Photo by jsmjr

>> Just about half the season is gone, but Capitals hockey returns to D.C. next week. In preparation for the shortened season—and maybe to say sorry to angry fans—the Caps hosted a fan appreciation night yesterday at the Verizon Center, reports WJLA. Food and drinks (except beer) were free, and team owner Ted Leonsis mingled with fans. The Caps open their season Saturday in Tampa, but return to D.C. on Tuesday.

>> A D.C. police officer was convicted yesterday of two murders—one of his mistress, who he shot in Maryland, and the other of their 11-month-old daughter, who he left in a hot SUV to die. The Post reports that it only to a jury in Prince George’s County two hours before finding Richmond Phillips guilty on two counts of first-degree murder; he’ll be sentenced in March, and he faces a life sentence.

>> If Metro’s escalators improve over the next few years, you’ll have the Finnish to thanks. The Examiner writes that Metro yesterday awarded a $151 million contract to a Finnish company to fix or replace 128 escalators over the next seven years. Over the last few years Metro has started replacing or rehabilitating some of the system’s 588 escalators; Foggy Bottom and Dupont Circle’s south entrance got new escalators recently. It’ll be a while before work starts on this new round of escalators, though—Bethesda, the first station on the list, won’t see any work until early 2014.

Briefly Noted: Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley wants to expand early voting sites … Human Rights Watch report says that D.C. under-reports sexual assaults, but D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier disagrees … A Dulles runway will serve private planes arriving for the inauguration … Mayor Vince Gray wants to play a bigger role in gun control debate.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2012, we became intolerant about a tolerance ranking and the Alamo Drafthouse in Ashburn dropped “D.C.” from its name. In 2011, an appeal of same-sex marriage in D.C. to the Supreme Court was denied.