Just on MSNBC: Sally Quinn predicts Obama’s daughters will most likely attend Sidwell Friends….

How predictable.

Two officers (one fresh from the academy, the other a veteran) responded to a call for a reported suicide attempt in an apartment building located at the 1300 block of N Street NW. The call came late this morning. The officers approached a man who was clutching a knife, the Washington Post is reporting.

A scuffle ensued.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier told the Post that it appears the veteran cop was the one who fired his weapon. The man was critically wounded. The man has been taken to an area hospital. The Post writes:

“Based on the initial interviews and other information Lanier has received, she said that it appears the officers responded appropriately to a real threat.

‘I feel real comfortable . . . that these officers did act in defense of their life,’ the chief said.”

Update 2:50 p.m.: The shooting took place at 1325 13th Street NW.

Courtroom 115. Better known as misdemeanor, traffic, and community court. Better known still, according to Judge Michael J. McCarthy, a well-known tough guy, as the busiest courtroom in the country. This morning, from the bench, the judge boasted that his room sees something like 13,000 cases per year. Today, among dozens of cases, was the drunk driving case of Shadow Sen. Paul Strauss.

Strauss sat in the front row with his attorney and listened to McCarthy’s preamble.

“Is Unity Healthcare here yet?” McCarthy called out.

If anyone sitting before him, McCarthy explained, doesn’t have healthcare, they should get with the Unity people when they arrive. “I think you’ll be happy with the results if you take the time,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy then mentioned the city’s detox programs. If you want to get treatment, help is on the way. “We can have a van here within 20 minutes,” McCarthy promised.

McCarthy went on to list job training programs and a mental-health clinic next door.

Strauss just sat in the front row. He did not take advantage of these opportunities. After 4.5 cases were called, Strauss got his opportunity to stand in front of McCarthy.

Strauss promptly pleaded not guilty to the charges stemming from his drunk driving arrest on Oct. 1. Strauss had basically refused comment on his case.

What did Strauss plead not guilty to?

Read the rest of this entry »

According to Traci Hughes, D.C. Police spokesperson, no one was arrested for overly celebrating last night.

Think about it: You were honking your horn, screaming Yes We Can, effectively closing down 14th and U Streets, jokingly referring to the First Dude as “The Second Dude,” and getting hammered. How much would it suck to end up in the back of a police car?

I know that the police were out in force. But they essentially were just crowd control. And I’m not sure a drum circle is a violation of any law.

As we all have figured out by now, BOEE is not the most reliable. But according to their latest updates on election returns, notorious ANC Commissioner and Ping Pong Hater Frank Winstead has lost his re-election bid. He got thumped:

Tom Whitley: 460 votes.
Frank Winstead: 161 votes.
Write-In: 11 votes.

This may be a huge victory for Mr. Whitley. But it’s an even bigger victory for Ping-Pong enthusiasts (and folks who generally want to sit outside a coffee shop or book store or pizza place)….

Kenneth Jones voted at 6:30 p.m. at a precinct near his old home in Northwest. He voted for Obama. Jones just turned 18 in September; this is, obviously, his first time voting. “It felt good. I was a little nervous. I didn’t think I would get in to vote,” Jones says. “It felt real nice. It was something to definitely get off my chest as well. I’m just glad that my voice was heard.”

Jones says he would vote again.

With Obama inching closer to 270, Jones says: “I feel real proud. It’s time for a change.”

It’s 7:45 p.m. Our man Delaney has 15 more minutes to make his pitch to voters. What had begun this afternoon, has become either a real movement or a failed journalistic prank.

I called Delaney. He had already returned to his campaign headquarters/apartment in Cap. Hill.

There’s 15 more minutes, I tell him. “There weren’t that many people there,” Delaney explains. ” It was raining. I gave out 75 fliers or maybe a little more than that. [His opponent] Glick says there are 600 people voting for him.”

Delaney laughs.

Any other thoughts. “Let’s count ‘em,” Delaney says.

*photo of special Delaney campaign pencils by Darrow Montgomery.

City Desk just called Arthur Delaney to check in on his historic campaign for an ANC post in Cap. Hill. He is standing outside his precinct at Payne Elementary. It is 5:35 p.m.

Delaney has big news. His mom has joined his campaign!

“My mom is here campaigning with me,” Delaney says. “She voted for me over in a different SMD (Single Member District).”

And Delaney’s opponent? He’s nowhere in sight.

“I’m not sure where he is,” Delaney says.

I ask if he thinks his opponent is runnin’ scared. This is Delaney’s response: “He damn well should be. He’s in deep shit.”

We will be posting updates on Delaney’s ANC race throughout the night. Stay tuned.

*photo by Darrow Montgomery

Doug Sparks, a D.C. lawyer stationed in Richmond to monitor voting, has just stumbled into the Holiday Inn. He’s heading to the bar, he says.

Sparks needs to charge up his cellphone. And, he says, he needs a drink.

