It wasn’t long ago that D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and police chief Charles Ramsey were celebrating a murder rate that looked to be falling relative to years past. Oh, how they must be pining for those optimistic days now. Yesterday marked the unceremonious day during which the District’s murder rate came to match that of the same time last year — 156 dead. And it came after a spate of killings that left four dead in the span of less than five hours over the weekend and two additional deaths discovered along the Suitland Parkway in Southeast early Monday morning. And while the District is today a far cry from the shameful year of 1991 — when 482 were recorded — the recent increase in deadly violence is sure to provoke calls for more police on the city’s streets. Legislation in the City Council has recently been proposed that would add up to 1,600 new officers to the police force. Is that what the city needs?

Evans Admits PAC Paid for Friend’s Trip: Council-member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) has admitted that he used funds from a PAC he controls to pay for travel and lodging expenses for a friend who accompanied him on a business trip to Asia last year, reports the Post. Evans came under fire last week when a pair of Post articles accused him of inappropriately spending PAC funds and being reimbursed twice for his travels to China and Thailand, but wrote in an electronic newsletter that $6772.72 in PAC funds went to his personal friend, Georgetown art gallery owner Marsha Ralls.

Youngster Enters Race for Ward 3: In the wake of Council-member Kathy Patterson’s announcement that she will be running for the top slot at the City Council, Sam Brooks has announced he’s running for the Ward 3 seat on the council, writes the Examiner. This would be a run of the mill announcement were Brooks not a 25-year-old who shocked the District’s political establishment in 2002 by attracting nearly 8,000 votes for an at-large seat on the council, coming in third to victor Kwame Brown and incumbent Harold Brazil but soundly out-voting Brazil in Wards 2 and 3. DCist has secured an interview with the young wipper-snapper, and will have more on Brooks in the coming days.

Funky Smell Identified: Over recent weeks various readers have written us to complain of an off-putting odor in parts of Northeast, a smell so bad and so mysterious that some members of the City Council started asking questions. Well, today WJLA informs us that the smell was courtesy of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission’s dumping of sewer waste at a Capitol Heights pumping station. While denying their dumping was the cause of the smell, the WSSC has decided to stop the dumping.

Briefly Noted: Starting today, private planes return to National Airport … Gas surcharge for Fairfax County taxis approved … Taxes hikes proposed for D.C. public school funding … Fairfax County outlines emergency plans … Rockville fights coyotes.

Picture above snapped by dcJohn.