Good morning, D.C. In the absence of any panic-worthy winter weather, our Saturday morning review of the news is back to normalcy — that is, depressing relays of criminal activity, enough to jade even the most hardened of news aggregators. A hit and run, a 13-year-old prime suspect in a homicide, an 18-year-old sentenced to life in prison for a double-slaying, a D.C. Public Schools teacher accused of impregnating a special needs student — the crimes actually seem to keep getting more disturbing the more we read. So, you’ll excuse us if this we spent a little extra time this morning enjoying the utter absurdity of Mitt Romney and a Canadian rapper engaging in “physical violence” after the latter’s refused to comply with the former’s request to return his seat to the upright position.

In other news this morning:

>> Lena Sun reports that the National Transportation Safety Board will take the rare step of holding a three-day hearing featuring witnesses taking questions about Metro safety and oversight issues. Most Metro brass, including outgoing General Manager John Catoe, are scheduled to testify, beginning on Tuesday.

>> Alexander Haig, a former advisor to Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, passed away early this morning at Johns Hopkins Medical Center.

>> Google can now buy and sell electricity. (Insert your own Buzz joke here.)