A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.
Parking Fairies: From the Bloomingdale blog comes an announcement by a local resident who has convened a "parking focus group" because, "...CM Thomas and Dr. Johnson expressed that they wanted to empower members of the community to take charge [...]

As mad as some of you might be after Pepco’s recent missteps restoring power following the Jan. 26 thundersnow event, don’t worry: some members of the D.C. Council would like you to know they are even more angry.
Speaking at public hearing of the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs late Friday afternoon, several councilmembers [...]

Qatar? I Hardly Know Her: A collection of D.C. bigwigs turned up at the Newseum this morning, preparing to celebrate word that FedEx Field would host up to seven matches in the 2022 World Cup, which would, of course, be played in the United States. Everyone from D.C. Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. to Greater Washington [...]

As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Kwame Brown vs. unpaid traffic tickets
Tommy Wells is disappointed
Ron Moten's news conference: the video

Good morning sweet readers! LL is pumped to have survived his first earthquake this [...]

Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. appears to be the latest member of D.C.'s legislative body with financial woes to come to light—court records show the U.S. government is claiming he owes  than $16,000 in student loan-related debt.
UPDATE: Thomas disputes this, saying all his loans have been "satisfied," and the whole brouhaha originated from an [...]

If D.C. Council chairman and mayoral candidate Vincent Gray is in a bit of trouble for an outstanding Maryland ticket from 2002, Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. may be really in for it. According to Maryland court records, Thomas has earned himself five speeding tickets in the Old Line State—none of which have been [...]

Five members of the D.C. Council are asking Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi not to pay out the $550,000 settlement between Banneker Ventures and Attorney General Peter Nickles.
"The agreement would foreclose any and all opportunity for the District to recover fees and/or damages for Banneker's failure to perform, negligent performance, possible fraud, and other potential [...]

Three members of the D.C. Council were not amused to learn this weekend that the city had settled with Banneker Ventures, the construction firm owned by Mayor Adrian Fenty’s fraternity brother that is at the heart of a current investigation into alleged shady contracting practices.
The Post’s Nikita Stewart won the weekend with the big scoop that the District [...]

As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—"Closing Arguments In Wone Case," "World Cup Roundup," "Photos: Terry Huff"
Morning All. You better enjoy Metro today and Saturday. Those big fare increases are set [...]

The crowd outside Covenant Baptist Church in Congress Heights last night seemed none too friendly toward Councilmember Phil Mendelson, organizer of the evening's community meeting on public safety.
Clark Ray, who is challenging Mendelson for his at-large council seat, and his campaign team greeted all of the meeting's attendees with a targeted flier: "Another election year meeting in Ward [...]

Another sign that campaign season is well underway: A D.C. Council candidate says he's been victimized by political dirty tricks.
In the above YouTube video, candidate Delano Hunter, who is challenging incumbent Harry Thomas Jr. in Ward 5, says that his signs have been damaged and stolen—evidence of the "dirty politics that continue to distract from [...]

I was out of town so forgive me for mentioning this old news. On Saturday, WaPo analyzed Mayor Adrian Fenty's small-time jobs plan through the eyes of Councilmember Mary Cheh. WaPo describes the mayor's plan, which was announced last week, this way:
"The mayor committed to partnering with the 50-church Washington Interfaith Network (WIN) to create [...]

Examiner's Michael Neibauer was first to report this morning that Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. got his car booted last week.
He had failed to pay four tickets incurred by his 2007 Audi Q7 SUV, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles. The Audi was parked in a rush hour zone on Sept. 21; parked [...]

Last summer, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray was faced with a crisis.
For one thing, he and city legislators were faced with a last-minute budget crunch to the tune of $660 million. They were given two weeks to find a solution. Meanwhile, the antics of Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry had exposed the sordid practice [...]

Get ready for the Trout Report.
Nope—not referring to conditions of backwoods Montana streams here. LL refers to the investigative findings of attorney Robert P. Trout, whom the D.C. Council has engaged pro bono to investigate the irregular award of $80 million or more in parks projects to firms with ties to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty.
Trout [...]