Tom Howell Jr.

Graham targets child agency salaries

A D.C. Council member rebuked the District's child welfare agency for failing to identify what positions could be cut among the dozens of "memo writers" and "meeting attenders" making more than $100,000 per year, arguing it could free up money for key priorities facing the budget ax. Published May 4, 2011

McDonnell asks Gray to intervene on Metro station

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray says he will speak with the three D.C. appointees to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority about their votes to build a Metrorail stop under Washington Dulles International Airport instead of an above-ground option $300 million cheaper. Published May 4, 2011

City State: Farewell Sekou

The D.C. council sent off at-large member Sekou Biddle through gift and song at his last legislative meeting. Published May 3, 2011

Council tables study of police staffing

D.C. Council members batted away a proposal Tuesday that would pair the Metropolitan Police Department and its labor union to study retention and recruitment of D.C. officers, but they agreed that staffing is a key priority ahead of a potentially violent summer. Published May 3, 2011

D.C. Council approves Gray’s AG nominee

The D.C. Council on Tuesday unanimously approved Mayor Vincent C. Gray's nominee for attorney general. Published May 3, 2011

Graham bill would ID young escapees

In response to two highly publicized escapes, a D.C. Council member who oversees the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services wants to speed up the release of pertinent information to the public when a young offender flees from custody. Published May 2, 2011

Catania bill would study police attrition

D.C. Council Member David A. Catania will introduce a bill Tuesday that creates an advisory commission on retention and recruitment of officers in the Metropolitan Police Department. Published May 2, 2011

Catania bill would authorize police attrition study

D.C. Council Member David A. Catania will introduce a bill Tuesday that creates an advisory commission on retention and recruitment of officers in the Metropolitan Police Department. Published May 2, 2011

Nominee for D.C. attorney general approved by city’s Judiciary Committee

Mayor Vincent C. Gray's nomination for D.C. attorney general will go before the full council after receiving a green light Monday from the city's Judiciary Committee. Published May 2, 2011

Hearings on Gray’s personnel staff still at ‘he said, she said’ stage

A former personnel director for Mayor Vincent C. Gray is sticking to her story that the District's fire chief wanted to hire the son of a D.C. Cabinet member in January, though three people and a chain of emails point to her as "the architect" of the decision. Published May 1, 2011

Latest Gray ‘cronyism’ hearing fails to resolve discrepancies

A former personnel director for Mayor Vincent C. Gray on Friday stuck to her story that the fire chief wanted to hire the son of a D.C. Cabinet member in January, even though three people and a chain of emails point to her as "the architect" of the decision. Published April 29, 2011

Lone witness lined up for Gray hirings hearing

A D.C. Council committee that hoped to shed light Friday on charges of nepotism in Mayor Vincent C. Gray's hiring practices will have to wait a while longer. Published April 28, 2011

Last of 4 youth escapees is arrested in Maryland

The last of four D.C. youths who escaped from a private treatment facility in South Carolina on April 20 was arrested without incident Wednesday by task force members who spotted him outside a CVS in Laurel, authorities said. Published April 28, 2011

D.C. youth who escaped from S.C. facility caught in Md.

The last of four D.C. youths who escaped from a private treatment facility in South Carolina on April 20 was arrested without incident Wednesday by task force members who spotted him outside a CVS in Laurel, authorities said. Published April 28, 2011

Swain out at D.C. Taxicab Commission

Mayor Vincent C. Gray has decided not to reappoint Leon J. Swain Jr. as chairman of the D.C. Taxicab Commission, his office said Wednesday. Published April 27, 2011

Orange says divided field secured his council win

Vincent B. Orange, who awoke Wednesday as the newest member of the D.C. Council, said a "perfect storm" of divided support among nine candidates helped him stave off an ambitious Republican and oust the Democratic incumbent in Tuesday's special election for an at-large council seat. Published April 27, 2011

Orange returns to D.C. Council with special election victory

Vincent B. Orange, a former D.C. council member whose bids for mayor and council chairman fell short in 2006 and 2010, secured an at-large council seat Tuesday by taking majorities in wards 5, 7 and 8 and letting a crowded field of opponents split the crumbs. Published April 26, 2011

Voter turnout tepid in special election for D.C. Council

Lukewarm turnout and a few scattered problems at the polls marked a special election Tuesday to fill an at-large D.C. Council seat. Published April 26, 2011

S.C. officials troubled by presence of D.C. offenders

While D.C. officials search for two young escapees and debate whether they should place juvenile offenders in out-of-state facilities, two South Carolina legislators are looking into the types of youths being placed on their turf. Published April 25, 2011

Orange’s name back on council ballot

When the D.C. Democratic State Committee appointed a relative newcomer named Sekou Biddle to an at-large seat on the D.C. Council in January, it left former council member Vincent B. Orange in the lurch. Published April 24, 2011