Meanwhile in DC

Washington City Paper may have a buyer, the city’s population closes in on 700,000, lots of happenings this weekend, and other news of the day over in the District.

• Things to do this weekend. [Washingtonian/Post]
• Tips for holiday travelers. [Curbed]
• Jury acquits first Inauguration Day protesters. [Washingtonian]
• Businessman Mark Ein says he plans to buy the Washington City Paper. [Washingtonian]
• “It’s not fun, but it could be worse.” [Post]
• Robber stole hundreds of dollars from Mount Pleasant restaurant. [Eater]
• Tips for shopping at Room & Board’s annual clearance sale. [Washingtonian]
• Police officer makes handmade stuffed animals in memory of fallen colleague. [NBC]
• D.C.’s estimated population is 693,972. [PoPville]
• New Penn Quarter restaurant marries local ingredients to traditional Indian dishes. [Eater]
• You’re familiar with the pop-up, but what about the hop-back? [Urban Turf]
• An ambitious plan to rethink a 17-acre Smithsonian campus. [WBJ]
• Is this recently-resigned reporter considering a run for office? [NBC]
• #RIPDCist. [DC Inno]
• March and vigil for the homeless. [NBC]

New book store opens in Ward 8, where to party for free on New Year’s Eve, Santas protest Walmart’s holiday pay, and other news of the day over in the District.

• The city’s most unique listing of the year. [Urban Turf]
• Santas strike outside of Walmart. [NBC]
• D.C. property owners can prepay their 2018 property taxes. [NBC]
• Volunteers needed to feed homeless on Christmas Day. [Afro]
• Compass Coffee opened two more downtown shops. [Eater]
• A D.C. dream job. [BYT]
• Man fatally shoots a pit bull in defense of his own dog. [NBC]
• Photos: The Line hotel opens in Adams Morgan. [WBJ]
• Similarities between the redevelopment of the C&O Canal in Georgetown and Manhattan’s High Line park. [Urban Turf]
• The first bookstore east of the Anacostia River in 20 years recently opened. [Washingtonian]
• Free New Year’s Eve parties. [Post]
• Four men injured in three afternoon shootings. [NBC]
• Independent review of Ballou High School graduations is tabled. [WTOP]
• Dogs still on duty at Walter Reed despite suspension of therapy program. [WTOP]
• Reclaiming the word “nasty.” [Afro]

Pepco rate hikes, children’s museum finally finds a home, edible cookie dough coming to Brookland, and other news of the day over in the District.

• The National Children’s Museum is set to reopen inside of the Ronald Reagan building in March 2019. [Washingtonian]
• Where to partake in a Feast of the Seven Fishes. [WTOP]
• Instead of sending T-shirts to backers, crowdfunder spent money at bars, restaurants, clothing stores, and visits to the Hirshhorn Museum. [NBC]
• D.C. Circuit will now live stream audio of oral arguments upon request. [Post]
• Pepco wants to boost rates by $66.2 million. [WTOP]
• Del. Norton wants Rock Creek Park to get national park status. [Post]
• “I don’t want you to think you’re just a mom.” [Post]
• Police say an ANC commissioner used racially charged language with officers and urinated in a police station. [NBC]
• Three Washington NFL players voted to 2018 Pro Bowl. [CBS]
• Captain Cookie is setting up shop in Brookland. [Eater]
• A fascinating series of photos from the 1980s and ’90s. [GGW]
• Hirshhorn Museum’s lobby is getting a new look next year. [Curbed]
• New art-subscription service lets buyers try out art in their homes before paying the full listing price. [DC Inno]
• Mother says teen was fatally shot over a pair of Air Jordans. [NBC]
• New co-working hub, Mindspace, is coming to K Street. [Curbed]

Washington City Paper staff’s salaries cut by 40 percent, Metro trains are shaking homes in Northwest, report suggests gentrification has increased integration in schools, and other news of the day over in the District.

