Tom Howell Jr.

Family Research Council, Southern Poverty Law Center have war of words over shooting

The president of a conservative Christian-based family organization said Thursday that the blame for the shooting of a colleague was shared between the man with the gun and groups that practice "reckless use of terminology."

August 16, 2012

Gray defends District’s gun laws, says he will work to preserve them

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

August 16, 2012

D.C. submits plan for health-benefits exchange to feds

The D.C. government submitted a detailed proposal to the federal government on Wednesday outlining its vision for a consumer-friendly marketplace of insurance plans as part of President Obama's health care law, a controversial package of reforms that the District embraced from the start while other states wait for its legal and political narrative to play out.

August 15, 2012

D.C. supports right to consider race in university admissions

The District has joined more than a dozen states in supporting public universities' right to consider race during their admissions processes.

August 14, 2012

LaHood, local leaders demand reforms from airports authority

Elected leaders from the District, Maryland and Virginia joined the nation's top transportation official on Tuesday calling for immediate reforms at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority in the wake of recent reports that raise "serious doubts" about its effectiveness.

August 14, 2012

D.C. Council candidates ramp up fundraising

New campaign finance reports show D.C. Council incumbents with adequate war chests or recharging their fundraising efforts with about three months to go before the Nov. 6 election.

August 13, 2012

D.C. residents among the fittest in the nation

D.C. residents are among the fittest in the nation. But that isn't saying much.

August 13, 2012

Health law readiness follows state, party lines

The District of Columbia and Maryland are moving aggressively to implement virtual markets of insurance plans, becoming national leaders in carrying out President Obama's vision for health care reform, while their Republican neighbors in Virginia remain less than eager to implement the controversial law.

August 12, 2012

IG report: No widespread school-test cheating in D.C.

A long-awaited report by the D.C. office of the inspector general says investigators found no evidence of widespread cheating among city public school students from 2008 to 2010, despite alarming testimony that some teachers at Noyes Education Campus in Northeast pointed out incorrect responses on standardized tests until students filled in the right answers.

August 8, 2012

Petition to vote on banning corporate political donations fails

A volunteer effort to ban direct corporate contributions to D.C. political campaigns failed to gather enough valid signatures to put the issue before city voters on Nov. 6, officials said Wednesday.

August 8, 2012

Users of some D.C. online services get malware warning

Local residents looking to pay parking tickets or use other online services from the D.C. government in the past week were greeted with an ominous message, saying their use of the city's website could expose them to malicious software.

August 7, 2012

Tax-reform panel aims to untie D.C. code’s ‘knot’

A newly seated edition of the D.C. Tax Revision Commission began wading through layers of the city's Byzantine tax structure on Monday and brainstorming ways to keep the city's finances in step with its flourishing population.

August 6, 2012

New D.C. health director ready for challenges

Dr. Saul Levin left his native South Africa in 1984, a time when his country was still under the grip of a racially driven apartheid system and HIV/AIDS awareness was uncertain territory.

August 5, 2012

Vouchers available to 1,788 D.C. students

More than 1,700 students from the District will get the chance to attend a private school this year through a federal voucher program, despite an ongoing debate among leaders in the city and on Capitol Hill about whether "school choice" should stay within the bounds of the public school system.

August 2, 2012

Senator seeks to attach D.C. abortion measure to cybersecurity bill

A Republican senator from Utah relaunched a measure that bans abortion in the District after 20 weeks of pregnancy mere moments after the House defeated its version of the bill Tuesday night.

August 1, 2012

Effort to restrict abortions in D.C. fails in House

House Republicans could not muster enough votes Tuesday to pass a bill that bans abortions in the District after 20 weeks of pregnancy, a closely watched measure that pitted Democrats 'claims of a "war on women" against pro-life advocates' state-by-state defense of the unborn.

July 31, 2012

House scheduled to vote on D.C. abortion ban

The House is scheduled to vote late Tuesday on a bill that prohibits abortions in the District after 20 weeks of pregnancy, a controversial move that has been heavily promoted by pro-life advocates and decried by city officials and Planned Parenthood.

July 31, 2012

Issa gives commuter tax idea a big boost

A D.C. lawmaker in charge of local purse strings thinks an influential congressman's look at a tax on out-of-state residents who work in the District could be a "game changer" for the city's finances.

July 30, 2012

Mayor, D.C. school officials cheer rise in test scores

D.C. school officials on Thursday praised overall gains in 2012 test scores as another baby step toward the ambitious, long-term goals for school reform — although less than half of the city's students were proficient in math and reading.

July 26, 2012

In Gray’s defense, he’s getting good at defending himself

For the third time in as many days, D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray stood at a podium on Wednesday to highlight the District's progress during his tenure — a defiant stand less than a week after his attorney rebuked the media's "rush to judgment" over a shadow-campaign scandal that has besmirched Mr. Gray's first 18 months in office.

July 25, 2012