Downtown Observer

Four months ago, a $10-million federal grant was issued to build a missing segment of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, connecting ...

Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken, will open a block from Metro Center in January, in time for Inauguration Day. The carryout ...

The Washington Craft Show opens Nov. 16 for all holiday needs. The annual show at the Washington Convention Center runs ...

Nov. 24 is Small Business Saturday, a day to pump revenue into local businesses in the D.C area. Partnering ...

New York University opened a multipurpose academic facility at 1307 L Street last month with 75,000-square-feet and the first ...

The Chinatown Park has reopened to the public after undergoing a six-month refurbishment. DowntownDC BID partnered with the National Park ...

Eastern Market, among many other apt definitions and descriptions, is a cultural hub for the city and surrounding area.

The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop will present its 40th Anniversary Choral Concert on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. at the Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church.

To the sprightly, upbeat salute of a six-piece brass band, American women writers turn a new page at the nation's first museum honoring American women writers, both historical and contemporary.

Starting March 1, all red top meter parking patrons who do not display a valid disabled placard or license plate or who do not pay the established meter rates throughout the District of Columbia will be subject to ticketing or towing.

The Embassy Chef Challenge, held each spring, spotlights D.C.’s international community in one unforgettable evening.

The District Department of Transportation has scheduled the second semi-annual public forum for the D.C. Circulator to occur on Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012, starting at 7 p.m. at Union Station.

The Nighttime Economy Summit was held at The Hamilton, Downtown’s new 24-hour restaurant and entertainment venue, which opened last month. “Let’s commit to do something this year,” urged D.C. Council chairman Kwame Brown.

Over at the Newseum, “Every Four Years: Presidential Campaigns and the Press” will open just in time for Presidents Day. The exhibit explores how media coverage of presidential campaigns has evolved.

Looking to spruce up your home or complete some last-minute lingering projects? Attend one of the upcoming Spring Washington Home & Garden Shows!

The Washington, D.C., Independent Film Festival is an award-winning event that showcases more than 100 feature, short, animation and documentary films by local, national and international filmmakers.

A report issued this month by the Alliance for Biking & Walking gives the District high marks for its commitment to bicycle and pedestrian programs.

Public Can Now Search Geographically for Permit Details

The District Department of Transportation announced this month that it has added ...

Celebrate Halloween With Some Culture

Day of the Dead / Los Días de los Muertos, a Mexican custom honoring and remembering ...

A New D.C. Circulator Route

The D.C. Department of Transportation launched a new Circulator Route, the first ever ...

Busboys & Poets and Drink with Labor are teaming up for an organizing mixer June 7 at 6 p.m. The ...

The 10-acre CityCenterDC mixed-use development, now under construction at the Old Convention Center site, will create new retail for Downtown and D.C. CityCenterDC will anchor much of the $600 million in unmet shoppers’ goods retail demand.

The Getaway, a tavern-style restaurant, will open this weekend in the space where Social used to occupy at 14th and Meridian Place NW.

The National Gallery of Art started their Jazz in the Garden summer series May 27 at 4th St. and Constitution Ave. NW Concerts take place in front of the Pavilion Café at the Sculpture Garden.

Washington Post newsies are demanding raises after Post publisher Katharine Weymouth collected a 16.4 percent pay increase despite the company’s recent 66 percent plunge in profits.

Health care reform is well underway in the District. Many have been working on creating exchanges, developing medical home models, discovering changes to home and community based services and thinking through medical system changes.

The sentencing for a Maryland woman charged in a fatal crash in Adams Morgan last year has been postponed after the judge presiding over the case recused himself. Chamica Adams, of Mitchellville, Md., will be sentenced for involuntary manslaughter stemming from the Sept. 8 incident.

On Wednesday June 1 from 7 to 10 p.m., Whitman-Walker Health will hold it’s first dance party fundraiser in support of their programs. Held at Room & Board, an American furniture and home furnishings company on 14th St. NW, tickets are $45 a person, which includes a raffle, refreshments, music and dancing.

