More than 700,000 Estimated to Hit The Road This Weekend; Officials Crack Down on Illegal Fireworks Use: Morning Links

Good morning, Washington! Welcome to your Fourth of July weekend. From the looks of it, a number of you are skipping town this weekend with what WTOP estimates to be approximately 784,300 other people, but for the rest of you who stick around, take a look at our Fourth of July weekend package for all the essential things to see and do. Just be sure to allow some extra time for track work Metro has scheduled for Friday and Saturday, though they've called off July 4 maintenance.

Officials Seek to Crack Down on Illegal Fireworks Use: Though New Columbia Heights and the Washington City Paper are telling folks where they can buy fireworks in the area, Emily Babay at the Washington Examiner reports that officials say they're going to crack down on illegal pyrotechnics. Still, it's a challenging thing to regulate since the area has a patchwork of different regulations. Babay has a great breakdown of what's legal where—as well as some handy safety tips.

DC DMV Announces New Fees: In an email newsletter that seemed to go out to everyone in its database yesterday, the DC Department of Motor Vehicles announced new fees. The new cost for a replacement ID card or commercial license is now $20 (up from $7 and $13, respectively). The written and road tests now cost $10 each, which previously were free.

DC Housing Prices, Suburban Jobs Down: Maybe Washington isn't recession proof. City Biz notes that the DC housing market is slowing down in the second quarter, with many folks taking a "wait and see" approach. Meanwhile, Liz Farmer at the Examiner runs the census numbers on job losses in the recession, and it seems the suburbs suffered the greatest losses, with Maryland suburbs losing nearly 300 businesses at the height.

Johnson Resists Calls to Resign After Guilty Plea: Prince George's County Councilmember Leslie Johnson is facing calls to resign after she pleaded guilty in federal court to participating in a corruption scandal. WJLA reports that Johnson faces up to 12 to 18 months in prison, and many hope she'll resign sooner rather than later so the summer can be used to prepare for the "inevitable" special election to fill her seat. She will be sentenced on October 13.

Briefly noted: The yet-to-be-built Dulles Metro station has yet another above-ground proposal. This time, subsidized with federal funds.

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Kay Steiger