Photo by sciascia

Beyond the significant news in Occupy D.C. this week, we celebrated our own local Groundhog Day, debated the pronunciation of McPherson and awwed at some pictures of wolf cubs.

• It was another big week in news for our local Occupy D.C. protesters. On Monday, they dropped a large tarp over the statue of General James McPherson (much to the chagrin of one local) as a protest of imminent U.S. Park Police enforcement of no-camping rules. Told that they couldn’t sleep in the park, a small group of protesters took part in a “sleep strike,” keeping themselves awake for days at a time, which a sleeping specialist called “distinctly unhealthy.” By the end of the week, only one sleep striker remained, and he relied on close a gallon of coffee a day and lots of cigarettes to keep his eyes open. The big news, of course, took place yesterday, when Park Police entered the encampment, took down the “tent of dreams” and started searching tents for evidence of sleeping. Eight people were arrested. (Pictures here and here.)
• Speaking of McPherson Square, while WAMU chose to go with McFurson, we insisted that it remain McFearson.
• In D.C. politics, Mayor Vince Gray and D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown responded to a recall attempt and former mayoral hopeful and millionaire Don Peebles hinted that he’d bankroll a possible recall. The District announced that it closed out 2011 with a $240 million surplus, a D.C. Council committee approved a repeal of a controversial Internet gambling program, the incumbents in the 2012 D.C. campaigns pulled further away in the money race, yet another D.C. agency came under scrutiny for questionable spending and Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large) encouraged activist Bryan Weaver to enhance his initiative.
• Think you know the District well? We bet you didn’t know these things.
• We learned that Pat Collins lived on H Street NE before it was cool, an overzealous bookworm of a deer crashed through a D.C. library window, the District ranked amongst the country’s top terrorist hot spots, Virginia moved on a law that would force women seeking an abortion to get an ultrasound first, the T Street Post Office announced it was moving to the Reeves Center, the city’s food trucks endorsed a new slate of regulations and a 14-year-old Maryland girl had a strange birthday wish — for the state’s legislators to vote against same-sex marriage.
• In animal news, the National Zoo introduced the world to some adorable wolf cubs and sent out a naughty press release. Potomac Phil predicted six more weeks of winter, and PETA wasn’t amused.
• In other news, John Legend surprised D.C. high school students at the Kennedy Center, the District’s school breakfasts received high marks, the National Archives picked up a copy of the Magna Carta, we reviewed some of the fringe presidential candidates and there was plenty of good news in the local beer world.
• Finally, we admitted we were behind the times in some of the terms we used in our coverage of a horrific crime.