Alexandria expects a $14.4 million operating budget shortfall in fiscal year 2013, unless taxes are raised or services are cut, due to slow growth in real estate revenue, acting city manager Bruce Johnson announced.

Revenues are going up by $9.6 million, or 1.7 percent, but costs are rising by $24 million, or 4.2 percent, Johnson said, leaving a $14.4 million, or 2.5 percent, gap. Last year, the city had an operating surplus of $9.8 million. This would be the city’s fifth consecutive year in which a shortfall was predicted.

The shortfall doesn’t take into consideration any requested increases from schools or transit subsidies. The city council has just begun work on the fiscal 2013 budget and work sessions will be held tonight at 7 p.m. as well as Nov. 1 and 8 in Alexandria City Hall.

Thirteen Maryland hospitals will participate in an emergency response drill Wednesday to test the region’s ability to handle a mass casualty terrorist attack.

The so-called “Capital Shield” drill, part of a series of exercises conducted by the military and local and state response units, is designed to simulate the transport and treatment of mock victims to area hospitals.

First responders and hospital staff will practice rescues, triage, treatment and decontamination procedures, and transporting people by helicopter and ambulance, organizers said.

The exercise will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, starting at Montgomery County Fire Rescue Training Academy on Great Seneca Highway in Rockville.

The D.C. Council will consider legislation Tuesday to end the city’s occasional practice of arresting drivers of vehicles with expired registration.

Police in the District are authorized to arrest and jail drivers if their plates are more than 30 days out of date. The current law applies even to out-of-state drivers.

The policy change, which would decriminalize driving in the District with an expired license plate, is on the agenda for the council’s 11 a.m. legislative meeting.

If approved, the change would institute a fine and impounding schedule but would not include jail time.

Stay with PostLocal for updates on the proposed policy change.

Related:

Expired license plates in D.C. could land you in jail

Mayor Gray proposes changes to policy on expired car registration

Poll: Do you have expired tags on your car?

A man was shot and killed Monday night near the Eckington area of Northeast Washington, D.C. police said.

In a second incident, a man was shot and critically wounded near the St. Elizabeths Hospital campus in Southeast Washington.

The first incident occurred about 8 p.m. in the 1600 block of Lincoln Road NE, and the second about 45 minutes later, near Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Lebaum Street in Southeast, police said.

Few other details were available about the incidents.

A small child was injured Monday afternoon in a fall from a window or balcony of a three-story apartment house near Schuyler Road in the Silver Spring area of Montgomery County, authorities said.

They said the child was conscious and in stable condition with injuries that were not life-threatening, and that they were looking into the matter.

Interested in voting on Nov. 8? Today is your last day to register. (Gerald Martineau - FOR THE WASHINGTON POST) Virginia residents who want to cast their ballots in the state’s general election on Nov. 8 must register to vote by the end of business today.

According to the State Board of Elections, registrations must be in by 5 p.m. Monday.

Additionally, absentee ballot applications must be mailed, e-mailed or faxed to the board of elections by 5 p.m. on Nov. 1. Applications can also be filed in person.

Candidates are vying for numerous local positions, including county supervisor and school board seats.

Seats in the General Assembly are also up for grabs.

For more information, visit the Virginia State Board of Elections Web site.

President Obama plans a three-day bus tour through Virginia and North Carolina this week. (Jeff Kowalsky - BLOOMBERG) President Obama will travel to Virginia and North Carolina this week as part of a three-day bus tour to discuss jobs and the economy.

The tour kicks off Monday in North Carolina, and will continue in Virginia on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the White House.

Obama is scheduled to visit Greensville County High School in Emporia, Va. on Tuesday.

On Wednesday he is expected to visit the Joint Base Langley-Eustis military facility in Hampton, Va., and a fire station in North Chesterfield, Va. Despite a request from Va. Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, Obama will not visit Louisa County, which suffered significant damage as the epicenter of August’s 5.8-magnitude earthquake.

Read more on the Virginia Politics blog.

Related:

North Carolina and Virginia loom large for Obama’s reelection campaign

Obama still pushing jobs plan with bus tour of North Carolina and Virginia

Obama turns down McDonnell, will not visit earthquake-damaged Louisa County

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A special session on congressional redistricting in Maryland is getting started.

Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, is holding a news conference Monday morning to discuss the session, along with House Speaker Michael Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller.

The session has been called for lawmakers to approve a new map for the state’s eight congressional seats.

The Democratic-controlled General Assembly is scheduled to convene for a short session at 11:30 a.m. Then, a hearing on redistricting plans will start at 1 p.m. The hearing is expected to last the rest of the day and possibly into the evening.

The special session is not expected to last more than several days.

A participant in the Occupy DC protest in Washington’s McPherson Square says he thinks the movement will continue to grow in cities around the country.

Andrew Stone rests in a make shift camp in the McPherson Square. (Marvin Joseph - WASHINGTON POST) The protests began a month ago with Occupy Wall Street in Manhattan and have since spread to other cities. Participants are demonstrating against corporate greed and economic inequality.

Legba Carrefour has been part of Occupy D.C. since it started on Oct. 1 and says more tents are going up in the downtown square every night. He says the appeal of the movement is that participants don’t have specific demands. He says people see their own lives and their own desires among the participants.

Demonstrators in Washington and elsewhere took part in a “global day of protest” Saturday that Carrefour says has further galvanized the movement.

Police are investigating a fatal shooting in the Anacostia neighborhood of Southeast Washington.

Police say 21-year-old Davon Gray found suffering from gunshot wounds on a residential street shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Investigators have no suspects or motive the slaying. A reward is being offered for information that leads to a conviction.