Photo by Fade 2 Black & Back

Good morning, Washington. Yesterday, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray held his usual press conference to preview the next day’s legislative session, and it was predictably a doozy. For one, Gray called for DCPS CFO Noah Wepman to be fired. If you watched any of last week’s Council hearing on the recent DCPS layoffs, you may have caught the boyish Wepman squirming under pressure as he admitted that he had failed to disclose a roughly $12 million deficit in the 2010 schools budget. For two, the Council will today take up emergency legislation designed to stop D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty from transferring any funds to the D.C. Housing Authority for the next 90 days while the Council figures out what to do about those controversial DPR contracts. This move comes after the recent revelations about Banneker Ventures, a firm owned by Fenty pal Omar Karim, and the role it played in helping the administration sidestep Council oversight again and again as it doled out non-competitive contracts, often to companies also run by Fenty friends (including Sinclair Skinner!) through the quasi-independent Housing Authority. On the DPR/Housing Authority shenanigans, Harry Thomas, Jr., who will introduce the emergency measure, is talking subpoenas, and Gray says he wants to find out if these questionable procurement practices extend to other agencies.

Virginia Heads to the Polls: It’s Election Day in Virginia, just in case Sarah Palin didn’t reach you at home last night to remind you. The big gubernatorial race has been shaping up to go pretty solidly for Republican Bob McDonnell, and further down the ticket, incumbent Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) and Attorney General candidate Ken Cuccinelli (R) hold similarly comfortable leads. But anything can happen in an election year when that same polling indicated that “one-third of respondents could not offer an opinion of the candidates,” meaning a whole lot of Virginians just haven’t even heard of these guys. Plus there’s all those House of Delegates races to consider. If you’re a Virginia voter and trying to find your polling place, head here. The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Shooting in Downtown Silver Spring: A 25-year-old man was shot in the leg during a failed robbery attempt outside the Gold’s Gym in Downtown Silver Spring at about 6 p.m. on Monday evening, an unlikely spot for a shooting, to be sure. WTTG/FOX5 reports that the victim was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and that Montgomery County police are now searching for two suspects who fled the scene.

Briefly Noted: Giant, Trader Joe’s and BJ’s all pull recalled ground beef from area stores … D.C. pays out $1 million to family of fatally beaten St. Elizabeths patient … D.C. child abuse cases left in hallways, unlocked rooms … Montgomery County sues librarian who hurt herself trying to get shampoo bottle out of car … John Allen Muhammad attorneys plan to appeal to U.S. Supreme Court … Co-owner charged in fire at Fairfax City bar.

This Day in DCist: Last year, large swaths of Northwest D.C. were grappling with water outages, and three years ago, we wondered exactly who is falling for those sketchy Craigslist apartment listings.