Photo by jagosaurus

Good morning, Washington. Hope you all had relaxing weekends, despite the late night Howard Homecoming revelers on every corner, the global climate protesters, the early rising Marine Corps Marathoners, and the shooters firing their guns all over Petworth, Columbia Heights, and LeDroit Park. Now that we think about it, it’s a wonder any of us got any sleep at all.

Gay Marriage Protesters Return: Speaking of loud weekend distractions, a group of anti-same-sex marriage protesters gathered at Freedom Plaza on Sunday. The Post, WUSA and WJLA all covered their attempt to push for a ballot initiative on the issue. Tim Craig notes that a lot of the 150 or so people gathered appeared to have been bused in: ‘Sunday’s protesters chanted, “Let the people vote!” but many participants live in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs. “What happens in D.C. will ultimately affect the states around it,” said Dana Sanders, a Columbia resident.’ As you know the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics is set to meet today to determine the outcome of the referendum petition (which it is largely expected to reject), and the D.C. Council’s Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety will convene its first public hearing on the same-sex marriage bill at 3:30 p.m.

Mayor’s Call Center Criticized for Slow Response: One of D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty’s big changes to the way the city responds to residents was to route all city service requests through 311. But the Examiner reports that mayor’s citywide call center isn’t handling all those calls as quickly as it should be: ‘the percentage of calls answered within 30 seconds fell from 86.5 percent in fiscal 2008 to 60.7 percent in the first quarter of 2009, 71.8 percent in the second quarter and 62.2 percent in the third.’ 911 calls, on the other hand, were answered within five seconds 96 percent of the time.

Briefly Noted: Tax increases, service cuts expected in Arlington … Temple Hills man accused of pimping his foster child … Deadly crash leaves four Fairfax kids without parents … Navy’s Mentzer wins Marine Corps Marathon in debut .

This Day in DCist: In 2007, a local gay couple said they were kicked out of the U Street Rite Aid for hugging, which eventually led to a hug-in protest at the store.