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Good morning from Washington City Paper! It’s Wednesday and we’re still a little tired from a late night at the Ward 4 D.C. Council candidate debate. Totally worth it, though.

LEADING THE MORNING NEWS: D.C. Board of Elections needs $318,000 in order to run the Ward 5 special election that will fill Harry Thomas Jr.‘s seat. [Examiner] Marion Barry‘s donations coming from outside of Ward 8. [Times] Top Metro executives made $3.1 million in 2011. [Post] More on some of the donors who sent Vince Orange “suspicious” money orders. [Post] Two former District Department of Environment employees pleaded guilty to accepting bribes. [MyFoxDC] Neighbors worried about shooting at DCUSA. [WAMU]

YOUR DAILY QUALITY-OF-LIFE MEASUREMENT: On Tuesday, City Paper‘s Needle ticked up one point. The bad news: A paralegal was allegedly passing himself off as a lawyer to recent immigrants. The good news: D.C.’s unemployment rate dipped a tiny bit. Take a look here.

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

Feds Dropping Mad Subpoenas All Over D.C. Pols: Things keep getting realer in the web of politicians and donors connected to mega-donor and city contractor Jeff Thompson. Yesterday feds served subpoenas to a bunch of local politicians, requesting records from as far back as 2003. Loose Lips Alan Suderman writes: “The feds specifically asked for fundraising and campaign records, including ‘communications with or about any persons or entities that gave the maximum legal contribution’ to campaigns.” Worth noting: When asked at last night’s debate whether she had been served a subpoena that day, Councilmember Muriel Bowser dodged, saying it was a question LL should ask the U.S. Attorney General’s office.

A Highline For Anacostia? More Like A Pointe Vecchio: Housing Complex’s Lydia DePillis digs into a new idea for saving the 11th Street bridge. The structure could be turned into a walkable real estate venture, which, she says, “brings to mind something that was conceived and never birthed nearly 50 years ago: Southwest D.C. architect Cloethiel Woodard Smith‘s scheme for a bridge across the Washington Channel for pedestrians and shuttle buses that would have shops and restaurants, akin to the medieval Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy. It’s something that people have already started thinking about reintroducing into the urban fabric, as bridges near the end of their useful lives. And there’s a lot more space on this bridge for real estate development.”

Is This Show Poster Racist? Click through and let us know. Opinion is predictably split.

How Many Grateful Dead Songs Can Roger Marmet Turn Into D.C. Restaurants? Young & Hungry wants to know what comes next after Ripple and Sugar Magnolia: “[N]ow that he has two businesses side-by-side, both with names identical to Dead songs—and both from the same album, mind you—Marmet isn’t holding back his affinity for the preeminent traveling jam band of the latter 20th century. ‘I’ve been to a number of Dead shows in the past,’ Marmet tells Y&H. ‘Pre-Jerry’s death,’ he points out. (For the benefit of younger readers, he’s speaking about the late guitarist Jerry Garcia—and, yes, the guy’s name sounds a lot like a popular ice cream flavor.)”

Car Fire Outside of City Paper Offices! Quite a way to end a work day. D.C. Fire & EMS showed up in a flash to put out a flaming SUV.

MPD: The Next DMV Rap Star? D.C. cops make enough cameos in local music videos to have a record deal by now: “Sure, the bond between the 5-0 and rap videos is notably long and hallowed. But for the DIY artist, it isn’t nearly enough to just shoehorn a rent-a-cop into your treatment anymore. Today’s buzzword is organic, and D.C. hip-hop police just get it, man.”

UNDERDESCRIBED PHOTO OF THE DAY: Woman Texting

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

Ward 8: TONIGHT! March 14, 7 p.m.-9 p.m. at Georgena’s (formerly Players Lounge), 2737 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE (guest moderator: Channel 7’s Sam Ford)

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 (time and guest moderator TBD).

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

• Photocopying machines (and maybe shredders) are going to be working overtime in next couple days as feds seek council records related to Jeff Thompson [NBC4]
• Wal-Mart bundles for Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander [HC]
• Mayor Anthony Williams is back! … to talk taxes [WBJ]
• Not only are there questions about how Councilmember Vincent Orange raised campaign money, but now it looks there was some shady stuff going on with how he spent campaign money [Post]
• D.C. unemployment rate drops to below 10 percent [DCist]
• Ward 5 special election needs: $318,000 [Examiner]
• Much to the delight of Pepco, the Post editorial page continues to hate on PSC nominee Betty Noel [Post]
• Where does Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry’s campaign money come from? Not Ward 8 [Times]

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

• Wheaton office building going taller, residential. [DCMud]
• Mayor Williams returns to review your taxes. [WBJ]
• Temporary offices in Georgetown. [Patch]
• Bike to everywhere. [Washcycle]
• The Park Service’s broken-down boat. [NWCurrent]
• Bike trails, Metro improvements axed under Leggett’s plan. [Examiner]
• Why D.C. unemployment dropped below 10 percent. [DCist]
• Could downtown D.C. finally get a playground? [GGW]
• How to make the 14th Street bridge more bikeable. [GGW]
• Will allying with Occupy help transit workers? [TBD]
• Who has the most over-the-top ambassador’s residence in D.C.? Italy. [Curbed]
• Georgetown Post Office going commercial, not residential. [Urbanturf]
• Today on the market: Rooms that flow.

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

• Accidental Activist, a play written by Newt Gingrich‘s lesbian sister-in-law, wants to shed a new light on Newt and his lil’ sis. It gets a staged reading at Busboys & Poets in Hyattsville tonight. [Post]
• Congratulations to these Germantown middle-schoolers for their award-winning video about abusive relationships. It’s a tearjerker! [WAMU]
• This year’s Cherry Blossom Festival—the 100th anniversary of Japan’s gift to Washington—will also commemorate the victims of last year’s earthquake and tsunami. [DCist]
• And more on that topic: Test your cherry-blossom knowledge. [Post]
• Much love for Daniel Martin McCormick, former Black Eyes member turned electronic-music producer Ital.[Village Voice]
• “Dance in the Circle” coming to Dupont this April. [Prince of Petworth]

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

Two clowns start a food truck. No joke. It’s called Cirque Cuisine. [HuffPo]

• The CapMac truck embraces America’s cheesy pasta renaissance. [Yahoo]
• D.C. food trucks, in pictures [Post]
• Olive Garden critic Marilyn Hagerty is invited to dine at National Harbor’s Bond 45. [WUSA]
• Boundary Road‘s Brad Walker tries to cook everything the right way. [Post]
• Ideas on where to sip and sup during March Madness. [Urban Daddy]
• Take a peek inside Maple, opening next month in Columbia Heights. [Prince of Petworth]
• Blind Dog Café has some big cookies. [Girl Meets Food]
• Craft beer and food fest Savor is coming up in June. [DC Füd]