The Washington Post has a tiny brief on the back page of today's Metro section reporting that the Metropolitan Police Department has made an arrest in Monday night's fatal shooting on Quebec Place N.W. and another in Colombia Heights last month. 

Police charged Troy Renard Thomas, 18, of the 3000 block of Third Street N.W. , with first-degree premeditated murder while armed of Ryan Randy Trotman.

Arrested in the Columbia Heights case was Robert Larry Brock, 28, of Beltsville in the shooting of Marcus Robertson on May 15. Brock was also charged with first-degree premeditated murder while armed.

The story, reported by Theola Labbé-DeBose, makes no mention that the two homicides, while apparently unrelated, are both allegedly tied to gang beefs going on in different neighborhoods.

Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham told his constituents last month that Brock was targeted for the shooting in "gang beefs that have been ongoing since the murders in Dec/Jan.  Another young adult, Paul Jones, was shot and killed by LaFonte Carlton this past January on the 1300 block of Columbia.  Carlton is now facing two murder charges," Graham reported in a May 16 post to the MPD-3D Listserv.

Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser, meanwhile, has said police are investigating Trotman's killing and another gun-related incident later that night as gang-related.

Read More "Photos: Shooting, Columbia Heights" »

• Oink Oink!  Just when we thought that the swine flu H1N1 virus was under control, The Post is reporting that a Chesapeake woman died from complications of the virus on Tuesday.  This is the area's first publicly announced death attributed to the flu and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is urging those with noticeable symptoms to be proactive about treatment.  

• In other deadly virus news, two Virginia sisters are being detained at a health camp in China because an individual on their flight tested positive for H1N1, according to WUSA 9.  They took Tamiflu and hope to leave China tonight so they can continue filming their show on the Home Shopping Network.

• Sad But True: Prince George's County's top prosecutor says that charges are not likely to be filed in the death of Ronnie White, almost a year after he was found dead in his jail cell.  White was charged with murder after running over a police officer with his truck last June.  

• The Washington Times announces that Former First Lady Nancy Reagan and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will join House and Senate leaders when a new statue of Ronald Reagan is unveiled in the Capitol Rotunda this morning.  Jelly beans were not among the materials used.

• And finally, Prince of Petworth reveals that Columbia Heights is getting what it always wanted:  a Chipotle.  Because in these trying times, burritos are the way to go.  Seriously, you can live off of one of those for a week and still not finish.  Too bad all the new DC Chipotle franchises won't be applying for liquor licenses, however.

Prince of Petworth--or at least a PoP reader--is reporting that there was a shooting in Mount Pleasant tonight (a little more than an hour ago). Apparently a teenager was shot in the leg on Monroe between 18th and 19th.

This follows Saturday morning's mayhem in Columbia Heights and Adams Morgan. The D.C. Police Department issued a press release concerning the police shootout in which a suspect was killed.

Release after the jump.

Read More "Shooting In Mount Pleasant" »

The Heights Life reminds one and all: the U Street and Mount Pleasant farmer's markets start back up this weekend. The blog has all the relevant info.

Frozen Tropics has an interesting little Car vs. Checkers incident involving the possibility of booze and a fence. A sad scene that you won't see in Bethesda.

Penn Quarter Living reminds one and all that the Humanities Council is offering grants to non-profits whose projects involve the preservation of the city's heritage. Here's one thing we could document: D.C.'s go-go heritage. Could someone build a P.A. tape library?

El Guapo in DC writes:

"Have you made love to a Latino man since we last spoke? Do you long for his touch, his stone washed jeans and magical loins? Bueno.

I do not write to you today with something good to say. In fact, of late, there have been tears slowly dropping and clinging to my mustache. My beautiful mustache that is so lustrous in the spring is now damp with Latino sadness. And trust me, Guatemalan tears are often cultivated by gypsies to keep raccoons away, so this is no good.

What makes this Mayan descendant fall to his knees and sob?

The women of Washington, DC. They have once again conspired to make mi vida hit the brick wall of life."

The 42 notes that some Hooters-meets-Key-West-themed bar was supposed to open up in Adams Morgan. It probably won't: "Remember Splash? The daiquiri bar promising hot, scantily clad wait staff? It was supposed to open in Adams Morgan in the fall of 2007. The space used to be the home of Santa Rosa restaurant which had closed earlier in that year. The address is 2224 18th Street NW, next to Awash Restaurant...."