• Young person fatally shot near recreation center in Southeast. [Post]
• Cannabis Museum is relocating from Columbia Heights to Georgia Avenue. [Popville]
• Photos: Mayor confronts city’s rat problem in a Northeast alley. [Capitol Hill Corner]
• Could gentrification become integration? [Post]
• A section of Beach Drive that closed in August is slated to reopen in January. [WTOP]
• Washington City Paper staff expect their pay to drop below $30,000 a year, as publications struggles to find new owner. [Washingtonian]
• Metro trains are vibrating some homes in Petworth. [WTOP]
• Coming to H Street NE: a chain that specializes in custom protein bowls, smoothies, and weekly meal plans. [Eater]
• Prosecutors won’t bring charges in alleged rape at a Halloween party last year in Georgetown. [Post]
• Efforts to make Pennsylvania Avenue the District’s biking backbone. [Wash Cycle]
• Staff at an elementary school in Shaw gave a 3-year-old student to a stranger. [Post]
• What teachers from around the country are saying about the Ballou High School investigation. [WAMU]
• D.C.’s public proposal for Amazon headquarters doesn’t detail economic incentives. [Washingtonian]
• Five new opioid drop-off locations have been set up in the city. [WTOP]
• D.C. region educates digital tech workers who take their educations elsewhere for employment. [Post]
• In Inauguration Day rioting trial, jury will decide if marching in a group is the same as driving a getaway car. [Washingtonian]
• An N Street Village success story. [Post]

A hate-bias attack in Northwest, neighborhoods to watch in real estate, a digital solution to the rat boom, and other news of the day over in the District.

• Police search for missing teens. [WJLA]
• Dentist sentenced to 16 years for sexually assaulting patients. [Post]
• Owner of Steve Bannon’s Capitol Hill home battles D.C. government over security fence. [Post]
• Package thief caught on camera. [Bloomingdale]
• Police say man was motivated by hate to attack a victim in Columbia Heights. [WTOP]
• D.C. State Board of Education may call for another investigation of graduation standards in public and charter schools. [Post]
• Local food lovers to follow on Instagram. [Washingtonian]
• City explores a high tech solution to combat its latest rat boom. [WAMU]
• Toddler shot in the leg as children played with a gun. [Post]
• “A city with diverse populations, with diverse incomes and occupations works better than one that is mostly rich or mostly poor,” says former mayor. [Post]
• Native American activists want Washington football team’s name changed to the Redhawks. [WTOP]
• College student cramming for finals: “It’s just completely packed. I really think of it as sort of like a colony of bees, swarming back to the hive.” [Post]
• Three neighborhoods worth watching in 2018. [Curbed]
• Restaurant chefs and a bartender who left the city reflect on its dining scene. [WCP]

Young poet has advice for Trump, Dupont Circle restaurant will close after 10 years of service, beer and wine approved for Soviet Safeway, and other news of the day over in the District.

• Trump’s first official White House Christmas portrait. [WTOP]
• Masked attacker maces transgender woman at LGBTQ community center. [Metro Weekly]
• Department of Public Works van struck a pedestrian, then crashed in front of the Warner Theatre. [NBC]
• Peet’s Coffee will open near Navy Yard Metro station next spring. [JD Land]
• Shawafel will shutter its H Street location this month. [Frozen Tropics]
• Cava is close to opening on the corridor. [X2]
• Lyft is rolling out a fleet of ugly sweater-decked cars this weekend. [DC Inno]
• Bloomingdale resident opposes proposal for neighborhood’s historic designation. [GGW]
• Eight-year-old poet begs Trump to stop tweeting. [NBC]
• Circa at Dupont will close after 10 years. [WBJ]
• Over the past year, these two sectors have dominated job growth in the city. [District, Measured]
• Program aims to speed up innovation in community health for residents east of the Anacostia River. [Afro]
• Former massage therapist pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting three customers in the District. [WTOP]
• “This definitely won’t be a Disney version of a Mexican restaurant.” [Washingtonian]
• Legislation passed to support policies and programs for black residents. [Afro]
• Opposers lose battle in bringing beer and wine to a Safeway near Dupont Circle. [Barred In DC]
• D.C. middle schoolers among first students in the country to board Verizon’s new mobile STEM bus. [Afro]

A longtime D.C. politics reporter is leaving his station, annual restaurant reviews, the transformation of Love nightclub, and other news of the day over in the District.

