Morning Roundup: Ducks in a Row Edition

Good morning, Washington. We'll be standing by for a good chunk of the day to see what the Metro Board decides to do about the proposed fare hike - the Board is meeting at 11 a.m. for a session that is expected to produce a final vote on the fare hikes, which could go into effect as soon as January. Board members have indicated they would likely pass a fare hike that is slightly less than the current proposal.

Special Ed to Increase Services: D.C.'s special education system has come under major fire recently, so Mayor Fenty and school officials yesterday proposed a series of changes to the system in an effort to comply with the requirements of a 2006 court order. The District would spend more than $6 million on new programs, including additional mental health services, more classroom support for students with disabilities and more support for parents.

Commission Dragging its Feet on Rate Hikes: Remember last year, when we were warning everyone that utility bills were going to go up this winter? Well the Examiner reports that the reason they haven't is because the D.C. Public Service Commission still hasn't made a decision to approve or deny both Pepco's and Washington Gas' requests for rate hikes, a full year later. Both utilities have requested the right to charge above a 7.5 percent increase, and a decision is not expected until 2008 at the earliest now.

Briefly Noted: Labor leaders defend hiring practices at new baseball stadium ... Student's mother attacked in Ballou High brawl ... Graham opposes development that would close the Columbia Heights Boys & Girls Club ... School board to pass new sex standards, including HIV/AIDS curriculum.

This Day in DCist: In 2006 we wondered if then Mayor-elect Fenty would get into trouble for improperly accepting campaign funds and in 2005 we explained how Metro's bomb-proof trash cans work.

Photo by philliefan_99