Good morning, D.C., and welcome to another day of panicked headlines about the preparations for the presidential inauguration. On today’s agenda: tickets to see the Oprah show are gone already, all of our cell phones could stop working due to record crowds, lots of media outlets probably won’t be getting full access, and still more concerns about where all those chartered buses are going to park. Also apparently a bunch of hotels managed to cancel reservations on people who wouldn’t pony up advanced deposits, so now there are more rooms available. But is that good news or bad news? We can’t tell anymore.

Parking Meter Shuffle: Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham held a meeting yesterday about his proposal to increase parking meter rates in the city, and both the Examiner and WTOP were there. Naturally, it looks like there’s some contention about which agencies would get the additional revenue. Also of note: Graham appears to be taking DCist’s advice and proposing that downtown rates go all the way to $2 per hour. While we’re at it, we’d add that it seems like a good idea to make sure that increased meter revenue goes toward replacing the oft-broken meters themselves.

More Graham in the news! The Examiner has learned that District fire academy recruits have been asked to work as waiters at Graham’s holiday party, and previously worked at his birthday party. Just a standard way of getting firefighters involved with the local community, or a violation of the Hatch Act? Graham says he doesn’t want “any controversy.”

Briefly Noted: Southeast woman in critical condition after pitbull attack … Fairfax Connector rates increase by 25 cents … Man confesses to fatal shooting inside his Arlington home.

Photo by Anfony79