Good morning, Washington. We’re now two days away from stuffing ourselves silly in the same room as our loved ones, so naturally WTOP is boldly reporting that traffic will be bad on Wednesday afternoon. The Washington Post takes this exciting pre-Thanksgiving weekend coverage and steps it up a notch by suggesting that the best way to avoid the bad traffic is to leave today. Right now, in fact. And if our major daily newspaper says that’s what you should do, who are we to argue? Run! Leave your office now!

Email Campaign Robbery Suspect Freed: A teenage robbery suspect who had been implicated in at least 21 robberies in and around Columbia Heights, prompting MPD Inspector Edward Delgado to foment an email campaign to D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles, was actually released by U.S. Marshals on Friday afternoon without city officials realizing it. Several local blogs picked up Delgado’s marching orders to press for the prosecution of Michael Richardson, 18. Yesterday the City Paper’s Jason Cherkis argued no one had taken into account that Richardson had been deemed mentally retarded and might not belong in jail.

Nickles Decides to Appeal EMT Reinstatement: D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles told the Post yesterday that he has definitely decided to appeal the reinstatement of Selena Walker, the EMT who drove late New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum to the hospital. The city will file a motion asking the D.C. Court of Appeals to overturn the decision to put Walker back in her job after retraining. The move will reportedly keep Walker off the job while the appeal is pending.

Briefly Noted: Area food banks struggling to meet demand … U.S. Capitol Christmas tree arrives in Washington … U.S. Rep. Tom Davis leaves Congress early.

Photo by Terecico