Photo by anokarina

Good morning, Washington. It’s about as perfect a day as you could hope for — the very type that makes even the emotionally unpredictable Davy DCist happy — so let’s skip with the formalities, get to the news and get everyone outside as soon as possible, okay?

No Charges in DC9 Death: Late yesterday afternoon, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District announced that it would not be pressing any charges in the death of Ali Ahmed Mohammed outside of DC9 last October. According to the press release, “evidence did not support a finding that the owner and employees beat Mr. Mohammed to death” as was initially thought. The City Paper reports that Mohammed’s family is still planning a civil suit against the five men that were initially charged with the crime. D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier, who originally termed the crime “vigilante justice,” will likely have a few questions to answer about her initial statements, and it seems like she’s being thrown under the bus pretty quickly — in a Post article on the decision to stop the investigation, Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) says Lanier stirred everyone up.

The Gray/Brown Scandals, Part Deux: If Mayor Vince Gray and D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown thought their respective scandals had passed, well, they haven’t. The City Paper reports on a new cache of internal emails discussing Brown’s demand for a fully loaded luxury SUV, this time uncovering the fact that he turned down a Chevy Tahoe that would have only cost $895 a month, over $1,000 less that the Lincoln Navigator he ended up getting. But that’s not all: the emails catch two employees of the Department of Public Works expressing their honest opinions about Brown’s high-priced demands, with one calling the Navigator a “waste and abuse of taxpayers money” and another opining that the whole situation “smells to high heaven.” The Post has the dirt on Gray, which, comparable to Brown, is relatively benign — there’s some striking similarities between administration talking points on executive salaries and anonymous comments left on a number of articles on the issues. Hmmmm.

New Pay-By-Phone Parking System Coming to D.C.: WTOP writes that the District has chosen a new provider for pay-by-phone parking meter services, which will eventually be available at 15,000 parking meters across the city. The only catch is that each over-the-phone transaction will cost you an additional 30 to 35 cents — but you will be able to use a handy app to pay for parking.

Briefly Noted: Post editorial board apparently doesn’t like dancing at the Jefferson Memorial either … Either suburban officials don’t know about the District’s quadrants or the Department of Transportation doesn’t know where it’s located … Graham raises questions about candidate for top DYRS job … Three charged in D.C. killings.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2010, Bishop Harry Jackson tried to influence the District’s local elections (he failed) and we prepared for a mix of World Cup soccer and the Capital Pride parade in Dupont Circle. In 2009, Live Nation got called on its “No Service Fee Wednesdays” promotion and D.C. Shadow Senator Paul Strauss pleaded guilty to a DUI.