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>> After what happened in Boston, everyone has to ask: is D.C. ready for such an emergency? Not according to a former local homeland security official, reports WTOP. Peter LaPorte, former director of D.C.’s Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, says that D.C. needs to dust off plans for a Boston-style emergency and better train for them. Still, local hospitals say they are ready for a mass-casualty event.

>> D.C. is planning on suing two large construction firms that have worked on school modernization projects, writes the City Paper. The two firms allegedly schemed to cheat a city program that requires that small local contractors get a certain amount of the work that’s done; the City Paper has reported that those two firms did no such thing, and instead conspired to fool the D.C. government into thinking that they were.

>> For a long time, being a member of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority was a pretty plum gig. But as the Post reports, new rules have limited just how much authority executives can spend on business travel and meal expenses. Prior to the rules going into effect, one MWAA executive purchased a plane ticket that cost $12,000; all told, three vice-presidents each had over $10,000 in expenses over a 15-month period.

Briefly Noted: Arlington property tax hike might be bigger than expected … Baltimore suspends speed cameras program … Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley got $5,600 worth of security for Super Bowl … As he awaits fourth trial, former D.C. nightclub owner charged with drug trafficking to remain in prison … Sexting isn’t a very Catholic thing to do, guys.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2012, we all had a collective Space Shuttlegasm and Kwame Brown proved to be a pretty good shot. In 2011, we looked back on the Old Naval Observatory.