Photo by Andr3i

Good morning, D.C. Yesterday marked the first day of the peak cherry blossom bloom period, which is predicted to last only through Saturday. The weather during this year’s shorter peak bloom hasn’t exactly been ideal. Yesterday, we had rain, it looks like there could be more rain tomorrow, and this morning, a thick fog lingers over the city. Locals should know better than to head down to the Tidal Basin on Saturday, when it will be teeming with tourists, so if you’ve been meaning to go see our city’s famed pink flowers at their peak, DCist recommends heading down this evening, or better yet, take a late lunch this afternoon, by which time the fog will have lifted and we should be treated to at least a little sunshine. Or you can always just enjoy the increasingly large number of cherry blossom shots in the DCist Flickr pool.

Plastic Bag Showdown: The Post covers yesterday’s public hearing on legislation before the D.C. Council that would impose a 5 cent fee on customers who take a disposable bag from retailers. Plastic bag makers affiliated with the American Chemistry Council have been targeting lower income neighborhoods in D.C. with robocalls filled with messages that this bill will unfairly target the poor. The hearing became rather heated, as the plastic bag makers were accused of “race-baiting and class-baiting.” Marc Fisher also weighs in today, though he doesn’t really take a firm stand on either side of the issue.

Soul Searching After Gruesome Deaths: Several stories today asking what the city could have done to prevent some of the most horrific murders of the last year. The Post’s Hamil Harris covers the funeral of Erika Peters and her sons Erik and Dakota, who police say were stabbed to death by Peters’ boyfriend, Joseph Mays. The Washington City Paper went with a cover story asking whether the city really did everything it could do to prevent these deaths. And over at the Examiner, Michael Neibauer reports on a new report by the D.C. Inspector General on the Banita Jacks case, which shows a long series of failures on the part of multiple agencies to address the needs of Jacks’ daughters before they were killed.

Briefly Noted: D.C.-area office vacancy rates rise … House fire kills two in Herndon … Alexandria looks to cut bus service.

This Day in DCist: Last year, the Central Union Mission debate finally came to an end, and the year before that, Mayor Fenty started spamming D.C. residents.