From Alden Leonard. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him @aldenleonard on Twitter.

Meat Week Arrives in District

The Washington Post reports that yesterday was the beginning of DC’s Meat Week, a seven-day smoked meat festival taking place at area barbeque joints, including tonight at Chinatown’s Hill Country. The festival happens in more than 20 cities worldwide and events see anywhere from 50 to 100 participants, a testament to the communal nature of the cuisine: as the Post reminds us, you don’t make barbeque for one, you make it for 20. Even so, the popular portmanteau “carnivorgy” is probably doing the festival more harm than good. Get the complete schedule of DC Meat Week.

Gray Proposes Uniform Taxi Colors

Mayor Vincent Gray proposed Friday for DC taxicabs to adopt a uniform color scheme. According to the Washington Examiner, Gray intends for the city’s taxis to match its Circulator and Metro buses.

The proposal is part of a larger push for taxi reform currently pending before the City Council. In a recent survey, DC residents chose yellow as their cab color of choice, but ultimately the scheme will be decided by the Taxi Cab Commission. District pols including Gray, Kwame Brown and Mary Cheh openly favor a scheme of red and white, the colors of the DC flag.

DC Homeless Count Underway

District housing advocates are conducting a count of the city’s homeless residents this week, reports WAMU. Volunteers will scour the city’s back alleys and park benches in an effort to quantify and learn more about the city’s homeless population.

Advocates commend DC for its recent strides in the fight against homelessness, but remind us that the economic environment could undo much of that progress. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development uses data collected from the count to appropriate funds for DC homeless programs. Last year’s total was 6,546 homeless people living in the District; new numbers will be available this spring.