Category Archives: News

News, The Daily Feed
By

D.C. United Sacks Soehn

Photo courtesy of
‘Ocean Liner, SS St Paul’
courtesy of ‘George Eastman House’

In a move that surprised just one person, D.C. United “parted ways” with their coach, Tom Soehn, this morning. Officially, Soehn is listed as taking his name out of consideration for coaching duties for the upcoming season, but I think the writing was pretty clearly on the wall that Soehn would not be getting a new contract. The club will search for a new head coach this off-season, hopefully someone who can motivate D.C. United to get beyond their “Draw” problem.

Downtown, News, The Daily Feed
By

MLK Jr. Memorial Authorized

Photo courtesy of
‘Martin Luther King, pictured during the ‘I Have A Dream’ speech at the Lincoln Memorial’
courtesy of ‘BlatantNews.com’

A few days ago, we reported that the MLK Jr. memorial had been approved and that it was awaiting its building permit.  Well, that permit has now been issued.  Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, officially signed a permit allowing construction to begin.  The memorial should be completed some time in 2011.

News, The Daily Feed
By

Michelle Rhee Battles the Council to the Death

Photo courtesy of
‘Scene of two men fencing’
courtesy of ‘Powerhouse Museum Collection’

I saw the highlights for yesterday’s City Council meeting both on Twitter yesterday and also on the news last night. It seems that the Council is a little testy that the Chancellor ignored some of their requests, and yesterday they made their displeasure known. Having now read the City Paper liveblog, and Mike Debonis’ Twitter feed from yesterday, I think yesterday’s battle was more of the Fenty/Council battle, and not just against the Chancellor. She was standing in for Peter Nickles and Adrian Fenty, and so I’m going to score this thusly:

Fenty Administration: 3
City Council: 5

A loss for the Fenty Administration, but given that yesterday was the council’s rules and venue, I’d say it’s not quite the rout you would’ve expected. Michelle Rhee held her own in the council chambers yesterday and that should not be ignored.

News, The Daily Feed
By

Office of Tax & Revenue Revokes Argonaut, Seven Other Local Sales Tax Certificates

Photo courtesy of
‘doesn’t fit the normal stereotype’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

The DC OCFO this afternoon announced that eight restaurants, including H Street anchor Argonaut, and Georgetown’s Mendocino, have had their sales tax certificates revoked for non-remission of sales taxes collected. The eight facilities owe just over $860,000 collectively. The revocation of their tax certificates means they cannot legally collect money for food or drink, which means they’ll likely be closed until such time as they’re settled with the city.

Interestingly enough, Argonaut is saying they’ll be open this evening after a brief closure, as they’re working things out with OCFO. Apparently, there was a problem at the OTR (problems at the Office of Tax and Revenue? Really? I never would have guessed that they might be having problems over there.) that necessitated the demonstration of these payments, and while Joe Englert’s other two businesses were able to quickly do so (the benefits of local banking!), Argonaut was not able to move as quickly thanks to Bank of America. Update: They have been returned their Tax Certificate by the OCFO this morning, according to Twitter.

That does leave these seven other places in hot water with the OCFO:

INTI,1825 18th St., NW
Prince of Georgetown, 3205 Prospect St., NW
Besta Pizza, 5029 Connecticut Ave., NW
Porter’s, 1207 19th St., NW
Prince Café, 1042 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Mendocino Grille, 2917 M St., NW
Café Nema, 1334 U St., NW

If you’ve got reservations, you make want to check them. Full release after the break:

Continue reading →

All Politics is Local, Downtown, News, People, The Daily Feed
By

DC Voting Rights Provision Unlikely

Photo courtesy of
‘Capitol up close’
courtesy of ‘brianmka’

Last week we reported that voting rights proponents were looking to add a provision in an upcoming defense appropriations bill that would grant DC representation in the House.  Well, it’s looking like that probably won’t happen, after all.  The chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Dan Inouye, a Democrat from Hawaii, has stated his intention to block the provision.  Senate Democrats fear that controversial additions to the spending bill could bog it down, or perhaps, kill the current iteration all together.  Rep. Holmes-Norton seems to be holding out hope that the provision will still make it into the bill, but many voting rights advocates are already looking for other means.

Fun & Games, News, The Daily Feed
By

Wizards Win Season Opener, 102-91

Photo courtesy of
‘Caron Butler at the line’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

Don’t look now, but the Wizards won their season opener against the Dallas Mavericks last night.  For a team that won fewer than 20 games last season, it’s an impressive feat.  Gilbert Arenas announced that he was healthy by putting back 29 points with six assists.  The Wizards moved like a well oiled, respectable team and led the Mavs for almost the entire night, winning the game 102-91.  Is this a prelude of things to come?  Will the DC field a decent basketball team this year?  It looks hopeful, right now.  What are your thoughts from last night?