• Top 15 venture capital deals for D.C. startups in 2017. [DC Inno]
• D.C. prisoners who are incarcerated hundreds of miles from home face extra barriers to rehabilitation. [Post]
• Nursery and delivery rooms at United Medical Center will remain closed. [Post]
• Parents meet 911 operator who helped delivery their baby. [WTOP]
• Men use stolen church van to rob CityCenter retailer. [NBC]
• “Street medics” made up a third of defendants in the first Inauguration Day rioting trial. [Washingtonian]
• Reporter gets special D.C. police training for a look inside the force. [NBC]
• Faux velvet couches, cocktail tables, and a few pool tables are still scattered as Love nightclub space goes through a metamorphosis. [WBJ]
• Food writers dish on their favorite (and least fave) eats in the city this year. [BYT]
• Washingtonian readers also share their favorite restaurants of 2017. [Washingtonian]
• The varying costs of a studio apartment in D.C. [Urban Turf]
• The Newseum is updating its biographical info Matt Lauer and Bill O’Reilly in light of #metoo allegations. [Washingtonian]
• Holiday gift ideas for your D.C. friends. [BYT]
• Waterfront ANC votes to outlaw the sale and use of gasoline-powered leaf blowers. [Popville]
• Tom Sherwood will leave WRC on December 28 after 28 years. [Washingtonian]
• Should Metro make rail-bus transfers free? [GGW]
• Town Tavern is stealing Christmas. [Washingtonian]
• A sweet display of D.C. architecture. [Curbed]

NoMa names its first park, top development projects of 2017, advocates continue to pursue statehood, and other news of the day over in the District.

• Mayor Bowser has raised more than $1.4 million since announcing her reelection bid in September. [Post]
• A Jumbotron facing Capitol Hill is featuring stories of DREAMers. [NBC]
• Bowser cut the ribbon on Hine development in Eastern Market. [Hill is home]
• WaWa’s first D.C. store is opening tomorrow morning with free breakfast, coffee, and swag. [NBC]
• United Medical Center needs more than $17.1 million from the city to cover increased expenses and other issues. [WBJ]
• Missing woman found fatally stabbed in Northeast. [Post]
• Outgoing DC Water CEO faces criticism over fee increases. [WAMU]
• The Cheeky Puppy is saying goodbye to Dupont Circle. [Popville]
• Say hello to Swampoodle, NoMa’s first park. [Frozen Tropics]
• What some D.C. tech companies learned this year. [DC Inno]
• Check out the District’s most active developers and architecture firms in 2017. [Curbed]
• Survey says people in the D.C. region have generally positive perceptions about quality of life. [Urban Institute]
• A “pop up” development could be coming to Brookland. [Brookland Bridge]
• Fun facts from the Washington DC Economic Partnership. [Urban Turf]
• Arepa Zone takes over former Chix space on 14th Street. [Popville]
• “A hopeful restart” to fulfilling a promise to displaced residents. [GGW]
• 10 offices to envy in D.C. [DC Inno]
• The only way to achieve statehood is to address “the crisis of everyday living in DC,” says longtime statehood advocate. [Washingtonian]

Free coffee, the city’s best Uber driver, a string of phone store robberies, and other news of the day over in the District.

