Archive: D.C. Council
Barry Demanding Answers on Payroll Pandemonium
District youth are getting a tough lesson about the working world, thanks to the District government. Hundreds of young workers in the city's summer jobs program are frustrated because they have been underpaid, and worst, not paid at all. (Some have actually been overpaid, too, and that, of course, is...
By Marcia Davis | July 22, 2008; 07:51 AM ET | Comments (5)
Cheh Calls for Public Forums on CareFirst
The D.C. Council's Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs would like to hear from you if you're a subscriber to CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (non-HMO) health insurance. Committee chair Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), who is leading an investigation of CareFirst's compliance with its nonprofit mission, is hosting community forums...
By Marcia Davis | July 16, 2008; 04:00 PM ET | Comments (7)
D.C. Council summer recess? Not Quite Yet!
For those who can't get enough of Jim Graham, Vincent C. Gray and Marion Barry, you're in luck. The D.C. Council will hold a special session on Thursday, delaying its summer recess, which was to begin today. The decision to hold the Thursday meeting came late Tuesday night, as the...
By Elissa Silverman | July 16, 2008; 07:30 AM ET | Comments (4)
Gun Legislation Wins Unanimous Vote in D.C. Council
In a meeting that went well into the night, the D.C. Council unanimously voted for emergency legislation that ended the city's gun ban and put in place new regulations to restrict guns but is also meant to honor the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling against the strict ban that had been...
By Marcia Davis | July 16, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (0)
Final Legislative Meeting for Council
The D.C. Council has a lot to wrap up today, its final legislative session before recessing until September. Put the emergency gun bill announced yesterday at the top of the list. That proposed legislation, which calls for residents to pass eye and written exams, complete background checks and submit their...
By Marcia Davis | July 15, 2008; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (5)
New Gun Regulations Announced Today
District residents will be able to keep a handgun in the home for self-defense but that right would be limited to the home and not outside it, city leaders said today, announcing new gun regulations in response to the Supreme Court's recent ruling striking down the city's handgun ban....
By Marcia Davis | July 14, 2008; 04:36 PM ET | Comments (5)
Hearing on Baby's Death Today
Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) is seeking answers in a hearing this morning on the death of 6-month-old Isiah Garcia, who died on June 25th. A social worker in the Child and Family Services Agency had never seen the child, who had been reported to the agency for neglect. Mayor Adrian...
By Marcia Davis | July 14, 2008; 08:08 AM ET | Comments (2)
Mendelson Introducing Emergency Gun Bill
Councilmember Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) has decided to submit his gun bill as emergency legislation, the councilmember said today. Last week Mendelson introduced a bill that would end the city's handgun ban and make it legal for residents to keep firearms in their homes without requirements that trigger locks be...
By Marcia Davis | July 8, 2008; 05:01 PM ET | Comments (3)
A New Gang Strategy?
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham are teaming up this morning to announce a new gang strategy. The two will be sharing their plan at the Reeves Center at 10:15 am....
By Marcia Davis | July 8, 2008; 08:24 AM ET | Comments (2)
Roundtable on Guns at Council Today
District Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) is holding a roundtable at noon today to discuss last week's Supreme Court ruling that struck down the city's strict handgun ban. Yesterday Mendelson introduced a bill that would overturn the ban and give those who say their weapons are for "immediate self...
By Marcia Davis | July 2, 2008; 07:30 AM ET | Comments (2)
School Letter-Writing Campaign to Council
School Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and Allen Y. Lew, head of the school modernization efforts, teamed up late yesterday in a letter-writing campaign to the District Council. They want to make absolutely sure that the council is absolutely clear that if it doesn't pass the $83 million in building repair...
By Marcia Davis | July 1, 2008; 08:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
Mendelson to Introduce Bill to Repeal Gun Ban
Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) has decided to introduce legislation tomorrow that will address the Supreme Court ruling on the city's gun ban. The bill would repeal the prohibition on handguns. He made the announcement at the council's news briefing held in preparation for tomorrow's meeting. It would still...
By Marcia Davis | June 30, 2008; 10:59 AM ET | Comments (17)
Council Members React To High Court Ruling
Several D.C. Council members issued statements yesterday about the Supreme Court ruling on the city's gun ban. Here's what they had to say: Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) issued a statement that was a lengthy explanation about what happens now. On a personal note, he said this: "Although I am...
