Archive: February 2006
Traveling Tony: Iceland Bound
Mayor Anthony A. Williams quietly left town yesterday for four days of "personal travel." At first, his staff wouldn't say where he went. But I eventually got spokesman Vince Morris to acknowledge that the mayor and his wife have jetted...
By | February 24, 2006; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (15)
Stadium Land Fight Goes to Court
As Major League Baseball continues to deliberate over whether to accept the D.C. Council's baseball stadium spending cap, another player will enter the stadium game today at 9:30 a.m. That's when D.C. Superior Court Judge Joan Zeldon will conduct the...
By David Nakamura | February 24, 2006; 7:00 AM ET | Comments (2)
The Mayor's Prayer
Mayor Anthony A. Williams is blogging again. His most recent posting is a rather astonishing defense of the baseball deal in which he reveals that he has turned to religion to help him endure the incessant criticism. I won't try...
By | February 23, 2006; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (53)
Graham: I Love My Job
Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) is staying out of the race for council chairman. Graham told the D.C. Political Notebook that he enjoys his job far too much to risk it all on a citywide campaign. "I like what...
By | February 23, 2006; 7:00 AM ET | Comments (4)
Downtown Michael Brown and the Go-Gos
Mayoral candidate Michael Brown continues his campaign to establish himself as the candidate of disaffected urban youths with an event this Friday dubbed the "Go-Go Summit." According to a press release delivered last night by Brown's new communications director (former...
By | February 21, 2006; 12:15 PM ET | Comments (62)
Mendelson v. Bolden
It wasn't exactly the Thriller in Manilla, but as far as down ticket debates seven months before the election go, it wasn't so bad. Council member Phil Mendelson and challenger A. Scott Bolden faced off last night in Kalorama, the...
By Eric Weiss | February 17, 2006; 1:17 PM ET | Comments (67)
Baseball Bean Counting
Everywhere you look these days it seems there is more hardball being played between MLB and the District. A tipster called us to relay the latest squabble: A dispute over whether the Nationals owed the city any money under a...
By David Nakamura | February 16, 2006; 2:36 PM ET | Comments (16)
New Math at the Fenty Campaign
This just in (too late for today's political notebook in the D.C. Extra): A former volunteer with Adrian M. Fenty's mayoral campaign has filed a complaint with the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance accusing the Ward 4 council member of...
By | February 16, 2006; 8:00 AM ET | Comments (42)
Daylight Debate
WUSA News-Channel 9 gave the District's five Democratic mayoral candidates an opportunity to participate in an hour-long, live debate this morning. It began at 9 a.m., which unlike 9 p.m. is not prime viewing time. Who knows who was...
By Yolanda Woodlee | February 15, 2006; 3:02 PM ET | Comments (6)
Guacamole Costs Extra
It's amazing what one can find poring through the campaign finance filings. In addition to the usual contributions from developers, lawyers etc., the voluminous filings occasionally provide a window into the candidates. For example, Ward 3 council candidate Sam Brooks...
By Eric Weiss | February 14, 2006; 3:30 PM ET | Comments (34)
Budget Plans for Schools - Are Residents in the Loop?
Some activists are baffled over the seemingly dueling public hearings this week on D.C.'s 2006-07 school budget. The Board of Education has its public hearing today at 5:30 p.m. and Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) has one scheduled for Thursday...
By Marcia Slacum Greene | February 14, 2006; 1:42 PM ET | Comments (1)
Nat Today, Gone Tomorrow
Well, the Washington Nationals officially announced Saturday that they sold the contract of infielder Jamey Carroll to the Colorado Rockies. Jamey, we hardly knew ya. I know this is supposed to be a political blog, but since we've written so...
By David Nakamura | February 13, 2006; 2:30 PM ET | Comments (2)
Mayor's Map of Achievement
D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams cut the ribbon today on the District's first Bed, Bath and Beyond store, waxing rhapsodic about its arrival in the newly bustling little neighborhood around the MCI Center downtown. Snagging the purveyor of domestic merchandise...
