Happy Christmas Eve, Washington. With the frenzy of last-minute shopping and travel out of the city largely complete, folks staying here for the holiday are being treated to a quieter, gentler D.C. than normal, and it turns out in more ways than one. Over the weekend the Post took a look at a recent decline in the murder rate, reporting that only nine homicides have been logged in the District in the 37 days since…

Good morning, Washington. It turns out that House Pages don’t need lecherous congressmen’s help to make scandalous headlines: two have just gotten busted for inappropriate behavior in a House elevator. They’ve been dismissed, bringing the year’s total fired pages to five — two others were caught shoplifting, and one was booted for fighting. Needless to say, it looks like the program — the oversight of which has been in turmoil — will be getting…

>> A non-rolling tennis ball catches a lot of parking tickets on Cliffbourne Place. [Marc Fisher] >> D.C. police are trying to identify a body found in the Tidal Basin. [NBC4] >> “A DC Team is in the Super Bowl again. The Beacon House Falcons are in Pop Warner Football’s Pee Wee Division Super Bowl on Saturday, December 8th at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex.” [Notions Capital] >> The District government expects to…

>> Bostonist is on top of the hostage situation at the Hillary Clinton headquarters in Rochester, NH. [Bostonist] >> “The historic Hotel Washington will close at the end of the year to undergo extensive renovations and will reopen in 2009 as a sleek W Hotel.” [AP via WTOP] >> “Montgomery County Del. Kumar Barve was arrested last night in Gaithersburg for allegedly driving while impaired by alcohol.” [WaPo] >> “In this day and age,…

Good morning, Washington. Yesterday afternoon Roll Call had the story of a potential suspect finally being identified in all those strange Senate bathroom fires from the last few months. Capitol Police Officer Karen Emory recently has been suspended in connection with the fires, although it still hasn’t been confirmed whether she is definitely a suspect in the case. No charges have been filed, but color us a little disappointed if it turns out a…

The overwhelming consensus so far at today’s D.C. Council hearing on the recent theft of what looks to be $30 million-plus from the District’s tax coffers? The scandal has damaged the reputation of the city government, and the council members are pissed. While most statements have clung to the nasty tidbits of information we already know (the enormity of the crime, that an auditor’s warnings may have been ignored) and palliative cliches, council members provided…

>> Open City, the coffeehouse, diner and bar in Woodley Park, is celebrating its 2nd birthday tonight by offering diners their choice of a free cup of Tryst blend coffee, a glass of champagne, or a piece of chocolate birthday cake. >> Homegrown online fashion purveyors Unsung Designers are heading to New York, but tonight they’ll be hosting a final D.C. trunk sale from 6 to 9 p.m. at 2412 18th Street NW in…

Now is the time of year when we all get to start complaining about how stupid standard time is and how walking out of our offices last night into pitch black darkness was weird and uncomfortable and made us confused about what time happy hour was supposed to start. That is all. ‘Fat Gap’ Between Whites and Blacks in D.C. High: We’ve certainly talked about the income gap between whites and blacks in our city…

Last week Mayor Fenty ordered more beat cops out of their cars and on to the streets in the wake of a series of eleven shootings over the course of one weekend. Today, the MPD is launching something they’re calling “Operation Full Stride.” The name is easily mocked, but are its intentions? Two hundred officers will go door-to-door today in neighborhoods like Columbia Heights, Adams Morgan, the Georgia Ave. corridor, and North Capitol Street, handing…

>> The Blow, Saturday Looks Good to Me and Karl Blau are all at the Black Cat. 8 p.m., $12. >> The songs of Neil Young will be honored by the collective of local musicians known as Ragged Glory at the Velvet Lounge. Check out our full preview here. >> The aforementioned DieYuppieKickball.com is hosting its first initiation meeting tonight at Cosmos, the upstairs of Chief Ike’s, at 7 p.m. Reads the email: “What?!…