Photo by JeffoftheJungle

Good morning, Washington. After a sunny opening to the month, get ready for a dreary, gray, occasionally rainy Friday.

Papers, Please: The Virginia state senate passed yesterday a bill that would require voters to present identification before receiving a ballot. WAMU reports that the bill’s effects could be felt most heavily in the state’s African-American community, where a 7 percent increase in turnout among black voters in 2008 helped make Barack Obama the first Democrat to win Virginia since 1984. The vote passed with the tie-breaking vote of Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling. “They know that the only way they are going to win Virginia is to make sure that his minority voting base doesn’t come out,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly about the state senate Republicans who backed the voter ID bill. The House of Delegates previously passed a version of the measure and will now consider the senate’s version before it goes to Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Did He Do That?: When he represented Ward 5 on the D.C. Council, Harry Thomas Jr. sometimes liked to drop the occasional Hollywood reference. Count the 1990s sitcom Family Matters among his favorite shows, as Loose Lips reports that Thomas may have directed the Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation to fund a youth arts group called Kellie Williams Programs. Who is Kellie Williams, you ask? She played Laura Winslow, Steve Urkel’s longstanding crush object. An email obtained in an investigation into CYITC by Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) suggests that Williams’ organization received $70,000 in 2007, as well as funding in 2008 and 2009.

Forget Peyton: What could be better than the Redskins importing a 36-year-old, injury-riddled quarterback? A great draft pick at the position. The team won’t get Stanford wonderboy Andrew Luck, but it might have a shot at Baylor University’s Robert Griffin III, a Washingtonian scribe argues. Of course, it would require the Redskins trading several picks at the upcoming NFL Draft to get to second in line to land the Heisman Trophy winner, but it might be worth the gamble: “After years of quick fixes and stopgaps, fans are desperate for a player they can embrace. Off of the field and on, Griffin is an ideal fit for Washington. He possesses the skills, smarts, and personality to run this town.”

Briefly Noted: Maryland tax proposal would cost one in five residents as much as $274 a year … Father of soldier killed in friendly-fire incident unhappy with meeting with Army secretary … Gray banking on $200 million bounce from Cherry Blossoms … Pining for In-n-Out disguised as web poll … Warm weather gives Standard a big crowd on its first day back … Two men seriously wounded in Southeast D.C. shooting.

This Day in DCist: In 2011, the University of the District of Columbia defended his lavish travels, and a U.S. Park Police officer was struck by a car on the Southwest Freeway. In 2010, the Smithsonian declined the suit worn by O.J. Simpson the day he was pronounced not guilty of murder charges, and Marion Barry was censured.