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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

D.C. Council advances ethics-reform bill

A D.C. Council committee sent up ethics reforms to the full legislature on Monday despite concerns that late changes to the expansive bill warrant a delay that could extend deliberations into the new year.

December 5, 2011
"I don't have any reservation in saying at this stage that the District of Columbia is an absolute leader in early-childhood education," D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray said. (Associated Press)

Early-childhood education has new meaning

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray's administration is preparing to be the county's role model for early-childhood education through programs for children as young as 6 months.

December 4, 2011
FBI and IRS Criminal Investigative Division agents leave the scene after they served a search warrant on the home of Washington D.C. City Council member Harry Thomas, Jr., on 17th Street NE in Washington, D.C., on Friday, December 2, 2011. (Pratik Shah./The Washington Times)

FBI raids D.C. Council member Thomas’ home

FBI and IRS agents on Friday were searching the Northeast home of D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr., a significant uptick in the pace of a criminal investigation into whether the council member used public funds for personal gain.

December 2, 2011

Proposed marijuana dispensaries scattered around D.C.

Television personality Montel Williams wants to set up a medical marijuana dispensary in Adams Morgan as one of 17 applicants vying to set up shop in and around notable neighborhoods of the District.

December 1, 2011
D.C. Fire and EMS Chief Kenneth Ellerbe said Wednesday that his staff-scheduling plan "will not reduce services one bit," adding that "safety is not an issue." (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

D.C. firefighters pour cold water on chief’s rescheduling plan

The D.C. fire chief is girding for a public battle with the firefighters union over a plan to switch from the 24-hour shifts firefighters have been working for more than two decades to 12-hour shifts - a plan the chief expects will reduce by about 26 percent the number of firefighters in the District.

November 30, 2011
D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

D.C. drivers may soon display their team spirit on plates

D.C. officials are paving the way for license plates that promote the Washington Redskins and eight other home teams, a quick-and-easy proposal intended to satisfy sports fans without sliding into a slew of offerings that have roiled political waters in various states.

November 29, 2011
Council member Jack Evans is expected to schedule a hearing on iGaming alongside a bill to repeal the program altogether. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/The Washington Times)

Changes unlikely for online gambling in D.C.

D.C. Lottery officials do not plan to change the essential components of their controversial online gambling plan after holding nine community meetings to hear concerns and dispel myths about the program.

November 28, 2011
** FILE ** (Associated Press)

Wal-Mart jobs set aside for D.C. residents

D.C. officials and Wal-Mart agreed to an "unprecedented" community-benefits package on Tuesday that should ease the retail giant's controversial entry into the nation's capital.

November 22, 2011

D.C. Mayor Gray replaces chief spokeswoman

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray has tapped two Capitol Hill veterans to help him trumpet his "ambitious agenda" to the public after a string of personnel blunders threatened to obscure any progress during his first year at the helm of the city.

November 21, 2011
D.C. Council member Muriel Bowser (T.J. Kirkpatrick/The Washington Times)

Bowser introduces D.C. ethics-reform bill

A D.C. Council member has circulated a widely anticipated ethics-reform bill that creates a three-member oversight body and cuts in half the amount of money lawmakers can raise for funds that are supposed to address constituents' dire needs but have been used for catering, office space and sports tickets.

November 19, 2011
"I will keep the light on this issue until we have a law," Rep. Darrell E. Issa, California Republican and chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said of the D.C. budget-autonomy issue. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Budget autonomy for D.C. still on the table

A Republican House leader pledged Thursday to press ahead on crafting a bill that gives the District more control of its budget process, even after city leaders rejected his initial proposal because it included a ban on funding elective abortions.

November 17, 2011
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton was among three D.C. officials Wednesday to turn down a budget-autonomy deal Tuesday offered by a Republican lawmaker. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

D.C. spurns budget-autonomy deal

D.C. leaders say they cannot support a Republican proposal on Capitol Hill that would give the city greater control over its budget process yet ban local funding for elective abortions.

November 16, 2011
** FILE ** (Associated Press)

Wal-Mart planning for 6 D.C. locations

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray said Wednesday that Wal-Mart plans to build six stores across the city and threw his full support behind the proposal, saying the company opening two more locations than planned is a much-needed job creator in a city with pockets of 20-percent unemployment.

November 16, 2011
Washington, DC Mayor Vincent Gray speaks to reporters after surveying the damage the Washington National Cathedral sustained from the August 23 earthquake, Washington, DC, Thursday, October 20, 2011. (Andrew Harnik / The Washington Times)

D.C. bides its time on budget proposal

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray and council members are taking their time with a proposal from House Republicans that gives the District more control over the city's budget process, despite an attached ban on locally funded abortions that could have made the offer dead on arrival.

November 15, 2011