It was just yesterday that a brazen daytime shooting outside of the Columbia Heights Metro station (linked to the District’s Summer Youth Jobs Program, no less) left two men injured, one on the run and area residents peeved with the persistent gun violence that has plagued the redeveloped area. I wandered over to the scene last night; all seemed normal spare the many TV trucks and reporters trying to get on-the-street reactions. But today is a new day, and we’re in for some likely political grandstanding from the city’s elected leaders. The shooting comes the very same week that the D.C. Council voted on a crime bill that had been the subject of heated debate for months. The version that passed, sponsored by Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), did not include a controversial provision that would have made it easier for police to target suspected gang-members and that was supported by Mayor Adrian Fenty. We’re hoping it doesn’t happen, but we wouldn’t be surprised to hear someone try to use yesterday’s shooting as some sort of justification for why the gang provision should have been included in the final legislation.

Rhee Fires 250 Teachers: There are another 250 people out there that really don’t like Michelle Rhee today. According to the Post, Rhee has fired 250 tenured or novice teachers, the majority of which had been put on a three-month probation for poor performance. (The pink slips started going out on Tuesday; we caught a hint of the impending layoffs on Wednesday.) The same number of teachers were fired at the same time last year; there are roughly 3,500 teachers in the public school system. Rhee remains in discussions with the Washington Teachers Union over plans she would like to implement that would make it easier to dismiss teachers and grant higher pay to those that forgo tenure.

Yet Another Reason CVS Sucks: If you’re low on Metro fare and near a CVS, don’t assume that one of their new SmarTrip fare-adding machines will work. The Examiner reports that employees at some of the 106 stores that have gotten the machines from Metro complain that they don’t work or don’t accept credit cards, rendering them somewhat useless. The machines can also be found at eight area Giant food stores. Sure, it isn’t CVS’s fault that the portable machines don’t work, but it is yet another reason I won’t ever want to go in one. (Terrible customer service and locked-up condoms? C’mon.)

Fenty Makes D.C. Bumpier: In what is surely a crass political ploy to get himself re-elected in 2010, WTOP writes that Mayor Adrian Fenty has gotten just a little speed bump-happy since he took office. Since 2007 the number of speed bumps in the District has jumped from 157 to 691, leaving drivers to contend with a bump or hump every 1.5 miles. By comparison, drivers in MoCo only hit them every 2.2 miles, wheres Fairfax motorists only have to slow down every 14.5 miles for the traffic calming devices. In related news, the times I’ve bottomed out my car after hitting an unexpected speed bump has seen an exponential increase since Fenty took office.

Briefly Noted: Columbia Heights shooter still at large … Frustrated Verizon customer dies after trying to stop service van … James von Brunn was both racist bastard and gross pedophile … Another day, another broken water main.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2008, more single-beer sales bans were proposed for Ward 2 and Ward 6. In 2007, Alexandria tried to ban smoking in restaurants.

Picture snapped by nevermindtheend