Don’t panic, Washington! You didn’t in fact leap ahead an entire month when changing your clocks on Sunday. A mere week after temperatures dipped into the low 30’s, today we can expect the mercury to hit an unseasonably high 70 degrees, with tomorrow getting even warmer. Why not walk to work and avoid soaring gas prices? Oh, that’s right.

Traffic Cameras Only Halfway There: A new assessment of D.C.’s traffic cameras by the company slated to take over their management today found that about half don’t work. In addition, two units have been spitting out tickets to law-abiding drivers due to faulty radar. The cameras, which have generated controversy since their initial installation in 1999, have collected over $168 million in fines from drivers caught speeding or running red lights. Besides concerns over revenue lost by inoperable cameras, the report has also rumpled feathers among police officials and City Council members because it comes in the midst of a bitter contract dispute between the firm formerly in charge of the system and the new company keeping an eye on District drivers.

Schools Could Lose Security Guards: The firm that provides security for D.C. public schools failed to pay their employees last week and now the guards may not show up for work in protest. Hawk One, which has a lucrative contract with the city, said there was a bank error and checks are now in the mail, but the guards say the damage has already been done. Mayor Adrian Fenty told reporters he’s looking into the snafu and “demanding answers.” It’s unclear whether there was an organized sick-out yesterday, but in preparation for a work stoppage today District police have deployed 110 officers to the schools to make sure kids are protected.

Briefly Noted: Human skull found in D.C. dumpster… Metro bus driver involved in fatal accident fired… Judge says transfer of Dulles Toll Road to Airports Authority can go forward…

This Day in DCist: Was it just two years ago when Martha Stewart was sprung from a West Virginia prison and displayed her penitentiary poncho? Yes, yes it was. Equally worrisome, last year we heard about unidentified flying objects being hurled at D.C. cyclists.

Photo by Flickr user takomabibelot.