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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

Actor Daniel Day-Lewis, portraying President Abraham Lincoln, looks across a battlefield in the aftermath of a terrible siege in a scene from director Steven Spielberg’s biopic “Lincoln.” (Dreamworks/Twentieth Century Fox)

Missing out on ‘Lincoln’ film costly to D.C.

Abraham Lincoln took on bloodshed among the states and the shame of slavery during his four years in the White House, thwarting plans of the Confederacy headquartered 90 miles to the south in Richmond.

November 26, 2012
Michael A. Brown

D.C. statehood project put on hold

An uphill initiative to promote D.C. statehood in handpicked pockets of the country is in limbo as state lawmakers gear up for sessions in their respective capitals.

November 22, 2012
Charles J. Willoughby

Audit cites ex-D.C. Council member in ticket-fixing scheme

The D.C. office of the inspector general says a former council member tried to get 10 traffic tickets voided last year by leveraging a law that exempts legislators from parking rules while on official business -- a common political perk that has led to confusion and abuse across the country.

November 21, 2012
Committee on Government Operations Chairman Muriel Bowser, Ward 4 Democrat, asks a question of D.C. Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan on ways to improve campaign finance rules during a meeting Tuesday with other D.C. Council members. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Crafting D.C. ethics bill proving difficult

When D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson got up Tuesday to leave a meeting on campaign finance reform with city Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan, colleagues at the conference table joked he was running out to raise money before the proposed legislation kicks in.

November 20, 2012

Decision upheld keeping Wilson out of Turkey Bowl

The D.C. State Athletic Association on Tuesday upheld a decision to bar Woodrow Wilson High School's football team from the Turkey Bowl on Thursday for using an ineligible player in the run-up to the public school system's championship game, citing evidence the student used Metro to commute to school from Maryland and held a driver's license from the Old Line State.

November 20, 2012
Among those listening to Kaya Henderson and Mayor Vincent C. Gray at Monday’s luncheon at the Verizon Center is Anacostia High School’s Markel Woods (left, in dark suit). (Craig Bisacre/The Washington Times)

Residency fraud still plagues D.C. schools

D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson stood before a room of high school athletes in a swanky Verizon Center dining room Monday and reminded them of their hard work, good grades and effort to "do what was good and right" in the run-up to their showdown in the annual Turkey Bowl.

November 19, 2012
D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh, Ward 3 Democrat, says the legislation that passed a first reading Thursday hits a “sweet spot” in reconciling the city’s oversight of taxis, sedans and limousines. Many D.C. taxi drivers think the upstart companies should play by the same rules as the city’s cab fleet. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

D.C. Council test drives sedan service rules

D.C. lawmakers gave preliminary approval to a billthat limits taxi regulators' authority over sedan-on-demand companies as long as drivers are transparent about their fares and follow some consumer-protection rules, making the nation's capital the latest American city to tackle 21st-century services that allow passengers to order up a ride with a few keystrokes on their smartphone.

November 15, 2012
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (Craig Bisacre/The Washington Times)

D.C. mandate to report child sex abuse moves ahead

The D.C. Council gave preliminary approval Thursday to a bill that mandates "universal reporting" of sex abuse against children, making the District the latest jurisdiction to re-examine its laws in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State University.

November 15, 2012
Former D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown leaves federal court in Washington on Tuesday after being sentenced to one day in custody and six months of home detention for lying on loan applications. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

D.C. Mayor Gray seeks to move on after probes

U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. followed a public shaming of the former D.C. Council chairman this week with a vow to "ensure public trust" — a pledge sure to be tested as he resolves his probe into Mayor Vincent C. Gray's 2010 campaign, the last in a trio of investigations that blazed a path this year from city hall to the federal courthouse.

November 14, 2012
Former D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown is released from federal court after being sentenced to one day in custody and six months of home detention for lying on loan applications, Washington, D.C., Tuesday, November 13, 2012. Brown was also found guilty on a misdemeanor campaign finance violation in Superior Court Judge earlier in the day but will not face jail time on that charge as long as he stays out of trouble. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Brown sentenced to a day of custody, 6 months home detention

A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced former D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown to an afternoon in custody for lying on loan documents, making him the second city lawmaker to lose his liberty in front of the public he was elected to serve.

November 13, 2012
Ms. Rucker holds a picture of her son, Jonathan Rucker, at the D.C. World War I Memorial on Monday. The District’s flag has three red stars and two red bars on a white background. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

D.C. flag AWOL at military ceremony

D.C. residents Tomi Rucker and Michael Boyd beamed with pride as their son walked out for his basic-training commencement from the Great Lakes Naval Station in Illinois.

November 12, 2012
Former Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, Virginia Republican

Referendum approach to D.C. budget autonomy hailed

The District's plan to pursue financial freedom from Congress through an amendment to the D.C. charter is being hailed after the prospect of budget autonomy has seemingly gone nowhere in the 18 months since it was proposed by a prominent congressional Republican.

November 11, 2012
“We have one chance to do this right” - Dr. Mohammad Akhter, chairman of the District’s health exchange board. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

D.C. on its way to health care compliance

President Obama's re-election on Tuesday smoothed the way for states to implement his signature health-care reforms, a challenge the District took on with vigor while other states waited to see if Republican opponent Mitt Romney could deliver on a promise to unravel the controversial law.

November 8, 2012
At large D.C. Council Member, Michael Brown, middle, greets voters outside of precinct 110 polling site in Washington, D.C., to cast their vote, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012 (Craig Bisacre/The Washington Times)

Grosso’s victory suggests an affinity for progressives

Stacks of pizza sat untouched, the salad bowls kept their plastic lids and roughly a dozen red-shirted volunteers sat in a circle Tuesday night, gazing at a lone television in search of pleasant news inside their small campaign office on Florida Avenue Northwest.

November 7, 2012
David Grosso (left), running for an at-large D.C. Council seat, greets a voter at a Precinct 33 polling site Tuesday. The Democrat was given the best chance for an upset. Incumbent at-large D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown (below), a Democrat, makes a last campaign pitch to voters outside a Precinct 110 polling site Tuesday. There were five challengers for his and another at-large seat.

Grosso upsets incumbent Brown in D.C. Council bid

Upstart challenger David Grosso, a relatively unknown former D.C. Council staffer who started campaigning a year ago, unseated incumbent Michael A. Brown on Tuesday for an at-large seat in the only significant upset in the city's elections.

November 6, 2012
Washington residents take advantage of early voting at Judiciary Square in Washington on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012. According to voter site officials, some 2,400 voters had voted here since Monday, when the voting opened. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

Long lines expected at local polls despite early voting

Officials in the D.C. region predict heavy turnout at the polls despite the long lines that marked pre-Election Day voting, as campaigns urge citizens to flock to the ballot box on Tuesday to decide a deadlocked presidential race, heated local contests and controversial ballot questions.

November 5, 2012