ABC7 TRAFFIC: Not much of note to report at 4:30 a.m. but Good Morning Washington has updates every 10 minutes, and please follow @DaybreakSkip on Twitter. http://tbd.ly/95jmWZ

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ABC7 WEATHER: Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain and highs in the low 80s. http://wj.la/72e8x6

TRENDING ON ABC7 FACEBOOK: What do you think? Is Facebook just a passing fad? http://on.fb.me/IvU5rQ

RAPTOR RESTRICTIONS: Pilots’ concerns being taken seriously, per the Daily Press, “Days after two Virginia-based pilots aired concerns about the F-22 Raptor, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has ordered additional safety measures for the U.S. military's most advanced fighter jet. Steps include flight restrictions and installing an automatic backup oxygen system to counter incidents of hypoxia, where pilots have felt dizzy and disoriented because of oxygen deprivation.” http://bit.ly/IXCMAP

BLACK EYE?: George Allen, for one, distances himself from the rejection, per the Richmond Times-Dispatch, “The House of Delegates' rejection early Tuesday of a judgeship for Richmond prosecutor Tracy Thorne-Begland, who would have been the first openly gay person elected to the bench in Virginia, retrained the spotlight on a General Assembly session rife with controversy over social issues. . . The Virginia vote plays into a national narrative in which gay rights is becoming a flashpoint in the November elections for the presidency and the Senate.” http://bit.ly/LQIcza

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: Ward 5 picks its rep, per City Paper, “And then there were 13, again. Kenyan McDuffie has won today's Ward 5 special election to replace disgraced former Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. The unofficial results have McDuffie, an attorney and former policy advisor in Mayor Vince Gray's administration, winning in a landslide of 40 percent of the votes in a field of 11 candidates.” http://bit.ly/Mjh1jx

POTENTIAL THAW: In Pakistan’s pique, per the Washington Post, “The deal isn’t quite sealed, but Pakistan is set to announce as early as Wednesday its decision to again allow onto its territory the convoys that supply U.S.-backed international forces trying to wind down the decade-long war against the Taliban.” http://wapo.st/KZXnE2

NOVEL APPROACH: Or not, per the New York Times, “Speaker John A. Boehner on Tuesday set the stage for a bruising election-year showdown on fiscal policy, vowing to hold up another increase in the federal debt ceiling unless it was offset by larger spending cuts. His combative comments came on the same day the Republicans’ presumptive nominee, Mitt Romney, hit President Obama hard on his fiscal stewardship in a speech in Des Moines.” http://nyti.ms/JFgZjh

POLITICO PLAY: “Nebraska state Sen. Deb Fischer wrested the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate from Attorney General Jon Bruning Tuesday night, riding a burst of late momentum to pull off an unexpected victory. Her stunning come-from-behind performance amounts to a warning flare about the volatility of the primary season and the unintended impact of outside groups.” http://politi.co/KeJVuy

ALL TALK: Or no talk. More on the John Edwards trial, per the Greensboro News & Record, “Rielle Hunter, the woman at the center of the John Edwards trial, may take the witness stand this week. Hunter is on the witness list for both sides, though the prosecution chose not to call her before finishing its case last week.” http://bit.ly/JFhTw2

AT EASE: But keep it quiet, per the AP, “Without fanfare, the nation's nuclear power regulators have overhauled community emergency planning for the first time in more than three decades, requiring fewer exercises for major accidents and recommending that fewer people be evacuated right away.” http://apne.ws/KZYovW

OPEN-DOOR POLICY: Not exactly ideal, per the Washington Examiner, “The doors on two Metro rail cars opened while a train was moving Tuesday morning, in a dangerous safety concern. Now the transit agency is faced with the complicated decision of whether to pull at least a quarter of the system's fleet from service until all cars in the Rohr 1000 series can be tested, or risk another incident -- and possible rider injuries -- by keeping them running.” http://bit.ly/JSmvQh

AIRPORT BAGGAGE: Pretty heavy. Of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, per the Washington Times, “The regional authority overseeing one of the largest public works projects in the country is rife with mismanagement, a glaring lack of transparency and lavish spending habits that have included thousand-dollar dinners and a $9,200 plane ticket to Prague, according to a scathing interim report from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s inspector general.” http://bit.ly/JiJ3W2

NO PORK: Official has a beef, per the News & Messenger, “Gainesville Supervisor Pete Candland wants to eliminate discretionary funds from individual supervisors’ district budgets.” http://bit.ly/IXmLK1

MUTE BUTTON: But she lives here and he doesn’t, per DCist, “D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (says) she will not be given the opportunity to testify during a congressional hearing on a bill that would prohibit abortions in D.C. after 20 weeks. This Thursday the House Subcommittee on the Constitution will consider the bill introduced by Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) in January.” http://bit.ly/JHGnUK

HIGH ALERT: A let’s-be-careful-out-there moment, per ARLnow, “Attacks on two women on the same night, believed to be by the same suspect, have Arlington County Police cautioning walkers, particularly women. Both incidents took place late last Friday.” http://bit.ly/KeDYxX

SPORTS, BRIEFLY: Nats, Strasburg lose 6-1 against San Diego.

SEE YA: Unlike George Mason, VCU bolts the CAA for the Atlantic 10, per Daily Press sports columnist David Teel, “Some would have you believe that the A-10 selected the Rams instead of the Patriots, that Mason's announcement last week was disingenuous face-saving after learning it wasn't on the A-list. Sorry, not buying. In fact, were the Patriots to reconsider their decision in a year, here's guessing (A-10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade) would weave the Welcome Wagon through rush-hour traffic to Fairfax.” http://bit.ly/JE8VPF

--Skip Wood / swood@wjla.com

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