News Bullets, "civil war" Thursday;

October is here, and I loved the brisk 50 degree weather this morning. We'd better all enjoy the roughly 1-2 weeks of "autumn" that DC receives each year.

Welcoming the new fiscal year, Metro's credit/debit/Smartbenefits breaks. Systemwide no farecard machines could process credit or debit card transactions, or Smartbenefits. The problem was resolved by 8 am, according to Metro who declined to give any sort of explanation. Also, remember DC sales tax is now 6%.

There's won't be anything civil about this war. Councilmember David Catania (I-At Large) will introduce gay marriage legislation next Tuesday. The bill would recognize marriage as a union between two people, regardless of gender. It's likely to easily pass the Council and Mayor Fenty is expected to sign it. Congress can overturn the bill, and despite the Democratic majority and President, the future of the measure is unclear. President Obama opposes gay marriage. Also, remember Marion Barry has warned that we risk a civil war.

Cabbies vow to make DC "feel the power of the taxi." Taxi drivers will protest by refusing to service Adams Morgan this weekend. What are they protesting? Who knows, really. At first it was over the proposed medallion legislation, but Jim Graham pulled that yesterday amid the bribery scandal. So now it's a "we still hate meters" protest. Bribes or no bribes, Graham was right that DC is lacking in taxi regulations. However, the one thing cabbies love more than being political is cold hard cash. I'm sure we'll see plenty of rogue cabs, with their 'meters' calibrated to charge 1500руб per kilorod.

Here's where I complain about crime, or something. Remember when I said that I call 911 on average a few times per month? Well, yesterday was call number two in so many days. On Tuesday, I saw a woman get hit by a car. These things happen, not really crime related. Last night I heard 5 shots right outside my window, and then a group of teenagers ran down the street shouting. I called 911, told them there were shots fired, told them what direction the suspected shooters were running. This was at 8 PM. MPD responded 25 minutes later with a squad car and a few plainclothes officers who walked down the street and then left. I suppose I shouldn't expect any more than that, but for a shots fired call at 8 PM in an area with gang activity (and also steps away from Adams Morgan) I'd expect faster than 25 minutes. I guess that's how crime is down... officially nothing happened last night. In reality, there was illegal possession of a firearm, illegal discharge of a firearm and likely attempted murder.