This week in D.C. news features Kwame Brown’s fraud charges, Capital Pride back in action, Corcoran Museum’s plans to sell the Beaux-Arts building and Councilmember Jack Evans getting a little feisty on Twitter.

Kwame, Fully loaded

Kwame “Fully Loaded” Brown pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud, a federal felony, after resigning his City Council seat on Wednesday. Back in 2007 Brown submitted falsified loan applications, one of which was to finance his ironically-named boat, “Bullet Proof.” He exaggerated his income, forged a signature and changed a 3 to an 8 (on two occasions).

Yesterday, prosecutors charged Brown with violating the District’s campaign finance laws during his 2008 reelection campaign. Prosecutors alleged that Brown authorized a family member to establish a “side account” for campaign contributions, which he used to make under-the-table expenditures in excess of $50. Failing to report expenditures of that size is a misdemeanor. Today, Brown gave a less-than-contrite acknowledgment of his campaign finance transgressions.

As reported by Washington City Paper, Brown gave a statement to reporters as he left the federal courthouse after pleading guilty to the felony bank charge. “I am guilty to knowing that poll workers and others received more than $50 in cash payments for doing campaign work, which is and has been done in this city for years,” he said. “I believe I’m the…only candidate who has ever been charged—with a misdemeanor.”

Here’s a handy summary of the “Fully Loaded” saga.

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In a unanimous vote at last night’s ANC2E meeting, Georgetown neighborhood leaders quashed an proposal for later bar hours during three-day holiday weekends. There are 19 three-day weekends, and the hours would be extended till 4 a.m. The idea was part of Council Chairman Kwame Brown‘s effort to raise $1.5 million in the District budget.

Budget balancing through later bar hours was, unsurprisingly, not a hit with the neighbors. Commissioner Bill Starrels headed the resolution. The commission voted against the proposal for several reasons. The bars would close after Metro hours, encouraging people to drink and drive. Another reason cited by Cookie Cruse, CAG’s spokesperson on alcohol, was that foot traffic may strain police resources by “encouraging street crime,” according to the Georgetown Dish.

If you were hoping to stay up till 4:00 a.m. singing your last rendition of “Working Class Hero” by John Lennon on Labor Day at Mr. Smith’s, well, get over it, pack up, and go home.

Via Georgetown Dish

Washington D.C.’s City Council is having a special election on April 26th to fill the At-Large council position vacated Kwame Brown, who become Council Chair. Candidates include (clockwise from top left) Sekou Biddle, John Lopez, Vincent Orange and Jacque Patterson.

The Georgetown Dish and The Georgetown Current are co-hosting a public candidate forum today at 7:00 p.m. at the Georgetown Safeway that will be moderated by Davis Kennedy and Beth Solomon. Georgetown University’s campus plan is likely to be a hot topic of discussion during this discussion.You can submit your own questions to the discussion on the Dish’s website.

h/t + photo: The Georgetown Dish

With current City Council Chairman Vincent Gray having confirmed that he will challenge Adrian Fenty for mayor in 2010, Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans (D), who represents over a dozen nearby neighborhoods along with Georgetown, where he resides, has said that he will run against At-Large Councilmember Kwame Brown (D) to fill the chairmanship that Gray will leave vacant. On Wednesday, when WTOP reported his decision, they said that Evans would get support from Fenty.

Evans is usually credited with the commercial revival that Ward 2 has seen over the last decade. He has been involved in national politics, serving as a delegate at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in 2008, an election cycle where he was initially a member of Hillary Clinton’s D.C. steering committee. As the councilmember for Ward 2 for nearly two decades, Evans enjoys a strong relationship with Georgetown University President John DeGioia.

“In Ward 2, we have worked very closely with Councilman Evans over the course of his career, and there are few men for whom I have higher regard. [Jack’s] been an extraordinary colleague to us,” DeGioia has told campus press.

Although Brown has demonstrated city-wide appeal, and already has the endorsement of Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), Jack Evans, who has represented one of D.C.’s wealthiest wards for the past 19 years and enjoys good relationships with the business community, will be a fundraising powerhouse.

“I know how to do it, I’m good at fundraising,” Evans told Voice reporter Juliana Brint in 2008 when he was running for reelection to the Council against his first significant challenger in over a decade. In the course of their brief interview, which took place at a fundraiser for his campaign at the house of Kevin Bacon’s sister, two people slipped into the room to hand him checks.

While Gray cannot return to his chairmanship if he loses his bid for mayor, Evans can continue to represent Ward 2 if he loses to Brown, as he is not up for reelection until 2012. Brown will also resume his At-Large chair if he loses.

The impending snOMG, snowpocolypse, snowgasm—call it what you will—is nearing the District, and it’s guaranteed to seal you within the Georgetown bubble, and probably your house, too. But while you watch TV and drink for warmth, comfort yourself by thinking about all the extra mobility you’re going to have in the future, now that the D.C. City Council has approved the Circulator’s extension from Georgetown to Virginia.

The Circulator is the City’s frequent, clean, most reliable, and inexpensive bus line that connects major parts of D.C. This new route is going to replace the Blue Bus, or Metro Connection, the much smaller buses that currently run every ten minutes from Dupont to Rosslyn via M Street. John Lisle, a spokesperson for the District Department of Transportation, said that this means the new route will not cost the city additional money.

Meanwhile, Councilmember Kwame Brown (D-At Large) is thoroughly displeased at the Council’s alacrity to approve a City-funded route that goes into Virginia before it supports a Circulator routes that crosses the Anacostia River. And we can’t say we blame him—it seems it was his efforts to get the Council to approve such a line that drew attention to the possibility of a Dupont-Rosslyn route in the first place.

Via Georgetown Metropolitan

The D.C. City Council is considering a bill that would allow the Circulator—the frequent, clean, and inexpensive buses that link multiple core areas of the city—to run outside of the District. That measure’s approval, writes the Washington Post‘s Dr. Gridlock, would mean that a new Circulator route running through Georgetown may take over the route that is now covered by the Georgetown Blue Buses, which ends at Rosslyn Metro Station.

At the same time, D.C. City Councilmember Kwame Brown is pressing his fellow councilmembers to approve a measure to extend the Circulator into Anacostia. He is not having much luck with his amendment but has vowed to keep trying.

Via Georgetown Metropolitan.

Photo from Flickr user afagen used under a Creative Commons license.

Four more years!

228,062 people, or 53.44 percent of registered D.C. voters, flooded the polls yesterday for the Nov. 4th general elections, and the D.C. Board of Election & Ethics handled them with less difficulty than we expected. This morning, DCBOEE posted unofficial election results, complete with an At-Large surprise:

92.46 percent of D.C. voters cast their ballots for Barack Obama (D)–who won the whole thing last night, by the way.

Voters ushered Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) back to her seat as Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives with a handy 92.32 percent of votes. She’ll be joined on the Hill by Shadow Representative Mike Panetta (D) and Shadow Senator Paul Strauss (D)-because like Alaskan voters, D.C. voters think a little legal trouble ain’t no thing.

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