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D.C. environment department director abruptly fired

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray's administration said Friday it had fired the city's environment director, Christophe A.G. Tulou, for what officials termed a "serious breach of protocol" in negotiations over a long-term sewer project.

August 31, 2012
** FILE ** D.C. Council member Tommy Wells (Raymond Thompson/The Washington Times)

Washington planning more speed cameras

Members of a D.C. Council task force on traffic fines agreed on Tuesday that speed limits and red-light cameras improve safety, but city officials need to show "a rational nexus" between hefty fines that can reach $150 and drivers' willingness to change their behavior.

August 28, 2012
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Gray proposes D.C. campaign reforms

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray and the city's attorney general unveiled a long-awaited proposal on Tuesday to curtail pay-to-play politics in the city, including a ban on contributions from contractors who do business with the city.

August 28, 2012
Ben Heller of Bloomfield Hills, Mich, with his wife Gabby and their daughter Zoe, 13, speak with Park Ranger Eric Pominville on Monday about the quote on the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the Mall. “I think if you’re going to quote somebody, you should quote them properly,” Mr. Heller said about the paraphrased line. “It is etched in stone, but it can be fixed?” (Eva Russo/Special to The Washington Times)

MLK’s quote goes unfixed for six months

Martin Luther King Jr. didn't say it exactly that way, but an inaccurate quote remains etched into his granite memorial in Washington more than six months after National Park Service officials vowed to fix it.

August 27, 2012
A speed camera on New York Avenue Northeast in Washington (The Washington Times) **FILE**

D.C. task force to evaluate traffic-camera fines

A new D.C. Council task force will evaluate hefty fines levied on motorists caught by speed cameras and other forms of automated traffic enforcement, a controversial and expanding system that has some wondering if city leaders care more about revenue than public safety.

August 23, 2012
Work on the first phase of a multiyear effort to bury the District's power lines will begin in the spring, after the D.C. Public Service Commission announced Thursday it had approved the $1 billion plan.. (Andrew S. Geraci/The Washington Times)

D.C. takes revised look at underground power lines

Members of a newly formed task force looking at ways to reduce power outages in the District said it might be wiser to bury power lines only in high-risk areas than shell out billions for a citywide project.

August 23, 2012
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray talks at press briefing Wednesday about new taxi “smart meters.” The city has chosen VeriFone Systems for the $35 million contract, but one of two companies that competed for the bid is seeking a restraining order. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

‘Smart meter’ contract in court

A technology firm on the losing end of a contract to install "smart meters" in the District's taxicabs filed a complaint Wednesday in D.C. Superior Court to stop the city from installing its competitor's machines.

August 22, 2012
The Culex pipiens (left) is the primary mosquito that can transmit West Nile virus to humans, birds and other animals. It is produced in stagnant water. At right is an Aedes vexans, primarily a nuisance mosquito produced from freshwater that it is not a key transmitter of disease. (Associated Press)

D.C. resident contracts West Nile virus

D.C. officials are asking city residents to do what they can to prevent mosquito bites after several samples of the insects tested positive for West Nile virus and one person contracted a non-fatal infection.

August 22, 2012
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

Gray urges DNC to put D.C. statehood in its platform

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray is lobbying the Democratic National Committee to put D.C. statehood in its party platform ahead of its convention next month in Charlotte, a hopeful push within his own party after Republicans slapped away any talk of D.C. voting rights and urged city lawmakers to relax gun laws in the nation's capital.

August 22, 2012
D.C. Council member Marion Barry has placed a legislative hold on a $1.3 million contract adjustment with firm VeriFone Systems as the District moves to install “smart meters” in about 6,500 taxicabs. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

Barry’s opposition a speed bump for taxi ‘smart meters’

Washington, D.C., is forging ahead Wednesday with plans to install "smart meters" in about 6,500 taxicabs that offer pay-by-credit-card readers and other amenities, despite a mystifying dispute initiated by D.C. Council member Marion Barry over how to pay for it all.

August 21, 2012
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Gray cheers slight drop in D.C. unemployment rate

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray said Friday that a slight drop in the city's unemployment rate, from 9.1 percent in June to 8.9 percent in July, shows his workforce efforts "continue to pay off."

August 17, 2012
** FILE ** D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (Ryan M.L. Young/The Washington Times/File)

Mayor Gray vows to ‘preserve’ D.C.’s gun-control laws

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray said Thursday he will "work hard to preserve our gun-control laws" in the nation's capital, one day after police say a Virginia man shot a security guard who prevented him from entering a conservative research group's offices in a busy section of downtown.

August 16, 2012
D.C. Council member Yvette M. Alexander welcomes the study of burying power lines and says the new task force should provide “real numbers” on costs and “the real timeline. She heads the public service committee. (Dreg Angerer/The Washington Times) ** FILE **

Storm result: D.C., Pepco to study underground utilities

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray said Thursday a newly formed task force will explore the best way to bury power lines in the District, a costly game changer intended to thwart the kind of long-term power outages that plagued the capital region after a fierce windstorm on June 29.

August 16, 2012
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

D.C. clarifies error on after-school program

After a press release containing not-entirely-correct information went out Thursday, D.C. officials took pains to clarify that any parents who wish to enroll their children in after-school programs at city schools will not be turned away, even though the District must verify the citizenship status of students who benefit from federally subsidized programs.

August 16, 2012