Photo by Lauren PM.

Good morning, Washington. Do you have any unpaid D.C. parking or driving tickets that you’ve been ducking? Well, the city would really, really, really appreciate it if you would pony up. See, Washington is facing a near-$500 million deficit next year, and scofflaws around town owe about $300 million in unpaid tickets. (Yeah, that’s more than half the deficit.) The District is so hard up for cash, they’ll likely even let you pay the face value of those tickets, no matter how old. Freeman Klopott reports that D.C. is considering running an amnesty program (similar to the one they had last year for taxes) so the city can recoup even a little bit of that missing revenue. it’s estimated that such an amnesty program would bring in $6 million — that’s but two percent of the total missing — to the city’s coffers.

Metro Riders Voice Opposition To Bag Searches: Last night’s meeting of the Metro Riders Advisory Council featured dozens of customers registering their displeasure about Metro’s random bag searches, with many arguing that the procedure will create unneccessary delays and is a breach of riders’ Constitutional rights. Of course, the complaints might fall on deaf ears: Metro Transit Police Deputy Chief Ron Pavlik told the riders that “[u]ntil things change in the world I think we’re going to continue to do this.” Metro officials countered that they had received positive feedback about the searches and that no one had yet refused search when they were pulled aside.

No, He’s Literally Breaking Down Walls: We thoroughly enjoyed this story about D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown’s new digs at the John A. Wilson Building — “a spacious suite with 20-foot ceilings, a small kitchen and a private bathroom.” Pretty nice — but not enough for Brown, who didn’t want to give up his old, adjacent fifth-floor suite. So the new Chair had city workers break down a wall and connect the two suites, giving Brown “a new chairman’s office that runs nearly the length” of the building. The renovation, which cost $13,000, is a tidy little analogy for Brown’s first day on the job: he replaced Jack Evans as chair pro tempore with Mary Cheh, removed Jim Graham from the Metro board in favor of Tommy Wells and created an ethics committee yesterday.

Briefly Noted: Alleged overtime abuse at D.C. Fire and EMS…Feds will help pay for local stormwater fees…Man removed from flight to D.C. after refusing crew requests…Maryland opens second casino today…Person shot and killed outside Suitland bar…Wizards and Caps owner Ted Leonsis buys 1926 chateau-style mansion in Potomac…Congratulations to all the FY2011 D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities grantees.

This Day in DCist: Last year, our commenters were on fire — especially on Sommer’s epic smackdown of LateNightShots’ miserable New Year’s Eve party and this fine example of listserv reactionism.