Quite the gloomy morning, Washington. Bring your umbrella, because we’ll have rain on and off for the next few days. It’s not likely to somber the mood of most Washingtonians however, who are probably still atwitter from last night’s DNC speeches. Sen. Hillary Clinton cut the roll call short by moving from the floor to nominate Sen. Barack Obama by acclamation instead, a move met with tears and squees across the hall. The act was soon followed by former President Bill Clinton, who’s lost a bit of his patience for fame and spent a good ten minutes begging and then sternly ordering the crowd to calm down so he could get on with it. When Sen. Obama made a surprise appearance after Sen. Joe Biden’s acceptance speech, well, forget about it. If we don’t see mass hysterical fainting during the presidential nominee’s speech tonight, we’ll be sorely disappointed.

MPD Efforts Showing Results in Trinidad: Perhaps some good news finally coming out of Trinidad. The Post reports that as part of the police crackdown that included the now infamous neighborhood checkpoints, D.C. police have arrested 77 people, including eight just yesterday. Chief Cathy Lanier said in a news conference last night they have documented evidence of drug and gang activity, including by the West coast based Bloods. The MPD has been working with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to stamp out the gang activity, citing it as the source for the unusually high number of killings in the neighborhood since the spring.

Killings by PG County Police Double: Meanwhile, over in Prince George’s County, accusations of excessive force are being laid against the police department, after the number of people shot and killed by police doubled from last year. The Post article is a disheartening summary of brutal stories, including the 19-year-old inmate who was strangled in June, and how their canine unite required strict federal oversight up until last year, after over 800 bitings occurred over seven years in the 1990’s. Or the death of Manuel de Jesus Espina, “who was unarmed, [and] was fatally shot during what police say was an attempt to arrest him after he was spotted with an open container of alcohol” in August. The police inspector general reminded the public, before painting with too wide a brush, that more people are armed and willing to shoot police.

I Can Haz Good Home?: In news of the adorable, over 100 dogs were saved from a puppy mill in West Virginia. Rescuers say they were barely fed and often kept isolated in cages. The dogs, mostly purebred Dachshunds, were relocated to the Washington Animal Rescue League yesterday, and potential foster or adoptive folks should head over this weekend to scope out the pack. They’ll be available to take home sometime next week, after vets get a chance to check their health; in the meantime, click over to Fox5, which has a video of two puppies so impossibly cute you’ll be running home to clear a space for one.

In Brief: Off-duty Metrobus driver arrested for last month’s killing over a parking space … “No one that reports to work wants to be strip searched” … SUV slams into Oxon Hill home

This Day in DCist: Last year we were amused by Karl Rove trying to get even with AU mooners, while in 2006 we were following a campaign to bring Trader Joe’s to U Street.

Photo by Sarah Oh