Pancakes are in. Organic tofu is out. The Washington Business Journal is reporting that IHOP is in talks to move into the DCUSA behemoth. DCist is on board. Prince of Petworth appears to have scooped everyone. POP wonders what people think. We wonder, too.

DCist breaks some big news on the grocery store beat: the Richmond-based organic grocery chain Ellwood Thompson's has put on hold its plans to move into DCUSA in Columbia Heights. I have walked by their promising signs in the vacant storefront so many times and thought: I can't wait for this. Damn.

The upshot: Lines will still be incredibly long at the Columbia Heights Giant.

Left-wing FMLN presidential candidate Mauricio Funes has declared victory in El Salvador. The candidate had campaigned in Washington, since there are an estimated 133,000 Salvadorans in the area. Salvadorans are the largest immigrant group in the metro area.

Funes was a widely respected talk show host who became a new kind of FMLN candidate – more moderate, less strident than candidates in previous years. Several members of the local FMLN committee went down to El Salvador to vote---absentee voting is not allowed---and to serve as
election observers.

The FMLN was a guerrilla movement during the 1980s, formed to bring down a repressive right-wing government that maintained order in part by deploying death squads throughout the country. The civil war cost 75,000 lives and featured some of the more horrific massacres and assassinations of the decade. The war ended in 1992 with peace accords that legalized the FMLN as a political party.

But in the 17 years since the war, that new political party hadn’t managed to capture the presidency. Congress, yes, and countless City Halls. But even as so many other countries in Latin America turned
left – even Nicaragua has re-elected its revolution-era president – El Salvador remained resolutely under the control of right-wing presidents.

If you thought the Obama presidency was changing the face of Washington, just think what this will mean for San Salvador. “There’s going to be a new president from the party the United States poured
almost $6 billion into defeating,” says Geoff Thale of the Washington Office on Latin America. “And among his senior advisers and on his cabinet are going to be people who were guerrilla commanders and community organizers and union activists in El Salvador 20 years ago.”

Thale worked against U.S. support for the Salvadoran regime during the civil war. He says the change in government is the result of years of hard work – there and here. “In the United States there’s a whole history of an activist and solidarity movement that tried to defend human rights and open political space,” he says. “And the people we worked with and defended are about to assume power in the country. It’s a tribute to the long-term commitment of the people there and
their friends and allies here.”

El Salvador has one of the highest murder rates in the world – second only to Iraq – and a gang network that terrorizes not just San Salvador but also Columbia Heights and Prince George’s County. The outgoing president, Tony Saca, promised to use an “iron fist” in dealing with
the problem, but the violence has only increased. Getting the epidemic of violence under control will be one of the most serious challenges to the new president.

---Tanya Snyder

Murders became routine this weekend. One on Friday. One on Saturday. And one on Sunday. At least that's what D.C. Police are reporting. (They can be a little slow sending out releases).

Here's a rundown of the terrible news.

Read More "Three Murders In Three Days" »

Every time I click over to DCist there's a fresh post quoting the D.C. Police Department's most outspoken official: Third District Police Inspector Edward Delgado. The guy is a huge presence on the listservs and is always around for some kind of quote. Today, he's warning about home invasions in Columbia Heights. Yesterday, he was breaking down the recent violence on Girard Street.

A search on DCist came up with an error. A google search shows that he's popped up 475 times. But that is way too high and should be completely discounted. I just bet he's quoted at least once a week or every other week. Why is he so ubiquitous? He's on the listservs, so few cops talk on the record, and he works in the Third District where probably the majority of bloggers and blog readers live.

Hey Sommer, why not let Delgado post directly?

Good morning, City Desk readers. I hope you all had a happy [insert holiday here].  My household celebrated the day by lounging around in tall tees, eating ice cream out of the carton, and watching the entire fourth season of Weeds (OMG! The ending so totally threw me off. Deets later--don't want to spoil the show for n00bz!)

And now some news:

• New Columbia Heights reports on a new gang cruising 14th St. called the "Whipsters"--not what you think, trust me. (Unless the first thing that came to your mind was a variation on "hipsters," in which case you're kind of right.) The Whipsters have open membership on Facebook! (Keep your eyes open for gang signs painted in raw breast milk and crushed berries from local berry collectives.)
• On Dec. 15, Christmas Eve (aka, Dec. 24) developers broke ground for the new Anacostia library. And Now, Anacostia has more info and some floor plans.
• The folks at Congress Heights on the Rise have the final 2008 numbers from the MPD's All Hands on Deck initiative: "MPD officers made 462 arrests, recovered nine firearms, and seized $35,925 worth of drugs. All five AHOD’s netted more than 2,300 arrests. Overall, assaults involving a gun are down 13 percent and robberies committed with the use of a gun are down 12 percent compared to this time last year."

