Lots of good legal wrangling today in the Robert Wone case. A District Court D.C. Superior Court judge agreed that the three roommates charged with obstruction of justice could lose their monitoring bracelets. The Post reports that the curfews for the three---Joseph Price, 37; Victor J. Zaborsky, 42; and Dylan M. Ward, 38---have been lifted as well.

But U.S. Attorney's Office prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, chief of the homicide division, said that his office is seeking additional charges for all three---namely, a tampering with evidence charge.

Also in the Post story was the allegation that Price had possessed or distributed meth, coke and E. Price's attorney argued that he was unaware of the alleged drug use. [We're checking with the courts and Kirschner's office on this one]. If Price had a criminal record, you'd think that would have come out in the already extensive court documents.

The murder of Robert Wone is a tragic case. The circumstances of his murder are presented in the affidavit's now famous, grim narrative of drugging, stabbing, and sexual assault. Yesterday, a prominent lawyer called me to point out two holes in the law man's narrative involving the three---Victor Zaborsky, Dylan Ward, and Joe Price---now charged with obstruction of justice. The lawyer, who has zero involvement in this case, says these are holes any defense attorney would do well to exploit.

Defense attorneys have already started filing stuff in D.C. Superior Court. They may well turn their attention to these holes in the prosecutor's case if they haven't already.

Read More "Robert Wone Case: Two Possible Gaps in Police Work" »

Dylan Ward, who has been charged with obstruction of justice in the mysterious death of Robert Wone, was released this morning. A D.C. Superior Court granted his release. He is required to submit to curfew restrictions and wear a monitoring bracelet on his ankle.

Where's he going? Well, Ward will be living with the two other former roommates who were also recently charged with obstruction of justice.

The Post account of the mundane proceedings had one bit of news: "Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Kirschner said there were additional charges against Ward before a grand jury, but declined to identify what those charges were."

Update 3:15 p.m.: Robert Wone's family just filed a wrongful-death civil suit in D.C. Superior Court. The $20 million lawsuit was filed against the three defendants charged with obstruction of justice. The Post writes that the civil suit complaint alleged the defendants covered up the murder.

Commenters have beeen tearing it up over at 14th and T: The Good News, Bad News Edition, many of them in support of Diner/Tryst/Open City owner Constantine Stavropoulos and comedy club impresario John Xereas, who had hoped---with the help of Dave Chappelle and others---to develop local businesses inside the former Church of the Reformer. That plan now looks even more like a dream deferred to Minneapolis-based furniture outfit Room & Board.

Blame the "big-box mentality" if you like, but here's what really happened, according to Wayne Dickson, who, as principal partner at Blake Dickson Real Estate Services, represents the owners of the building: "Whoever writes the first check gets the space. That's the beginning and the end of the story....They [the local business owners] didn't have the money and had no assurance they could get the money."

Dickson is not unsympathetic to Stavropoulos and John X. He was the one who helped Stavropoulos move into Woodley Park in what is now Open City. They're friends and he says he has high esteem for both men. But that doesn't mean Four Points, his clients and the owners of the building, are making a bad decision.

Read More "14th and T: Reality Edition" »

For Doug A. Rogers, like Barack Obama and Arthur Delaney, it's all over but the counting. ANC 2B09 challenger Rogers---who was randomly photographed earlier today by our roaming election staffer, Amanda Hess (that's him on the left)-- just called in from home. He's been up since 4 a.m. and was out all day at 14th and U in front of the Reese Center. His opponent, incumbent Ramon Estrada, the ANC chair, was out in the rain as well.

"Yes, we spoke," says Rogers. "We're neighbors. We have our differences, but it's a friendly race."

Rogers, a CPA for a consulting firm Downtown, is optimistic and is planning to head down to the Board of Elections later tonight for some results. Of course "with all the issues down there and the write-in for Carol Schwartz....if it's close, we'll have to wait for the absentee ballots to come in. It could take two weeks."

Rogers is running on a pro-development, pro-local-biz platform, especially in regard to the west side of 14th Street and it's lack of fabulousness compared to the east side of the street, which is under the purview of a different ANC.

Estrada "has been in the neighborhood for 30 years," says Rogers, hedging his optimism. "We'll see what happens....he does have a lot of people who are anti-development."

In case you missed it, the Washington Blade has a nice piece on gays running against gays in the hot, hot, hot ANC races. (Note: Our candidate, Arthur Delaney, is not gay. If he was, he probably would have clean pants ready to go.)

