(Washington, DC)  —  There’s a close primary race of an at-large seat on DC Council.  With all precincts reporting, Democratic Councilmember Vincent Orange led Sekou Biddle 40-percent to 39-percent.  It’s not official, with absentee ballots to be counted next week.  Orange defeated Biddle last year in a special election.  In other council races, Marion Barry, […]

VIA THE WASHINGTON POST: D.C. sports fans may have to pay a little more to watch their teams next fiscal year, the D.C. Wire reports. (Nationals fans, you’re exempt.) A D.C. Council committee is recommending the adoption of a new tax on sporting events to generate an estimated $3.7 million in revenue to fund city […]

VIA THE WASHINGTON POST: The D.C. Council is pushing to tighten regulation of pawnshops in the city and give residents a stronger voice in where they open, after a lengthy battle over plans to put a pawnshop in a Northwest Washington neighborhood. Pawnshop oversight legislation sponsored by council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) won unanimous […]

(Washington, DC) — DC Council Chair Vincent Gray says he wants answers from Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee after Rhee made some serious claims in a recent magazine interview. In the interview with “Fast Company” magazine, Rhee talked about last year’s massive teacher layoffs, and claimed that some of the teachers were let go because they […]

VIA WASHINGTON POST: D.C. Council members are hardening their opposition to the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington’s efforts to change a proposed same-sex marriage law, setting up a political showdown between the city and one of its largest social service providers. Several council members said Thursday that Church officials miscalculated by saying this week that their […]

VIA WJLA: Same-sex couples would be allowed to wed in Washington under a bill introduced Tuesday by D.C. councilman David Catania. Cantina, one of two openly gay Council members, says the bill isn’t about him but rather the next generation. “Young people in this city, whether they are gay or straight … we are all […]

VIA WJLA: The D.C. Council is considering a bill that would ease restrictions on raising chickens in the District. Chickens are currently banned within 50 feet of homes. But D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells is proposing a bill that would allow chickens if an owner got neighbors’ blessing for the birds. Roosters would still be banned. […]

VIA MYFOXDC: WASHINGTON – Ted Loza, the chief of staff for Ward One D.C. Councilman Jim Graham, has been arrested and indicted on bribery charges for promoting taxicab legislation in exchange for cash. The indictment unsealed Thursday in federal court says Loza took bribes from an unidentified person in the taxicab industry. According to court […]

VIA WASHINGTON POST: About 1,000 taxi drivers went on strike Tuesday in response to a D.C. Council bill aimed at establishing a taxi medallion system or a taxi vehicle certificate system, organizers said. If passed, cabdrivers fear, the bill could substantially increase the cost of operating a taxi in the District. “We see this as […]

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VIA WASHINGTON POST: D.C. Council member Marion Barry said today the new ethics code for council members is “a step forward” that demonstrates Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray’s “progressive thinking.’ In an unanimous vote, the council approved emergency legislation that establishes the city’s first “Code of Official Conduct” for council members. The proposal, for example, […]