Photo by Chris Suspect

Good morning, Washington, and happy winter. At least the Capital Weather Gang predicts the first day of the ostensibly cold and dark season will be rather mild.

Fastest Growing: The Examiner breaks down yesterday’s data released by the Census Bureau showing U.S. population growth since the completion of the 2010 census. In the year since the decennial survey, D.C. has grown by 16,000, bringing the local population to 617,996 and making the District the country’s fastest-growing political subdivision.

Hope and Regime Change: The Post talks to members of the area’s Korean-American community about the weekend death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il. For many, Kim was a looming presence even half a world away. June Yun, vice president of the Korean American Association of Greater Washington, talks about the surreality of her visit to the North and her hopes for unification. Others still have relatives in North Korea, and are hoping Kim’s death will speed chances for reunification.

Old Schools Possibly Seeking New Owners: The District needs to do something with the dilapidated, run-down buildings it owns but no longer uses, Lydia DePillis writes, singling out the old Langston and J.F. Cook schools. The city is considering whether the disused, boarded-up buildings “should be ‘surplused’—deemed unnecessary for further District use,” and turned over to the most attractive bidder. But given their location—unappealing for residential development—and the cost of renovating, “we’ll see who, if anyone, wants to take them on,” DePillis writes.

Briefly Noted: Stolen iPhone recovered using iPad tracking app, total Augenstein bait … I-695 has always been here, lurking without signs … MPD officer guilty in stolen property case … Occupy D.C. to thin out for the holidays but “[deploy] some new tactics” in 2012 … Ten local tracks you should have listened to this year.

This Day in DCist: In 2010, House Republicans stripped Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton of some of her voting privileges, and then incoming D.C. Council Chairman announced committee chairmanships, not all of which lasted. In 2009, the District was found to be generally unhappy, and DDOT learned to use Twitter in a snowstorm.