By Nikita R Stewart | June 27, 2008; 12:48 AM ET | Comments (4)
Barry, Others Call for EPA Tests
Surrounded by TV crews and other media, Council Member Marion Barry and a few concerned activists, stood outside Anacostia High School this morning and called for EPA testing of school athletic fields. The group said it's concerned that the toxic silica sand has been used in the renovations of six...
By Marcia Davis | June 25, 2008; 12:30 PM ET | Comments (1)
Barry, Activists Calling for EPA Testing on School Fields
Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) is holding a news conference this morning alongside community activists, parents and educators outside Anacostia High School to demand the EPA do immediate testing on all public school and recreation fields for toxins associated with silica sand. Activists say the fields refurbished by the...
By Marcia Davis | June 25, 2008; 07:30 AM ET | Comments (1)
City Pushing Back Hard at CareFirst
The Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs voted today to investigate Group Hospitalization and Medical Services, Inc., CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (GHMSI), and its parent company, CareFirst, Inc. And in a second blow, interim Attorney General Peter J. Nickles has announced he is entering a lawsuit against CareFirst, trying to...
By Marcia Davis | June 24, 2008; 04:45 PM ET | Comments (2)
Gertrude Stein Gives Brown Its Support
The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club has endorsed At-Large Council member Kwame R. Brown, saying Brown "has worked hard to ensure equal rights" for the District's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Brown was cited for his continued support for the rights of domestic partnerships, including co-sponsoring legislation that would allow...
By Marcia Davis | June 20, 2008; 08:07 AM ET | Email a Comment
Local GOP Endorses Schwartz
The D.C. Republican Committee endorsed D.C. Council member Carol Schwartz (At-Large) last night for both the primary and general elections, but Patrick Mara the candidate challenging Schwartz in the primary said he's pressing ahead. So far, the GOP primary is emerging as one of the more interesting races in a...
By Marcia Davis | June 17, 2008; 04:15 PM ET | Comments (17)
Police Checkpoints Debated at Hearing
The police are off the barricades in the District's Trinidad neighborhood--for now. But the debate over whether checkpoints in the violence-plagued area are doing more harm than good rages on. At a D.C. Council public safety committee hearing this afternoon, foes and fans of the plan continue the debate over...
By Marcia Davis | June 16, 2008; 04:50 PM ET | Comments (8)
Hearing on Policing Checkpoints
Council Member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) holds a hearing on the city's controversial police checkpoints today and the concerns the policy has raised about civil liberties. Last week, the Metropolitan Police Department ended its checkpoint in the Northeast neighborhood of Trinidad. The checkpoint, in which police questioned motorists trying to...
By Marcia Davis | June 16, 2008; 07:30 AM ET | Comments (1)
Cheh Stands Her Ground on Klingle Road
Nearly 20 advocates of reopening Klingle Road flowed through the Firehook Bakery yesterday afternoon during D.C. Council Member Mary M. Cheh's (D-Ward 3) constituent hours, which took place at a sunny pair of tables near the front. Cheh periodically holds open hours, but these were some of the more contentious,...
By Marcia Davis | June 15, 2008; 07:50 AM ET | Comments (29)
Checkpoint Ends, Thomas Calls for Meeting in Trinidad
Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) is hosting a meeting in the Trinidad community tonight to begin, he says, "the healing process" after a wave of violence in the Northeast neighborhood. That violence yielded a controversial police checkpoint program in which officers stopped motorists trying to access one street...
By Marcia Davis | June 13, 2008; 08:00 AM ET | Comments (5)
Cheh to Host Chat
Updated: As it turns out, Saturday's scheduled conversation with Council Member Mary M. Cheh at the Firehook Bakery is one of Cheh's occassional conversations shes hosts with constituents. (The D.C. Wire had incorrectly gave the impression that The Coalition to Repair and Reopen Klingle Road was holding the event.) It...
By Marcia Davis | June 12, 2008; 11:18 AM ET | Comments (2)
Hearing Set on Controversial Initiatives
A hearing on the D.C. police department's recent initiatives to root out crime - Safe Homes, Video Interoperability for Public Safety and Neighborhood Safety Zones - will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at the John A. Wilson Building. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) , chairman of the Committee...
By Nikita R Stewart | June 9, 2008; 04:32 PM ET | Email a Comment
More Council Members Criticize Lanier Checkpoint
As Post staff writers Allison Klein and Nikita Stewart report this morning, the criticism is growing among council members for Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier and Mayor Adrian Fenty's decision to set up a police checkpoint on a street in the Northeast neighborhood of Trinidad, where deadly violence has been...