Among the gay races, we're keeping a close eye on ANC 2B09 in Dupont Circle. Chairman Ramon Estrada, who's served for six years, is facing a challenge from Doug A. Rogers. News we broke about the planned development at 14th and T is shaping up as the issue that divides. Rogers is a big backer of the Diner/Tryst/Comedy option at the former Church of the Reformer, where Minneapolis-based furniture chain Room & Board is looking to open. Estrada, although not openly against the local-biz project led by restaurateur Constantine Stavropoulos, is also not carrying the project's water, mainly because of the disturbance a 24-hour Diner hybrid could create. We could not confirm that. Estrada has never returned our calls.

Rogers did and will be checking in with us as his race unfolds.

Read More "ANC Races: The Year of the Gays, Especially at 14th and T" »

Sweet pics of Hizzoner from the High Heel Race, courtesy of Joe Tresh at washingtonphotojournal.com.

This morning in the park surrounding the Dupont Circle fountain flocks of pigeons and other winged creatures seemed to be very interested in a pile of fleshy-looking stuff in the grass. This appeared to be gross. From my spot on a bench, I couldn't figure out what it was the birds were munching on. This appeared to need a closer inspection.

There in the grass: a ginormous pile of authentic (to my eye) glazed Krispy Kremes, some of them sprinkled and frosted, their frosted parts sticking together in a congealed mass.

Birds everywhere where flying to and from with hunks of glazed doughnuts in their beaks. Squirrels scampered off with sticky bits of dough in their jaws. How could this happen? Is Krispy Kreme dumping their unwanted goods in the middle of Dupont Circle?

"We dump them in the trash right outside our door," says Mercedes, a manager at the Krispy Kreme just off the circle at 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW. "People come after we're closed and take them sometimes." The store/bakery is not allowed to donate their extras, she says, so they dump what they can't sell. Whatever happens from there is not their responsibility. So, take note: If you want some old Krispy Kremes before the pigeons get to them, hang out at the trash around 11 p.m. Consider this yet one more service provided to you by City Desk.

(photo by pohacco20)

Borderstan, an in-between hood described here, is inching toward legitimacy here, with its own website.

My hair has gotten to that point, folks. It's time for a haircut.

I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but there's a point—an actual length—in the afterlife of my hair follicles when all hell breaks loose. In January 2007, I was so sick of it (and it was long enough, after the split ends) to donate the majority of my locks to Locks of Love. Yes, I did revert to looking like my sixth-grade self, but it was worth it just to get rid of the horrible tangles that kept me in the shower for 30-45 minutes shampooing, conditioning, pulling strands apart, and repeating.

I'm not willing to get a cut as drastic as before (I've realized that chin-length bobs make me look a little chunky above the neck). I just need to take a couple inches off.

Which brings me to my main problem: decision-making. Sometimes (and when it really counts), I'm able to go confidently in the direction of my dreams...ahem. But for everyday decisions, like, say, where to eat for lunch in a new area or a new place to get my hair cut, it takes me awhile.

I asked colleagues the other day and scoured Yelp! looking for a quality salon with moderate prices and near Adams Morgan. I did a new search online this morning (with, of course, the same results and reviews) and chose a couple of places to call. I thought today would be the day. Thursdays can be relatively slower in terms of content, so I figured I could leave for a long lunch, get my hair cut, and come back beautiful and ready for a date tonight. And then I came to work and promptly forgot about it until I ran my fingers through my hair.

I was thinking Trim (close but expensive), Blondie's (a bit of a walk but moderate), Urban Escape (I could just tumble down the hill to get there), or Bang (more of a trek but moderate prices, I think). Any (helpful) suggestions?

Photograph by Darrow Montgomery

The "ghost bike" memorial for 22-year-old Alice Swanson was installed anonymously where she died yesterday at 20th and R streets in Dupont Circle.

The tragedy is one that hits home for many: for Alice's coworkers and former coworkers, for her housemates in Mount Pleasant, for her friends in D.C. and from college at Amherst, and from home in Northborough, Mass. It hits the many cyclists in this town and anyone who witnessed the accident or its aftermath. It's probably her father, though, who expresses the loss best (from the Boston Globe):

She is so energetic and enthusiastic. She always wants to explore or travel. She’s got a room full of maps here, world maps and things like that. She wanted to travel.

I just feel that she had so many things that she wanted to do—to help people. Now it's not going to happen.

Condolences to all who knew and loved Alice.

UPDATE: WABA (Washington Area Bicyclist Association) to hold a memorial service and press conference tonight at 6:30 near the intersection. Cyclists and others who attend are encouraged to bring bike lights and flowers.

