Good morning, Washington. With the holidays bearing down upon us, we hope your preparations are going well whatever they might entail. Since our friends on the hill spent the weekend hard at work, we thought we would choose a photo of the New Mexico Holiday Tree for our morning roundup. The photo was tagged for us by Flickr user pattista.

Rallies For, Against Stadium Planned: If you’re going to be near the Wilson Building around noon today, watch out for two rallies for and against the stadium plan. After the mayor announced his rally “in support of keeping baseball in the District,” the Washington Times reports opponents are planning a “large anti-ballpark rally … also scheduled for Monday in Freedom Plaza.” Regardless on where you stand on the issue you’ll have something to do for your lunch hour. The rallies come one day after the Post reports the city maybe not be getting as good a deal from Baseball as other cities where teams have covered hefty cost overruns. Meanwhile, Metro is moving forward with plans to prepare for a stadium at the proposed Southeast site.

U. Maryland Receives Major Donation: An inventor of medical devices — and alumni of the University of Maryland — has donated $30 million to the university to fund a department of biomedical engineering, the Post reports. Robert E. Fischell’s inventions include heart defibrillators, heart stents, and Insulin pumps. His gift is the third major private gift to the University of Maryland in less than one year.

Briefly Noted: School reorganization plan pushed in the District … Vincent Orange plugs campaign at mayor’s press conference … D.C. red light cameras reducing infractions …