President-elect Barack Obama is holding his first press conference since winning the election today in Chicago, after he meets with a group of 17 economic advisers. We can expect Obama to field questions about the still faltering economy and about who he plans to appoint to his administration to help him deal with the crisis.

Here in D.C., the Obama transition team has set up a new headquarters at 451 6th St. NW, about a block away from the Verizon Center, reports WTOP. New barricades around the entire block placed by the Secret Service are affecting traffic on 5th, 6th, D and E streets, and are blocking access to plenty of public parking spaces. These are surely just the first set of road barriers and traffic pattern changes D.C. residents will face between now and Jan. 20, 2009.

Fight Between Hospital and Parents is Religious: The Post does an able job explaining exactly what the issues are between local Children’s National Medical Center and the parents of 12-year-old Motl Brody, the brain dead cancer patient who the hospital would like to remove from life support. The hospital says that Brody has zero brain activity and that continuing to treat him is “offensive to good medical ethics.” Brody’s parents, however, are Orthodox Jews, and they say their religious beliefs don’t recognize death as just death of the brain.

Briefly Noted: Suspect claims self-defense in cab driver homicide … Man indicted in killing, violent home invasions in and around Montgomery County … Gas prices dip below $2 in Northern Virginia … Gas main break closes road in Laurel.

This Day in DCist: One year ago, we first learned about the Office of Tax and Revenue embezzlement case, though at the time prosecutors were only estimating the theft at $16 million.

Photo by johnbailey63