Former Redskin Jason Taylor on Dancing With the Stars Defensive end Jason Taylor, the Redskins’ big-name acquisition last year and Dancing With the Stars runner-up, was released by the ‘Skins on Monday because he refused to let the organization add a workout clause to his contract. The Skins wanted Taylor to participate in 25 of 39 days of offseason workouts, but Taylor, who has been separated from his family for a year between his Dancing With the Stars appearance and......

Photo by soleil1016 ART/TALK: Our popular Emerge Exposed panel discussion is finally back! Presented at Flashpoint in collaboration with the Pink Line Project, the event will feature panelists Theo Adamstein, founder of FotoweekDC and president of Chrome Imaging, Jason Horowitz, photographer, Veronica Jackson, collector and principle of the Jackson Design Group, and Paul Roth, Senior Curator of Photography and Media Arts for the Corcoran Gallery of Art. They'll all be in discussion with Philippa Hughes of The......

The Hill's Mike Soraghan is reporting that the D.C. House Voting Rights Act, known as H.R. 157, has been pulled from tomorrow’s House legislative calendar due to concerns over a controversial amendment added to the Senate's version of the bill that would repeal the District's gun laws. The House version of the voting rights bill had been expected to come up for a vote on Wednesday. The House Rules Committee is still scheduled to meet on the bill to prep it for a vote at 5......

Photo of McGruff on a street corner in D.C. last June by Andrew Wiseman The Examiner's Scott McCabe provides the details in today's strangest crime story. D.C. police officer Tyrone Hardy was dressed up as the iconic McGruff the Crime Dog on Saturday afternoon, interacting with a group of children at the corner of 14th Street and Spring Road NW, when a Metrobus driver allegedly stopped his bus, got out of the vehicle, walked over to McGruff and punched the mascot......

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, MPD Chief Cathy Lanier and U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor have scheduled a news conference for 1:15 p.m. to announce further developments in the Chandra Levy case. The Associated Press has just reported that an arrest warrant has been issued for Ingmar Guandique, the suspect named in news reports late last month. Guandique is currently in federal prison in Adelanto, Calif., for attacking two other women in Rock Creek Park. We'll be sure to update after the press conference. UPDATE 1:19 p.m. The press conference is being televised......

As an ex-smoker, I admit I do harbor the tiniest speck of sympathy for those who are so addicted that they'll freeze their butts off outside clubs, bars or restaurants to satisfy their cravings. This poor chain-smoker, however, has clearly paid the heaviest of prices for his (or her?) insatiable appetite for nicotine. Nice work, out_on_an_island....

Photo by Bullneck It's undeniably still winter outside, but today we're provided with a tangible reminder that spring is so close we can almost taste it. The National Cherry Blossom Festival had their annual press conference this morning at the Newseum, where they announced the peak bloom dates for D.C.'s famous pink blossoms: April 3 through 9. That's the time period when National Park Service horticulturists believe the cherry blossoms will be at their fullest and most beautiful. The......

Photo by (anne) The Examiner points us to this Rasmussen Reports poll that claims to show that 40 percent of U.S. voters prefer retrocession to Maryland to the compromise struck by the D.C. House Voting Rights Act. Other purported findings of the poll: only 45 percent support giving the District a vote in the House, and 60 percent oppose statehood for D.C. For the definitive piece explaining exactly how Rasmussen Reports issue polls manufacture "answers that conservatives like"......

In case you missed yesterday's late-breaking news, the D.C. Court of Appeals unanimously denied Roy Pearson's petition hear his appeal for a second time. A three-judge panel previously rejected Pearson's first appeal of his epic $54 million lawsuit against the Chung family-owned dry cleaner over a missing pair of pants. The latest decision found six judges all agreeing with the previous ruling. In a release to the press this morning, Chung family lawyer Christopher Manning noted that, "Pearson's only remaining option is the U.S. Supreme......

Photo by solupine Good morning, Washington. The city woke up to very cold temperatures this morning after Monday's snow storm—DCist's weather widget reads 17 degrees as we type—which means those of you who didn't shovel your walks are in league with the Devil. It's all ice on the unshoveled sidewalks and gross, dirty slush in the gutters today. If your trash pickup was scheduled for today, know that DPW Director William Howland, Jr. sais in a statement yesterday that......

Photo by Hawaii2DC Make sure to keep an eye out to see how the streets look on your way home. Did Mayor Fenty manage to pull off his "No Street Left Behind" approach?Ding, dong, the Pants Suit is dead. Well, it was dead already, but now it's dead all over again for good this time, as the the D.C. Court of Appeals has denied Roy Pearson's petition to re-hear his case.You can follow live updates from the folks......