The Issue: The Pleasant Plains Civic Association hosted a meeting last night to discuss the Howard Town Center development on Georgia Ave. The center will include 400-450 rental units and a 24-hour supermarket. Over 70 people turned out to discuss the pros and cons.

Proponent: Darren Jones, chair of the Pleasant Plains Civic Association says: "I am happy so far, but we also hope that developers take our concerns into consideration. Only 8% of the units will be affordable housing—the rest will be at market rate. We'd like to see more affordable housing."

Opponent: Alex comments on the New Columbia Heights blog: "yikes, I thought that was an old picture. That building's ugly!"

Sylvia Robinson of the Emergence Community Arts Collective says: "It's not set in stone yet."

Next step: ANC 1B 11 are set to debate the development at their meeting on September 14.

Good morning City Desk readers, I hope you've all bundled up to fight the cold! Inauguration weekend starts in a few hours, so set aside some time today to read through City Paper's inaugural archive. And now, some news:

• The MPD is on the lookout for an armed robbery suspect (pictured above) who held up a store in the 2nd District on Jan. 11. The report describes him as a "Hispanic male in his mid-20s, 6’0” - 6’5” in height, and weighing 200-300 lbs." Call Detective Kimberly Metivier-Cowan with any information at (202) 730-1903 or (202) 413-0252 (cell).
• New Columbia Heights reports that the Metro will run until 2 a.m. on Tuesday, for all you revelers who plan on winding down by staying up late.
• The Media Center reports that "Montgomery County Planning Board voted [yesterday] for the public transportation project to take the form of light rail rather than bus rapid transit." The rail would run east-west from Bethesda to New Carrollton, with stops at all the Metro stations in between.
• The Politico offers a "peak" at Obama's speech-writing regimen: "A competitive man by nature, Obama seems acutely aware that he’s stepping into the ring with history itself Tuesday – squaring off against not only the public’s expectations for a voice-of-God moment, but also against the addresses that came before his, the formidable and the forgettable."
• Infosnack Headquarters reports that Giesecke and Devrient, WMATA's supplier for Smartrip cards, delivered over 200,000 special-edition inaugural cards, as opposed to the 30,000 they promised in November.

* It's not just for Republicans anymore! Michelle Obama wears fabulous, egregiously expensive jewelry, too. [via Wonkette].

* DCist Sommer Mathis cries foul on $9.95 plus shipping for a newspaper (don't even get her started on the special election issue sweatshirt). Commemorative hand towels of DCist's official declaration of election newsprint hype blog post coming soon.

* Prince of Petworth is two years old. Join him and other crown princes of the local blogosphere tonight at Wonderland to celebrate the milestone---and toast to 730 more doors of the day.

* New Columbia Heights deems the new neighborhood Panda Express . . . decent!

* Catch up with the Good Guys strip club arson case as it happens with trial updates over at the Sexist.

* And in this newspaper: The Education Issue!

- Marina Koestler Ruben on D.C.'s English-Chinese bilingual charter.

- Dave McKenna on the end of a local football dynasty.

- Mike DeBonis on Michelle Rhee's rising star.

- Ruth Samuelson schools Obama hangers-on on where to reside in the District.

Photo by Army.mil

* In case you missed her: Washington Post's Howard Kurtz on Palin's Katie Couric interview. "Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, in her third interview since joining the Republican presidential ticket, licked her finger and stuck it in the air, saying that Sen. Barack Obama might wait and "see what way the political wind's blowing" on the Wall Street rescue package," he writes.

* For those interested in competing in one of those high-stakes, emotionally wrenching reality television programs---and for those whose place of employment merely imitate them---Slate's Joanna Weiss has your guide to how not to be the first contestant kicked off a reality show.

* New Columbia Heights has updates on the proposed neighborhood farmer's market: At a recent ANC meeting, William Jordan proposed that the market be run by EMG Marketing Group and Change Inc. and be held three (!) times a week.

* Mr. T in D.C. bows respectfully to the employees of the Columbia Heights Subway sandwich shop:

I just wanted to thank them here today. By now, all the employees there recognize me, and know what kind of sandwich I usually get. . . . The two women who work there on weekday evenings are particularly helpful and pleasant. They recently told me they were from Eritrea; I wonder what their lives were like there? It's not very far from lawless, violent places like Darfur and Somalia.

And in this newspaper:

* Arthur Delaney on D.C. Jail disaster readiness, terrorist threats, and the power of Google.

* Tim Carman tries to make a bagel, lies to City Paper staff.

* Mike DeBonis on the Nat's stadium slush fund.

* ... and the debut of Orr Shtuhl's Beerspotter!

Image courtesy pingnews.