Photo by Paul Frederiksen

Good morning, Washington. We’re only hours away from a possible shutdown of the federal and District governments — unless D.C. decides to break the law and remain open — and everyone is preparing for what’s to come. Keep it here today, as we’ll have a comprehensive rundown shortly as to what the shutdown will mean for District residents and visitors. I’m still trying to find a way to easily explain to my four-year-old nephew, who arrives next week, why the National Zoo isn’t open and why its inhabitants have been furloughed. Well, better to break the hard, cold reality of Washington politics to him at an early age, right?

Gray To Field Questions: If you’re got any questions for Mayor Vince Gray, head on over to the Post’s site today at 12:30 p.m. for what will be a bi-monthly feature where he’ll be taking questions from readers.

D.C. Council Continues Hearings on Hiring Scandal: A D.C. Council committee spent the entire day yesterday hearing testimony from some of the figures at the heart of the hiring scandal that has hit the Gray administration, writes the Post. Amongst those that testified were Rochelle Webb, former director of the Department of Employment Services, and her son Brandon, who got a job at the D.C. Fire Department; Leslie Green, daughter of Gray transition chair Lorraine Green and now communications specialist at the D.C. Office of Motion Picture and Television Development; and former chief of staff Gerri Mason Hall, who accepted the majority of the blame for the scandal. (The Washington Times also has a write-up on the day’s events.) Who didn’t testify? Sulaimon Brown, who showed up at the Wilson Building only to run away — literally — when threatened with a subpoena. More hearings are yet to come, and Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) said she wants to hear from former Gray campaign aide Howard Brooks (who is accused of participating in a scheme to pay Brown to criticize Fenty during last year’s campaign), Lorraine Green and Human Resources director Judy Banks, who will have to correct a number of inaccuracies in her original testimony last week. The circus continues.

The D.C. Superior Court Has Rodents: Yep, mice and rats. And court employees don’t seem to see the little critters in the way they’d see the cartoon versions in Disney movies.

Briefly Noted: Maryland moved towards giving in-state tuition to certain illegal immigrants…Prince George’s County police kill ax-wielding man…Donald Trump buys local vineyard…Four D.C. firefighters injured battling blaze early this morning.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2010, a cyclist in Bloomingdale was hit by a road rager and the District’s gingko season started early. In 2009, laid-off lawyers led a daytime bar crawl.