Photo by lorigoldberg.

Good morning, Washington. The District and the surrounding metro area continues to be under tornado and flash flood watches until 3 p.m. this afternoon, after an evening of massive storming. Several funnel clouds and even a few tornados were spotted around the region last night, including in Bowie and Clinton, Maryland and Stafford, Virginia. Damage so far appears to be limited to a few isolated spots in the outer suburbs — and merely some power outages inside D.C. But other parts of the country haven’t been been as fortunate: the storms have claimed the lives of 193 people across several states to our south and west.

Haynesworth Won’t Accept Plea Deal: That’s according to his lawyer, A. Scott Bolden, who tells the Post that “the fight has just begun.” (It’ll be interesting to see if Haynesworth sticks with his “I don’t even like little black girls” defense or if Bolden advises him to switch that up.) If convicted of the sexual abuse charge, the defensive tackle could face up to 180 days in jail.

Stalemate on the Council?: The analysis of Vincent Orange’s return to the Council continues this morning, as reports suggest that he might not have as easy a time as he might like when it comes to making legislative inroads. Loose Lips quotes a Council source who thinks that Orange will “be frustrated” because “he’s lost some seniority,” and notes that his contentious relationship with Chairman Kwame Brown (whom he contentiously ran against for the postition last fall) could prove to be a major roadblock. Meanwhile, Tim Craig and Mike DeBonis double up on a story about Orange’s future, concluding that “legislating could be paralyzed by infighting” and “it could be a rocky few months inside the John A. Wilson Building.” Meanwhile, the credit for Orange’s election is still being doled out, with the Washington Teachers’ Union more than happy to pat themselves on the back for endorsing the new Councilmember, and Orange himself admitting that he won thanks to a “perfect storm.”

As If Rush Hour Wasn’t Enough To Make You Cry: The Post reports that authorities released pepper spray on the Red Line platform at Metro Center yesterday afternoon during an altercation around 5:45 p.m. No one was taken to the hospital or arrested in the incident.

Briefly Noted: D.C. unemployment rate dips in March…Whitman-Walker Clinic changes name to Whitman-Walker Health after renovation…DYRS: final escapee from South Carolina facility in custody…A nice photo essay and writeup from City Paper on the alleys of the District…Judge denies motion to search landfill for body of Latisha Frazier…Plenty of room in the cupcake game, according to CakeLove’s Warren Brown…But why would a cow need to shoplift milk?…Believe it or not, this thing actually isn’t a mutation caused by pollution in the Potomac River.

This Day in DCist: Last year, there was to be no new panda babies, while a misprinted DCRA inspection sticker was causing some confusion and some metal duct work came a-crashing down.