Photo by Bogotron

Good morning, Washington. Are you ready to no longer receive mail on Saturdays? Because that’s increasingly looking like what’s going to happen, as evidenced by this new USPS web site promoting a five-day delivery plan as the key solution to the postal service’s financial woes. The irony of getting the word out via the internet about a proposal for decreasing mail service because of “unprecedented volume declines” is hard to miss. The plan would go into effect sometime in FY2011, pending congressional approval.

DCPS Students Make Gains in Reading: The Nation’s Report Card came out Wednesday, and D.C. 4th graders showed real improvement in their reading skills, despite a nationwide trend that saw little to no growth. Of course, as the Examiner points out, D.C. students had nowhere to go but up, and still lag behind the national average. The Post also covers the scores, focusing more on the bleak national picture post-NCLB, but also noting that D.C. eighth graders didn’t show much improvement.

Metrobus Riders Worried About Service Cuts: The Post and WAMU both cover last night’s public hearing in Southeast on WMATA’s 2011 budget plan, and the results aren’t particularly surprising. “Most of those who came to comment are bus riders angered at the prospect of routes being cut or service hours reduced,” writes WaPo. Four more public hearings are still to come.

IRS Files a Lien Against Barry: The Internal Revenue Service has filed a lien against D.C. Council member Marion Barry, the Washington Times reports. Barry owes than $15,000 in unpaid income taxes from 2005 through 2008, according to the filing, and of course much more than that (close to $200,000) for previous years. “The lien doesn’t mean the IRS will seize any property or assets, but it does give the IRS a legal claim to Mr. Barry’s property as security for payment.” Barry attorney Fred Cooke told the newspaper he felt the lien was routine.

Briefly Noted: Civil rights legend Dorothy Height in intensive care at Howard University Hospital … Eisenhower Memorial design to be unveiled today … Watergate Hotel sale stuck in limbo … D.C. girl recovering from pit bull attack … Drivers charged in I-95 road rage case … Fatal shooting in Capitol Heights.

This Day in DCist: Last year, we chatted with Modern Spice author Monica Bhide, and the year before that, the city was forced to rehire 11 fired DCPS workers.