The National Association of Letter Carriers held their food drive to combat hunger last Saturday, May 14. The one-day drive is held annually on the second Saturday in May in 10,000 cities.

The District's first Shake Shack (there are also locations in Miami, Westport, Ct. and New York) will be located on the corner of Connecticut Avenue and 18th Street, the former site of Fuddruckers. Unlike the original Madison Square Park location, where the owners introduced the Shack Cam to make up for endless lines, the D.C. location will not have a video feed to alert customers of potential lines, Shack spokesperson Theresa Mullen told WTOP.

Metro considers hiking rates and cutting bus hours to bridge the budget gap.

Passport DC, the fourth annual celebration of international culture presented by Cultural Tourism DC, will showcase Washington D.C.'s embassies and cultural organizations with a wide range of performances, talks and exhibits, starting May 7 and running through 24.

The GI Film Festival, coming up from May 9 to 15, presents both classic and premier films that showcase stories of the American Armed Forces and experiences of service members. Held just before Memorial Day weekend, the festival includes 31 film screenings and presentations by award-winning Hollywood actors and directors, as well as panel discussions with soldiers, journalists, authors and filmmakers.

he American Lung Association issued a report giving DC and Arlington ‘F’ grades for smog.

Held between Sunday, May 15 and Saturday, May 22, the main highlight is “Yoga on the Mall,” which will take place on Sunday, May 15 between 1:30 and 4:30 p.m.

Downtown DC BID cancelled their State of the Downtown Forum scheduled last week after the Metropolitan AFL-CIO announced a protest ...

Douglas Development Corporation nabbed real estate on the northeast corner of 7th and H Streets near one of the city’s busiest pedestrian intersections and where Douglas redeveloped the historic block of 7th Street between G and H Streets in Chinatown.

Established in 1978, Whitman-Walker Clinic is a non-profit, community-based provider of health care in the Washington metropolitan area. The clinic was recently named Clinic of the Year by the Capital City Area Health Education Center.

Have graffiti on the side of your building? You can now request for your own mural that might deter graffiti.

More than 3,100 slaves were freed on April 16, 1862. 149 years later, DC will host a celebration of the occasion with a federal holiday on April 15 and a daylong festival and parade on April 16.

The Penn Quarter FRESHFarm Market reopened for the year in March between D and E Streets on 8th St.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival invited students from DC public and charter schools to participate in the poster art contest.

The Washington, D.C. Economic Partnership’s 2011 Neighborhood Profiles book is now available, which overviews 37 District communities and major commercial corridors, including Downtown DC.

Politics and Prose came under new owners last week after Barbara Meade and David Cohen, who started the store 27 years ago, decided to sell four months before Cohen's wife, Carla, died in October. Bradley Graham and Lissa Muscatine, both Washington journalism and public policy veterans, will become the store’s new owners later on this spring.

This month, the Smithsonian Institution will donate to the National Zoo at least 50 cents per person who can answer ...

For the 19th year, the Environmental Film Festival will screen two weeks of films about the environment and social issues ...

In the wake of scrutiny over salaries for city officials, Mayor Vincent Gray has reduced salaries for eight city managers ...

Garden District, a full service urban garden center, located at 1740 14th St. NW has closed. In November of 2009 ...

US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and White House Chief of Staff Bill Daily will attend the ceremonial naming of 14th ...

Nominations for the 27th Helen Hayes Awards were announced Feb. 28 at the Helen Hayes Gallery in the National Theater ...

Under the proposed House Republican budget plan, the District would face $80 million in funding cuts from the federal government ...

The Norwood Tenants Association, an 84-unit rent-controlled Apartment near Logan Circle, is in the midst of writing a play on ...

The Church of the Holy City's tower, located at 16th and Corcoran St. NW, is deteriorating. Historic preservation contractors ...

The Washington, DC Independent Film Festival is coming up from March 3 to 13, showcasing 100 feature, short, animation and ...

The New York Times recently deemed a strip less than a mile long in Columbia Heights “cool.” In a slide ...

