The Issue: What should be done with the spooky, underground tunnels of Dupont Circle? The dismantled streetcar station has been empty since 1962—save for a failed 6-month stint as a food court in 1995—but now the Arts Coalition for Dupont Underground (ACDU) proposes to use the space to exhibit art. Specifically, the coalition plans to renovate the western side of the circle, which can accommodate up to 3,000 people, and work with local groups to fill the high-ceilinged caverns with rotating exhibitions. But the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) is sitting on the space—before releasing a request for proposals on the new lease, the office announced recently it wants to schedule community forums. So far, no forums. With proposals in the past ranging from a bicycle garage to a gay club, should DMPED be waiting for something better to come along?

Read More "City Sits on Empty Tunnels in Dupont—Arts Coalition Says Move" »

Dee Does The District doesn't appreciate a sad bit of race baiting reported from the marathon hearing on the DCPS teacher layoffs.

Harry Potter and the Urban School Nightmare despairs over their students' poor attendance. They write:

"Our school's enrollment is down, and attendance is lower than I've ever seen it. When I first started at my school, I routinely had between 25 and 30 students in my class each day. Now, I'm lucky if I get 12. Today, less than half of my students were in class, and last week the average was 55%. Now, the kids who are there every day are learning like FIENDS, but at this rate 45% of my kids are going to fail. So what gives?"

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: DCPS Students Discover The Working Lunch" »

More on the ghost bikes

Legba Carrefour left for Dupont Circle at 5 a.m. this morning with a borrowed truck full of white bikes. The Columbia Heights resident, 27, didn't know Alice Swanson, the struck-and-killed cyclist whose memorial was removed from the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and 20th and R Streets NW last month.

But Carrefour, who says he's been two-wheeling through the District since he was 6, says he got "really angry" about the ghost bike's removal, and spent weeks Dumpster-diving, as well as wailing on Freecycle and Craigslist, looking for old bikes. The idea, which he's got a blog for: He'd put up 22, one for each year of Swanson's life, all spray-painted white. As of 10:30 a.m., 16 were still there; Carrefour figures people have nicked them while he's been off gathering flowers to stick on them.

Carrefour has a scar on his right arm from a collision with a cab, and a chipped tooth from a run-in with an SUV. He has no plans to trade his Surly Steamroller. "One, I couldn't get around anywhere. It's fun, it's relaxing, and it's easy. Also I can't afford a car."

He looks at the circle, screwing up his face at the newly placed sign warning drivers to yield to bikes. "If they take it down," he says, gesturing to the bike he's placed where Swanson's original memorial was, "I have a bunch more that are already white."

More photos of the bikes after the jump
Read More "Ghost Bikes Return to Dupont Circle: Alice Swanson Rides Again" »

City Paper managing editor Andrew Beaujon is hot on the case of the proliferation of ghost bikes near Dupont Circle, mentioned in City Desk's Morning Roundup this morning (so far, he has counted 16 rather than the 22 reported by the blog Alice Swanson Rides Again, but still).

Read More "The Ghost Bike(s) Are Back! See Them Here!" »

So on Wednesday morning, the lovely people at WMATA issued a press release stating that the Takoma station will continue to close at 10 p.m. every night until July 19th.  They amended the statement with another one this morning, stating that tonight, the station will stay open until 3 a.m., the normal closing time on weekends, making travel slightly easier for a day.  It's understandable that the NTSB needs as much time as possible to investigate the June 22 crash.  What makes less sense is the announcement for an overhaul of the Red Line that was planned prior to the crash.  Because what is being fixed, according to The Washington Post, does not seem immediately necessary, especially if it's going to cause even more delays on system's busiest line. Read More "Seeing Red on the Red Line…Still" »

Check out these must see photos of yesterday's Metro crash aftermath. Read our interview we posted last night with a Deputy Fire Chief who was on the scene and ended up driving an ambulance. LL wonders: Are DC Metro cars safe? Need help with your commute? WMATA notes that red line service will be severely altered.

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: Metro Crash Aftermath" »

Happy Capital Pride Festival, City Desk readers!  It's time to get out your multi-colored clothing and tie bandannas to your belt loops because this weekend will result in much revelry.  The organizers have pulled out all the stops for this year's festivities so come prepared - it might be a little crazy.

The festival's biggest draw happens tonight, when the world's first drag supermodel takes the stage at Town Dance Boutique.  Yes, RuPaul is performing on the main stage at midnight and it's sure to be a memorable show.  Fishnets and heels are not mandatory but with two dance floors, come prepared to groove.

After the jump, Pride events for the rest of the weekend... Read More "God Save the Queens!" »

If you've ever honked in Dupont Circle because you think Scientology is a cult, well then grab your Guy Fawkes mask. May 24 is your chance to act on the familiar weekend chant (Free Katie Holmes! Free Katie Holmes!). The bobbed wonder, fresh from All My Sons (which Entertainment Weekly hilariously and mistakenly refers to as My Three Sons, which Arthur Miller did not write), will be among the studded cast of the National Memorial Day Concert. Blissfully, she will not be singing. She is instead performing a dramatic reading with Dianne Weist. Also on the bill: Gary Sinese, Joe Mantegna, Colin Powell (doesn't he live here?), Laurence Fishburne and former American Idol contestant Katharine McPhee. The show will be broadcast live on PBS. After which Katie will shake off her shackles and begin eating again. One piece of advice, Joey: Be wary of the jumbo slice.

