Photo by EMUII

Good morning, Washington. We hope each and every one of you was able to honor the labor movement yesterday by sleeping in, taking in a matinee, or attempting to barbecue through the rain. It’s what Samuel Gompers would have wanted! But with Labor Day come and gone comes several crushing realities: Congress is back in town, school is now in session across the greater metro area, and summer is rapidly bidding us goodbye until next year. All things, as they inevitably do, are returning to their same busy routines – including, naturally, Republicans calling President Obama a socialist. Despite this recent slow-news cycle skirmish over what ended up amounting to a slightly more nuanced way of saying, “Kids, stay in school!”, Obama will go ahead and deliver his back-to-school speech later today at Wakefield High School in Arlington, home of the Warriors. The Examiner covers how school districts across the metro area are handling the speech, including Loudoun County, which has since changed its mind and decided to show it to students who choose to watch.

Metro Considering Another Fare Hike: Everyone knows WMATA is in financial trouble, and now the Post reports that Metro officials are finally talking turkey in terms of implementing another fare hike. The last fare increase went into effect at the beginning of 2008, and while that wasn’t very long ago, keep in mind that it had been over four years since any fare hikes before then. Say what you will about the Metro board, but they really do seem to try anything and everything before they ever consider fare hikes, so that gives us some indication of just how serious the transit agency’s impending budget shortfall really is.

1000 Series Cars Still at Front of Some Trains:Meanwhile, WMATA had another tough weekend in terms of how its commitment to safety is portrayed in the local media. First there was the heated back and forth between the Washington Post and Metro over a 2005 incident between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom. And this morning, the Examiner reports that those promises of moving all the older, 1000 Series rail cars to the middle of the trains aren’t always being kept. The NTSB doesn’t mince words here: “Our response is they need to get rid of them,” said spokeswoman Bridget Serchak.

Briefly Noted: Triple shooting in unit block of K Street NW … Two teens injured in drive-by shooting in Southeast … Group of suspects arrested for carjacking, police chase and firing a gun at police near Potomac Gardens … Already 150 flu cases at the University of Maryland … D.C. police looking for missing Northwest D.C. man.

This Day in DCist: In 2008, DCist took at trip to the Maryland Renaissance Festival.