largest settlement in its history for a wrongful-death case involving a prisoner. The prisoner had been fatally stabbed at the D.C. Jail six [...]
Ms. Subpoena is back at work.
Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh today announced she'll be digging deep into her legislative toolbox to pry out information on this year's electoral fiascoes.
For one, Cheh announced at a council press conference this morning, she will be asking her council colleagues at the legislative meeting tomorrow to pass a resolution [...]
Local Republicans asked a court this morning to declare At-Large Councilmember-Elect Michael A. Brown ineligible to take office.
The petition to the D.C. Court of Appeals follows a decision by the Board of Elections and Ethics last Monday to certify Brown's victory. The D.C Republican Committee had sent a letter to the board asking that Brown's [...]
The Robert Wone murder case heated up yesterday. One defendant was released. There was the news that all three roommates, who were charged with obstruction of justice, would be living together in a rented apartment. There was the news that a Grand Jury was looking into more charges. And finally, Wone's family filed a wrongful [...]
Good morning, District denizens! And now, the news:
Lt. James A. Cullen posted on the MDP-4D listserv that the 17 year old who was shot while near the 700 block of Decatur St. NW was treated and released from the hospital. Cullen also said that a "white Lexus sedan" may have been involved in the incident. [...]
This afternoon I visited 1034 Quebec Place, where a massive fire claimed a life this morning. Firemen had a four-block area on lockdown. Pepco technicians were on every corner, assessing potential damage to the grid. Baleful neighbors watched the excavation and gave the professionals a wide berth. One woman told me [...]
At 8:05 this morning, more than 120 firefighters descended on 1034 Quebec Place, NW, where a massive blaze had consumed most of the house, inflicted extensive damage to the homes on either side, and charred a corpse on the second floor beyond recognition.
In late December of last year, I wrote a cover story questioning whether the devastating Eastern Market fire might in fact have been caused by arson. The piece used several anonymous fire fighters, documents, and memos to make the case. Not only had Eastern Market been caused by arson, there may be another serial arsonist [...]
Reprinted from this week's Loose Lips column
Two weeks ago, senior staff at the Office of the Chief Technology Officer got some fresh mountain air at taxpayer expense: 46 agency employees piled into vans and drove the approximately 80 miles to the Skyland Resort in Shenandoah National Park for a “leadership summit” hosted by agency head [...]
Edward Robinson-El came to the West End Library to be its new manager about a month ago. He had managed various libraries around Brooklyn, where he had customers of many ethnicities—Orthodox Jews, Italians, you name it—and income levels. Still, Robinson-El was surprised when he got to the West End Library and found out who his [...]
Winter in D.C. brings some doldrums, including very little snowfall and some very uninspiring professional sports teams. A ray of sunshine, though, breaks through via an annual Department of Public Works ritual: Suspension of the alternate-side street sweeping program and the associated halt of ticket-writing for street-sweeping infractions. In other words, a respite from [...]
It's always something, at least when it comes to elections in the District of Columbia.
This afternoon, Ward 3 Councilmember Mary M. Cheh, who chairs a special council committee on elections, announced in a press release that her office had found several minor anomalies with the Nov. 4 results that "may indicate larger problems in the [...]