By Marcia Davis | June 6, 2008; 07:15 AM ET | Comments (2)
Gray Has Questions About Police Checkpoint
D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray told the D.C. Wire late last night that he has some questions about Police Chief Cathy Lanier's plans to set up a checkpoint on a street in Trinidad, the Northeast neighborhood that has been plagued by violence in recent months. Lanier, with Mayor Adrian...
By Marcia Davis | June 5, 2008; 11:44 AM ET | Comments (2)
Council Approves Noise Bill, or Does It?
UPDATED: Full story on Noise vote... The D.C. Council gave final approval today to a heavily amended noise bill in a 9 to 4 vote after a hard-hitting lobbying campaign by labor unions that several council members described as mean-spirited and unfairly targeted at two members who are up for...
By Nikita R Stewart | June 3, 2008; 01:59 PM ET | Comments (8)
Gray, Wells Introduce Charter School Legislation
D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) and Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) introduced a bill today that would change how charter schools are regulated. It would require members of the D.C. Public Charter School Board to live in the District, require a 15-month planning period of newly approved...
By Marcia Davis | June 3, 2008; 01:46 PM ET | Email a Comment
Ban On Fireworks Appears to Be Fizzling
D.C. Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) said this morning that he will propose an amendment to emergency legislation that could ban fireworks a month before the Fourth of July. There would be an 11 p.m. curfew instead of the outright ban proposed by Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1)...
By Nikita R Stewart | June 3, 2008; 10:38 AM ET | Comments (3)
Mendelson May Try to Derail City's Camera Program
D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) says he may propose language in the Budget Support Act today that would block the city's camera surveillance program. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced the initiative, VIPS, or the Video Interoperability for Public Safety Program, in April. The plan, which has agitated several...
By Marcia Davis | June 3, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (5)
No Tanzania Trip For Barry
Marion Barry was in still in town doing council business today, even though he told us last week he was headed to Tanzania for a leadership conference. When asked by the Post why he didn't go, Barry said only that there was some "emergency council business" that he did not...
By David A Nakamura | June 2, 2008; 06:01 PM ET | Email a Comment
Vendors Draw Straws for Choice Spots
At 5 p.m. today, the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs will hold a lottery for 28 street vending spots around Nationals Park. The ballpark has been a sore subject for longtime peddlers who said the city was blocking them from selling hats and hot dogs in front of the...
By Nikita R Stewart | May 29, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (2)
Let's Go Down This Road Again
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and council members met for breakfast this morning to hear presentations on smoke detectors, pedestrian safety and other topics. But somehow, Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), still bitter about the council's decision to keep Klingle Road closed, brought the conversation around to, well, Klingle...
By Nikita R Stewart | May 28, 2008; 10:45 AM ET | Email a Comment
Gray's House Broken Into While He Was Home
District Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray's house was burglarized early Monday morning while he was home, the chairman said today. Gray said he must have been asleep during the break-in because he did not hear the boulder that came through his basement window. He lost a receiver from his stereo,...
By Marcia Davis | May 27, 2008; 12:07 PM ET | Comments (17)
In Case You Missed It:
District Council member Mary M. Cheh decided yesterday to table her energy bill after being pelted with questions from council colleagues and heavy lobbying from utility companies such as Pepco. A big sticking point: aid to the poor to help pay utility bills. Also, auditor Deborah K. Nichols issued a...
By Marcia Davis | May 22, 2008; 07:30 AM ET | Email a Comment
Toasting Kingle Road's Demise
Updated: 5:01 p.m. Environmentalists really know how to rub it in. They plan to take a hike June 1 in Klingle Valley and then drink champagne to celebrate the D.C. Council's decision to nix funding that could have reopened the controversial Klingle Road. Instead, the city will fund a hiker/biker...
By Marcia Davis | May 21, 2008; 12:50 PM ET | Comments (2)
Jack Evans Switches to Obama, Opens Own Campaign
Updated: 5:19 p.m. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) knows how to party every now and then---and to send a message or two. He threw a big cookout today to kickoff his reelection bid and to give a shoutout to Sen. Barack Obama, who's been busy lately trying to lock...
By Marcia Davis | May 17, 2008; 01:51 PM ET | Comments (52)
Breaking News: Council Gets Tickets
Just in. Attorney General Peter Nickles personally delivered baseball tickets for the rest of the season to Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray. More to come. UPDATED: The council received tickets to Suite 61 at the new Nationals Park, ending the standoff with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D). The suite has...