The Winter Weather Warrior Contest through Capital Bikeshare wraps up February 28 with ten in the lead. Starting in January ...

Starving artists throughout the city are catching their big break as the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities ...

In what is being called the most profitable real estate flip since the recession, CoStar Group recently announced that it ...

The D.C. government is taking steps to monitor and lower greenhouse gas emissions from municipal facilities, which are accountable ...

A Noise Task Force, established by the Alcohol Beverage Control Board last March, has been working to recommend amendments to ...

With unemployment on the rise, an increasing number of homeless persons have migrated to the District seeking aid. However, citing a budget crunch, Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells has proposed a bill that will deny shelter to homeless residents from other jurisdictions. The bill will put an end to D.C.’s open-door policy, which makes it illegal to deny anyone access to a shelter once the temperature drops below freezing. Instead, those who can demonstrate proof of a legal D.C. address within the past two years or a record of receiving public assistance will receive preferential treatment.

Capital Fringe Festival’s fall programming is in its second year, and this November, The Shop at Fort Fringe is reprising 10 of its summer hits. Among the more popular shows still running are “Romeo & Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending” (Nov. 10-21), Ridgefield Middle School Talent Night (Nov. 12-21), “This is Your Brain on Rock and Roll” (Nov. 17-21), and “Do Not Kill Me, Killer Robots” (Nov. 17-21).

November 18, 19, and 21, Fathom Gallery is showcasing its first mobile photography exhibit. Hosted by Fathom Creative, the show will feature the work of 10 local mobile photographers. Additionally, there will be several giveaways and plenty of refreshments provided by Church Key DC over the course of the weekend.

On Saturday, October 30, John Stewart, the comedian turned major leftwing political pundit, aided by inflammatory satirist sidekick Stephen Colbert, hosted a “Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear” on the National Mall, whose massive audience far exceeded the projected volume of participants. Assumed to be a direct counter to Glenn Beck’s “Rally To Restore Honor,” held August 28th and co-hosted by Sarah Palin, Stewart’s gathering seems to have trumped its predecessor.

The Department of Public Works (DPW) has opted to cancel trash and recycling pickup on Thursday, October 21. This is so DPW employees are free to attend the funeral of one of their own, 51-year-old Larry Hutchins.

October 7 and 8, the District’s most popular street vendors will converge at CityCenterDC for the two-day First Annual Curbside Cookoff. The event is being hosted by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCRA), in conjunction with the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Brightest Young Things, and the Downtown BID. 20 of DC’s favorite food trucks were invited to participate after a weeklong online voting process. Additionally, all who attend will have a chance to vote for their favorite on-site vendor via paper ballot and text messaging.

The fall season of “National Geographic Live!” events is in full swing, featuring presentations by world-renowned explorers, scientists, photographers and performance artists. The lineup includes concerts, documentary screenings, insightful discussions and more.

The 12th Annual Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival will run from October 17 to the 27 throughout DC, and as always it promises to highlight the year’s finest Jewish literature and authors. Many of these emerging and established writers earned accolades from The Washington Post and The New York Times. Their selected works span an assortment of genres, including history, humor, politics, and children’s fiction.

On September 13, the ANC 6D voted 4-1 to lengthen the names of the Navy Yard and Waterford/SEU metro ...

Think of September. Think of fall, the falling of leaves, the recessional of summer, and the time before winter. Actually ...

Washington is usually on the forefront of most national trends. However, the bursting popularity of the craft beer movement seemed to pass over the nation’s capital — that is, until recently.

In 1876, a group of European-born Orthodox Jews built the city’s first synagogue in downtown Washington. Since its construction ...

In Washington, nothing is official until the mayor cuts the ribbon. Or the pasta, as was the case for the last week's opening of Carmine’s, the classic New York restaurant.

Five months after charges were filed, the Office of Campaign Finance has admonished the former mayor but cleared him of violating the law.

A look at what's coming up in the District this summer — politically, athletically and socially.