Good morning, Washington. Yesterday’s news of a stolen firefighter uniform in Arlington obliges us to offer this reminder: it’s never too early to start thinking about your Halloween costume. The 31st is a mere six weeks away! Of course, we’d also like to remind you that, if at all possible, it’s best to refrain from assembling your costume by stealing from our emergency responders or otherwise breaking the law. “Firefighter” isn’t a very creative idea, anyway.
Oh, also, the fed effectively nationalized global financial firm AIG for $80bn, which we suppose is arguably bigger news than the missing firefighter uniform.
Bear-based Embarrassment: The Post weighs in on the emerging fake polar bear menace. There’s not much additional information beyond what we reported yesterday, but the paper’s wry account of the bomb squad response does drive home how ludicrous our security apparatus has become. Fortunately, a quick look at Google News indicates that the District has escaped the sort of scorn heaped on Boston — for now, anyway. There’s still no definite word on who’s responsible for the bears.
Council Loosens Gun Laws: They were just proposals when we discussed them yesterday; now they’re the law, according to the Examiner. The changes to D.C.’s gun laws will allow semiautomatic weapons and ease storage and transport restrictions. Whether they’ll head off congressional efforts to dictate D.C. gun policy remains to be seen — but as we said yesterday, the upcoming election leaves us pessimistic.
Briefly Noted: Military aircraft will be conducting exercises in the area today and tomorrow…. Virginia mailing letters to felons about old biological evidence available for retesting… Racist graffiti in Greenbelt… Great Falls bridge closed due to Hanna… Corn mazes!… Alleged school arsonist arrested… Alleged school arsonist arrested (yes, a different one)… Beetle smuggling is apparently a crime…
This Day In DCist: One year ago Breakwell’s Coffee (since renamed) had a fire and we wrote a letter to Mitch McConnell.
Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user Skyhawk Flyer
