Photo by specimenlife.

Good morning, Washington, and happy Columbus Day! We’re not one for big celebrations, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t recognize that our own fair District was named after the man who “discovered” the Americas. Posting may be a little light as we thank the heavens that Hernán Cortés didn’t get here first.

Occupy D.C., Overstay D.C.: WTOP reports that protesters, some of which were part of a nice weekend visit to the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, intend on over-staying their permit at their Freedom Plaza encampment, putting in question whether or not police will respond. Though the protesters are part of an anti-war group, their demonstration has overlapped with the Occupy D.C. movement, which had been gathering in and around McPherson Square.

D.C. Council Debates Grass-Cutting Contract: Despite a series of fiery editorials by the Post last week, the Friday hearing on a grass-cutting contract for city facilities proved more a philosophical discussion that it did an expose of another scandal for the Gray administration. During the hearing, officials from two contractors — one based in the District, the other out — testified as to what services they provided, how much the services cost and how they came to enter in an agreement with the city to cut grass and remove snow. The owners of CBI, a local firm contracted with grass-cutting in two wards, told of their D.C.-based work-crew while complaining about how expensive it was to do business in the District; the owner of Lorenz Inc., a firm based in Baltimore that hired no D.C. residents for its work in six wards, said that his contract was cut short for little more than where he was from, despite offering a lower price than the local competition. After hours of questioning by six councilmembers, the only conclusion seemed to be that legislators are intent on working to fine-tune city rules on who can get contracts and how best to balance the interests of hiring local and getting a good deal on services.

New Contract Negotiations On Horizon for D.C. Teachers: After the last contract negotiation between teachers and D.C. school officials stretched on over three years, neither party seems interested in another long-drawn battle. But as the Examiner reports, the new contract negotiations, set to begin in the coming weeks, may well get hung up on the IMPACT teacher evaluations. School officials have already claimed that the evaluation tool is not part of negotiations, while Washington Teachers’ Union President Nathan Saunders has said that he wants to see changes made, especially in how it is used to sort and fire teachers.

Briefly Noted: Teen stabbed to death in Petworth … George Allen raises $900,000, has $1.8 million on hand for Senate race … Should D.C. voters have to show ID at the polls? … Police investigating apparent murder-suicide in Bethesda … Pretty sure you should make sure you’ve got a problem-free car before stuffing nine pounds of marijuana in the trunk … Is that your teacher in your living room? Yup, it is … Thankfully, I don’t read the American Spectator, but if I did, I’d cancel my subscription … Ted Nugent, editorialist … Please tell me the next time the Spin Doctors are in town, okay?

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2010, Danny DeVito’s foot came to Washington. In 2009, a number of local post offices were put on the chopping block. In 2008, we interviewed Girl Talk and the local ban on single beers continued to expand.