Photo by DMD67

>> After nearly one-third of the city’s firefighters called in sick on New Year’s Day, Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) is warning the firefighters’ union not to do the same when President Obama is re-inaugurated next Monday. The Washington Examiner reports that Wells told firefighters that if they attempt a similar “sick-out” it “would ‘absolutely’ prompt a response.”

>> The Virginia General Assembly appears set to confirm the state’s first openly gay judge, in a reversal of the legislature’s position last year, when it rejected Gov. Bob McDonnell’s appointment of Tracy Thorne-Begland to General District Court in Richmond. The Washington Post reports that most Republican opposition to Thorne-Begland has dissipated, especially after he was temporarily appointed to the bench after the remainder of the court’s judges.

>> The Blue Line is already Metro’s slow poke, and when the Silver Line opens this year, it’ll become an even rarer sight, but Metro General Manager Richard Sarles says he’s not to blame, WAMU reports. With Silver Line trains set to be routed through the Rosslyn tunnel and the Blue Line scheduled to be rerouted to the Yellow Line Bridge, Sarles told The Kojo Nnamdi Show yesterday that once the new line is running, Blue Line trains will only appear once every 12 minutes, even during peak hours.

Briefly Noted: Capital Bikeshare might be a little thin around the National Mall this week … Katharine Boo a finalist for National Book Critics Circle … Pro-marijuana lawyer Paul Zukerberg first to turn in signatures for at-large special election.