• What New York’s pipe bomb explosion means for D.C. [WTOP]
• Man shot at Minnesota Avenue Metro station. [WJLA]
• Gregorys Coffee is celebrating the opening of its downtown location today with free beverages. [Eater]
• Archdiocese fights back against court’s decision over Christmas ads on Metrobuses. [WTOP]
• Police arrest teens who allegedly robbed pizza delivery men in separate incidents. [Post]
• Unconventional Diner is set to open in Shaw. [Eater]
• How much noise is too much noise downtown? [NBC]
• “Best Uber ever!” [Washingtonian]
• All of D.C.’s Bruegger’s Bagels shops have shuttered. [Popville]
• The third daytime robbery of a D.C. smartphone store in less than two weeks. [Post]
• Get a taste of Ethiopia in Congress Heights. [East City Art]
• What people are saying about Seylou Bakery & Mill in Blagden Alley. [Eater]
• The Children’s Place in Columbia Heights is closing next month. [Popville]
• Woman sexually assaulted near Capitol by a man who she thought was a ride-share driver. [Post]
• Keep your eyes on these 18 D.C.-area startups. [DC Inno]
• Can a chain store help this Cleveland Park strip mall? [WAMU]
• “If people think they’re too cool to drink vodka soda, they can still drink Natty Boh on the roof.” [WCP]

Best bets for Christmas Day dinner, an old L’Enfant Plaza hotel prepares to reopen, how the city has dealt with Trump, and other news of the day over the in the District.

• Washington’s first December snowfall in four years was “well-behaved.” [Post]
• Giant pandas Mei Xiang and Bei Bei played around in it at the zoo. [NBC]
• But is the city ready for a major snow storm? [WTOP]
• Remembering a castle that once stood on Meridian Hill. [Post]
• Court denies a request by the Archdiocese of Washington to put Christmas ads on Metrobuses. [NBC]
• Christmas Day eats in the District. [Eater]
• Mount Pleasant, Crestwood, and four other neighborhoods where homes sold the fastest in D.C. this year. [Urban Turf]
• A new ice cream shop opened on Upshur Street. [New Columbia Heights]
• Old L’Enfant Plaza hotel prepares to reopen as a Hilton. [WBJ]
• Civil rights journalist and first full-time black reporter for The Washington Post dies at 99. [Post]
• There’s a new co-working space on Capitol Hill. [Curbed]
• How D.C. has dealt with 12 “exhausting months” of Trump. [Washingtonian]
• George Washington University joins other local colleges in exploring its ties to slavery. [Post]
• A few of D.C.’s best new buildings. [Curbed]
• Moten Elementary school students get art lessons from former White House photographer. [Post]

GOP once again ignores the wishes of D.C.’s elected leaders to push their own agenda, Ward 1 finally has a homeless shelter site for the D.C. General closure plan, and other news of the day in the District.

• The final shelter site for Bowser’s homelessness plan is finally in place. [WCP]
• An all local gift guide. [WCP]
• The basement underneath Pizzeria Paradiso will soon be a full-fledged game room. [WCP]
• Slumlord that has been the subject of many a story in recent years sells off two buildings as it looks to its unload entire D.C. portfolio. [Bisnow]
• Take a guess which area supermarket chain is being compared to a cult. [WCP]
• Debating dockless bikeshares. [UrbanTurf]
• And resident-only parking restrictions in Georgetown. [Current]
• Despite what Twitter griping would have you believe, most people are pretty pleased to live in D.C. and the region at large. [WAMU]
• Fannie Mae building wins historic landmark status. [Current]
• Bald eagle with lead poisoning dies. [Post]
• Sidewalk proposal wins over hard-to-please Chevy Chase neighborhood. [Current]
• Woman says she was belittled by the then-fire chief and fired for reporting sexual harassment. [Post]
• Another attempt to trample on D.C. autonomy. [Post]
• The familiar feeling of prepping for a possible government shutdown. [WAMU]
• What the tax plan means for the D.C. region. [WAMU]
• Blade reporter says he (and April Ryan) have been excluded from White House Christmas party. [WJLA]
• Metro is taking feedback on its 8000-series trains. [GGW]
• Swimmers, take note of the indoor pool maintenance schedule. [Popville]