By Nikita R Stewart | May 16, 2008; 02:08 PM ET | Comments (8)
Age Ain't Nothin' But A Number: A Wii for You, Me
D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) is donating today a Wii video game system to IONA Senior Services in her ward. Citing a Mayo Clinic report that shows that the game can help the elderly both physically and mentally, Cheh said in a media release that she wanted...
By Nikita R Stewart | May 9, 2008; 10:36 AM ET | Comments (1)
Klingle Road Warriors
It's been nearly two decades, but did anyone really think the fight over Klingle Road was over? Okay, maybe some really did believe the question had been settled when the District Council voted in 2003 to spend millions to reopen the road. But that's beside the point. The DC Wire...
By Marcia Davis | May 9, 2008; 08:00 AM ET | Comments (1)
Council Sends Mixed Signal in Noise Vote
After intense and loud debate, the D.C. Council gave initial approval yesterday to noise legislation that would quiet demonstrators in residential neighborhoods but allow them to pump up the volume downtown and in front of hotels. The controversial Noise Control Protection Amendment Act of 2008 had been tabled by a...
By Marcia Davis | May 7, 2008; 05:59 AM ET | Email a Comment
A Bottle of Red, A Bottle of White To Go
The D.C. Council just voted 12 to 1 to permit patrons of restaurants to take unfinished bottles of wine with them after several minutes of debate full of puns. Currently, diners must leave the bottles behind or down the last drops. Council member Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large) sponsored the...
By Nikita R Stewart | May 6, 2008; 01:14 PM ET | Comments (2)
Go, Caps!
The D.C. Council legislative meeting today kicked off with a ceremonial resolution for the Washington Capitals for a season that saw them win the Southeast Division title. Owner Ted Leonsis and player Shaone Morrisonn were on hand to accept the resolution from Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who represents...
By Nikita R Stewart | May 6, 2008; 10:51 AM ET | Email a Comment
Shhhh! Everybody Calm Down
The D.C. Council is set to vote today on a noise bill that has been tabled, tweaked and revived. But the council appears to still be divided despite amendments offered by Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) and Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6). There was pouting and at least one audible...
By Nikita R Stewart | May 6, 2008; 10:03 AM ET | Comments (2)
Update: Sports Commission is "alive and well"
The D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission might survive after all. During a D.C. Council committee markup, today, Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large) accepted a friendly amendment to nix his plans to move the maintenance of RFK stadium out of the hands of the DC Sports & Entertainment Commission and give...
By Nikita R Stewart | May 1, 2008; 03:38 PM ET | Email a Comment
Political Reaction to Ruling in Rawlings Shooting
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty issued the following statement regarding the decision to file no charges in the Deonte Rawlings shooting. "The death of Deonte Rawlings was a tragic loss for his family and the entire community continues to mourn for them. After an exhaustive, independent investigation, the US Attorney and...
By Marcia Davis | May 1, 2008; 02:59 PM ET | Comments (4)
What Comes Around Goes Around
Let's continue down Klingle Road by taking a trip down memory lane. For Wilson Building insiders, yesterday's move by Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) might have looked familiar. Cheh, along with Council members Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 7) and Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large), managed to possibly stop...
By Nikita R Stewart | May 1, 2008; 06:47 AM ET | Email a Comment
Breaking News: Klingle Road Likely to Remain Closed
The D.C. Council Committee on Public Works and the Environment just voted 3 to 2 to keep Klingle Road closed. Klingle Road, which has been the subject of debate since it closed 17 years ago, would have been reopened under Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's budget plan after an 8 to...
By Nikita R Stewart | April 30, 2008; 03:20 PM ET | Comments (2)
Breaking News: Thomas Cancels Presser After School Shooting
D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5), who has been tackling a recent spike in homicides in his ward, had to cancel a 3:30 p.m. news conference about his plan to address the issue to go to the scene of yet another shooting. The podium that had been set...
By Nikita R Stewart | April 29, 2008; 03:37 PM ET | Comments (4)
Just Wondering: Are We Numb to the Body Count?
What will it take to put an end to the violence in this city that continues to destroy the lives of so many young African American men? Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5), Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier, and a host of community activists spent...
