Tom Howell Jr.
Articles by Tom Howell Jr.
Uber CEO: ‘Gray areas’ plague D.C. car service laws
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick told D.C. Council members Monday that legislation and proposed regulations to oversee the burgeoningsedan-for-hire industry in the District are chock full of "gray areas" and impediments that could harm his business and the customers who rely on it. Published September 24, 2012
Falling D.C. unemployment ‘good news,’ not great
New labor statistics show the District's unemployment rate continues to decline — from 8.9 percent in July to 8.8 percent in August — although the city still lags behind the national rate of 8.1 percent and nearly 1 in 4 residents of Ward 8 cannot find work. Published September 23, 2012
D.C. unemployment declines in August
Labor statistics released Friday show the District's unemployment rate continues its decline — from 8.9 percent in July to 8.8 percent in August — although the city still lags behind the national rate of 8.1 percent and nearly one in four residents of Ward 8 cannot find work. Published September 21, 2012
Wells joins call for D.C. campaign reforms
D.C. lawmakers are heaping new bills onto an already deep pile of campaign-finance reforms on the agenda at city hall, creating what amounts to a smorgasbord of solutions aimed at restoring confidence in their scandal-tinged body. Published September 20, 2012
D.C. Council amends tech incentives bill
The D.C. Council on Wednesday delivered a blow to Mayor Vincent C. Gray's vision of a thriving tech sector in the District, hours after he strenuously defended investor-friendly tax cuts as a compelling way to diversify the District's economy in the face of potentially steep federal spending cuts. Published September 19, 2012
Mendelson sees confidence gap for D.C. Council
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said he wants to effectively and efficiently restore public support for the city's legislative body, even as lawmakers gird for a fight Wednesday over the best ways to mitigate the effects of potentially steep federal spending cuts next year. Published September 18, 2012
Brown notches endorsements despite recent troubles
D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown's campaign for re-election announced endorsements from nine unions Tuesday despite troubling headlines that have ranged from missing campaign funds to a close call on petitions he submitted to get on the ballot. Published September 18, 2012
Gray defends vision of D.C. tech hub
In the face of steep federal spending cuts, D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray on Monday called on city lawmakers to pass a tax incentives bill for tech companies to diversify the nongovernment economy in the nation's capital and keep 21st-century innovators from fleeing the city with their coveted jobs. Published September 17, 2012
Evans bill would eliminate need for D.C. Council contract approval
D.C. Council member Jack Evans plans to introduce a bill Wednesday that would remove city lawmakers' from the contract approval process, a controversial power that allows the council to have a say in deals worth more than $1 million and has fueled suspicions of pay-to-play politics in the city. Published September 17, 2012
D.C. budget autonomy bid in limbo on the Hill
It's been 16 months since a powerful House member signaled a plan to allow the District to spend its local funds without being tethered to federal spending plans on Capitol Hill, an enticing goal for D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray and the city's piggy-bank minders. Published September 16, 2012
Gray opens center for early childhood education
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray unveiled an early childhood education center east of the Anacostia River on Thursday that serves as the keystone of his aggressive effort to stimulate the minds of children in their first years, preparing them for kindergarten and beyond. Published September 13, 2012
Lawyer for former Brown aide accuses council member of skulduggery
An attorney for a former campaign aide of D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown logged onto Facebook Wednesday and accused the incumbent lawmaker of engaging in the type of skulduggery to which his client has been linked — the theft of more than $100,000 from Mr. Brown's 2012 campaign. Published September 12, 2012
D.C. Council member Brown: Embezzlement victimized campaign
D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown said Tuesday his campaign was victimized by an embezzlement scheme that lasted several months and erased nearly $114,000 from its coffers, leaving him with $18,000 in his re-election race Published September 11, 2012
Sentencing for former D.C. Council chairman delayed
A federal judge has pushed back the sentencing of former D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown to November so he can "complete his cooperation" with the U.S. Attorney's Office, according to documents filed in the case. Published September 10, 2012
D.C. elections board says Brown can stay on ballot
The D.C. Board of Elections ruled Monday that D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown collected enough petition signatures from city voters to appear on the ballot in November, despite dual challenges from one of his opponents in the at-large race and a city government watchdog. Published September 10, 2012
Prosecutors won’t seek jail time for Gray aide cooperating in probe
Citing his "substantial assistance" to their ongoing investigation, federal prosecutors on Monday said they are not seeking prison time for an aide to Mayor Vincent C. Gray's 2010 campaign who admitted he paid a minor mayoral candidate with the hope he would stay in the race and bash incumbent Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. Published September 10, 2012
D.C. elections board to decide challenge to Brown’s nominating petitions
The D.C. Board of Elections is expected to decide later today whether D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown collected enough petition signatures from city voters to be on the ballot this November, a hotly contested issue that has put the race for two at-large council seats front-and-center among the city's fall campaigns. Published September 10, 2012
D.C. prosecutor Ronald Machen Jr. could rise or fall with Obama
Voters who decide in November whether to re-elect President Obama or replace him with Republican challenger Mitt Romney also might determine the fate of the most powerful man in D.C. politics. Published September 9, 2012
Congressman proposes site for national WWI memorial
A Texas congressman who abandoned efforts this summer to "nationalize" the District of Columbia World War I Memorial on the Mall has crafted a revamped bill that would honor Americans who fought and died in the Great War on a site north of the Reflecting Pool. Published September 9, 2012
Gray addresses Northwest D.C. flooding problems
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray announced a trio of short-term measures on Friday aimed at mitigating the impact of severe flooding that has damaged homes in the Bloomingdale and Le Droit Park neighborhoods this summer during bouts of intense rainfall. Published September 7, 2012
