Residents in the Metropolitan Police District’s Capitol Hill Police Service Areas will mark National Night Out on Tuesday.

The annual event is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch.

PSA 106, located northeast of the Capitol campus, and PSA 103, bounded by H Street and Florida Avenue, will host a cook out at Sixth and G streets Northeast from 6 to 9 p.m.

Activities will include the Mobile Range 2000, an interactive “shoot/don’t shoot” training aid that will be made available to residents. In addition, MPD’s traffic safety unit will demonstrate car seat installation and how to properly fit a bicycle helmet. Officers from the Gay and Lesbian unit will hand out information on outreach programs, and officers from the K-9 and horse-mounted units will attend the event.

There will also be brochures on PSA programs and on MPD’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

Residents of PSA 107, which includes the Capitol and neighborhoods to the west, can attend an open house at the First District Station at 415 Fourth St. SW from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

In PSA 108, east of the Capitol, residents will host a cookout at Marion Park, Fifth and D streets Southeast.

For information on other National Night Out activities in the 1st District, visit MPD’s Web site at mpdc.dc.gov.

Government Printing Office Closes Five Stores

The Government Printing Office proceeded with a plan to close the remainder of its brick-and-mortar stores last week, shutting the doors of its outlets in Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Pueblo, Colo.

The printing office began closing its 24 stores in 2001 and plans to close most of its outlets by Sept. 30. GPO will continue to operate a store at its headquarters on North Capitol Street and will maintain a warehouse facility in Laurel, Md.

Since GPO began providing greater access to many government publications on the Internet, sales in its retail stores have declined significantly. The printing agency, which receives no federal funds to operate the bookstores, expects to save $1.5 million in fiscal 2004 from the closings.

Capitol Hill Tours Go to the Dogs

Dog owners and their favorite four-legged friends are invited to take part in two Capitol Hill Tails Tours led by Cultural Tourism DC, scheduled for Aug. 9 and Aug. 16.

For homo sapiens, the tour will feature the stories behind various Capitol Hill landmarks, including a back alley where more than 100 people once lived and the commandant’s house at the Marine Barracks. Participating pooches may be more captivated by local canine celebrity, Remington, the U.S. Capitol Police’s explosive detection labrador, who will also make an appearance during the tour.

The one-hour walking tour meets at 9:30 a.m. at the Eastern Market Metro station. Tickets are $12 per dog and can be purchased at CulturalTourismDC.org. One human is admitted free per doggy admission. For more information, call (202) 828-WALK.

— Jennifer Yachnin and Bree Hocking