News, The Daily Feed
By

Chinatown Coffee Releases Statement

Photo courtesy of
‘Chinatown Coffee’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

This evening we received a statement from Chinatown Coffee’s owner Max Brown, printed in full below the break. It appears that the Browns were unaware of Cho’s previous situation with Murky (something I find a little dubious) and that while he was to have stayed on as an employee manager of staff, that role will instead go to Travis Edwards, who will become the GM on Sunday. Read on for the full statement.

Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
By

Coffee Maven Cho Faces 40 Years in Prison

Photo courtesy of
‘razor’
courtesy of ‘Skelekitten’

Nick Cho, famous for his work as a barista and coffee-shop owner, today surrendered himself to arrest and booking on 82 counts of tax fraud related to the tax debt that shuttered Capitol Hill’s Murky Coffee in 2008. According to the release from the OCFO, posted in full below the cut, he’s facing 180 days in jail for each count, if convicted, along with a $5k fine, and full restitution if convicted. That would be $410,000 in fines, plus restitution for the amounts not filed with the District in 2006 and 2007, as well as 41 years in jail.

The amount specified by the OCFO for delinquent taxes is over $100,000, which would be compounded with penalties, interest and additional fines.

Chinatown Coffee Company, where Cho currently consults on the coffee operation, did not have a comment this afternoon when reached by telephone. Cho was released this afternoon following the booking. City Paper’s Jason Cherkis has a bit of the backstory here as well. Cherkis has now also spoken with the owners at Chinatown Coffee.

Continue reading →

All Politics is Local, Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
By

Dan Snyder and the Gestapo

Photo courtesy of
‘Under the lights’
courtesy of ‘brianmka’

Not to keep rubbing salt into the “Redskins are the worst” wound, but Dan Snyder seems more and more like a fascist dictator every day.  There have been several accounts, including two from last night alone, of people being kicked out of FedEx Field for expressing their true feelings for Mr. Snyder.  Apparently, he sicked a couple of security guards on critical fans, confiscating a banner and kicking them out of the stadium.  Nice.  Glad to hear he’s so confident in himself.  Let this be a lesson to the rest of you.  If you’re going to tell Mr. Musolli… I mean, “Mr. Snyder” that he sucks, don’t do it in his stadium.  He really doesn’t like it. But seriously, Dan, you do suck.

Continue reading →

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
By

Wizards Kick It Off Tonight

Photo courtesy of
‘Washington Wizards’
courtesy of ‘RMTip21’

The Wizards kick off their season tonight in Dallas against Mark Cuban’s Mavericks. While it seems the Wiz will wait even longer for the holy trinity of Arenas/Jamison/Butler to be united, but since we’ve been waiting since 2007, anyhow, so what’s another 3-5 weeks? This will also mark the Washington debut of coach Flip Saunders, who took over at the helm during the off-season. Saunders’ past success with Detroit and Minnesota make him a candidate to lead the turn-around for the Wizards, but much is dependent at this point on getting everyone healthy and keeping them that way.

The Wizards start of with a brutal first fifteen games. Four of their first five opponents made the playoffs this year, and they’ll be down Antawn Jamison until mid November at the earliest. It’s not exactly the sort of situation you want a team that has so much to prove to be in so early in the season. This is the kind of stretch you want to see much later in the year, once the engine’s running on all cylinders. But, if Saunders can keep the keel even, and can come out of that first fifteen with six or seven wins, then I’d say there’s a fair chance the Wizards might be back to their earlier form. Don’t hold your breath.

Tipoff’s at 8:30 tonight, and the game’s on Comcast Sports Net.

Fun & Games, News, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
By

Redskins have a Case of the Mondays

Photo courtesy of
‘Colt Brennan and Marcus Mason’
courtesy of ‘Keith Allison’

What a night for the hometown team. The Redskins lost to the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 27-17 in an absolutely miserable performance.  You may be thinking “10 points isn’t that bad,” but, I’ll remind you that half of the Eagles team is injured and that they lost to the Oakland Raiders, last week.  It’s bad.  Where to start with this?  The offense, while making a few clutch plays (hence the 17 points), had 3 turn-overs, one of which resulted in a touchdown for the Eagles. The line allowed Campbell to be sacked 6 times, oh, and Chris Cooley broke his ankle.  Things are not looking good.  On the defensive side, no one seemed to be able to stop Desean Jackson, who scored two touchdowns, one on a huge run and the other on a huge reception.  All in all, the Skins looked par for the course for this season.  The front office’s decision to mute Jim Zorn obviously had no positive effect on the play calling and the Redskins show no sign of improvement.  Honestly, get used to losing.

