A morning roundup of news, opinion, and links from Washington City Paper and around the District. Send tips and ideas to citydesk@washingtoncitypaper.com.

Sign up: To get District Line Daily — or any of our other email newsletters — sent straight to your mailbox, click here.

Good morning from Washington City Paper! It’s Friday. Thank goodness.

LEADING THE MORNING NEWS: Police investigating two LGBT hate crimes. [MyFoxDC] Metro track work on all five lines this weekend, and a marathon on Saturday will disrupt bus lines. [Post] Area around the Washington Monument is sinking. [MyFoxDC] George Clooney to protest at Sudan embassy. [WJLA] D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown is the latest to be subpoenaed for campaign records in the Jeff Thompson case. [Times] If you’re looking for a reason to freak out about the beautiful weather, dehydration may be one. [WTOP]

YOUR DAILY QUALITY-OF-LIFE MEASUREMENT: On Thursday, City Paper‘s Needle fell four points. The bad news: Pepco critic Betty Noel‘s nomination to regulate utility companies was shot down by the D.C. Council. The good news: Shadow senator candidate Pete Ross demanded jail time (for himself!) after committing a minor offense. Take a look here.

SIX CITY PAPER STORIES FROM THE LAST 24 HOURS TO HELP YOU MAKE SENSE OF YOUR DAY:

The Thompson Network Breakdown, Again: LL stays on the trail of subpoenas, money orders, and a sweeping federal investigation regarding super donor Jeff Thompson and his network: “Last summer LL calculated all the political contributions that could be tied to Thompson and found $730,000 worth of donations since 2010. Since then, LL’s found new donors to add to that list, bringing the total to above $800,000.” Check out the post to see the breakdown.

Affordable Housing Developer Problems: Housing Complex’s Lydia DePillis asks the simplest of questions: When there’s so much demand for affordable housing, why is it so hard to build affordable housing? “The basic answer for that, developers tell me, is fairly simple: Land is expensive along transit corridors like Wilson Boulevard, so they build whatever will command the highest rents per square foot, and so far the market hasn’t given them a reason to believe they won’t lease.” But wait, there’s more.

Is Monica Hesse Writing The Next Hunger Games? Arts Desk editor Jonathan L. Fischer notes that the Post style writer has a soon-to-be-published YA novel: “It’s ‘about a teenage girl raised in the Path—a virtual reality experiment designed to replicate perfect childhoods—who learns that members of the program’s first graduating class are mysteriously dying at 19,’ goes the official language.”

Gut Reaction: Potbelly’s Cherry Blossom Shake Is A Drab Sip For A Good Cause: Young & Hungry’s pops down to a local Potbelly’s franchise to try out the fresh-cherry, cherry blossom charity shake. It’s okay. “The overall flavor recalls the Dairy Queen strawberry shakes from my childhood, made with syrupy sundae toppings, not fresh fruit.”

Courtland Milloy and the Oppression Olympics: While she agrees with the sentiment of Post columnist Courtland Milloy‘s latest column on black vs. white female anger on the abortion debate, Shani Hilton wonders why Milloy decided to take the topic on. The man himself writes in the comments: “[The idea came] right out of my big old head. Some people say my ideas should stay there but they leak out and drip onto other peoples web sites.”

Howard Theatre: Fully Loaded. Ally Schweitzer and Michael J. West wonder whether the Howard Theatre will escape the unfortunate fate of the Lincoln Theatre. It’s fancy for sure, and has been renovated with the hopes of raking in money: “The balcony above smacks of “VIP area,” fitted with leather chairs and tables with a Brazilian-marble bar behind. (There is also a bar on the main floor.) Stage-side box seats have been removed entirely, soon to be replaced by 200-inch HD jumbo screens. Ellis says the monitors aren’t for stage views—there isn’t really a bad seat in the house. The TVs are for advertising. That could make some audience members cringe.”

PHOTO BATTLE OF THE DAY: Father & Daughter vs. Father and Daughter

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE: City Paper will be sponsoring a series of D.C. Council candidate debates this month.

At-Large: Tuesday, March 20, 8:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. at the Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW (guest moderator: NBC4’s Tom Sherwood)

Ward 7: Monday, March 26, Ray’s the Steaks East River, 3905 Dix St. NE, 7 p.m.-9 p.m. (guest moderator TBD).

OF NOTE: International Anti-Street Harassment Week starts next Monday with a week’s worth of events here in D.C., including an art exhibit and a forum featuring WMATA representatives on Mar. 22 [PDF].

LOOSE LIPS DAILY POLITICS LINKS, by Alan Suderman (tips? lips@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Shadow Senate candidate Pete Ross gets jail time, over the objections of his opponent Michael D. Brown [DCist]
• Mayor Vince Gray “himself personally showed up at his campaign headquarters one day with as much as $100,000 in contributions” from Jeff Thompson, say anonymous sources [NBC4]
• Council Chairman Kwame “Fully Loaded” Brown gets Thompson subpoena, Councilmembers Marion Barryand Muriel Bowser still not talking for some reason [Times]
• Pepco wins, Betty Noel nomination tanked [Post]
• Jonetta says Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander could have handled Noel nomination better [Examiner]
• 11th Street building rehabbed for homeless women [WBJ]
• D.C. United to stay at RFK forever! [Post]

REAL ESTATE AND DEVELOPMENT LINKS, by Housing Complex blogger Lydia DePillis (tips? housingcomplex@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• 11th Street building rehabbed for homeless women. [WBJ]
• Artomatic gets even more space in doomed building. [DCist]
• Honk if you already knew this. [GGW]
• MoCo is “hipster”-friendly too. [JUTP]
• Are MARC trains just not that attractive? [WBJ]
• Sneak (narrative, not visual) peek at the Howard Theatre. [ArtsDesk]
• D.C. United sticks to RFK, for now. [Post]
• Urbanism corridor needs to get wider. [Yglesias]
• Fantastic investigative series on NYC slum landlord. [CityLimits]
• What the Senate transportation bill means. [TransportPolitic]
• Wisconsin Avenue gas station is still dormant: Blame DCRA. [Patch]
• 24 out of 10,000 people in the D.C. area are homeless. [DCentric]
• Development as choose-your-own-adventure. [Urbanturf]
• Learn about Langston Terrace. [FrozenTropics]
• Today on the market: Pre-wired for iPod docking stations.

ARTS LINKS, by Jonathan L. Fischer (tips? artsdesk@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Season lineup announcements! Ford’s Theatre is sticking to what it knows; Hylton Performing Arts Center is going pretty diverse. [DC Theatre Scene; Style Blog]
• Some relatively obvious tidbits of Henry Rollins‘ background (you guessed it—Häagen-Dazs) get the Sketchy Facts treatment. [SocialStudies]
• Per a press release, Artomatic has changed locations. It’s still happening in Crystal City, just closer to the Metro and in a larger space. [Crystal City BID]

FOOD LINKS, by Young & Hungry columnist Chris Shott (tips? hungry@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• The ChurchKey crew’s new brewery will be called Bluejacket. [Post]
• Some photos of the new Bistro Bohem [Washingtonian]
• More photos of the new Boqueria [HuffPo]
• Get free cupcakes at Sprinkles. [Prince of Petworth]
• The suburban tavern with the reality TV makeover gets another makeover.  [Post]
• The seafood lasagna doesn’t suck at Boxcar Tavern. [Roll Call]
• La Chaumiere‘s Gerard Pain has passed away. [Post]
• Two D.C. gals launch a kale chips company. [Patch]
• Group coupon deals tend to suck for restaurateurs. [USA Today]