Good morning, Washington. Some actual good news this morning! Late yesterday we were getting awfully worried to hear about the high number of disturbing sexual assaults in Northern Virginia recently, and now this morning, Fairfax County police say they have a suspect in custody related to the string of Falls Church attacks. It’s a pretty incredible arrest story, too: Fairfax police officers were actually performing surveillance on the man when they saw him attack a woman and drag her into the woods. They intervened and made the arrest in the 600 block of Hillwood Avenue at about 7:30 p.m. The suspect is being looked at for 11 similar sexual assaults that have occurred in and around Falls Church since August.

Deadline Set on Affordable Housing: Tuesday’s D.C. Council action included a measure that gives Mayor Fenty a hard deadline to put in place a new zoning program that would require developers to include a certain percentage of affordable housing units in their new building, reports the Post. The move indicates the Council is frustrated at how long – almost a year – it has taken the Fenty administration to act on a zoning issue that was thought to be all but settled. The office of the deputy mayor for planning and economic development has since said that the regulations will be submitted by the end of this month.

Plans for Silver Spring Transit Center Move Ahead: Montgomery County officials are opening the planned Silver Spring Transit Center project up for construction bids, reports the Examiner. Plans for the project include a three-level structure adjacent to the Silver Spring Metro station that would allow more buses, taxis, and a Kiss ’N Ride drop off to be housed in one location.

Briefly Noted: April opening date set for Newseum …Application numbers way up at University of Maryland, College Park … National airport saw busiest year ever in 2007 … Many D.C. teachers still lacking ‘highly qualified’ status, could lose their jobs.

This Day in DCist: In 2007 we took a look at the redesigned taxi zone maps Mayor Fenty was placing in city cabs, and in 2006 we wondered what kind of sentence Marion Barry might actually get, if any, for not paying his taxes again.

Photo by Pak Gwei