Despite another fatal shooting in Northeast last night, it's worth noting that with less than two months left to go in 2009, the District has recorded 123 homicides all year long, according to D.C. police crime data. That figure continues to reflect a 25 percent decrease in the number of homicides compared to this time last year, when there were already 164 homicides on the books. By all accounts, the Metropolitan Police Department has also seen an improvement in homicide arrests this year.

Law-breaking, wasting public funds and an elected official who's increasingly unpopular -- the story had everything you would want in an exposé. So when WTOP's Mark Segraves reported Monday that D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty used a police escort and clogged up area roads on his daily bike ride, everyone jumped on it. Including us.

The Board of Trustees of the University of the District of Columbia are proposing a tuition increase at the David A. Clarke School of Law for the 2010-2011 school year. The proposed increase would see residents paying $4,425 per semester, and $8,850 per semester for non-residents. Currently, UDC law students pay $3,675 per semester, and non-residents $7,350.

MUSIC: D.C.'s own Title Tracks are at the Black Cat's Backstage tonight, opening for Brooklyn's Bryan Scary & the Shredding Tears. The Black Hollies, out of New Jersey, also play. $10, 8:30 p.m.

By DCist Contributor Dan White

Waiting for paint to dry can be quite a boring endeavor, but someone decided they didn't need to wait to add their own "artistic flair" to this freshly painted wall. User * Chris D captured the tagging and the cool colors. (EXIF)

>> Even though MF Doom is about as likely to show up to the listening party as he is to one of his own shows, this album release party should be worth checking. Hosted by Three Stars alum Flex Mathews, Lounge of 3 (1013 U Street NW) will play host to a listening party for Doom's Unexpected Guest album. Joining him to supply the sounds will be DJ Underdog and NIck Da 1nda. Free, 6 p.m.

What does BGR stand for? Though it could easily be booger, in this case it's burger, which is what you'll get for free if you go to a local BGR The Burger Joint today with the letters "inked" on any body part. And yes, they can just be written on your hand with a ballpoint pen.

The authors (and dare we say, the readers) of this web site often get pretty exercised over pedestrian and cyclist safety issues, especially when so many of these kinds of accidents seem to involve city bus drivers. But a new study of relative pedestrian safety finds that D.C. is actually one of the safer cities in the country to be traveling through without an automobile. According to Transportation for America, a transportation advocacy group, walking in Washington is less dangerous than in 31 other metro areas in the U.S.

When in late September the Post all but announced the death of the fixed-gear bicycle fad with a 1,700-word primer on single-speeds, we wondered what would come next. Now we've got our answer -- the Tweed Ride.

Good morning, Washington. Looks like the stunning, unseasonably warm weather we've been enjoying for the last few days will soon be coming to an end. The remnants of Ida are moving in our direction, and while the Capital Weather Gang says we'll miss out on most of the heavy rains, we will be getting clouds, scattered showers, and cooler temperatures into tomorrow. Guess we can't complain -- it is November, after all.

• This seemed inevitable: DCPS CFO Noah Wepman was fired on Friday, according to sources. Wepman was made to look a fool by the D.C. Council after they grilled him at a hearing on the recent D.C. Schools RIFs, to the point where he admitted withholding budget numbers from the legislative body. [WTOP]
• A bicyclist was struck and killed Saturday morning by a Bladensburg police officer, authorities only announce today. "The cyclist, who police have not identified, was pulling onto Annapolis Road from the Bladen Plaza Shopping Center about 2 a.m. when he crossed the path of a Bladensburg police officer headed west, police said. The front right section of the cruiser hit the cyclist, and he was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, police said." [WaPo]
• Potential new owners for the Maples, a historic mansion on Capitol Hill, weren't able to put together the funds they needed in time to make the purchase, and now PETA is looking at the property. [The Hill is Home]

Just as work to lay down tracks for the H Street NE streetcar line disrupted traffic in August, the District of Columbia Department of Transportation is warning drivers that the ongoing installation of streetcar tracks for the Anacostia Line will change traffic patterns at the intersection of South Capitol Street and Firth Sterling Avenue for the next couple of weeks.