Happy Almost Holidays, Washington. With both Monday and Tuesday counting as a holiday for the federal government this year, most of D.C. is staring down a nice, long holiday break today. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, federal holidays are great for a lot of other reasons besides a day off - you don't have to feed parking meters, for instance. But The Examiner reports that that fact isn't stopping people from shoveling coins into meters on holidays anyway, especially those fancy new multispace meters: last Veterans Day, the city collected nearly $1,500 from multispace meters. DDOT says it is going to put stickers on the new meters along K Street to remind people that they don't have to pay on holidays.

Potomac River Oil Spill Called 'Major': The Associated Press is calling the accidental pouring of 500 to 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the Potomac River caused by a malfunction at a nearby federal heating plant a 'major oil spill'. The federal government will pay for the cleanup of the spill, which has has left dead fish floating in an oil slick around the Fisherman's Wharf.

Biggest Travel Day of the Year Expected: If you're making your way out of town today, you're not alone: AAA is actually expecting today to be the busiest travel day of the year, as opposed to the Sunday after Thanksgiving. About 80 percent of Washingtonians will be driving to see family and friends, while the rest will be flying out of one of our three area airports. If you're driving and haven't left already, you'll want to wait until an off-peak travel time to head out of the city.

Briefly Noted: D.C. Fire recruit diagnosed with staph infection ... Fenty's early retirement plan for District workers could save the city $20 million ... Manhunt ends for armed carjacking suspect in Columbia Heights.

This Day in DCist: In 2006 we said farewell to Arch Campbell and in 2005 we got excited about the first ever Capital Fringe Festival.

Photo by LaTur