Politics

Rev. Rob Hardies signs the marriage certificate for Terrance Heath (left) and Richard Imirowicz, officially making them one of the first same-sex couples to be married in the history of Washington, D.C.: Photo by William W. CummingsFor such a controversial couple, Terrance Heath and Richard Imirowicz are surprisingly ordinary.

Yet, many Americans consider this ordinary couple   a threat to the country's moral foundation because Heath and Imirowicz were among the first same-sex couples to get married in Washington, D.C., last month.

Medical marijuana at Venice Beach, Calif.: A medical marijuana proponent advocates for his cause at Venice Beach, Calif. Lawmakers in Washington, D.C., are looking at legislation from across the country to learn lessons about what was successful and what to avoid. photo by Kristen Becker

Twelve years after the initial law was approved by voters in Washington, D.C., the D.C. City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to pass a bill that would authorize the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

"I am pleased by the council's vote today," David Catania, I-At Large, said in a press release after the vote. "I believe this legislation will give residents with qualifying chronic conditions access to medical benefits of marijuana, but will also guard against its misuse."

D.C. Voting Rights posters along 7th St. between New York Ave. and L St., N.W.: Photo by Dbking, courtesy of Creative CommonsDelegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., announced Tuesday that they were removing the D.C. Voting Rights Acts from consideration on the House floor, ahead of a vote scheduled for later this week, because of an inability to reach a compromise with the powerful gun-rights lobby.

Tuesday's announcement represented a reversal for Hoyer and Norton, who last week had each pushed for the bill's passage despite the gun-rights amendment. Norton had argued the gun lobby would be able to force changes on the District's gun laws in a separate bill, and they might as well take a vote in Congress in exchange.

"I believe residents would not want us to pass up this once-in-a-life-time opportunity for the vote they have sought for more than two centuries," Norton said in a April 15 statement.

April 22, 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

Earth Day, one day set aside to appreciate the earth, started as a grassroots environmental campaign that has since grown into a global day of awareness. Cities around the world are holding events to mark the anniversary and long-standing meaning of the day.

This is the first in a three-part series exploring the movement to decriminalize marijuana use. The first part focuses on Washington, D.C.’s effort to implement its an initiative legalizing the use of medical marijuana.

E-waste: More than 112,000 computers and
laptops are thrown out every day

If you live in America and are over 18, chances are you have an older computer sitting unused somewhere. In fact, the chances are not just good– they are overwhelming.

Who says Washington, D.C. is a city filled with soul-less bureaucrats? Where there is power, there's passion — and many sex scandals in the nation's capital have involved those in the highest echelons. From the White House to the Wilson Building, there’s been a lot of sneaking around by men — with women who weren’t their wives.

Talmadge Cesco (left) debates the finer points of the health care reform legislation with one of the bill's supporters.: Photo by William W. Cummings

Passions ran high outside the Capitol as Congress prepared to pass health care reform legislation Sunday. Many protesters hurled insults and angry rhetoric at opponents during the rally. 

Proponents of college loan reform scored a victory Sunday night with a package of changes to college loan regulations that was attached to H.R. 4872, the Reconciliation Act of 2010. 

Kevin Naff, editor of the Washington Blade, a newspaper dedicated to covering the District’s gay community, walked into the newspaper’s offices on Nov. 16, 2009, expecting a normal Monday. Instead, he recalled finding two corporate officers from Window Media, the Blade’s parent company, waiting for him.