Photo by Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie

Good morning, Washington. We’re looking forward to a couple of nice, sunny days, even if the high will barely get over freezing. Enjoy it while it lasts, because a winter storm that’s pounding the central states right now is slowly headed this way, bringing us rain — slightly warm rain, getting almost up to 50 degrees — on Friday and Saturday. That should finally wipe all the snow off the streets and sidewalks…into slushy gray mush. Awesome.

Tempers Continue to Flame Snowball Drama: Today it’s the D.C. Police Union’s turn, reports WTOP. Union chief Kristopher Baumann is upset at D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier for her remarks that Detective Baylor’s actions were “totally inappropriate,” saying that her response prior to an investigation was — wait for it — “totally inappropriate.” Roving DCist contributor James Calder tells us from England this story made BBC1 yesterday, which largely involved the anchor giggling while laying out the events. Indeed.

How About Some News Actually In the Holiday Spirit: It’s a small story, but we enjoyed reading on FOX5 about a group of ten co-workers in Vienna who collected money throughout the year for a holiday “Tip Bomb.” At lunch yesterday, they left their waitress a $758 tip on a $148 bill. Oh sure, you might say, they could have donated it to a charity, but as someone who waited tables for many years, including during the holidays, I can heartily get behind this idea and can only imagine her surprise. It kind of reminded us of this story from CNN yesterday about micro-donations. In other words: it’s the holidays, help out a neighbor.

Briefly Noted: An American Airlines flight originating in D.C. overshot the runway in Jamaica last night, injuring 40 … Montgomery College president resigns under allegations of excessive personal spending … Color us shocked: D.C. Office of Cable Television wasted $5 million designing and outfitting a never-built studio … Hope you Blackberry users (including me, sigh) aren’t needing your email.

This Day in DCist: In 2008 we learned the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun would share content.