Last week, the District had 130 homicides for the year. That's way down from the 172 at the same time last year.
What's perhaps most impressive with this roughly 20 percent decline is that the drop is nearly citywide, according to the latest police stats. Murders are declining even in the most notorious neighborhoods.

In late August, the Examiner published a piece arguing that the District's low homicide rate might be due to the cooler-than-usual summer temps. The story was one of the dumbest crime stories we've ever read. Even D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier called the lower-temp theory "idiotic." But the story did at least provoke a little [...]