Tom Howell Jr.

D.C. ethics bill to address constituent services spending

D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown on Monday pledged to revisit open-ended laws that govern how city legislators can spend money from constituent service accounts as part of a sweeping ethics reform bill that he says is decades overdue and intended to diffuse mounting distrust of city government.

September 12, 2011

Barry disapproval ties up DYRS security funding

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray says Council member Marion Barry's efforts to hold up $1.5 million in funding for a trouble-plagued juvenile detention center has delayed security upgrades by "more than a month."

September 11, 2011

Gray plans to fill D.C. senior staff position vacated after voting scandal

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray says his administration will fill the deputy chief of staff position suddenly vacated by Andi Pringle, who resigned Wednesday amid reports she voted in September's D.C. primary while living in Maryland.

September 8, 2011

Gray staffer quits amid uproar over vote in D.C.

Mayor Vincent C. Gray's deputy chief of staff resigned from her post barely a week after she arrived at city hall, citing the "distraction" created by revelations she voted in September's D.C. primary despite living in Maryland.

September 7, 2011

D.C. taps $10M in reserves for quake damage

The District has followed through on plans to borrow $10 million from its contingency reserve fund to cover damage from last month's earthquake — a conservatively high estimate of what it will actually need — as it continues to assess the monetary fallout from the hurricane that passed the region days later.

September 6, 2011

Nationals fans jazzy for ‘Strassy’ (Stephen Strasburg)

The return of the Washington Nationals Stephen Strasburg has yet to reach the excitement level created when the pitching ace made his major league debut last year, but he is still on the minds - and jerseys - of baseball fans.

September 5, 2011

Gray should not have to testify in lottery case

Mayor Vincent C. Gray should not have to testify this month about the D.C. Lottery contract because it is "unduly burdensome" and his legislative activities as council chairman are shielded by law, according to papers filed by D.C. Attorney General Irv Nathan.

September 4, 2011

Motion seeks to spare Gray from testifying on D.C. Lottery contract

Mayor Vincent C. Gray should not have to testify this month about the D.C. Lottery contract because it is "unduly burdensome" and his legislative activities as council chairman are shielded by law, according to papers filed by D.C. Attorney General Irv Nathan.

September 2, 2011

‘Other’ tops D.C. Council uses of funding for constituents

The law governing how D.C. Council members can spend money collected in "constituent service funds" is written so broadly that more than 60 percent of the 11,000-plus expenditures they have made in the past decade are classified in public records simply as "other."

September 1, 2011

D.C. I-Gaming plans proceed despite delay in public input

A Greek company charged with running the D.C. lottery system is hiring personnel as part of their online gaming "strategy" in the city and three unidentified states, even though the program has not passed key hurdles in the District.

August 31, 2011

Gray appoints Obama official as new chief of staff

Mayor Vincent C. Gray on Monday introduced his new chief of staff and a deputy to handle community outreach, frankly accepting that early "hits" to his administration besmirched his office ahead of more recent, positive strides.

August 30, 2011

Washington area continues recovery from quake-storm combo

The D.C. region returned to relative calm Monday after an "extraordinary week" in which a rare earthquake damaged two national icons, then Hurricane Irene arrived and knocked out power to roughly 1 million customers.

August 29, 2011

Former D.C. council member Winter to lie in repose

The body of former council member Nadine P. Winter will lie in repose at the John A. Wilson Building on Thursday, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., council Chairman Kwame R. Brown said Monday.

August 29, 2011

D.C. residents heed call to shelter as Irene approaches

D.C. residents appeared to be heeding the call to stay indoors as the worst of Hurricane Irene's wrath approached the city, Mayor Vincent C. Gray said late Saturday.

August 27, 2011

Quake damage keeps School Without Walls closed

School Without Walls, a high school in Northwest, remained closed Friday while crews repair its chimney and bell tower damaged in Tuesday's earthquake.

August 26, 2011

Gray says D.C. is ‘as ready as we can be’ for Irene

Mayor Vincent C. Gray urged city residents on Friday to stock up and form emergency plans as Hurricane Irene threatens to produce tropical storm-like rain and winds in the capital region.

August 26, 2011

Hurricane delays King dedication

An impending storm threatening to be the worst to hit the region in nearly a decade has prompted evacuations and declarations of emergency and forced the postponement of the Sunday dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial on the Mall.

August 25, 2011

Gray unveils ‘MLK Drive’ in D.C., cancels statehood march

Mayor Vincent C. Gray unveiled street signs designating "Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive" on Thursday, hours before Hurricane Irene disrupted his plans to tout D.C. statehood and voting rights in a march framed from the spirit of the late civil rights leader.