Circulating Beyond The River: Residents residing, working, or hanging out east of the Anacostia River can start hopping on Circulator buses in their neighborhoods. The insanely popular $1 bus now includes a number of stops across the Anacostia on its Potomac Ave. Metro-Skyland route. WAMU suggests it’s a boon for residents of Ward 8, 20 percent of whom make less than $10,000 a year. +3

Sister, Sister: D.C. is part of a big family. Mayor Vince Gray just adopted the District’s 12th sister city: Ankara, Turkey. So what does having a sister city get us? Apparently most agreements “are written in the vaguest of terms, simply encouraging the two cities to ‘share ideas.'” -1

Modern Hair Need Not Apply: Are you unemployed and in the market for $79? If so, director Steven Spielberg is looking for extras for his new film Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field. “We still have hundreds of paid jobs available, especially for African-Americans,” a casting director told the Progress-Index. Men should be under 6’1″ and women should be between sizes 6 and 12, with long, natural-colored hair. +1

Statehood Probably Never: Congressional Republicans are actually backing off D.C., reports the Examiner. That, of course, may be because GOPers “cannot seem to agree on much these days,” including how tightly to control every dollar in the District’s budget. We’ll take it. For now. +2

Last week’s Needle rating: 74 Today’s score: +5 Today’s Needle rating: 79