By Marcia Davis | April 28, 2008; 05:23 PM ET | Comments (2)
Updated: Budget Battles: Brought to Tears
Here is Staff Writer Nikita Stewart's final report from Friday's hearing, which lasted until after 8 p.m. 4:20 p.m. Carolyn Dallas, executive director of Youth Court, left the council chambers in tears after council members appeared as if they will not honor her $450,000 request for the program that keeps...
By Marcia Davis | April 25, 2008; 04:20 PM ET | Comments (5)
Ministers Called to Action
About 30 ministers responded to Council member Harry Thomas Jr.'s call to action this morning, as the body count continues to rise in Ward 5 (six slayings in eight days). The ministers gathered at the John A. Wilson Building to talk about ways to deal with the spike in violence...
By Marcia Davis | April 24, 2008; 01:05 PM ET | Email a Comment
Thomas Explains Switch From Clinton to Obama
Harry Thomas Jr. told the D.C. Wire yesterday that he decided to throw his "superdelegate" support behind Barack Obama last week to honor the "will of his constituents." Thomas, the council member for Ward 5, had gotten the pot boiling in the District when, after winning a superdelegate seat to...
By Marcia Davis | April 21, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (159)
Crossing Boundaries
Ward 1 Council Member Jim Graham called The Post's City Desk yesterday to talk about a story that was stripped across the District's metro section Sunday morning. Posties Allison Klein and Dan Keating reported that burglaries are up 21 percent in the city, and police believe that some of it...
By Marcia Davis | April 21, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
D.C. Council's Retired Lawyer is Busier Than Ever
Charlotte Brookins-Hudson is joined by members of the D.C. Affairs Section of the D.C. Bar who nominated her every year since 2003 for this award. (L-R) Sally Kram, Claudia McKoin, Jim Bubar, Matthew Watson, Brian Flowers and Ester Bushman (Photo by Mazi A. Ndubisi Ucheomumu) Charlotte Brookins-Hudson retired in...
By Yolanda Woodlee | April 21, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
Gray to Take Communion
Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said today will be one of his most memorable. Gray, who is Catholic, will take communion directly from the Pope today at mass at Nationals Park. "It is a momentous occasion, certainly one I will never forget," he told the D.C. Wire....
By Marcia Davis | April 17, 2008; 07:51 AM ET | Comments (1)
Barry Aide Talks About Plans
Keith Andrew Perry couldn't resist the D.C. Wire's quest to learn what he plans to do this time after leaving the John A. Wilson Building. Barry's soon-to-be-former chief of staff, who will depart on Friday, called to say he's launching a consulting business. He's been toying with the idea for...
By Yolanda Woodlee | April 17, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (7)
Breaking News: Thomas Backs Obama
You heard it here first. Council member and newly elected superdelegate Harry Thomas Jr., initially a supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, is announcing in minutes that he will cast his vote at the Democratic National Convention in Denver for Sen. Barack Obama....
By Nikita R Stewart | April 16, 2008; 09:47 PM ET | Comments (112)
Oh, the Noise! Noise! Noise! Noise!
The ruckus over the ruckus is back. The D.C. Council voted unanimously yesterday to revive legislation aimed at quieting demonstrators in residential neighborhoods after tabling the measure in a narrow 7 to 5 vote in February. The Noise Control Protection Amendment Act of 2008, which would limit noncommercial public speech...
By Nikita R Stewart | April 16, 2008; 07:20 AM ET | Comments (3)
Barry Top Aide Quits
D.C. Council member Marion Barry's Chief of Staff, Keith Andrew Perry, has resigned. Perry, who came to work for Barry (D-Ward 8) in April 2006, will leave the office Friday. Perry was Barry's third chief of staff since he took office in 2004. Prior to Perry, Linda Greene and E....
By Yolanda Woodlee | April 16, 2008; 06:59 AM ET | Email a Comment
Security Officers Get Some Love
Four security companies and the SEIU Local 32BJ have entered four-year contracts that provide raises, health insurance and other benefits to about 1,500 security officers who work at three-quarters of the District's commercial office buildings, according to the union. Security officers and other members of the union joined council members...
By Nikita R Stewart | April 15, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
Nats Ticket Showdown Continues...
At noonish, 19 tickets to tonight's Nationals game were delivered by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's office to the office of Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) to distribute to council members as he saw fit. But the chairman once again sent them back. "We would like to have the entire...
