Photo by jamietre

Good morning, D.C. So, uh … no one wants to talk about that Caps game, right? What a rough night. What a crushing disappointment of a game seven. What a … blergh. If you’ll excuse us, we’ve got to go attempt to scrub off this penguin-shaped indentation from our behinds.

Reports of Violence at D.C. Schools Goes Down: That’s according to the Examiner, who write that, “Serious incidents, defined as fights, abuse, assault, robbery, weapon possession, drugs or fires, fell to 1,117 between August 2008 and April 2009, according to the school system. That’s down 17 percent from 1,353 serious incidents during the same period last year.” Good news, right? At least one person doesn’t think so: Washington Teachers Union President George Parker says he thinks the improved numbers could actually be related to a decline in reporting of school violence, not an actual decline in incidents.

Lanier Dismantles Hostage Negotiation Unit: Citing the miniscule number of times it’s called upon to work, Chief Lanier said yesterday that she plans to dismantle the Metropolitan Police Department’s hostage negotiation unit, the Post reports. The eight-person squad, known as the ERT, or emergency response team, will be disbanded and each member will be moved into patrol districts. Kristopher Baumann of the police union is pissed, natch. The natural question is, doesn’t this put the city at risk of mishandling a hostage or suicide situation? Turns out, Lanier’s plan is to quadruple the number of negotiators on the force, they will just be doing other police work when they are not on a call. “There’s no reason for them to sit around in a building waiting for a call. They had seven calls in an 18-month period,” Lanier said.

Briefly Noted: Former Mayor Williams starts work at Arent Fox … Bethesda high school students targeted by online threats … D.C. voucher parents testify before Congress.

This Day in DCist: Last year, Fort Reno Park began its arsenic scare odyssey, and the year before that, the city stepped up its efforts at graffiti removal.