By | February 13, 2006; 1:30 PM ET | Comments (7)
Deconstructing the Baseball Vote
I have had some amazing conversations over the past three days about what really happened in the D.C. Council chambers late Tuesday night and early Wednesday. Even people who were in the room, people who lived the nightmare -- including...
By | February 11, 2006; 7:01 AM ET | Comments (2)
Barry's Nats Cap
Wondering whether D.C. Council member Marion Barry was sending a message to baseball boosters when he wore that bright red baseball cap throughout the marathon hearing the other night? The answer is it was "strategic," Barry said, breaking out in...
By Yolanda Woodlee | February 10, 2006; 1:55 PM ET | Comments (6)
Stadium Land
WTOP and other media outlets reported on a D.C. Court of Appeals ruling on a case related to the stadium land. But I did not include it in my story today because it is an incremental decision and a much...
By David Nakamura | February 10, 2006; 1:42 PM ET | Comments (4)
Stadium Spending Cap Released
The council aides have done a yeoman's job figuring out exactly what was in the final baseball legislation approved by the council early Wednesday. It wasn't easy. One aide told me that a group of them were reviewing videotape to...
By David Nakamura | February 9, 2006; 4:26 PM ET | Comments (4)
Baseball Redux
It was 24 hours later. They were freshly showered and had a change of clothing, but the rhetoric was the same. On baseball, of course. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D) and council members Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4) and...
By Eric Weiss | February 9, 2006; 11:20 AM ET | Comments (32)
Praise for Barry
Just nine hours before D.C. Council member Marion Barry was to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson for failing to file tax returns for six years, he was lauded by the mayor. Mayor Anthony A. Williams publicly complimented...
By Yolanda Woodlee | February 8, 2006; 9:30 AM ET | Comments (21)
It's Alive!
First, the baseball bill died on a vote of 8 to 5. Then, almost before Mayor Anthony A. Williams could complain about the D.C. Council's decision, the deal was resurrected. Shortly before 1 a.m., the council voted 9 to 4...
By | February 8, 2006; 7:00 AM ET | Comments (10)
Baseball Battle
Here's the latest from city hall. The council will vote on baseball after completing its regular legislative meeting today. The meeting is in progress. Chairman Linda W. Cropp has drafted her own stadium spending cap after the council heard Monday...
By David Nakamura | February 7, 2006; 2:49 PM ET | Comments (30)
Ouch!
While everyone is waiting to find out whether there will be a vote on the stadium lease agreement, the D.C. Council first has to get through the regular agenda. One item was a bill to limit the ability of lawyers...
By Eric Weiss | February 7, 2006; 12:28 PM ET | Comments (3)
Big Day for Baseball
Well, the vote on the stadium lease appears to be upon us at last. In case you missed it, the deal picked up a major endorsement this morning -- from The Washington Post. For the record, remember that as a...
By David Nakamura | February 7, 2006; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (42)
Calling all Good-Government Types
Ward 3 council candidate Sam Brooks, who's been involved in a low-key pie-tossing contest with fellow candidate Jonathan Rees, wants to engage in some multilateral disengagement. Both have been saying mean things about each other for months. Rees questions when...
By Eric Weiss | February 6, 2006; 2:00 PM ET | Comments (18)
Billion-Dollar School Bill: Who Gets Credit?
It promises to be a busy week in D.C. politics: The council may finally vote on a lease agreement for the new ballpark. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) is due in court for sentencing in his tax case. And...
By | February 6, 2006; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (6)
Baseball on the Brink?
It seemed like we'd never get to this point. But within another 36 hours it is possible, maybe even probable, that the D.C. Council will at last vote on the baseball stadium lease. The lease remains on the council's agenda...
By David Nakamura | February 6, 2006; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (20)
Stay Wired
Welcome to D.C. Wire, a new washingtonpost.com blog that will provide news, observations and information about the District's 2006 elections and topics that are stimulating lively conversations around town. As District voters prepare to elect a new mayor and a...
By Marcia Slacum Greene | February 6, 2006; 12:01 AM ET | Comments (5)
