Photo by sjshoreman

Good morning, Washington. Yesterday First Lady Michelle Obama was joined by students from Bancroft and Kimball elementary schools to harvest the White House’s organic garden. (We’re guessing the folks at NBC4 didn’t really choose their words carefully when they wrote this headline: “First Lady Enlists Child Labor to Harvest Her Garden.”) The nation’s nutritionist-in-chief, who also was on hand to launch the White House Farmers Market a few weeks back, helped the kids pick squash, broccoli and carrots, all of which were donated to Miriam’s Kitchen for meals for the homeless.

Rhee Faces Council’s Wrath: D.C. schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee faced lines of angry questioning yesterday in a hearing before the D.C. Council that stretched over the course of the entire day. The majority of the hearing centered around Rhee’s decision in early October to fire 266 teachers in order to close an approximately $40 million hole in the 2010 school budget. Members of the council wanted to know why Rhee didn’t instead cut summer school operations when the city was forced to cut the school budget by $20.7 million in July. While arguments flew over Rhee’s legal authority to fire the teachers, what was clear was that relations between the council and the school’s highest official are strained. City Desk live-blogged the whole thing; the Post and the Examiner have good summaries on the hearing.

D.C. Civil War Memorial to Get Federal Funds: The Examiner is reporting that the District’s African American Civil War Memorial located on U Street is set to receive $220,000 in federal funds for needed repairs. The money, requested by D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton through a spending bill for the Department of the Interior, will be used to repair broken lights and install additional railing to stop skateboarders from using the memorial.

Adams Morgan Park Remains Dust Bowl: What with the Ximena Hartsock controversy and the recent and possibly illegal funneling of $82 million through the D.C. Housing Authority for park-related projects, the District’s Department of Parks and Recreation has gotten nothing but negative press in recent weeks. Today the Post brings some more, reporting on Walter C. Pierce Community Park in Adams Morgan and its dust bowl for a field. Apparently repeated mismanagement by the city has left what was meant to be a $200,000 urban oasis as an unusable eyesore.

Briefly Noted: Piglet Flu strikes region … Permit granted for construction of MLK Memorial on Mall … Not all religious leaders oppose D.C. same-sex marriage … Tysons Corner improvements to cost $15 billion.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2008 we interviewed Henry Rollins, while in 2007 we ran some of the most depressing images in DCist history. Be warned — NSFW.