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Days of derecho-style power outages could be a thing of the past. A District task force has endorsed a plan to spend a billion dollars on moving city power lines underground.

LEADING THE MORNING NEWS:

  • Fire closes Silver Spring Metro station. [Post]
  • Football player Vernon Davis‘ brother, charged with Petworth hammer attacks, is deemed competent to stand trial. [Post]
  • Nearly 20 percent of I-95 drivers in Virginia text and drive. [NBC 4]
  • Washington Monument earthquake scaffolding is finished. [Post]
  • Minority neighborhoods hit hardest by D.C. school closures. [Housing Complex]
  • D.C. man alleged master burglar. [Post]
  • Weapons unsecured in homeless shelter. [Examiner]
  • Did Bryce Harper‘s brash playing style cause his run-in with a wall? [Post]

RECENT CITY PAPER STORIES TO HELP YOU MAKE SENSE OF YOUR DAY:

Photos of the Day: Fenwick Street NE.

Raise the Roof: D.C. planners are having fun trying to raise the city’s height limit. Or they were, until they ran into the people who oppose it.

Downward Dog: The Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery is planning an exhibit on yoga—-no Lululemon allowed. But the museum’s plan to raise funds on Kickstarter is controversial.

Busy Lawman: U.S. Attorney Ron Machen—-who built his name in Washington investigating local politicos—-is directing the FBI investigation that resulted in the seizure of two months of Associated Press phone records.

HOUSING COMPLEX, by Aaron Wiener (tips? awiener@washingtoncitypaper.com)

  • Task force says: Bury the power lines. [Post]
  • Mapping government employment in D.C. [DCist]
  • National Aquarium might not leave the Commerce building for long. [Examiner]
  • A new grocery market is coming to Mount Pleasant. [WBJ]
  • Housing bubble check: Negative. [UrbanTurf]
  • Bike commuting has more than doubled in D.C. since 2000. [WashCycle]
  • Gentrification as an intentional city strategy? [newgeography]
  • Russ Ptacek strikes again: Cabs strand disabled passengers. [WUSA]
  • The driving boom is over. [U.S. PIRG]
  • But millennials will drive more as they age. [Streetsblog]
  • Today on the market: Investors only

ARTS LINKS, by Ally Schweitzer (tips? aschweitzer@washingtoncitypaper.com)

  • The District spent nearly $80,000 for gospel singer Kirk Franklin to play this year’s Emancipation Day celebration. [Post]
  • After a stabbing temporarily shutters Fur, the nightclub fires go-go band TCB. [WJLA]
  • Smithsonian determines that the Hirshhorn Bubble would lose money in three tested scenarios. [Post]
  • A South Carolina slave shelter comes to the Smithsonian. [AP via Huffington Post D.C.]
  • Hang out at local art museums for free this weekend. [Post]
  • If you saw Chris Evans looking muscular around D.C. yesterday, it was probably because the Captain America sequel was filming downtown. [DCist]
  • Got a question for Ian MacKaye? Ask him at this Q-and-A on Thursday. [D.C. Music Download]
  • Listen to “Too Far Away,” the newest song from Maryland electropop duo Ploy. [All Things Go]

FOOD LINKS, by Jessica Sidman (tips? hungry@washingtoncitypaper.com)

  • What it’s like eating in space [NPR]
  • Morels galore at Inn at Little Washington [Washingtonian]
  • Eighteen dishes that are worth the calories [Eater]
  • The seven best dog-friendly restaurants around D.C. [Zagat]
  • Basil Thyme offers $5 off lobster lasagna to Capitals fans this week. [DCist]
  • Food porn from Chupacabra on H Street NE [BYT]
  • PETA awards sexiest vegan. [HuffPost]