Photo by lorigoldberg

Good morning, Washington. Did you get your census form in the mail yet? DCist HQ did, and we’re eagerly looking forward to answering those 10 questions and mailing it in. Only 72 percent of U.S. households mailed back their forms in the last census, and the evening news broadcasts are filled with the reasons why: vague distrust of the government, apathy, and confusion about the purpose of the census. So while you’re filling out your form, encourage your neighbors to fill out theirs as well. Just remember, the only purpose of the census is to help compile important statistics, and federal law prohibits the Census Bureau from giving your information to anyone, including other branches of government. You will not start getting calls about old parking tickets or missed jury duty because you filled out a census form. We promise.

HIV/AIDS Still an Epidemic in D.C. The Post and the Examiner both cover Wednesday’s release of the 2009 Epidemiology Update from the D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration, though they chose pretty different headlines. “D.C.’s HIV rate climbs to 3.2 percent,” says the Examiner, going with stark reality, while the Post’s reads, “New AIDS cases decline in District, but infection rate remains epidemic,” putting what good news there is first. The bottom line is that there are still a shocking number of D.C. residents with HIV/AIDS, but the city appears to finally be doing more about it than in previous years. “The District funded nearly 100,000 HIV tests in 2009, according to the report, distributed 3.5 million condoms, got 350,000 needles off the streets and doubled the number of residents receiving free HIV medications.”

Fired Metro Operator Had Just Returned from Lengthy Leave: Stellar story from the Examiner’s Kytja Weir. Turns out the Metro operator who was recently fired in the wake of the Feb. 12 Farragut North derailment had actually just come back from being on medical leave for nine years. That’s not an exaggeration, she literally hadn’t operated a Metro train for nine years. That doesn’t exactly comport with the picture WMATA drew when she was fired — they merely described her as “a rail operator since April 1999.” It now appears as though she actually had only a couple years experience, and was given just a couple weeks of retraining upon her return before being put back on the job.

Briefly Noted: This winter was officially the snowiest on record at all three airports … D.C. Fire/EMS overtime budget is already blown … Howard University student dies while on spring break … 1,840 pounds of marijuana shipped to Virginia razor blade company … RIP, Alex Chilton.

This Day in DCist: In 2009, we got to the bottom of why D.C. Council member Jim Graham flies the flag of Salvadoran political party FMLN on his car. And in 2008, we waited for arguments before the Supreme Court to begin in the Heller case.