It’s a big day at City Paper. We’re delighted to welcome our new publisher, Katy McKegney! It’s her first day on the job, so feel free to say hi. She comes to us from The Hill, where she was advertising director. At City Paper she’ll direct advertising sales, sponsorship programs, partnerships, and events. Welcome, Katy!

Also: Got a burning question about D.C.? Such as how to pronounce confusing street names, why many homes in Takoma have concrete ponds in their backyards, or where to meet single, straight guys in their 30s? Just ask us. We’ll answer.

It’s cold out there today. Bundle up. Here’s a list of school closings and late starts. And we’re going into federal government shutdown day 32. Keep checking City Paper’s shutdown guide for new information on where to get and give help.

LEADING THE MORNING NEWS:

• Calls for help to shelters spiked during D.C.’s coldest day of the winter season, with wind chills dipping below -5 degrees.

• D.C. United fans will begrudgingly pay to watch the matches online, but fans worry that removing the games from national cable broadcasts will alienate some supporters.

• California Sen. Kamala Harris announced her candidacy for president and spoke at a news conference at Howard University, where she attended school in the 1980s. The former prosecutor bills herself a “lifelong public safety and civil rights leader.” Her progressive rhetoric is already being questioned for her approach to sex work, police reform, prisoners’ rights, and truancy.

• Legal advocates fire back at MPD Chief Peter Newsham’s statement that public criticism of police “emboldened” criminals.

• D.C.’s fire chief is now facing criticism for denying investigators access to the senior citizen apartment building where a man was found five days after a fire ripped through the structure.

• Schools in the DMV area are hosting workshops to help furloughed federal employees find work.

• Frigid temperatures didn’t stop the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade.

• More on Daniel Snyder’s new $100 million “superyacht” with a Imax movie theater on board.

LOOSE LIPS LINKS, by Mitch Ryals (tips? mryals@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Council Chairman Phil Mendelson calls for an even greater emphasis on firearms as the city’s homicide rate continues at a tragic pace. In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Mendelson says the Metropolitan Police Department’s gun recovery unit is not enough. He wants a gun unit in the prosecutor’s office, “gun court,” and harsher penalties. [Post]

• “More than two months after she clinched victory in a reelection campaign that featured no serious opponents, the mayor has yet to announce a concrete agenda for her next four years at the helm of the nation’s capital,” the Post writes of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s vague plan for her second term. [Post]

• The D.C. Council is expected to vote on whether to override Bower’s veto of the Metro fare evasion decriminalization bill. [DC Council]

• D.C. has issued more than 120 marriage licenses since the federal government shutdown began. [Twitter]

• Bowser is urging the Trump administration to permit unemployment insurance for federal employees who are working without pay. [Washington Times]

YOUNG & HUNGRY LINKS, by Laura Hayes (tips? lhayes@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Young & Hungry is away from her desk this week.

ARTS LINKS, by Matt Cohen (tips? mcohen@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Listen to Sneaks’ new album, Highway Hypnosis. [NPR Music]

• For 20 years, the D.C. Labor Chorus has been belting out songs of resistance. [Post]

• Actor and playwright Keith Hamilton Cobb talks about American Moor, his new play at the Anacostia Playhouse. [Kojo Nnamdi Show]

• Smithsonian museum staff respond to the shutdown. [Observer]

HOUSING COMPLEX LINKS, by Morgan Baskin (tips? mbaskin@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Learn more about the city’s emergency warming shelters. [WTOP]

• A developer seeks a permit to redevelop the 2300 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE. [Urban Turf]

• How Arlington homes have changed over the last 40 years. [WAMU]

SPORTS LINKS, by Kelyn Soong (tips? ksoong@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Fans erupted with cheers when 2020 presidential candidate Kamala Harris walked into the Howard men’s basketball game against Harvard. [WCP]

• World Team Tennis (which is owned by City Paper owner Mark Ein) has named D.C. native Carlos Silva as its CEO. Silva previously served as president of the Professional Fighters League. [Sports Business Journal]

HAPPENING TODAY, by Kayla Randall (tips? krandall@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Suns Cinema presents Cats vs. Dogs, a night of cat and dog video screenings. 8 p.m. at 3107 Mount Pleasant St. NW. Free.

• The Kennedy Center Concert Hall screens Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, with the National Symphony Orchestra playing the score.7 p.m. at 2700 F St. NW. $35–$119.

• Irish author Catherine Doyle comes to Solid State Books to speak about her middle grade fantasy book The Storm Keeper’s Island.7 p.m. at 600 H St. NE. Free.

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