Photo by Biketripper

>> It wasn’t a good morning for Metro’s Red Line, with a switch problem at Judiciary Square causing single-tracking between Farragut North and Union Station and producing delays all along the line.

>> A death row inmate in Virginia is scheduled to be executed today—and that’s how he wants it. The AP reports that Robert Gleason Jr. has asked that he be put to death, saying that if he’s not he’ll simply keep on killing people. After being sentenced to a life in prison he killed his cellmate and strangled another, and has since argued that he needs to be executed to stop his murderous ways. He has opted to be electrocuted, even as his attorneys—against his wishes—try to save his life.

>> The Virginia Legislature yesterday reversed course and appointed the commonwealth’s first openly gay judge, writes the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Tracy Thorne-Begland was rejected for a post on the Richmond Manchester General District Court last year, despite enjoying support from Gov. Bob McDonnell.

>> A D.C. man tells NBC4 that his father died from cardiac arrest on New Year’s Eve after it took an ambulance 40 minutes to arrive at his home. The delay was prompted in part by a high number of D.C. firefighters that called in sick that day, leaving ambulances understaffed. Some city officials are angry at what they call a coordinated “sick-out,” but Firefighter Union leaders say that D.C. Fire & EMS officials didn’t prepare or respond adequately.

Briefly Noted: Virginia Senate panel can’t agree whether or not to restore voting rights for felons, measure moves on without its recommendation … App developers complain of quality of data made available by Metro … Virginia posts 2012 record for soybeans, cotton and peanuts … Purple Line projects delayed … Former top official at Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority steered no-bid contract to wife and daughter … D.C. police cracking down on jaywalkers.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2012, Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) got her own Rush Limbaugh shout-out and Loudoun County fought us for Dan Snyder’s affection. In 2011, the Virginia DMV said that drivers could eat kids, though not slap them.