Good morning D.C. on this, your first post-election Saturday. In these turbulent economic times, it’s not a bad idea to try and stow some money away in case things get worse. That said, today’s big news is that the D.C. Council is proposing an additional $50 million in additional cuts to the city’s 2009 budget. Fenty had recently proposed a $131 million cut to reduce the projected shortfall for 2009. What’s hitting the Council’s chopping block? Road construction and the Mayor’s Housing First initiative. Specifically, planned work on the 11th Street Bridge and improvements to Georgia Avenue, a reduction in upgrades for city service vehicles like ambulances and garbage trucks, and a cut to assistance for first-time homebuyers and permanent housing programs. The Council wants to stow the money away in a reserve fund, which they hope will assist the city in the event of a deepening financial crisis. Of course, how much of that cool $50 million will make it into the reserve is still to be determined.

>> The Post reports on a Fairfax County girl who inexplicably left home on Halloween, only to be found dead near an inner-city Baltimore housing complex just two days later. The police, her family, and her classmates are completely baffled about why she’d leave home, only to meet her untimely demise. Police are calling her death “questionable.”

>> The Washington Times notes that immigration-related arrests in D.C. and Virginia have increased by 50 percent this year. This increase is higher than the national increase in arrests (35 percent). U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement attributes the spike to the increase in funding, technology and communication between law enforcement agencies.

>> Have you signed your well wishes to President-elect Obama yet?

Photo by clio1789.