Washington Dc

The nation's capital became the 30th U.S. locality to sue the gun industry, seeking to stem the flow of illegal weapons into the city and to win compensation for health care and other costs. The suit against 23 gun makers and two distributors relies on a 1990 Washington law against certain assault weapons and "machine guns." Although the city has prohibited unregistered firearms and banned the registration of all handguns since 1976, the suit, filed in D.C.

Prodded by an ultraconservative Catholic group, the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., has criticized Friday's scheduled speech at Georgetown University by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. Although Sebelius favors abortion rights, the "sin" that incurred the archdiocese's displeasure was the Obama administration's proposed rule requiring insurance coverage for contraception for employees of religious hospitals and educational institutions. Because Sebelius' actions "present the most direct challenge to religious liberty in recent history," the archdiocese suggested, students at the Jesuit-affiliated university shouldn't be able to hear her speak at an awards ceremony for its Public Policy Institute.

First Lady Barbara Bush urged shopping malls not to bar holiday Salvation Army solicitors, as she dropped $10 into the kettle at a Washington, D.C., mall where she was Christmas shopping. Mrs. Bush cited the group's work to help the needy and victims of natural disasters and said: "It just wouldn't be Christmas without that bell ringing." A comparatively high number of Washington malls are excluding the annual solicitation on the grounds that they do not allow any other groups to solicit.

WASHINGTON - Joan Miró, the great Spanish painter of dreams and symbols, lived through so many harrowing eras of the 20th century that critics believe his masterpieces surely reflect the tensions of political events in one way or another. But Miró's world of art was so special - with stars and moons, biomorphs and delightful dogs and sly monsters and wonderful color - that it has always been difficult to find much politics there. An exhibition that just arrived at the National Gallery of Art - "Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape" - makes a spirited attempt to find and explore the politics.

Despite a midday deluge, book lovers turned out in record numbers for the ninth annual National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. The gray morning couldn't dissuade 130,000 people from attending readings and signings on the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the Capitol. Author appearances took place under large white tents -- big enough to seat hundreds -- that filled to overflowing once the rain started in earnest around 2 p.m. Junot Díaz, who won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for his novel "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," stood in a muddy field after his appearance, chatting in English and Spanish with a scrum of persistent, umbrella-carrying fans.

This part happens all the time: A construction crew putting up an office building in the heart of congested Tysons Corner in McLean, Va., hit a fiber-optic cable no one knew was there. This part doesn't: Within moments, three black SUVs drove up, half a dozen men in suits jumped out, and one said, "You just hit our line." Whose line, you may ask? The guys in suits didn't say, recalled Aaron Georgelas, whose company, the Georgelas Group, was developing the Greensboro Corporate Center.

THE Willard InterContinental, a historic hotel near the White House that has hosted power brokers for decades, is making a pitch for vacationers to Washington. Under the tutelage of its new French general manager, Herve Houdre, a veteran of the tony Hotel de Crillon and Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris, the Willard has opened a sidewalk cafe on Pennsylvania Avenue, put up a history gallery and started serving afternoon tea.

It was moving day at the Russian embassy and a small parade of dullish-blue vans lumbered along Massachusetts Avenue, loaded with antique furniture and vodka boxes packed with assorted papers and, perhaps, some old secrets. After generations in a stately old building purchased by their Czarist predecessors near the heart of the capital, Russian diplomats last month relocated to the suburbs under the watchful eye of uniformed U.S. Secret Service police and neighbors such as Charlotte Jones.

Hundreds of thousands of abortion rights supporters rallied Sunday on the National Mall, railing against what they described as a dozen years of government backsliding on the issue of reproductive freedom for women in the United States and around the world.

The wife and daughter of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid were seriously injured in a car wreck Thursday when their vehicle was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer on a Washington-area interstate, a spokesman said. Landra Reid and her adult daughter, Lana Reid Barringer, were hospitalized with what doctors described as non-life-threatening injuries, according to a statement from Jon Summers, a spokesman for the Nevada Democrat. Landra Reid, 69, suffered the more serious injuries, including a broken back, neck and nose.