By Nikita R Stewart | April 11, 2008; 04:00 PM ET | Comments (1)
D.C.'s Former First Lady Has Her Own Juice
Poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou celebrated her 80th birthday last weekend at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach with a few of her closest celebrity friends, including a hometown one, Cora Masters Barry. Cora Masters Barry with writer Susan Taylor. Last weekend she was with Taylor again, and...
By Yolanda Woodlee | April 11, 2008; 02:35 PM ET | Email a Comment
Countdown to the Showdown
The Washington Nationals play the Atlanta Braves at 7:35 tonight, and council members are bracing for the dance they have been doing with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) all week. Since Monday, Fenty's office has been doling out tickets to the council hours before a game. For some reason, four...
By Nikita R Stewart | April 11, 2008; 11:05 AM ET | Email a Comment
Questions Linger on Lottery Contract
D.C. Council members Jim Graham and Marion Barry had kind words for the mayor when the city pulled the proposed lottery contract to W2I. "I'm very pleased," said Graham, the contract's harshest critic. "The public's interest is being served." Barry, who also said he had "serious" problems with the contract,...
By Yolanda Woodlee | April 10, 2008; 05:05 PM ET | Email a Comment
Mendelson Considering Hearing on Cameras
Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) is fuming about the city's new plan to centralize the monitoring of its 5,000 security cameras around the District. But he's not sure what exactly to do about it. "It's too soon for me to know what steps should be taken," said the council...
By Marcia Davis | April 10, 2008; 12:11 PM ET | Email a Comment
A Tree Grows in Ward 5
Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. seems to be trying hard to keep the focus on a campaign against violence in his ward. He said there have been at least 10 homicides in the ward this year. Last week Thomas called for a crime emergency, but that idea was turned...
By Marcia Davis | April 9, 2008; 06:59 AM ET | Email a Comment
Knock, Knock. Who's There? MPD
District residents, police and District Council members last night debated the merits of MPD's controversial Safe Homes initiative, in which officers will offer to search homes for guns with the permission of the property owners. During a council hearing, several members warned that the initiative could violate residents' rights. The...
By Marcia Davis | April 8, 2008; 03:55 PM ET | Email a Comment
Lottery Bids and Battles
Washington Post reporter Yolanda Woodlee writes about the D.C. Council hearing on the city's lottery contract in today's Post. One thing you quickly see about the two companies at the center of the fight over the lottery contract is that they have similar set ups. Both the current contract holder,...
By Marcia Davis | April 8, 2008; 01:55 PM ET | Email a Comment
Is He or Isn't He?
Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) became the latest Democrat to be elected a "superdelegate" - that all-powerful title that could make it or break it for Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama in their bid for the presidential nomination. During the Potomac Primary in February, Thomas said...
By Nikita R Stewart | April 8, 2008; 08:46 AM ET | Comments (9)
More on School Reform....At the D.C. Council Today
Beth Schmierer and Kristin Ehrgood, District residents who started an online petition that DC Wire told you about yesterday, are slated to testify before the D.C. Council this morning at the budget hearing for the school system....
By Theola Labbé | April 8, 2008; 07:28 AM ET | Comments (3)
A Lot of Lawyers at Lottery Hearing
You know there's a hot issue in the Wilson Building when you see these three: Fred Cooke, Scott Bolden, and a familiar face from the D.C. Council, Kevin Chavous. All three lawyers were at today's hearing before Jack Evans' Committee on Finance and Revenue. The issue: the city's lottery contract....
By Yolanda Woodlee | April 7, 2008; 05:06 PM ET | Email a Comment
Lottery Contracts: A Number of Issues
A D.C. Council committee hearing on a proposed $120 million lottery contract this morning promises to be an intense exchange. Read Yolanda Woodlee and Dan Keating's report....
By Marcia Davis | April 7, 2008; 09:16 AM ET | Email a Comment
Pressing for a Crime Emergency in Ward 5
Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. (D-Ward 5) called yesterday for D.C. police to declare a "crime emergency" in his ward, the second council member to raise an alarm about neighborhood violence this week. Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) held an emergency meeting Tuesday night to discuss the two homicides last weekend in...
By Marcia Davis | April 4, 2008; 07:05 AM ET | Comments (3)
Fenty v. Council on Business Tax Relief
Several District Council members, including Chairman Vincent C. Gray, aren't buying Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's tax relief plan for city businesses, a proposal that counter's the council's initiative earlier this year. When the D.C. Council approved a tax relief package for businesses in January, the expectation was that the plan...
