Tom Howell Jr.
Articles by Tom Howell Jr.
D.C. moves forward on budget autonomy
While Congress keeps its daggers drawn over the best way to avert the "fiscal cliff," city lawmakers are forging ahead with a novel plan to divorce their local spending from budgetary stalemates on Capitol Hill — despite warnings about its legal validity from the D.C. mayor and a powerful House member. Published December 5, 2012
Bill authorizing WWI memorial advances in House
A House committee approved a bill on Wednesday to establish a World War I memorial in the District — a plan that has faced controversy despite its noble goal of honoring those who served in the Great War. Published December 5, 2012
Former D.C. Council chairman’s brother charged with bank fraud
The brother of former D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown has been charged with bank fraud — the same offense that brought down the erstwhile lawmaker — on accusations he submitted documents to a mortgage company to make it look as if he earned $35,000 in income he never actually received. Published December 5, 2012
D.C. Council moves to lower fines for speeding, most by $50
D.C. lawmakers on Tuesday signaled they will lower fines for speeders and other scofflaws caught by traffic cameras even as the city expands the program across the city — a trade-off that reflects the fragile business of letting machines issue tickets instead of live officers. Published December 4, 2012
Smartphone thieves lose connection
Smartphones can hail a cab, stream football games and take high-quality photos, so the wireless industry's latest trick may seem as out of place as it was long in coming — rendering the phone as useless as a plastic brick. Published December 3, 2012
Interest shown in buying shadowy campaigner’s managed care firm
A Philadelphia-based health company is interested in purchasing a managed care firm in the District owned by the man at the center of a federal probe into Mayor Vincent C. Gray's 2010 campaign, D.C. insurance officials said Monday. Published December 3, 2012
Barry: ‘It is wrong’ to deny ex-cons jobs
Former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry has joined a chorus of lawmakers across the country pushing legislation that prohibits employers from discriminating against applicants with a criminal record unless there is a significant nexus between the crime and the job. Published December 2, 2012
D.C. joins states on synthetic drug ban
The nation's capital has joined more than 40 states in calling for a ban on synthetic marijuana and bath salts, a pair of drug genres that have raised eyebrows among law enforcement, parents and antidrug advocates alike because of their off-the-shelf accessibility and frightening effects. Published November 29, 2012
Police take liaison unit away from Chinatown
The Metropolitan Police Department is moving a liaison unit that works with the city's Asian community from its longtime home in Chinatown, a quiet change that ignited fears the police chief plans to tinker with another specialized crew despite vows that little will change except where the officers store their gear. Published November 28, 2012
Driver, aide fired after 4-year-old is left on school bus
A D.C. school bus driver and attendant who left a student with special needs alone on their vehicle for hours on Tuesday ignored set protocols — including disengaging a safety buzzer with an off switch at the back of the bus — and overlooked the 4-year-old boy, who stayed on the bus between the morning and afternoon runs, city officials said. Published November 28, 2012
Driver, attendant fired after leaving special needs student on bus
A D.C. school bus driver and attendant who left a student with special needs alone on their vehicle for hours on Tuesday ignored set protocols — including disengaging a safety buzzer with an off switch at the back of the bus — and overlooked the 4-year-old boy who stayed on the bus between the morning and afternoon runs, city officials said. Published November 28, 2012
Inaction on Hill seen as jackpot for states with online gambling
Months after D.C. lawmakers repealed a measure that would have allowed first-in-the-nation online gambling on home computers and at select sites in the shadow of Capitol Hill, several states are forging ahead with online games of chance while a harried Congress remains unlikely to pass a federal bill that would regulate the practice. Published November 27, 2012
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. Published November 26, 2012
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. Published November 22, 2012
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. Published November 21, 2012
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. Published 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. Published November 20, 2012
Unemployment down throughout the region
Workforce data released Tuesday shows unemployment rates decreased across the region from September to October. Published November 20, 2012
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. Published November 19, 2012
Feds extend deadline for states to decide on health care exchanges
The Obama administration has given states more time to decide whether they will set up a virtual marketplace of health insurance plans required by the president's healthcare law or let the federal government do it for them. Published November 16, 2012
