“D.C. Council” on The Daily Caller

WASHINGTON (AP) — As HBO considers making a movie about Marion Barry with Eddie Murphy in the title role, the real Barry is doing something that comes naturally: running for re-election in the nation’s capital. (more)

Few people are likely happier about D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty’s loss yesterday in the Democratic primary than members of the Washington Teachers Union. (more)

The debris from recent storms and residue from nature’s seasonal budding cycles bring forth the opportunity to sweep clear (as compared to power blow) walkways and driveways of dead twigs, decaying berries, and dry leaves. By one’s own hand, every surface is purged as all dirt is vanquished even in the most angular nooks and crannies. A new freshness is revealed, if only until the next strong wind showers more debris upon the recently-swept grounds. (more)

Just after 11 one morning last week, two men and two women, all in their early 20s, sat on a basketball court behind Dunbar High School in Northwest Washington and filled an empty cigar with marijuana — their first hit of the day. (more)

In the District, it’s not illegal for a public school teacher to have sex with a student who is older than 16, the age of consent in the city. (more)

Nope—not referring to conditions of backwoods Montana streams here. LL refers to the investigative findings of attorney Robert P. Trout, whom the D.C. Council has engaged pro bono to investigate the irregular award of $80 million or more in parks projects to firms with ties to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. (more)

The District of Columbia’s Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi learned a hard lesson this week after assessing the fiscal forecast for 2010: D.C. smokers weren’t happy with the city council after it upped the cost of cigarettes, and responded by depriving the District of millions in tax revenue. (more)

Well, it sure as hell wasn’t a whitewash. (more)

On a recent visit to my Washington, D.C., neighborhood drugstore, I witnessed several customers angrily reacting to the District government’s latest overreach: a ridiculous nickel-a-bag tax. This silly tax was proposed by council members Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) and Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) and went into effect at the beginning of the year. (more)

The D.C. Council is in the process of fast-tracking Bill 18-481–The Health Care Facilities Improvement Act of 2010. This is a mistake. Rather than improving care facilities, this bill will decimate the District’s long-term care community with unfunded mandates and untenable staffing requirements. The Council should delay the second reading of this bill until March at the earliest rather than moving ahead with it on Feb. 2. Nursing homes were provided no advance notice that this bill would be coming before the Council and on a fast track; they should at least be given the opportunity to make their views known. (more)