By David A Nakamura | April 4, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
Nats' New Fan?
Nikita Stewart filed this in today's D.C. Political Notebook in the Extra section... Could the biggest critic of public financing of the Washington Nationals' baseball stadium be having a change of heart? No, we're not talking about Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), who was probably the second-leading critic when he...
By David A Nakamura | April 3, 2008; 01:13 PM ET | Email a Comment
Schwartz Says She's Looking Out for Taxpayers
Council member Carol Schwartz says she's saved taxpayers money on the leasing agreement for the police department's evidence warehouse in Southeast Washington. Last month, the council approved a $1.1 million, 15-month lease that had previously cost $264,000 annually. Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) and Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) objected to increase,...
By Yolanda Woodlee | April 3, 2008; 06:55 AM ET | Email a Comment
Council Repeals Landlord Exemption
In today's Washington Post, Nikita Stewart writes about the District Council's decision to repeal the landlord exemption that allowed property owners to let their buildings deteriorate as a way of emptying the property of tenants and making way for bigger profit possibilities. You can also read The Post series that...
By Marcia Davis | April 2, 2008; 02:59 PM ET | Comments (1)
Budget Hearings: Talking Dollars and Needs
April is tax season, but it's also the season for budget hearings, where the council combs through the mayor's proposed budget and talks to agency after agency and department after department to figure out who gets what. This morning it was Brenda Rhodes Miller, the executive director of the D.C....
By Theola Labbé | April 2, 2008; 12:29 PM ET | Comments (1)
Thomas Wants Civil War Memorial, Library Linked
A group places a wreath at the African American Civil War Memorial. (Frank Johnston) The Civil War Memorial Museum, dedicated to displaying and documenting the contributions of blacks in the Civil War, could get a big boost under a partnership with the D.C. Public Library, and idea proposed today...
By Marcia Davis | April 1, 2008; 01:09 PM ET | Email a Comment
Taking It to the Streets
Street vendors want the right to operate outside of Nationals Park the way they did at RFK. (Nikki Kahn) What's baseball without the hot dog? Like a hot dog with no bun, according to Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3). She said she will introduce legislation today that...
By Nikita R Stewart | April 1, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (1)
Catania Planning Health Care Bill
During a press briefing today, Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large), who said he was ironically a "little congested," announced his intentions to introduce a comprehensive health plan in the Council tomorrow. He said the plan, which The Post's David Nakamura wrote about last week, will capture residents who...
By Marcia Davis | March 31, 2008; 12:55 PM ET | Email a Comment
Barry vs. Fenty in Budget Slugfest?
Today may bring some intense exchanges between Marion Barry and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. Barry is trying to push the mayor to set aside as much as $200 million in anti-poverty program funds. When Fenty comes before the District Council today, Barry promises it won't be a lovefest. Fenty will...
By Yolanda Woodlee | March 31, 2008; 07:30 AM ET | Comments (8)
Five in Five: Wal-Mart Focuses on Small Businesses
Who says Wal-Mart isn't making inroads into the District? After deciding Brentwood, which just so happens to be in Ward 5, was not the right place to call home a few years ago, the giant discount chain has come bearing gifts. It is giving free advertising to several businesses in...
By Yolanda Woodlee | March 31, 2008; 06:55 AM ET | Email a Comment
The Vacant School Wish List
Recreation center? Art gallery? Charter school? Dozens turned out Monday night at Harriet Tubman Elementary school in Columbia Heights to give their ideas for what should happen with two school buildings in Ward 1 that are slated to close. Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham (D), ever eager to stay on...
By Theola Labbé | March 26, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (1)
Happy Birthday! Again and Again and Again...
Marion Barry's cake was kelly-green and white (By Nikita Stewart). Marion Barry turned 72. Again. A who's who of development, lobbying and politics showed up Thursday night for a party at The Park, local club mogul Marc Barnes' latest creation. "I'm kind of confused because I think I've been...
By Marcia Davis | March 25, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (15)
It's the Council's Own, Uh, Easter Bunny
(Photo courtesy of Vicky Leonard-Chambers) It's Easter Monday, and for one D.C. Council member that means hosting an Easter egg hunt and appearing as the Easter Bunny, complete with bunny ears and gray and yellow Adidas sneakers. Harry Thomas Jr., who represents Ward 5, located predominantly in Northeast Washington,...
By Yolanda Woodlee | March 24, 2008; 12:01 PM ET | Comments (1)