$35k worth of drugs yet only nine illegal firearms? Ya'll know what that means, dontcha? The price of pot is going up, up, up! So much for catching an after-Christmas fire sale on qp's of purple haze...

Btw: Every single one of those 2,300 arrests that was drug-related translates to an adult, teen, or pre-teen, who--for the rest of his or her life--will be ineligible to receive federal financial aid for higher education. Two thumbs up, Cathy Lanier, for perpetuating the urban-poverty cycle!

Photo courtesy of Flickr user indi.ca

Good morning, City Desk readers, and thanks to everyone who came to City Paper's Christmas party--I hope your headaches are exponentially less painful than mine. And now some news:

• In WaPo: The MPD has tied the death of 14-year-old Giovanni Sanchez to Mara Salvatrucha (also known as MS-13).
• New Columbia Heights alludes to a new restaurant coming to 14th St.
• Now that the recession has reduced individual spending power, says Penn Quarter Living, is it finally acceptable for good people to buy those cheap Prada knockoffs at the metro kiosks?
• Word of new shopping options coming to Petworth, courtesy of Petworth News.
• Braveheart over at River East Idealist sounds a call to arms: "Let us not develop River East just for development's sake. Let's fix broken windows and everything they represent."
• And Now, Anacostia has some good news and some bad news: Verizon FIOS is coming to Anacostia, but it won't be fully in place for 9 years. (That's kind of like Georgia Ave. resident fantasizing about the supposed trolley system that's on its way.)
• Also in WaPo: Police confiscate cocks in Virginia.

Update: Asher Corson, Mary Cheh's communications director, writes in to clarify the FiOS deal: "The build out deadline is just that, a deadline, not a timeline.  What I mean to say: FiOS is more likely than not to be entirely built before the 9 year deadline."

D.C. Police are reporting an arrest has been made in last week's Kenyon Street homicide.

As you may recall from last week, the murder took place inside a home. The shooter also injured a small child. According to police:

"On Thursday, December 11, 2008, police responded to the 600 block of Kenyon Street, NW, to investigate the report of a shooting. Upon arrival, an adult male was located inside of a residence suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The victim who was identified as 37-year-old Franklin Wesley Johnson was later pronounced dead on the scene. A young male child was also located suffering from a gunshot wound. He was subsequently taken to an area hospital and admitted in stable condition."

The arrest came yesterday morning:

"At approximately 9:15 am on Sunday, December 14, 2008, members from the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested 30-year-old Allen Butler of Largo, Maryland. Mr. Butler has been charged with First Degree Murder in this case."

WJLA reports that no motive has yet come to light in the killing.

The Washington Post is reporting that yesterday afternoon, a teenager was fatally stabbed at 14th and Newton Streets NW. This is a particularly busy intersection with plenty of pedestrian foot traffic. There are tons of people either waiting at the bus stops along 14th Street or milling about businesses like Target, Sticky Fingers, Best Buy, etc. The Post writes:

"The teenager was found about 4:30 p.m. in the roadway near 14th and Newton streets NW. Officials said their best information indicated that he was 14 or 15. His name was not immediately available....

A witness said that about the time of the stabbing, he saw several youths, one with a knife, two others with belts around their fists, urging each other on as they raced up 14th Street."

This follows the homicide on Kenyon Street. And the fatal shooting on Champlain Street. Both happened earlier this week.

Read More "Teenager Fatally Stabbed Near Target; Another Kid Stabbed With An Ice Pick" »

Here's a good idea. New Columbia Heights has a semi-regular feature where they review Metro bus lines. The blog's latest installment focuses on the Buses of 14th Street--the 52, 53, and 54. The reviewer lets it rip:

"I've taken this bus heading south during rush hour and not during rush hour, and it's always a pain. They don't come very regularly, and they make so many stops (often every block) that it's practically faster to walk. I've started taking them for work during rush hour, and it's terrible - it takes about half an hour to go from 14th and Euclid St NW, roughly, to 14th and F. That's less than 2 miles. I could roll down the hill faster."

There has to be better bus lines. There has to be worse bus lines. I really dig the 16th Street-to-Silver Spring bus. The 42 isn't bad either. I've heard from sources over the years that the buses that run along MLK Ave SE are terrible after school lets out.

What are your bus horror stories?