Photo by señor sideburns

Good morning, Washington. It’s going to be another day of temperatures approaching the 60s — Dulles hit 66 yesterday, breaking a record dating back to 1993 — so enjoy it while it lasts. It’s starting to look like the rest of the month might be a little more like a proper winter, leaving our mid-winter January spring behind.

Harry Thomas, Jr. Scandal Fells One More: The scandal involving disgraced former Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. has claimed its first senior government official. Millicent West, the director of the District’s homeland security agency, resigned yesterday, reports the City Paper. Prior to being appointed to her post by Mayor Adrian Fenty and kept on by Mayor Vince Gray, West led the Children & Youth Trust Investment Corporation, the public-private partnership Thomas used to funnel money from the city to his own pockets. West is not accused of any wrongdoing, but as the Post writes, she was the one that gave the OK for $110,000 Thomas wanted to go to a ball hosted by young D.C. Democrats. She is the third person to fall in the wake of Thomas’ guilty plea — two others have pleaded guilty for helping pull off the heist of $350,000.

Occupy Insomnia: It looks like at least some of the Occupy D.C. protesters are obeying a National Park Service ultimatum on camping in McPherson Square. The Examiner reports that a small group of them are engaging in a “sleep strike” — essentially, they’re staying up all night so as to meet the Park Service requirements that no sleeping take place at the encampment.

Report Urges Changes to D.C. Involuntary Commitment Laws: A report by the D.C. Inspector General has found that when city social workers tried to help Theodoric C. James Jr., they faced a tangle of laws that made it almost impossible to commit the retired 50-year White House employee who had been acting erratically, writes the Post. The report stemmed from an investigation after James was found dead in his home from heat exposure last year after a career working with 10 U.S. presidents. According to the report, more than 70 D.C. employees visited Jones’ home some 17 times over the course of two-and-a-half years, but were not able to commit him because of laws that make it difficult to do so without a person’s consent.

Briefly Noted: Friends and foes of same-sex marriage in Maryland square off … Three charged for robbing cabbies using stun guns … Suspected meth lab found at 16th and R streets NW … D.C. science education standards are best in country … D.C. residents not happy with proposed Pepco rate increase … One person arrested at McPherson Square this morning, said not to be linked to Occupy D.C. movement … NAACP protests Virginia voting laws.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2011, research found that crash rates at intersections with red light cameras were down significantly, Google allowed you to tour the Freer Gallery of Art from the comfort of your couch and the Committee of 100 said it loved the streetcars but hated the wires. In 2010, a poll showed that D.C. residents hated Adrian Fenty’s personality (but loved his policies) and D.C. was named the most attractive state.