In late August, the Examiner published a piece arguing that the District's low homicide rate might be due to the cooler-than-usual summer temps. The story was one of the dumbest crime stories we've ever read. Even D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier called the lower-temp theory "idiotic." But the story did at least provoke a little attention on the police department's stunning successes and the city's big drop in murders. When Lanier speculated that the city could see fewer than 100 homicides for the year, she wasn't laughed out of town. Of course, the District's perps did not cooperate.

As of today, there have been 106 homicides. At this point last year, there were 148 homicides. The plummeting homicide rate is still quite impressive. So why is the District experiencing such a huge drop?

Read More "Chief Lanier Deserves Credit For Drop In Homicides" »

Trash fires are again becoming a trend in Capitol Hill. WJLA has a small story on the trend and notes that investigators are looking into it. Of course, the last time trash-can fires had worried Capitol Hill residents occurred around the time of the Eastern Market fire. The D.C. Fire Department quietly dispatched a team of investigators to try and apprehend the fire bug; investigators believed that there may have been a connection between the dumpster fires and the Easter Market blaze.

Fire Department investigator Greg Bowyer was part of that team looking into the previous dumpster fires. That investigation, he says, did not come to a proper resolution. "The investigation of the trash fires in 2007 were totally mishandled," he says. "This should be an indicator to the Fire Department that these mishandled fire investigations are not going to go away."

Read More "Capitol Hill Residents Enduring Another Round Of Trash Fires" »

First off, an urban survival tip: Don't try driving around Columbia Heights this afternoon---14th Street is blocked off and so is Irving Street.

The occasion for the extreme traffic measures is a crime scene at the Columbia Heights Metro stop. This afternoon, two people were shot in the lower extremities just outside the entrance to the station's entrance on the west side of 14th Street. WJLA is reporting that the fight might be related to an incident at the summer jobs program orientation held today. The meeting turned ugly and police confiscated a revolver and brass knuckles.

According to officials on the scene, the trouble started on the Metro train: Two passengers allegedly got into a heated argument en route to the station, and things got even more animated as they departed for 14th Street. The shots were fired around five to ten feet from the station's entrance, hitting one of the people involved in the argument plus a bystander. Both were rushed to the hospital.

At least 15 police officers are now on the scene, along with Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham and citywide patrol czar Diane Groomes. Graham, always helpful at these scenes, said that the crime happened in a spot ideal for law enforcement---right in the vicinity of security cameras and amid tons of witnesses. The police arrived quickly, too, said Graham.

Graham called the actions of the perp "insane."

In the hour or so after the shooting, a significant crowd gathers at the corner of 14th and Irving NW. More than few brandish cellphone cameras. A teen walks by the crime scene and shouts: "Who got shot? Tupac?"

Read More "Breaking: Two People Shot at Columbia Heights Metro" »

On March 21, Erika Peters and her two young boys were found murdered in their Carver Terrace home at 2000 Maryland Avenue NE Apt. 104. Within hours, her live-in boyfriend Joseph Randolph Mays was charged with the fatal stabbings. This week I wrote a cover story about the tragedy and the several questions left unresolved. One of the big questions: What exact time was the 911 call made?

Peters' neighbors say the police arrived a lot earlier than 1 p.m. (the time listed on the police department's press release). Two government sources suggested the neighbors are correct. If this is true, it would mean the police took at least two hours to get inside the Peters' home.

I asked repeatedly for the exact time from various government officials. They all stonewalled me on this most basic fact. Attorney General Peter Nickles gave the reason most often used---the Peters case was an on-going case so that fact could not be made public.

I am still unsure why the exact time of the first 911 call would have any bearing on the case against Mays. The stonewalling was just unnecessary and unusually obnoxious even for government officials in the age of Fenty. I know people have a low tolerance for whiny journalists. But this is different. This issue goes to public safety and accountability.

Read More "Who Is Stonewalling On The Peters Case?" »

Penn Quarter Living reports on another inauguration-themed store opening downtown. Ugh. More inauguration crap!

Life In Mount Vernon Square has troubles with the new Safeway. The complaints concern the lack of circulars and the feeling that they've been overcharged:

"The store hasn't had circulars one time that I went in during the past 5-6 weeks.  Annoying yes, but it wouldn't be such a big issue if the store actually labeled the sale items correctly.  I've been caught at the register overcharged, but unable to reference the flyer.  This past week, they didn't even have circulars at the register and the one check out lady who had a flyer indicated that she had to buy the newspaper to get it (she kept it safely tucked in her back pocket).  When I've brought this up to Customer Service, they've given nothing but attitude or acted like they just ran out that morning.  That excuse doesn't work for weeks on end."

New Columbia Heights spots the craziest staircase at 13th and Otis NW.

And Now, Anacostia analyzes the situation at 1918 13th Street SE. The building's zoning has been changed to allow the residential property to be turned into office space. The blogger wonders whether this is a good idea considering the low-density neighborhood. It also sparks a more intense discussion of 13th Street.

The Georgetown Metropolitan notes that the D.C. Police Department has dropped its daily crime summaries from at least one listserv: "Members of the MPD2d listserv may have noticed that they haven’t received a daily summary of crimes for the last two weeks. For those not receiving this listserv, the daily update of crimes provides a listing and description of each crime that occurred in the Second District separated into each PSA (Georgetown’s is 206)." Actually it's for all listservs. The blog quotes a statement from Asst. Chief Diane Groomes as to why the summaries have stopped:

"In the past citizens did receive information via the listserv that was posted by a sworn member of the Department but we have found that the information was not uniform in nature and that some of the information revealed facts that were not for public information and jeopardized our investigatory process."

Maybe this new policy has something to do with a certain officer named Delgado and the incident involving the alleged teenage robber.

Upset the Setup has some brand new DJ Eurok exclusive jams. We really dig "Arizona Cream" for bringing back a classic Public Enemy hook.  And "Crooklyn Klemer" deserves heavy rotation in every U Street club!

*photo courtesy of 7194KK found in our Neighborhood Flickr Pool.

This morning, the Examiner's Bill Myers dropped a sweet story on the D.C. Police Department's in-fighting over the Trinidad checkpoints. What makes the story so great is that Myers actually got the police department to respond to a FOIA and give him internal e-mails. So instead of boilerplate, he's got the good stuff. It seems Assistant Chief Diane Groomes really had some issues with the checkpoints.

The problem I have is with his own newspaper. In presenting it on the web, they bolded three topic points at the beginning of his story: "Diane Groome, Chief Cathy Lanier, Barricades." Which name did they spell wrong?

It's Groomes not Groome!

Hey Examiner, you finally got a good story and you screw it up with a freshman mistake!

Tonight I spoke briefly with Asst. Police Chief Diane Groomes, who offered a couple new details on this weekend's spate of shootings in Petworth.

First, good news for the man left in critical condition after the shooting Friday night on Marlboro Place.  Groomes reports that the victim—who was shot in the head—is showing signs of improvement.

"He's making a little progress—thanks goodness he's pulling through," Groomes said.  "We're hoping for a recovery."

As of this evening, no one is in custody.  And as for suspects, here's all Groomes could tell us:

"It was several black males who opened fire.  Some witnesses say there were two, some say there were three...some say there were six.  Right now we've got a general lookout."

Groomes was reluctant to speculate on a precise relation between the Marlboro attacks, the shootout on Crittenden, and the homicide on the 4500 block of Georgia Avenue.

"We will do a link analysis of all bullets and casings, and I can't say right now if there's a connection."

We're wondering why that link analysis still hasn't been done.  9mm shells were found on both scenes.

Read More "Assistant Chief Groomes on the Petworth Shootings" »