A bit of neighborhood trivia: Residents living near 15th Street between P and T streets have taken to calling their area "Borderstan." The not-quite-Dupont not quite-U-street-Logan hood is divided between two police districts, with the eastern side falling under the Third District and the western side going to the Second District. (Not quite Laptopia, either.) The name arose when residents in Eastern and Western Borderstan convinced police in both districts to cooperate in solving crimes centered along 15th Street. These days, residents of Borderstan and beyond are concerned about the return of Darrell Barber, a well-known local hustler suspected of knocking on doors to offer handyman services, then breaking in if no one answers. Barber was released from jail in March.

Dear Landlord Dude:

I saw your ad in the Post and called you yesterday afternoon. The apartment you were offering sounded good enough: 1700 block of Corcoran, $1900, one-bedroom described either as "sunny" or "cozy" or "featuring hardwood floors."

I thought: I just can't swing that kind of rent. Not even sharing that kind of rent. No way. Not unless I want stomach aches and no fun for the rest of my life (or at least through the terms of a one-year lease). But screw it. You told me to meet your guy at 5 p.m.

When your guy called my cellphone at 4:30 p.m. to ask where I was, I explained the 5 p.m. meeting time. I was "sunny" on the phone. I told your guy I could change our meet-up time to 4:40 p.m. I showed you---or your guy---that I could be whimsical, flexible, and carefree. I showed that if say the A/C didn't work I could play along, adjust my schedule to fit your schedule. That's just the kind of person I am: "sunny."

But anyway. Thanks for wasting my time. Your ad said nothing about the rundown closet, the stove that looked like it had last given heat to a crack pellet, and the hardwood floors being just the right shade of beat up. Nor did your ad promote the view from the small living room: a Supercan.

I wouldn't normally care. But you kind of ruined my afternoon. We renters take your ads as truth. They swiftly become the start up points for little dreams. Not big dreams of flat-screen televisions and warm glasses of cocoa. But simpler stuff like being able to live reasonable and sort-of content. We think of all the good times we'd have with your hardwood floors and central AC. So when we show up to find our dreams replaced with the outlines of a slum, we can only be disappointed. Deeply disappointed.

I ended up leaving your rental after about 10 seconds inside. I didn't need to inspect the small closet to realize I ain't ready for a $1900 un-sunny junior one-bedroom with view of Supercan.

Walking away, I filled 17th Street with whispered curse words about fairness and the impossibility of living here. Talk about crushed dreams. Two years ago, an ambitious resident could find a two-bedroom dump for $1900.

Not any more. Now there are only over-priced one-bedroom dumps.

Sincerely,

Jason Cherkis

P.S. 17th Street NW hasn't changed in at least 10 years. It still sucks. Charging $1900 to live within walking distance of one of the worst Safeways in the city is almost criminal.

You don't have to be PoP to obsess about homes that are not yours. This is one of the city's great pastimes: walking its blocks and gawking at its homes. We are all rubberneckers for a great built-in library, interesting stained-glass, a well-manicured yard, a big, well-lit living space.

Then there are the mystery buildings--the places that either look like rundown embassies or the once-grand quarters of some senator or freaky cult. I've spent a lot of time recently trying to figure out the large Grey Gardens-style joint at 1720 16th Street NW.

The building has 15 bedrooms, 9.5 bathrooms, and covers 6,700 Sq. ft. And a big-ass horror-classic gate. Inside, there must be a candelabra or two, a player piano, some Anne Rice books, and of course, Magick.

I could be wrong about the Magick. The building rarely appears occupied. On only one occasion did I find people hanging out on its stoop. I took this as my big chance to find out what goes on inside.

I carefully walked past the gate. I asked as politely as I could a variation on "What the hell is up with your building?"

Unfortunately, the kids decided to be snotty about it and refused to tell me. Now the building is for sale. List price: $7.5 million.

I've still got my gay pride beads on from today's rain-soaked parade. But here's a question for the rest of the folks who lined 17th and P streets today: is it just me, or has Capitol Pride gone a little corporate?

The parade started with the Chief of Police and the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit, followed by Mayor Adrian Fenty, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and a smattering of Councilmembers. But then it seemed like one business after another.

Citibank, Verizon, Bloom Grocery Stores all participated in the parade. Southwest Airlines had one of the coolest and biggest floats all day (they even gave out inflatable airplane toys). You should have seen the woman on the Maid to Clean float gyrate.

The D.C. Cowboys were great, and PFLAG's "I Love My Gay Son" signs always make me a little teary. And far be it from me to judge how a marginalized community celebrates itself. But it made me a little sad that the guys in leather were so far behind SunTrust Bank's ATM puppet.