It’s cold, it’s rainy—it’s winter in D.C. Expect showers this morning and a high in the upper 40s.

LEADING THE MORNING NEWS:

  • A final announcement on Amazon HQ2 is expected today, but The Postreported late last night that it’ll be Crystal City and NYC.

  • Newly released graduation rates for students in D.C. show that fewer kids graduated in 2018––only 68.6 percent of them––than they did the year before. It represents about a five-percent drop since 2017. These numbers, WAMU reports, means that D.C. has the lowest graduation rates in the region. Students of color are most affected.

  • But D.C. Public Schools are about to become some of the first in the country to allow students to select “non-binary” on their enrollment forms, no longer requiring that kids select “male” or “female.” “It’s an opportunity without being arrogant or obnoxious to show that we support the gender diversity of all our kids. Every family is going to interface with it. . . . And that communicates something pretty significant,” one gender inclusivity advocate told The Post.

  • Over 140 homicides have been recorded in D.C. so far this year––up 46 percent since the same period last year. “It’s a massacre in slow motion,” Post reporter Paul Duggan writes in a searing, indelible accounting of the life led by a teenage victim of gun violence.

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

  • Mayor Muriel Bowser’s campaign won’t tell us what Kim Lockett did to earn the more than $90k she was paid for working as a “consultant” for about five months. [WCP]

  • D.C. Council will vote on several important issues tomorrow, including eliminating the statute of limitations in some sexual assault cases, lowering the voting age to 16, and restrictions on Airbnb. [D.C. Council agenda]

  • The Council will also vote tomorrow on a measure to speed up the construction of a new hospital east of the Anacostia River. [DC Line]

  • Election watchdog Observe D.C.’s preliminary report is out. Aside from a few hiccups, election day was pretty smooth. [Facebook]

  • D.C. apparently only has five public restrooms (and only two open 24/7). Some people are petitioning the D.C. Council to try and change that. [GGW]

  • Bird, a company that dropped a bunch of dockless scooters in D.C., is asking Bowser to ease up on restrictions. [DCist]

  • The Post’s election day pull wasn’t as strong this year as it once was. [Washingtonian]

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

  • Look inside The Imperialfrom the Jack Rose Dining Saloon team. [WCP]

  • Georgetown newcomer High Street Cafe is throwing a lechón party tonight. [WCP]

  • Adams Morgan bar accused of stirring cleaning fluid into a Long Island Iced Tea. [Fox 5]

  • A longer goodbye to C.F. Folks. [Post]

  • New Columbia Distillers introduces whiskey. [DCist]

  • Millennials, this one’s for you.  [Washingtonian]

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

  • No video, but here’s photographic evidence of the debut of the new, as-of-yet-unnamed band featuring Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina, and Joe Lally. [Stereogum]

  • Remember hearing plans for a World War I memorial? Whatever happened with that? [WAMU]

  • Photographer Edson Chagas, multimedia artist Wangechi Mutu, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation were the honorees of the Smithsonian African Art Museum’s third annual Arts Awards and Gala. [Washington Informer]

  • The history of housing segregation in D.C., mapped. [The DC Line]

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

  • Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she couldn’t afford a D.C. apartment until her congressional salary kicked in. So chef and perennial do-gooder José Andrés offered her a place to stay. [Fox 5]

  • A family homeless shelter in Ward 8 will host a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday afternoon after construction delays pushed back its opening. [Curbed]

  • The D.C. neighborhoods where average home values pushed into the millions this year. [Urban Turf]

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

  • The NBA 2K League, a nascent esports league, announced Monday that it has dismissed Wizards District Gaming’s Austin “Boo” Painter for “violating the player code of conduct.” No further details were provided. [Reuters]

  • Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. beat out Nationals’ wunderkind Juan Soto for National League Rookie of the Year. [ESPN]

  • Wizards win back-to-back for the first time this season. [Twitter]

  • Josh Norman is tired of getting booed by his own team’s fans at FedEx Field. [Deadspin]

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

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