It is 5:12 p.m. Sparks has been working at one precinct since 5:30 a.m. He says the turnout was huge and may be a record.

“I think our precinct is in the running for highest voter turnout in the state,” Sparks says. “There is 2400 registered voters in our precinct. That’s what we were told. As of a half an hour ago, there had been 1670 votes cast in our precinct today. In addition to that, there were 297–about 300–absentee ballots cast. I’m pretty confident that there is going to be over 2200 voters out of 2400 that cast their ballots…It goes until 7.”

Sparks goes on: “This is an overwhelmingly dedicated Obama emancipation group that absolutely wouldn’t have missed it for the world. It’s going to exceed 90 percent in our precinct. I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t exceed 95 percent.”

I ask Sparks if there were any problems. He mentions there was at least one instance of a touch screening screwing up–it went to the page for the presidential race and then just showed a blank screen. One voter said that he didn’t get a chance to vote–the screen promptly said he had already voted.

In more McCain-friendly precincts, Sparks reports, the turnout was way low.

“I can tell you I feel very very good about what I saw,” Sparks says. “This is one of those rare elections where really, really nasty weather benefits the Democrats….”

“I’m totally dead tired,” Sparks adds.

Via TPM:

It’s hard for the GOP and Fox News to give up on whipping up fears that Obama is going to set up a black dictatorship in America where sundry pimps and gangbangers will replace the civil service and institute a reign of racial terror and compulsory miscegenation. Fox and the McCain campaign are pushing hard on this story of two men outside a polling place in Philly dressed in Black Panther garb.

Huffington Post reports more than a thousand Penn State students line up before voting began.

TPM reports voters getting weird phone call in California.

Wonkette jokes about how long it took Obama to vote.

This old Fisher column is still a must read.

Coates reflects on the moment he “went all in.”

Our poll watcher, Doug Sparks, reports in from Richmond at 11:50 a.m.

This morning, Sparks says, there was a three-hour wait to vote at his precinct.

There were only slight problems. The most recent thing–the Henrico County Sheriff drove by and planted McCain/Palin signs along a traffic median. “Once those went up, we called it in,” Sparks says. “The Obama folks placed signs on either side of the McCain/Palin signs. Problem solved.”

Earlier in the day, there was an issue with handicapped voters. “They are supposed to bring ballots to the curb, bring a machine outside or do paper ballot,” Sparks says. Poll workers were cool “as long as the handicapped person waited in three hours of rain.”

Another poll watcher got annoyed at seeing this and decided to help out. He moved the handicapped citizens to the front of the line and made sure they got ballots. “There was a minister-type guy who became their go-to,” Sparks explains. “We funneled people to him. They wouldn’t challenge this guy. We solved that issue.”

Of the turnout so far, Sparks says: “There’s no line right now. The line was still two -and a half hours long until about 10:30….. This precinct I’m in, there were probably 1400 votes.” He thinks its 95 percent for Obama.

Yesterday afternoon, CP contributor Arthur Delaney launched his write-in campaign for his local ANC post. He announced his historic candidacy on this blog.

At 11 a.m., City Desk checked in with Delaney’s campaign. We reached the young man at his apartment/campaign headquarters.

Delaney tell us that he went by his precinct at Payne Elementary this morning to “just scope it out” before going to the gym (just like Obama does most mornings).

But Delaney’s campaign hit a snag. He says he is currently washing his pants.

“My washing machine is about to explode,” Delaney says. “It’s just old and the spin cycle kind of gets jammed. You have to reach in there by hand. I have to turn the spin cycle around by hand. It gets stuck and it makes this burning smell.”

Delaney admits to another crucial problem. He has not made his campaign fliers. “I have to go to Kinko’s to get them printed,” Delaney says. He adds that he will be at his precinct in a “couple hours.”

“This is a last minute campaign,” Delaney explains. “Carol Schwartz, who is waging a write-in campaign, got started at the last minute. According to polls, she’s doing well also. Now she has somebody at Payne. I’m going to stand with that guy. For everyone that says they’re going to vote for me, I’ll give them a pencil with my name on it.”

You have pencils? “Yeah, I’ve had them for a long time. I never knew what to do with them but now I know.”

Delaney is optimistic: “I have received several pledges of support on the Hill East listserv.”

City Desk questioned the fact that he isn’t at his precinct. That maybe it would have been a better idea to wash his pants the day before the election. “I know my opponent is not there either,” Delaney argues. “He’s not going to be there until 5:30.”

I woke up this morning and immediately dashed to the TV and flicked on MSNBC. Not unusual. I’m worried about this election! But then I started thinking about a particular ANC race. Specifically the race for 3F04.

I started thinking about Frank Winstead. The man is running for his ANC post again. Will this be the end of his anti-ping-pong-street-life crusade? Will voters elect someone else?

I called Winstead this morning. He didn’t answer. I left a message!

Obama and Kwame life size and in cardboard form spotted at Bell. Via CP reader Sara.h: