As DCist has already noted, the Black Rooster has been revived, Lazarus-like, from the dead.

Playing Jesus in this scenario, says owner Jody Taylor, would be Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans.

"The Black Rooster will crow again," Taylor says. Asked what happened to prompt the reversal of fortune for what had been slated to become a General Services Administration conference room, "I don't really know to be honest with you. Jack Evans had a lot to do with it....Once I talked to the landlord, he was extremely gracious. Everybody came to terms. It's good all around."

And the reprieve came just in the nick of time. Taylor had put up the bar's assets in an online auction, and today was the last day he could have canceled it. "They had people flying in from Chicago and Atlanta that were interested," Taylor says. "Just came down to the last minute practically."

The final papers aren't signed just set, but Taylor says landlord Richard Cohen gave him the go-ahead to re-open, something that could happen in two or three weeks.

"I am very grateful at this point to a lot of people," Taylor says.

Yesterday morning, I perked up as I spotted good ol' Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans driving onto P Street NW, presumably headed for a tough day of council labor. I waved to the guy but got no acknowledgment.

Perhaps he didn't see me, and for a bad reason: He had a cell phone planted in his left ear!

Fine that councilmember, please. After all, he should know damn well that his very employer---the D.C. Council, that is---passed a hands-free driving bill that sought to outlaw just this scenario.

The hypocrisy factor, however, is a bit mitigated by this statement from Evans, issued at the time the hands-free thing passed: "I am not a fan of this law, but it's inevitable with the technological advances we constantly see. I only hope this law will produce a decrease in accidents caused by distractions." Evans did vote for the legislation; its lone dissenter was Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham.

In our running poll of the D.C. Council's Judiciary Committee members regarding AG Peter Nickles' conduct, we finally reached Councilmember Yvette Alexander.

Nickles has come under fire recently for his office's conduct in a Pershing Park civil suit. District evidence has either been destroyed or lost and discovery continues to be a problem in that case. The discovery process has dragged on for years. The U.S. District Court judge in the case slammed the OAG, ordered Nickles to submit a sworn statement explaining his office's actions, and called on the D.C. Council to investigate the OAG's handling of the case. The issues before Nickles include one very false affidavit.

So far Councilmember Mary Cheh has called for Nickles to resign. Yesterday, Councilmember Phil Mendelson joined Cheh in pushing for Nickles to rejoin the private sector.  Councilmember Jack Evans still fully supports Nickles.

Alexander says she is reserving judgment on Nickles for the time being. She would like to see the council take up the matter. "I wouldn't have a problem with requesting an investigation," she tells City Desk. "You are innocent until proven guilty. I would want to know what happened with the evidence."

If there was purposeful or criminal mishandling of evidence, Alexander says, then Nickles should be ousted.

Read More "Councilmember Alexander Raises Concerns Over AG Nickles" »

Councilmember Jack Evans is sticking by controversial AG Peter Nickles. Last week, a U.S. District Court judge strongly condemned the OAG's conduct surrounding a Pershing Park civil suit in which discovery has taken at least five years, and crucial evidence has gone missing or been destroyed. Yesterday, we highlighted one particularly egregious screw-up involving a troubling affidavit submitted by city attorneys to the court. His colleagues on the Judiciary Committee---Phil Mendelson and Mary Cheh---have called for Nickles to resign.

Evans also thinks the U.S. District Court judge's strong recommendation that the D.C. Council should investigate the OAG is misplaced. "I would think that the more appropriate agency would be the inspector general," Evans tells City Desk. "Certainly, someone would have to determine if there was wrongdoing. That's not the city council's job that's the inspector general's job."

Evans is sure that Nickles did not commit any of the alleged wrongdoing. For one thing, Nickles was not in office during the bulk of the Pershing Park case's activity. That fishy affidavit? Well, that's come up under his watch.

Read More "Jack Evans Says He Still Supports Peter Nickles" »

Desi Deschaine, 29, a fixture in local politicking over the last decade and recently a staff member for Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, has died after drowning in Baltimore.

Jeff Coudriet, a top Evans deputy, says that Deschaine had gone on a Chesapeake Bay boat trip Sunday with a man he'd been dating. The boat had returned to Baltimore's Inner Harbor Sunday night when Deschaine left the boat at about 10:30 p.m. He was not seen or heard from again. "In the morning Monday is when we found he was missing. He obviously didn't turn up at work," Coudriet says.

Baltimore police recovered a body from the harbor this morning, a department spokesperson says, and Coudriet says a positive identification has been made. Deschaine's parents arrived in Baltimore late last night.

Read More "Beloved D.C. Council Staffer Dies in Baltimore Drowning" »

Two weeks ago, the D.C. Council engaged in a knock-down fight over anti-crime legislation---in particular, over so-called 'civil gang injunctions.' They were at it again today, rehashing the debate regarding the permanent version of the bill. But the outcome was much the same.

A compromise of sorts was in the works today: Councilmembers Jim Graham, Jack Evans, and Muriel Bowser, all supporters of the gang injunctions, proposed allowing the measures for six months in their own wards---1, 2, and 4, respectively.

That proposal didn't get very far with their colleagues.

Read More "Civil Gang Injunctions Again Foiled by D.C. Council" »

In what's become a quarterly tradition around these parts, Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi announced this afternoon that projected city revenues over the next few years are again being revised downward.

The bottom line: The mayor and council have to find at least $190 million to balance this year's budget, which runs until Sept. 30. (That number may rise; the CFO has identified $87 million in overspending, too, but that can be offset by underspending and other cuts yet to be identified.) Finding the money, actually, isn't hard: The city's budget reserve can cover it, but at least half would have to be paid back in the next year's budget.

And for that budget, passed by the council last month, they'll have to find another $150 million in cuts even without having to refill the reserve. Add that in, and it's at least $245 million.

Read More "District Revenues Keep Falling, Gandhi Says" »

Today, the various crime bills are being debated as I write this item. You can read the complete and competing bills here. The Post has gathered up the pro and con surrounding the controversial proposal to take gangs or gang members to civil court. The Post writes:

The provision -- drafted by the administration of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) -- would allow authorities to target alleged gang members in civil proceedings. A prosecutor could obtain an injunction barring an alleged gang member from engaging in a range of activities, including such nuisance offenses as harassing passersby on the street.

Loose Lips is liveblogging the big crime bill debate. This afternoon, I talked to a veteran D.C. Police official who has vast experience with drug and gang cases. I wanted to know their thoughts on the crime bills and the civil-court provisions.

They basically thought the crime bill(s) were a waste of time.

Read More "One Veteran Cop on the Crime Bill Grandstanding" »

First off, here's what's already happened today in the D.C. Council chamber: The bag tax has been approved and is ready for mayoral signature, the Public Employee Relations Board now has a quorum, and councilmembers hiked the limit on their constituent services funds from $40,000 to $60,000. Not bad for a day's work.

But not quite enough: Debate is about to begin in the D.C. Council on a competing pair of anti-crime bills. One, introduced by Councilmember Jack Evans and supported by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, takes a hard-line approach, notably toward "civil gang injunctions," which makes it easier for police to keep alleged gang members out of specific neighborhoods. LL calls this the "jackboot reactionary" version. The other, introduced by Phil Mendelson, addresses most of the same issues, but amended to address civil rights concerns raised by the ACLU, NAACP, and other organizations---such as, How do you determine someone's a gang member? and What defines a neighborhood? LL calls this the "liberal weenie" version.

Both need nine votes to pass. Neither Evans nor Mendelson claimed earlier today to have the requisite number of votes in pocket.

Live from the John A. Wilson Building: Let the grandstanding commence!

12:47 P.M.: Evans, no surprise, says he's voting against the Mendo bill (the emergency declaration, to be precise). "I thought we spent a lot of time negotiating and were prepared to go forward," he says, then says that Mendo pulled key portions of compromise legislation. But he does strike a conciliar note, nothing the "hard work" put in by all parties.

12:50 P.M.: Marion Barry: "For the last 25, 30 years, we've had a public safety problem. During my administration, we have a crack cocaine epidemic...I was very naive about how to handle it." Calls the Fenty/Evans bill a "Band-Aid approach, a shotgun approach." Says he's supporting the Mendo version. "I don't condone criminal activity," he notes. You can't make this stuff up.

Read More "D.C. Crime Bill(s) Liveblog: Grandstand City!" »

The next local election day might be some 15 months off, but Saturday's Capital Pride parade still had a political charge---mostly due to the recent heat on gay marriage, but also thanks to a mayoral campaign kicking into full gear and possible council challenger in the mix.

LL was there with camera. Behold!

Read More "LL’s 2009 Capital Pride Reviewing Stand" »

Not too often these days that you see overt displays of executive-legislative interbranch friendship. Yet, this was one of those days, with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, Attorney General Peter J. Nickles, police Chief Cathy L. Lanier, and two members of the MPD brass joining legislators Muriel Bowser, Jack Evans, and Jim Graham on a Ward 1 street corner this afternoon.

The ostensible purpose was to urge passing of a sprawling anti-crime bill before the start of the traditional summer crime season. The clear subtext, however, was that the parties were taking a shot across the bow of At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson, who as chair of the public safety and judiciary committee holds the legislative fate of the bill in his hands.

Each of the parties urged that the 56-page bill, encompassing a number of crimefighting proposals, be passed on an emergency basis (meaning the bill goes into effect immediately for 90 days upon mayoral signature, bypassing congressional review) at the Council's June 2 legislative meeting. Mendelson has committed to getting an emergency bill through by the council's summer recess, which kicks off in early July.

"We need the new tools in this legislation," said Graham, citing recent shooting on the 1400 block of W Street NW (full disclosure: also LL's home block). "We need the tougher approach."

Evans was even more strident: "If we do not act...this bill going through the regular process next March. Next March!...That is unacceptable!" Later he added, in a swipe at Mendelson's meticulous ways, "What's process? It's the enemy of progress!" and "I want this thing moved pronto!"

OK, "pronto." Question is, where was Mendo?

Read More "Fenty & Friends Take a Shot at Phil Mendelson" »

As noted earlier this afternoon by Nikita Stewart at D.C. Wire, the D.C. Council's economic development committee spent their afternoon carving up a pool of money known as the Neighborhood Investment Fund into little pieces to disburse to various favored groups.

To be fair, councilmember did not start the trend. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's budget proposal, LL was first to report, divvied up the NIF money into places seemingly not in keeping with the fund's original purpose of stimulating development in 12 target areas. Rather, Fenty wanted to money to go for capital improvements at a pair of Ward 2 nonprofits and a passel of arts grants---not to mention a hefty subsidy for the DCUSA parking garage.

Brown proposed dropping most of those directives and putting $10 million of the fund toward competitively bid grants in keeping with the NIF's original intent. But his colleagues had other ideas: Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans started by proposing to restore much of the mayor's proposed earmarks (most of which benefited Ward 2, unsurprisingly). So did Ward 4's Muriel Bowser. Then Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry got in on the action. And Ward 7's Yvette Alexander. Brown was the lone vote against each addition.

Barry tells LL: "I believe in earmarks...as long as there's accountability and transparency."

LL has gotten his hands on the list. He's still plowing his way through the earmarks contained in Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham's committee budget report. Will update with that soon. But this should be enough to get you started.

Read More "D.C. Council Porkfest 2010" »

In Shaw writes on chickens in the city: "As I remember, I thought there were laws on the books that in one way or another say no to chickens. Just to make sure I checked The City Chicken, which according to it's chicken law page says, 'Washington D.C. Housing chickens here violates health laws and is not legal.'
Then I checked the online DC Code, plugging in Chicken, poultry and fowl...."

The Georgetown Metropolitan wonders: Does Jack Evans Abuse Parking Laws? There are incriminating photos of Evans' car clearly parked illegally---that is if he were just an average citizen. It is an open question whether he actually deserved a ticket.

Borderstan notes that construction has begun at the 17th-S-and-New Hampshire dog park. Post includes photos! Still, the project might be behind. The writer wonders: "I have not heard anything new on the opening date other than 'spring.' Anyone know anything more about a specific date?"

Bureaucrat310 chronicles a rough commute: "On this particular morning I was running late. Just as I descended into the columbia heights metro station I noticed that the next train would be arriving in 2 minutes. I hustle, run to the turnstile, swipe my card and get the dreaded 'go see a customer service agent' warning..."

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: Chickens Coming Home To Roost" »

LL watched the Senate cloture vote yesterday in the press gallery beside WTOP's inimitable Mark Plotkin. We both struggled to hear the votes as they were called---helped not at all by Plotkin's stream of anecdotes stretching back well into the '70s and beyond.

Then we heard: "Senator Cochran, aye."

Thad Cochran? Republican of Mississippi? Gentleman Southerner? Certainly not a fellow anyone thought would stick his neck out for the District.

Plotkin immediately though he knew what was up: "That was Jack Evans! It worked!"

Read More "Is Jack Evans Responsible for Thad Cochran’s DCHVRA Vote?" »

If it's a work day at the D.C. Council, then you can bet that residents across the District will be asking their councilmembers for some sort of favor. Carolyn Long mans the front desk for Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans and also handles liaison with folks that live in the many Ward 2 senior residences. Recently she's been dealing with a resident of the James Apartments in Logan Circle. This individual somehow managed to crack the porcelain top of her commode. For this act of destruction, the person was billed $87 by the apartment building's management outfit. Says Long, "She almost had a stroke."

So Long kicked into action, calling the building's management as well as an official with the D.C. Housing Authority. which has jurisdiction over the building. She also called the president of the building's resident council. "She said she didn't see how [the resident] would have to pay $87," says Long, who is still working the phones.

When asked if she thought she had a solution, Long replied, "Not yet."

--By Mike DeBonis