Tom Howell Jr.

Gray seeks eateries for Southeast as part of development at St. E site

When the U.S. Coast Guard opens its new headquarters in Southeast next year, it will house a cafeteria that is "significantly undersized" for the 4,400 people it expects to employ.

May 20, 2012

April unemployment down in D.C.

Statistics released Friday show the District's unemployment rate dropped from 9.8 percent in March to 9.5 percent in April, a positive sign that Mayor Vincent C. Gray touted as proof his employment programs have been effective although there is “more work to do.”

May 18, 2012

Capitol Hill eyes limiting abortions in D.C.

A House subcommittee heard diverging opinions on a bill that would ban abortions in the nation's capital once a fetus is 20 weeks past fertilization, a Republican-backed effort that city officials decried as a "cheap and cynical" way to promote an agenda on the backs of women in the District without any input from the city's sole voice in Congress.

May 17, 2012

D.C. Council members take a ride in self-driving car

A pair of D.C. Council members on Thursday took a quick jaunt around the block toward the future and they like what they see.

May 17, 2012

City wants its form of Hatch Act to prevail

The District's top attorney on Wednesday asked members of Congress to let the D.C. government rely on its own version of a federal law that polices public employees' participation in partisan politics, arguing the city is plagued by confusing applications of law.

May 16, 2012

Gray: McDuffie ‘an outstanding choice’ for Ward 5

Mayor Vincent C. Gray said voters in Ward 5 made “an outstanding choice” in picking Kenyan McDuffie to be their voice on the D.C. Council and restore integrity to a seat marred by scandal.

May 16, 2012

McDuffie wins Ward 5 D.C. Council seat handily

Kenyan McDuffie, a born-and-bred resident of the District's Stronghold neighborhood who touted public policy experience and a laundry list of labor endorsements, soundly defeated a crowded field on Tuesday to replace former D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. and begin a new chapter for Ward 5 leadership at city hall.

May 15, 2012

D.C. Council approves budget without tax hikes

The D.C. Council tentatively approved a fiscal 2013 budget on Tuesday that does not include new taxes or fees, but dedicates more than $20 million to affordable housing programs by leveraging funds tied to the sale of city-owned land.

May 15, 2012

D.C. Council to consider Brown’s budget plan

The D.C. Council will consider its chairman's fiscal 2013 budget today, which dedicates more than $20 million to affordable housing programs by leveraging funds tied to the sale of city-owned land, and issue the first of two votes on the plan.

May 15, 2012

D.C. budget proposal leaves out tax hikes

D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown indicated on Monday he will deliver a fiscal 2013 budget plan that does not impose new taxes or fees — a feature that Mayor Vincent C. Gray emphasized in his blueprint for the council — but does tweak a proposal to expand alcohol sales at bars and taverns across the city.

May 14, 2012

Voters head to polls to pick replacement for Thomas

Voters in Ward 5 will replace former council member Harry Thomas Jr. on Tuesday by choosing from a long menu of candidates who hope to restore confidence and integrity to the Northeast ward's seat at city hall.

May 14, 2012

D.C. budget vote scheduled for Tuesday

The long, tortured path toward compensating city workers for four furlough days will get a little longer, as the D.C. Council looks ahead to fiscal 2013 instead of taking up the issue on Tuesday during its first round of voting on the upcoming year's budget.

May 14, 2012

D.C. Council explores avenues for reducing traffic fines

D.C. Council members are actively looking at ways to reduce traffic fines in light of Mayor Vincent C. Gray's recent plan to greatly increase the use of automated enforcement on the city's streets.

May 13, 2012

D.C. woman connected to Thomas scheme pleads guilty

A 46-year-old woman linked to former council member Harry Thomas Jr.'s scheme to steal public funds pleaded guilty on Friday to failing to report income on her tax return in 2010, including a "fee" she obtained for surreptitiously redirecting more than $100,000 in grant funds to cover the costs of an inaugural ball in January 2009.

May 11, 2012

Graham not sold on compromise over bar hours

D.C. Council member Jim Graham is not abandoning his proposal to increase the excise tax on alcohol sales in lieu of Mayor Vincent C. Gray's money-raising plan to expand bar hours, despite the appeal of a compromise plan that could render the tax moot and keep the booze flowing until 4 a.m. on holidays instead of year-round.

May 10, 2012

D.C. Council considers bar hours trade-off

The D.C. Council is considering a budget compromise that allows bars to stay open until 4 a.m. on all federal and D.C. holidays, some specified holiday weekends and the week of the presidential inauguration in lieu of Mayor Vincent C. Gray's plan to keep taps flowing for an extra hour every night of the year.

May 9, 2012