Good morning, Washington. Think good thoughts for Tian Tian, the National Zoo’s male giant panda and the biological father of Tai Shan/Butterstick. Tian Tian underwent eye surgery yesterday to remove inflamed tissue from one of his third eyelids. He’s expected to make a full recovery, but in the meantime he’ll have to live with the shame of being the one to expose this whole pandas having third eyelids monstrosity. DCist has always held a firm editorial stand that pandas are adorable, but after learning this fact we may have to convene our board to reconsider.

Tax Scandal Bigger Than Ever: We mentioned it at the end of the day yesterday, but it bears repeating that the House of Representatives took away CFO Natwar Gandhi’s $92,400 pay raise on Tuesday. Gandhi has so far declined to comment on the action, and he’s got his hands full today as well: an eighth person, Prince George’s County real estate agent Alethia Grooms, has been arrested in the property tax fraud case, and federal law enforcement officials said yesterday that the scandal could go all the way back to 1990 — a full nine years earlier than previously thought, and encompassing all of Gandhi’s tenure at the head of the tax office (not to mention dating the embezzlement scheme back to Marion Barry’s time as mayor).

Washington Gas Backs Off Rate Hike: Washington Gas has agreed to back away from proposed rate increases for its D.C. consumers. The decision ends a yearlong case between the utility and the D.C. Public Service Commission, and the utility agreed not to seek another rate hike until 2011.

Briefly Noted: Fire truck crashes on way to blaze … Funds cut for Homeland Security headquarters …

This Day in DCist: Last year we interviewed Lost star Matthew Fox, and the year before that we argued the merits of the Nationals stadium from both sides.

Photo by miamabanta