Photo by TAIwiffic

Good morning, Washington. Coming up this morning, roving DCist reporter Martin Austermuhle will have a detailed look at probable-Mayor-to-be Vince Gray’s Town Hall Tour, which started last night in Ward 5. While we wait with bated breath to hear more about Gray’s vision of the city’s future, let’s see what’s happening around the District.

Nice-ifying the National Mall: Jon Stewart is bringing more than “sanity” on October 30, he’s bringing money, as well. Stewart has asked the rally attendees to donate a few bucks to the Trust for the National Mall, which tries to bridge the $400 million gap in funds for maintenance. Meanwhile, the Washington Post has the details that Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is weighing plans to radically redesign their outdoor space — which happens to be due for a renovation anyway — into a more dynamic exhibition space inspired by the Kunsthalle in Europe. The garden would be dug out to a lower plane and roofed, allowing the museum to move some of their temporary exhibits outside, hang more of the Hirshhorn’s permanent pieces inside the main building, while moving many of the outdoor sculptures into the more trafficked plaza. The idea, as Hirshhorn director Richard Koshalek notes, is “its one shot at getting bigger, yet without visibly expanding its footprint,” with a building that “can’t build up and has no room to expand side-to-side.” The plan is hardly finalized, but studies are being drawn up and the Smithsonian hopes it might come to fruition by 2014, the museum’s 40th anniversary.

Police Cadet Cheating Investigation Expands: Prince George’s County may be taking over 30 police off the streets as it investigates allegations that an entire class of cadets cheated on their training academy exams. The Washington Post has records that show that in the class that graduated in July 2009, every cadet scored 100 percent on 11 tests, including “a student who already had been dismissed…[and] could not have taken the test.” An additional three classes and 146 officers are also being investigated, as well as allegations of poor or corrupt recordkeeping that have allowed at least one ineptly trained cadet to graduate, despite recommendations for termination. Prince George’s County may strip the officers of their policing duties, and then must figure out what to do with the arrests the officers have made.

Briefly Noted: D.C. students may get longer school day … MoCo budget cuts could affect ambulances … Supreme Court hears Westboro Church case today … For those just not ready for this chilly weather, good news: highs in the mid-70s the rest of the week …

This Day in DCist: Last year we found out Real Housewives of D.C. was really, truly happening, and Marion Barry was hospitalized for dehydration (coincidence?); in 2008 we visited the Small Press Expo; while in 2006 we had to find a bathroom buddy for the Metro.