Flickr photo by danoz2k9

D.C. police today cordoned off the 1700 block of Corcoran Street NW thinking they had a bead on the burglar(s) terrorizing via roof and skylights the residents of Dupont Circle and adjacent neighborhoods. But he got away. According to longtime local activist Rob Halligan, who's been keeping careful track of the M.O. and organized a pow-wow with police on this issue, a police captain told him: "We were chasing a suspect...and we lost him."

Police have intensified their involvement and are now using helicopters to try and stop the spree. One zeroed in earlier this week on theft at the Duplex Diner at 18th and Florida, says Halligan. A suspect was arrested inside and had reportedly gained entry through the roof, but Halligan said "the police are pretty sure he's not the guy."

In the last couple of months, Dupont Circle activist Rob Halligan counted 17 home invasions in his neighborhood where the robber got in via the roof, typically through a skylight. He worked the Listservs and his cop sources to get this problem on the radar of both MPD and homeowners. Tonight is the first public meeting for them to get the word out on the rooftop burglar(s)' M.O.

The meeting at 1719 Swann St. at 7 p.m. (in Peggy Simpson's "very large" living room) will presumably include details that have been missing from MPD---like how the robber(s) are prying open the skylights. So far, cops have said thieves are getting up there using fire escapes and other wrought-iron ladders on the sides of buildings. Shocking, that.

Tore has been selling sex toys at Dupont sexuality emporium the Pleasure Place for a couple months now. Before that, she was selling cars at Eastern Motors. Pleasure Place is easier, on average. "I have to like what I do," says Tore. "And I like sex."

So it didn't take long for Tore to learn the shop's selection of prostate probes, anal douches, and vibrating rings like---well---the back of her hand. "No time, really," says Tore. "No time. I knew nothing about half of this stuff until I started working here. But there's not a lot for us to do here, so it's like one-on-one with the products most of the time," she says.

Beyond helping women try on stripper heels and accommodating hordes of pre-party bachelorette crews, working at the Pleasure Place includes a lot of down time. "Usually I'm just chilling out, messing with the toys," Tore says. But it's more than just fucking around: The practice helps Tore field a barrage of obvious-to-obscure queries from customers. "What's this for? How does this work? Where do I put this?" says Tore. "They'll ask anything, man, really."

SEX SHOP STATS:

Average vibrator size: Eight inches, Tore says: The biggest they offer is 10 inches; the smallest, six.

Average dildo color: "Most people like the flesh color, something pretty close to their own skin."

Average number of batteries sold per week: About 200.

Average customer: Not applicable. "We got strippers, gay men, lesbians, straight freaky people."

Average item: The Pleasure Place's most popular item is the "The Rabbit," a vibrator that Tore says has been endorsed by both Oprah and the ladies of Sex and the City. Tore plucks a couple batteries from behind the register to show the basics of the Rabbit---what it's for, how it works, where you put it. "The ears move fast to stimulate the clitoris," Tore explains, making the machine's little critter bounce. "And you can bend it to hit the G-spot," she says, making the flexible dildo move at inhuman angles. "You can't get a penis to do that," she says.

Perhaps Tore's learned a little too much about the product for the store's own good.

"What are the pearls for?" a customer asks.

"They make it cost five dollars more," says Tore.

The average day at Dupont Circle's Leather Rack (1723 Cionnecticut Avenue NW) is becoming less leathery these days. "Fetish wear has really taken a downturn in the last year," says Chaz, the store's general manager. The bad times have steered customers away from higher end items---$334 leather chaps, for example---and toward cheaper stuff. "Let's say you buy a whole Army uniform. That's all you can wear," says Chaz, referring to the steep prices for such items.

So customers are moving toward more subtle and masculine wear, like the twill officer's pant--which looks like the sort of highway patrol trou sported by Ponch and John on "CHiPs"---or the rescue pant, which has two stripes on the side that are kinda reflective. More practical items, says Chaz, are still selling. Today, for instance, he is putting tags on a new item: Oxballs---a ball stretcher that replaces the traditional leather with neoprene silicone material.

Chaz finds the fetish industry more lucrative that the real-estate industry he left one year ago.

By Amanda Hess

The Post says that today's snowfall could be the biggest in years. Then there's the story's second graph: "The winter wonderland will be fleeting, though, with the snow predicted to dissolve into sleet and freezing rain later in the day, possibly affecting the evening drive."

New Columbia Heights reports that a new coffee shop has opened at 786 Harvard. It also sells hot tea and cheap sandwiches. Prince of Petworth recently spotted a new coffee shop on Georgia Avenue. The shop is called Fresh Off The Roast.

And Now, Anacostia declares that DHCD is finally moving to Anacostia Gateway: "You may have noticed all the work being done on the interior of Anacostia Gateway recently: walls are up, cubicles are in, and bright accent walls are painted. Even though their entrance is coming six months later than originally planned, the Department of Housing and Community Development will finally move into their space next weekend, and will be open for business on the morning of February 2."

Bloomingdale (for now) reports on the scuttlebutt over a complaint filed against an ANC Commissioner. The complaint stems from the commissioner publishing a newsletter. It's a must read (and too complicated to go into here).

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: Winter Mix Edition" »

D.C. police have made a flier asking for information about the shooting death of Durval Martins. The 35-year-old was shot and killed walking home from Fox & Hounds in Dupont Circle yesterday morning.

The flier includes vital info [PDF] so take a look. As of yesterday afternoon, police had no suspects and no firm motive for the shooting. A $50,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of the murderer.

If you have information, call Det. Paul Regan at (202) 425-5563 (cell) or (202) 645-0472 or Det. Doug Carlson on (202) 486-0233 (cell) or (202) 645-6360; if you'd prefer to stay anonymous, call 1-888-919-2746 or send a text to 50411.