Morning Roundup: Mainly Mains Edition

Good morning, Washington. Yes, there was another big water main break this morning! An 8-inch main break on 7th Street NW between G and H streets closed that block and is causing traffic problems all around the Verizon Center. WTOP reported that the problem was only discovered when a Metrobus started sliding down the street in the ice ... good grief, did anybody see this? And in case you're worried that D.C.'s crumbling infrastructure could create even bigger problems should something like this happen during the inauguration, calm yourself by remembering that most streets will be shut down already and most D.C. residents will be cowering in their barricaded living rooms, too afraid to venture out into Inauguration Island.

UDC Approves Split Campus Proposal: The University of the District of Columbia yesterday approved the creation of a separate community college campus for two-year students and voted to raise admission standards and tuition for students in the school's four-year degree program. Even though no second campus has yet been selected, UDC says it hopes to have the changes in place for the fall semester. It was reported earlier this month that the school is hoping to merge with Southeastern University. Mike Grass notes that such a merger could solve a couple directional issues associated with the school.

Senate Passes Bill Banning Inauguration Ticket Scalping: It's sort of adorable they think they can do anything about it, ain't it? Last night the Senate passed a bill by voice vote that would make it a federal crime to scalp tickets to the presidential inauguration. It's by no means certain the House will take up the matter before Tuesday. It's absolutely certain that people will continue to successfully scalp tickets to the inaugural ceremonies and balls.

Briefly Noted: Mother of disabled girl who died is charged with neglect ... Local home prices drop in December ... Gang member who killed teen outside school sentenced to 30 years ... National Zoo is running out of bamboo.

This Day in DCist: Last year, Mayor Fenty was firing half a dozen city employees in the wake of the Banita Jacks case.

Photo by rob shenk