Photo by blogancircle

Good morning, Washington, and happy contrived federal holiday celebrating the birthdays of two of our nation’s greatest leaders! Or, just Washington’s Birthday, depending on your purist sensibilities. So did anyone really need this additional day off, after so many snow days last week? Perhaps I’m just cranky that this is one of those holidays I don’t really get to take off. Although I’m arguably crankier about this additional snow emergency, which started at 9 a.m. We’re only supposed to get 1 to 3 inches, starting sometime later this afternoon, and that necessitates an emergency? Already? Ah well, if it really does help the city manage to “plow curb-to-curb” this time around, we’ll quit whining and keep our fingers crossed. In the meantime, hurry up and move your car!

Economy’s Extremes Are All Right Here: The Washington Post’s Sandhya Somashekhar has a nice article today about how in some parts of our city, you can barely even tell there’s a recession going on, while in others, its effects are devastatingly visible. Key takeaway: “The pattern has created a system of winners and losers, and a widening of the already broad chasm between rich and poor, said Stephen S. Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University.”

Speaking of the Economy: How’s all the snow affecting the way we spend? Once again, there are winners and losers, reports Markham Heid in Sunday’s Examiner, though probably more losers this time around. One exception? Any place that stayed open in Dupont Circle while the snowball fights were going on. Gas stations, on the other hand, not so much.

Briefly Noted: Amtrak passengers stranded in Fairfax for hours … Prince George’s County girl found in Tennessee after Amber Alert; man charged in her abduction … Valentine’s Day in Georgetown marked by traffic jam … O’Malley to push for teacher tenure changes.

This Day in DCist: In 2008, it didn’t seem like Virginia would ever pass a smoking ban (how wrong we were!), and in 2007, we were dealing with a power outage in the 20001.