Photo by Michael DeAngelis

Good morning, Washington. With a beautiful weekend ahead of us, you might feel the need to head down to the Mall and the monuments to appreciate some of the best of what Washington can offer. Bad idea. TBD rounds up the news, details, and road closures that will accompany two competing rallies on Saturday — Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” at the Lincoln Memorial and Al Sharpton’s “Reclaiming the Dream” starting at Dunbar High School and working its way down to the Mall. If I were you, I’d stay north of Pennsylvania Avenue NW and east of Seventh Street NW until at least Sunday. But if you’re really looking to make new friends, feel free to head down to the Lincoln Memorial and invite some of the Tea Partiers out for drinks at the Red Derby, Wonderland, Trusty’s, the Argonaut — you know, the sorts of places they were told not to venture to under fear of violent death.

MoCo Offers Ad Space in Port-a-Potties: When times are tough, you get creative. In Montgomery County, a severe budget deficit originally pushed officials to ditch port-a-potties in public parks, but a massive outcry forced them to reconsider. Instead, writes the Examiner, they opted to sell ad space inside and out of the portable toilets. So next time you need to use a port-a-potty, you might be staring at an ad; if you’re looking for a captive audience for your product or service, it’ll only set you back $800 a year. And yes, DCist is seriously considering buying ad space.

Achievement Gap in D.C. Schools Remains: Even with a relatively trouble-free start to the school year and the news that the District won a federal Race to the Top education grant, it’s not all peaches and cream for the city’s public schools. The Post’s Bill Turque today digs into 2010 test scores and finds that progress on closing the achievement gap between white and black students slowed this year, after narrowing from 2007 through 2009. School officials claim that the a sustained change in the achievement gap will take years to accomplish; Montgomery County has seen a similar trend.

Gray and Fenty Fight Over Rec Center: In the ongoing battle over who will become the District’s next mayor, it’s all about who can produce results that matter to residents. That’s why both Mayor Adrian Fenty and D.C. Council Chair Vince Gray are trying to take credit for the new Deanwood Rec Center in Ward 7, reports the Examiner. (The feud has gotten so petty that when the ribbon-cutting happened earlier in the summer, Gray claims that Fenty changed the time so the former Ward 7 council member would miss it.) The article quotes one resident that may have the wisdom to settle the dispute: Mayor Anthony Williams was responsible for the rec center.

Briefly Noted: District wants helps in identifying new spots for slug pickups … Sometimes I feel like Harry Jaffe just doesn’t even try … Maryland commission asks Pepco for internal reports on late July and early August storms .. Silver Spring library goes $3 million over budget.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2009, we considered a vital question: Is Wawa better than Sheetz? In 2008, we wished Tian Tian a happy birthday and Mayor Fenty missed the the roll call vote at the Democratic National Convention.