At DCist, Benjamin R. Freed has a good rundown on this morning's sting on a Virginia limo driver who has a contract with Uber, the new car-booking service that connects riders with drivers. Ron Linton, the D.C. Taxicab Commission says Uber's acting illegally, and used the service to book a limousine; once he arrived at the [...]
At the Post, Tim Craig and Mike DeBonis note that some cab drivers aren't terribly jazzed about the proposed changes—higher fares, newer cabs, credit card machines—to the taxicab system. A group crashed yesterday's press conference about the plan to protest:
[Ward 3 councilmember Mary] Cheh, chairman of the transportation committee, said the public, including drivers, would have [...]
D.C. cabs will be more expensive soon.
After Taxicab Commission votes this morning, according to the Post, "the drop rate — the base fare that riders pay at the beginning of a cab ride — will remain at $3, but the per-mile rate will jump from $1.50 to $2.15."
They also voted to "modernize" the fleet—which means phasing [...]
The D.C. Taxicab Commission held a hearing today to discuss a proposal from an independent driver who suggested that fares be raised from $1.75 to $2.50.
City Paper alum Mike DeBonis tries to quell the rising panic about the fare increase by pointing out that there's plenty of opposition, and even those in favor of fair increases [...]
Mayor Vince Gray wants to create a taxi surcharge to pay for a laundry list of upgrades to D.C.'s taxi system, which, per the Examiner, includes:
Installing credit card readers and Internet display systems for riders
A loan program for all D.C. resident drivers to upgrade their fleet to more fuel efficient vehicles
Stepping up enforcement efforts against [...]
Leave Only Footprints: There's no telling what a burglar will do when he or she breaks into an unattended house—rummage around, take valuables, use the bathroom. That was the modus operandi of whoever broke into a home in Vienna last week. The owners came home to find the doors unlocked, nothing taken, and some shit [...]
Gone for Good: The Washington Nationals have, contrary to all usual behavior in past seasons, won 11 of their last 12 games, including one this afternoon, and looked like a decent ball club while doing it. So naturally, manager Jim Riggleman decided this was the perfect time to resign. Riggleman apparently was bothered that the [...]
More Money, More Problems: Ordinarily, finding an extra $77 million in tax revenue floating around the District's budget would be great news. But since the D.C. Council was hoping to find an extra $135 million, today's announcement of new revenue projections actually came as a bit of a disappointment. The wait list for how to [...]
Every once in awhile, someone in the District goes down for Khat, an illegal and leafy stimulant popular in East Africa and parts of the Middle East. Recently, that person was Ethiopian immigrant Etana Shuremu, owner of Diredawa Cafe at 5333 Georgia Ave. NW–and one of the many people accused in the 2009 D.C. taxicab [...]
Thought Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) vs. cabbie Abraham Habteab was over? Of course not! No one lets the man get you down, especially cab drivers who want their $8 cab fare paid back. And no one wants to be thrown under the bus by a stingy congressman.
Last week, Habteab picked up Nadler at Union Station. [...]
By now, District residents have been well versed on the heroics of Taxicab Commission Chairperson Leon Swain Jr. in the bribery scandal, and the alleged failings of Jim Graham's Chief of Staff Ted Loza. But the majority of the defendants aren't well known.
They are parking lot attendants, gas station workers, people who struggle in the [...]
The audiotape played in court yesterday by federal prosecutors have brought one question about the D.C. taxi investigation to the fore: Who is Causton Toney, and how is he caught up in all this?
Toney is a former chairman of the D.C. Taxicab Commission, and before that served Mayor Anthony Williams in his economic development office. [...]
Looking for the real goods on the feds' probe into corruption in the D.C. tax industry? Just click below, and you'll get an audio feed of some priceless undercover law-enforcement work.
But before you click, let us just set the scene for you.
UPDATE, 6:50 P.M.: LL here. This much is clear: Leon Swain is an amazing informant.
On Sept. 25, he wore a recording device, along with FBI agent John McNair, while meeting with alleged bribery ringleader Yitbarek Syume. The tape was played today in Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson's courtroom during a hearing on whether Syume should [...]
