Photo by JosephLeonardo

Good morning, Washington. You just know it’s going to be a good day when you’ve received a press release from the District informing you of an exercise at RFK today that seeks to test the city’s readiness for “catastrophic, mass casualty event and to test Mega shelters, mobile morgue, and interoperability capabilities.” Yep, it’s disaster simulation day, and we’ll be there to see how the District would fare against a zombie attack, hordes of killer bees or a “Contagion”-like virus. Keep checking back for pictures and details on what you should expect should squirrels suddenly go rabid and run loose throughout the city.

All Those Cops Are Gonna Cost Us: Remember those All Hands on Deck weekends, when D.C. police officers flooded city streets for an entire weekend? Well, they’re certainly not free — according to WTOP, the city has opted not to appeal a ruling ordering the city to pay overtime to all the officers, meaning that the District may be forced to shell out close to $4 million for nine weekend of work in 2009. The police union argued that D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier violated the police contract with the initiative. Regardless of the ruling, Lanier plans to continue using the practice; union officials pledged to take her to court to stop it altogether.

Education Board Representative Arrested: The City Paper reports that Trayon White, the Ward 8 representative on the D.C. State Board of Education, was arrested Saturday and charged with unlawful entry. According to police, White was standing in front of a housing complex which which he had been barred from during the summer. White, who was elected to the position in April, disputed the claims and said he was targeted by police. The Post’s Mike DeBonis also has details.

D.C. May Have Lots of Lawyers, But Not Doctors: A report by the D.C. Board of Medicine finds that only around 2,800 doctors actively serve patients in the District, writes the Post. (Almost 9,000 are licensed here, but only one-third see patients for more than 20 hours a week.) Of those, only 382 are in internal medicine, 307 in pediatrics, 119 in obstetrics and gynecology, and 110 in family practice. In terms of where they work, the majority are clustered in wards 1, 2, 3 and 5. By comparison, there’s an estimated 70,000 lawyers in the city.

Briefly Noted: ANC Ward 5 Dems election provokes more political intrigue in Ward 5 … Steve Case wants to buy a local winery … Adrian Fenty write-in organizers only have to pay half their original $18,000 fine for re-using campaign signs … Wait, Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) is a duck? … D.C. explores new ways to fight HIV/AIDS … Metro sues insurance provider in wake of deadly Red Line crash.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2010, Mayor Vince Gray went on tour, Placido Domingo left Washington and there was a daytime shooting on U Street. In 2009, the Post dedicated 1,700 words to the fixie and the new Columbia Heights Plaza was dedicated.