Filmmaker Ken Burns stars in a five-day Civil War tour of Washington, D.C., designed to capture the story he told in his documentary about the war and its aftermath. For the second year, Connecticut-based Tauck travel company teamed with Burns to create an itinerary that includes private access to some of the capital's biggest landmarks. The Civil War saga is told through talks and lectures with experts like Burns, who will give a keynote speech and chat with guests during an after-hours event at the National Archives, and Harold Holzer, a Civil War historian who will speak at an evening event at the National Building Museum.

Cherry blossom fans, plan for early pinkiness. The 100-year-old Yoshino cherry trees that line the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., are expected to erupt in fragrant pink blossoms as early as March 22 and should reach their peak between March 24 and 31. It's a bit early, as the average peak bloom period is April 4. The forecast came Thursday from Rob DeFeo, chief horticulturist at the National Park Service, who made the announcement during...

An unidentified man wearing what he thought was a suicide vest packed with explosives was arrested near the U.S. Capitol building in Washington by FBI agents who had been closely monitoring him in an undercover sting operation, officials announced Friday. “I can confirm there is an arrest of a suspect in Washington D.C. in connection with a terrorism  investigation,” said Bill Carter, a spokesman at FBI headquarters. “It is the culmination of an undercover operation in which the suspect was closely monitored by law enforcement.

Bill Fulton — urban planner, urbane public speaker and mayor of Ventura — was starting to stumble. In dim meeting rooms, he had trouble reading. At the civic events he attended almost nightly, he left some people puzzled — even angered — when they extended their hands and he failed to grasp them. "I can't always see it when someone wants to shake hands with me," he said. "When you're a politician, that's not good. " Fulton, a member of Ventura's City Council since 2003, will step down from office Monday and leave town next spring, largely as an adjustment to an eye disease that is slowly robbing him of his sight.

Off-season in Washington, D.C., means a nice break from blazing summer heat and crowds on the National Mall. Now it also means a nice break on hotel rates from Travelzoo at the stylish Donovan House: $109 a night on Fridays and Saturdays for a limited time. The deal: Travelzoo features the Donovan House weekend deal  on its Top 20 list, which means rooms may go fast. This Thompson hotel has a good central location (1155 14th St. N.W.) and free Wi-Fi comes too. Use the Travelzoo link or the promotion code "TZOO" to make a reservation.

Once again, a highly regarded educator from outside Los Angeles has accepted and then backed away from the job of running the downtown arts high school, which has had a short but troubled history. This time, the main actor in the familiar plotline is Rory Pullens, head the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C. Pullens had also pulled out after accepting once before, due to a family crisis. This time, Los Angeles Unified Supt. John Deasy said, the issue had more to do with the response in Washington to Pullens' impending departure.

She grew up in a single-parent home in the working-class suburb of Tuxedo, Md. She got pregnant at age 14, dropped out of high school, and at 15 married the father. By 18 she was divorced and working two jobs -- secretary by day, waitress at night. Now 39, Cathy L. Lanier began her new job last week as acting police chief of Washington, one of a handful of women to head large-city departments in the U.S. and one of only a few white officers to lead forces in largely black cities.

THERE'S A GUN in 40% of homes--maybe where your kids play. For "Keep Your Family Safe From Firearm Injury," send an SASE to STOP Brochure / Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, 1225 Eye St. N.W., Washington DC 20005.

The next principal of the high-profile downtown Los Angeles arts high school is the head of a well-established performing arts school in Washington, D.C., officials confirmed Wednesday. The selection of veteran arts educator Rory Pullens is the latest chapter for the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts, which has been plagued by leadership turnover and other controversies. In Pullens, the Grand Avenue school will have a respected leader who is credited with building and maintaining the caliber of program that district officials here are seeking.

Norma Holloway Johnson, a trailblazing former chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., who gained national prominence when she oversaw the grand jury investigation into President Clinton's relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky, has died. She was 79. Johnson died Sunday at her brother's home in Lake Charles, La., according to a court statement. The cause was not given. Johnson was the first black woman to be appointed to the federal bench in Washington and she is the only woman ever to serve as chief judge of the court.