Photo by lonny.gomes.

Good morning, Washington. Since we didn’t get the kind of snow that those to the north and east did, it’s easy to forget that there are plenty of people still out there, trying to get back to their normal, non-holiday routine — the Post takes a crack at documenting some of the more interesting stories, like the guy from Columbia Heights whose Paris reunion with his girlfriend was delayed several days, and a man who was just trying to get back to Providence so he could keep studying monkey brains. Travel around the northeast corridor will still be a mess today, as airports in New York and Boston come back online and everyone tries to get back home (wherever that may be). Amtrak service heading north from D.C. is still hit-or-miss; bus service should be back to to come back online today.

Snow Prep Costs Local Governments: Local Departments of Transportations in Maryland, Virginia and the District were all more than prepared for the storm, which, of course, never really arrived. DDOT tells TBD that they spent over $500,000 on getting things ready for the faux-snow; meanwhile, officials in Maryland and Virginia estimate that their costs ran over the million dollar mark — a figure that will increase, as current estimates don’t factor in payroll for the hundreds of workers who were dispatched over the weekend.

15th Street Businesses Oppose Bike Lanes: Brace yourselves, cycling advocates, for this story will certainly raise your blood pressure. Hayley Peterson reports in the Examiner that several business owners along 15th Street NW are upset with the installation of a bike track along the street. Their main complaints? The bike lanes will make it more difficult to park, are a “deterrent” to business and — not kidding — “I don’t know why they wouldn’t just chop away two feet of sidewalk…That’s where bikers should be anyway, is the sidewalk.”

Briefly Noted: Fire on 5200 block of Manning Place NW causes heavy smoke damage and downed wires…Beltway lanes in Virginia to close overnight this week…Police charge 18-year-old D.C. man with 2009 murder of infant son…12-year-old girl shot with pellet gun by relative…”State of the Bay Report” shows improvement in Chesapeake, but severe afflictions remain…Time to make the justice.

This Day in DCist: Last year, a homeless man who was “familiar with airplanes but not proficient in their operation” stole a plane in Frederick; in 2007, the Smithsonian faced yet another financial scandal when retiring National Museum of the American Indian director Rick West spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on travel and luxuries.