Photo by Maryland Route 5

Good morning, Washington. With the chances increasing that we might see a glimmer of snow or slush tomorrow, the District couldn’t have picked a better day to do a dry-run of its snow-removal equipment. Around 9:30 a.m. today, the Department of Public Works and Department of Transportation will be sending some 250 heavy and light plows out into the city as part of a training exercise for the winter to come. If the weather turns ugly, they may be out for real tomorrow.

Gray Allegedly Gave Sulaimon Talking Points: During the 2010 mayoral campaign, minor candidate Sulaimon Brown often said, “Go Brown, go Gray, go any color but Fenty.” But that may not have been his line. A new report by the AP finds Brown claiming that Mayor Vince Gray fed him talking points with which to attack Mayor Adrian Fenty on the campaign trail. While not a crime, the allegation, if true, would show a surprisingly level of coordination between Gray and Brown’s campaigns and again raise questions as to how far Gray may have gone to defeat Fenty.

MoCo Parents Not Too Keen on Curfew: The Examiner reports that an important group is against a proposed Montgomery County curfew — parents. The Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations passed a resolution against the curfew, which would keep minors out of public places after 11 p.m. on weeknights and after midnight on weekends, noting that crime was already down. An enhanced loitering law was presented this week as a counter-proposal to the curfew.

Capital Crescent Costs Crescendo: The Post reports that the costs for rebuilding the popular Capital Crescent Trail along a proposed Purple Line route between Bethesda and Silver Spring have jumped from $65 million to $103 million. The increase is attributed to engineering challenges in fitting both a pedestrian/cycling path and rail line through a tunnel beneath Wisconsin Avenue.

President Obama Dines at Liberty Tavern: So much for his fling with Ben’s Chili Bowl. Fox 5 reports that President Obama dined with several key campaign contributors on Thursday as part of a plan to spur giving to his 2012 re-election campaign. Obama and his four guests dined at Arlington’s Liberty Tavern.

Briefly Noted: We didn’t even know that there were that many Patch sites in the region … Maryland is for millionaires … Four MoCo departments cost taxpayers $7.8 million in overtime costs … All hail this 12-year-old … D.C. settles suit over St. Elizabeths … How should Metro communicate during an emergency?

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2010, we searched for the quintessential D.C. movie a Virginia Republican fired up our longstanding disenfranchisement-related indignity. In 2009, D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles apologized to Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) with flowers.