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A deliberative roundup of one city’s local politics. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Good morning sweet readers! It’s Thursday, you all know what that means: Washington City Paper will be spending most of the day couponing and a glorious new dead tree edition has hit the streets. This week’s edition is the answers issue. You asked us questions, we did our best to answer them. Plenty of good questions were asked, including why cabbies have so much political power, will Mayor Vince Gray run again, and what’s up with that painting of former mayor-for-life Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry riding a horse. News time:

Priorities: Gray rightly chose to skip the State of the Union speech and celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday, reports the Post‘s Reliable Source. Gray’s squeeze Linda Greene celebrated her 29th birthday (not Greene’s actual age, though she is young at heart) at Cafe Milano. Hizzoner made no bones that he’s dating Greene in an interview with Washingtonian, but his staffers are apparently a little gunshy: “The mayor’s official schedule was blank Tuesday night. His office said Gray was invited to the speech as a guest of D.C. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, but he declined so he could attend a ‘family function.'”

AFTER THE JUMP: School Closing Blues; Cheh v. Armao; Ward 7 race…

This Will Probably Leave a Mark: The Post got a copy of report commissioned by Gray that says the District should “city turn around or close more than three dozen traditional public schools in its poorest neighborhoods and expand the number of high-performing charter schools.” Yeah, that’s gonna cause some friction. “The study could also eventually serve as the basis for another major round of traditional public school closures, a politically and emotionally bruising process last undertaken by then-Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee during Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s administration. Although traditional public school enrollment has leveled off at about 46,000 after decades of decline, the system still has an excess of capacity. More than 40 schools have 300 or fewer students, many of them struggling academically.” In other school news, a D.C. cafeteria supplier is warned about sending the kiddos allegedly rotten food.

Gas Fight: Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh writes a letter to the editor (not an op-ed, as LL first wrote) defending her bill that would clamp down on gas man Joe Mamo. But what you’re really seeing here is a fight in the Post opinion section between Cheh and her archenemy, Post editorial board writer Jo-Ann Armao. “Rather than ask why I want to address market concentration and manipulation, we should wonder if The Post has become a shill for Mr. Mamo,” says Cheh. Oh snap!

In Other News:

  • D.C. Chamber wants Occupy out of McPherson Square.
  • District’s estimated Occupy-related costs look hinky.
  • The long and winding road of IGaming, which has its epic marathon hearing today.
  • Ward 7 race: “The main theme of the race seems to be the perception, fair or not, that [Councilmember Yvette] Alexander has not done much for Ward 7.”
  • Councilmember Michael Brown: “We believe this effort of reaching out to the states will not only bring needed nationwide publicity to our plight but will complement the progress made by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton.”
  • Will there be enough medical marijuana to go around?

Gray sked: 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.: Public Safety Retreat; 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: Media Interview: News Channel 8’s NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt; 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.: Women in Housing and Finance Public Policy Luncheon; 2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: Media Interview: The Washington Post’s Tim Craig; 5:45 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.: Washington Business Journal’s 2012 Book of Lists Celebration; 7:05 p.m. – 7:45 p.m.: Washington Auto Show Dealer’s Reception and Dinner Honoring Roger Penske

Council sked: iGaming hearing from 10 a.m.  to probably midnight. Health care facitlies at 10 a.m.; Unemployment anti-discrimination at 1 p.m.; HIV/AIDS education at 2 p.m.