Photo by Aaron Webb

Good morning, Washington. It’s not too early to start making plans for the Fourth of July, of course, but we know that some of you tend to wait until the last minute to throw together a party. Well, the D.C. Council is here to help ensure that that even the worst procrastinators among you will be able to celebrate your freedom not only from British meddling, but also from sobriety: city liquor stores will be open on the Fourth. Tommy Wells, Yvette Alexander and Kwame Brown objected, raising concerns about mixing fireworks and booze.

D.C. Failed to Pay Insurance Premiums: The Examiner reports that over the past seven years the Office of Risk Management has been collecting life insurance premiums from the city’s disabled employees, but failed to send those payments to the companies servicing the policies. It doesn’t sound like too much has come of it: the insurance companies don’t seem to have noticed and have been paying claims anyway. But now the city could be on the hook for $6 million. The city’s independent inspector general has been asked to look into what happened to the premium payments. Attorney General Peter Nickles says that at this time there’s no reason to think the money went toward anything inappropriate.

Md. Man Faces Prosecution for Taping Traffic Stop: The Post relays a troubling example of police bullying. Earlier this year Anthony Graber was pulled over for driving his motorcycle too quickly and recklessly; at the time, he was recording video with a helmet cam. He later posted the video of the stop on YouTube. A few weeks after that he was awoken by a police raid, and was presented with a warrant related to a wiretap charge. The relevant law forbids the covert audio recording of private conversations, which the police say should include interactions between themselves and the public, in public.

Briefly Noted: Virginia goes after Outlaws motorcycle gang… Not only is Catholic University’s water back on, they’ve also got a new president… Cop on duty during theft of Fenty’s bikes not off the hook after all… Six D.C. schools fall short of No Child Left Behind standards, which means 150 teachers and staff will have to reapply for their jobs… “Videotaping this crime spree is the best idea we’ve ever had!”… Fort Dupont murder victim identified as opera singer… Oh no! Sexting!… Burkittsville putting Blair Witch memorabilia on eBay… Hyattsville parking garage explosion was an accident… Fifty-five cats found in N.W. home… Arrest made in Shaw triple shooting…

This Day In DCist: One year ago we got an early look at a repaired Eastern Market.