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The Public Restroom Initiative

Just in case you forgot to mark it on your calendar, Sunday is "World Toilet Day," so dubbed by the World Toilet Organization, which happens to be holding its annual conference this week in Bangkok. This year's gathering will include a small delegation from the American Restroom Association, a group formed three years ago by two local residents alarmed by the lack of clean and safe public bathrooms in the DC region. They say it's a growing problem. Metro Connection's Sidsel Overgaard reports on what they're trying to do about it.

For more information on the American Restroom Association on the World Toilet Organization, check out their website - you'll even be able to play an animated game called "Urgent" where you can design your own bathroom.

The Exponent Awards - Bright Beginnings

On Monday, the Meyer Foundation recognized the work of five DC area non-profit leaders with a new honor, the Exponent Award. The idea is to award grant money to worthy organizations and focus attention on the problem of burnout in non-profit leadership positions. In part two of our series on the winners, Metro Connection's Jessica Smith visits with the head of the District's largest daycare center for children from homeless families.

Commentary by Fred Fiske - Sicily

WAMU Senior Commentator Fred Fiske is our man about town - and the world - as he reports on his experiences in Sicily.

The Association of the Oldest Inhabitants of Washington DC

There are plenty of exclusive clubs in Washington with strict requirements and sky-high dues. But if you're over forty and have lived in the District for at least twenty years - or if you're the offspring of someone who meets those requirements - you qualify for "The Association of the Oldest Inhabitants of Washington DC."

It helps to be passionate about DC history and local trivia with this crew, lest you be caught off-guard at their lunch meetings, where the chatter is all-DC history, all the time. The group was founded in 1865, making it, in more ways than one, the oldest club in Washington. Metro Connection's Stephanie Kaye spoke with the association's president, Bill Brown, and the group's uber-historian, Nelson Rimensnyder.

On Friday, November 17th, at the Pier 7 Restaurant in southwest they honor outgoing Mayor Anthony Williams for his work on historic preservation and development.

Mondo DC - The Dance of the Labyrinth

Many say walking a labyrinth helps slow the breathing, calm the nerves and focus the mind. But it's not typically a high-tech experience. Enter "The Dance of the Labyrinth, a computer-programmed art installation on N Street northwest - complete with a labyrinth of illuminated glass panels, music, a disco ball and images of skulls and mummys. It's been open to the public by appointment only for over ten years now, and writer Jeff Bagato says it's worth making that call. He's author of the book, "Mondo DC: An Insider's Guide to Washington DC's Most Unusual Tourist Attractions." We met him, and the artist responsible, on the threshold of the labyrinth.

Celtic DC Part III - "The Hedgeband"

In the third of our profiles on the Fall Celtic music series at the Old Brogue Irish Pub in Falls Church, we meet members of "The Hedge Band" - Donna Long and Laura Byrne are transplants to the Baltimore area. Both strayed from the path of classical music into the realm of traditional tunes, and both of them came across their Celtic instruments almost by accident. Long found her fiddle at a garage sale and was using it as a subject for her paintings. Byrne's flute was part of her home decor for years, until they both decided to pick up the instruments and use them in their music. Metro Connection's Stephanie Kaye met the two "accidental" Celtic musicians at Long's Baltimore home, in an area known as the "Celtic Corridor."

The Fall Celtic series runs every Sunday through December 3rd at the Old Brogue Irish Pub in Great Falls.

Commentary by Jim Helein - My Favorite Five-Year Old

Writer Jim Helein knows that there are a lot of people out there smarter than he is. Today, he'd like to talk about one of them...and she's only five.

Jim Helein, a writer and company member of Charter Theatre, says Cate's beauty and intelligence come from his wife. But the ability to perform a well-executed prat-fall and tell a killer knock-knock joke – thats all him.