Those of us stuck in quiet offices this week, staring blankly at wall clocks with increasing despair, have finally arrived at the Friday before New Year’s weekend. Currently DCist is taking over/under bets on the median time of departure from work today (especially for you lucky duck Federal employees who’ve got Tuesday off). How late will you last? 4 p.m.? 3? Just not bother to come back from lunch? We have to admit the option of heading down to watch UMBC trounce Harvard in the Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship may be too much for some of us bear. Whatever you decide to do, let us be the first to wish you a happy and safe holiday.

More of Williams’ Staff Will Remain: Mayor-elect Fenty announced 15 more cabinet positions yesterday, all but two of which will be filled with holdovers from the Williams administration, at least for the next six months. Fenty explained: “If we just threw out everybody, then I wouldn’t be able to come.” Maybe not the best phrasing, but the sentiment that keeping some experienced staff around to help with the transition makes sense, even if it’s a little surprising given Fenty’s campaign promises to shake things up when he took office. Perhaps those voters who were concerned about the Mayor-elect’s lack of experience or self-styled reputation as a radical reformer can take some amount of comfort in the decision.

Cathedral Clean-up Underway: Associated Press reports that the muddy mess currently surrounding the National Cathedral, thanks to current construction of an underground parking lot, will be cleaned up as much as it can prior to President Ford’s state funeral on Tuesday. Workers will remove all hazardous material and use cloth screens to hide most of the clutter. We’re still waiting to hear about the official route of procession to and from Ford’s public viewing in the Rotunda, but it will be a simple motorcade instead of a full military parade or horsedrawn carriage. Also as a reminder, the Capitol is closed for regular tours through Tuesday.

Briefly Noted: Modest civil suit will cost District more than $1 million … Couple killed in PG County hit-and-run … Oak Hill youth detention facility still facing major problems.

This Day in DCist: Last year we looked back at a performance by the recently deceased Godfather of Soul, and the year before that we took a cheery look at the potential for nuclear terrorism.

Photo by charroonemiller