News, The Daily Feed
By

Councilman Brown Finishes Marine Corps Marathon

Photo courtesy of
‘Kwame Brown’
courtesy of ‘tbridge’

Congratulations, Councilman Kwame Brown! The councilman finished the Marine Corps Marathon in 4:40:04, for 10,977th overall. Marathon’s are tricky business, and anyone who manages to finish this feat of endurance gets my respect and admiration. 26.2 miles is a long darn way. Fortunately, yesterday was as beautiful a fall day as I think we ever get in DC, so I’m sure he had a good run.

Interestingly enough, Mayor Fenty was registered, but chose not to run. Perhaps he was saving his energy for a mayoral challenge?

Entertainment, Media, News, Special Events, The Daily Feed
By

A Good Way To Spend Lunch

Photo courtesy of
‘Hipster PDA’
courtesy of ‘koalazymonkey’

Got time for a long lunch?  Then head over to the Center for Digital Imaging Arts (CDIA) on Friday, October 30th from 12-2pm to check out “Art & Copy,” a documentary about advertising and innovation that includes some of the industry’s greatest minds, like George Lois, Mary Wells, Cliff Freeman, Dan Wieden, Lee Clow, Hal Riney and others. The film’s executive producer, Kirk Souder, will be on hand for a Q&A post viewing. The film will not be widely released, so this is your only chance.

Correction: Earlier posting showed today’s date.

News, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
By

DC Wants You To Be Nicer To Animals

Photo courtesy of
‘Raccoon’
courtesy of ‘Riverbanksoutdoorstore’

Generally, I’m of the opinion that we should gently displace wildlife that we develop around, treating them generally with respect. Of course, I tend to think that’s deer, and not raccoons and opossums, which are pests and potential rabies vectors. Apparently, Councilwoman Cheh disagrees and wants to protect their little rodent hides from the exterminators. Included are making sure that little rodent families are preserved if they have to be relocated, and the banning of odious glue traps. In addition, all exterminators would need to be licensed by the District.

All Politics is Local, Crime & Punishment, Downtown, Fun & Games, Media, News, The Daily Feed
By

The Chamber gets Pranked

YouTube Preview Image

One of DC’s largest lobbying groups, the US Chamber of Commerce, has found itself as the butt of a prank.  Yesterday, a group claiming to represent the Chamber called a press conference at the National Press Club.  A few journalists, representing such prominent organizations as Reuters and CNN, showed up to here the stunning news that the Chamber was reversing its long-held stance on clean energy, which had been decidedly “pro-business” up to this point. Mid way through the press conference a man from the actual Chamber burst into the room and decried the proceedings as fraudulent.  Fortunately for us, the whole incident was caught on film and found its way onto Youtube.

At this point, details of what actually happened are still a bit shady.  It appears that a civic-minded comedy group, the Yes Men, staged the prank to call attention to the Chamber’s environmental stance. This group has held other, fake press conferences in the past, including delivering a fake key-note address on behalf of Exxon-Mobile at a major oil conference. At this point, the Chamber has stated that it is pursuing legal action against the Yes Men.

What do you all think?  Harmless joke? Praise-worthy activism? Crime?

News, The Daily Feed
By

VDOT Fails Spelling 101

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcwashington.com/video.

Oh c’mon, VDOT. You misspelled Reagan National Airport? I mean, I know we all call it National anyway, because it’s still a little soon to have it renamed after a guy that half the country seems to not have liked at all in retrospect, but misspelling his name? Not cool.

Their solution? Paste a correction over the top. Laaaaaame.

Life in the Capital, News, The Daily Feed, The Great Outdoors
By

The Return of the Sun

Photo courtesy of
‘Looking Up’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

On your way into work this morning, you might have noticed a giant blue expanse and a shining orb in the place of the gray ceiling that you had grown accustomed to.  This is called “clear sky” and it should be the norm for the rest of the week.  Warm temperatures and dry air are finally returning to the DC area and it is good to see them back.  Unfortunately, we do have some more rain in our forecast, just in time for next weekend.  Let’s hope the weatherman is lying.

News, The Daily Feed
By

Georgetown Student Steals Security Officer’s Firearm

Photo courtesy of
‘Georgetown University’
courtesy of ‘citron_smurf’

Georgetown first-year student Alex Thiele, recently arrived from La Jolla, California’s Bishop’s High School was arrested this morning at 12:30am for possession of an unlicensed firearm, according to Georgetown’s Vox Populi blog, who have a copy of the original police report. It seems that the firearm was taken off a US Park Police officer during the Midnight Madness event at McDonough Gymnasium, and was discharged, with a toilet in the Men’s bathroom destroyed as a result. We’ve contacted the Park Police, and hope to have comment as to whether or not Officer Clanton was on or off duty, and how her service weapon came to be in the hands of Mr. Thiele.