Photo by wolfkann

>> The D.C. Council plans to move forward with a referendum on budget autonomy, reports the Washington Times. City legislators, D.C. voting rights activists and former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) all endorsed the plan, under which the council would authorize a public vote on giving the city more control over its own money. The only dissent came from Shadow Senator Michael Brown, who wants the council to focus on statehood instead; D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Mayor Vince Gray have also viewed the referendum with skepticism, preferring instead to let Congress pass a budget autonomy bill.

>> D.C.’s only rescue boat, the 50-year-old John H. Glenn Jr., doesn’t have valid Coast Guard documentation or functioning communications equipment, and it needs a $700,000 overhaul, writes the Examiner. The boat is the only means that the city has to respond to large-scale emergencies on the water; it responded to a 1982 plane crash over the Potomac River and a more recent derailment of a train crossing the Anacostia. Despite all its problems, say city officials, it can still serve its primary firefighting duty and will soon be rehabbed.

>> What did last week’s presidential election look like through the eyes of foreigners? Two journalism students at American University and current WTOP interns—one from Norway, the other Germany—share their impressions today, saying that President Obama’s victory was treated much the same as a soccer championship would be in Europe.

Briefly Noted: Some D.C. principals may eventually lose control over budgets … D.C. woman attacked by four pit bulls in apartment … Microsoft and two tech firms chosen to build on St. Elizabeths campus … Drunk rescued after falling into C&O Canal … Over 67,000 homeless veterans across the country, 500 in D.C.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2011, Nats catcher Wilson Ramos was on his way home after a kidnapping in Venezuela. In 2010, a gay couple from Texas got married while authorized D.C. officiant presided over the ceremony…via Skype.