Including a Native American blessing, a trip across the United States, and what might be the city’s unlikeliest little conifer.

The Engelmann spruce arrived this morning to the West front of the Capitol from the Colville National Forest in Washington state. It made 22 stops before arriving in D.C.

>> The Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony is scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. this evening on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. >> Washington-area writers Michelle Brafman, Merle Collins, T. Greenwood, Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, Faye Moskowitz, Barbara Mujica, Jessica Neely, Amy Stolls, Hananah Zaheer, and Christy J. Zink will be at Politics and Prose to read from their contributions to the latest anthology, Electric Grace: Still More Fiction by Washington Area Women….

>> Both the White House Christmas Tree and the Capitol Christmas Tree arrived in Washington today. >> D.C. fire officials are warning people not to overload electrical circuits in their homes this holiday season in the wake of a fatal garage fire over the weekend. [WTOP] >> Vice President Dick Cheney experienced an irregular heartbeat Monday and will be heading to George Washington University Hospital to have it checked out — in case you…

A snippet of news from Maryland today is the stuff that dream Morning Roundup’s are made up. Funny and off-kilter, but real. It seems that some Maryland residents are a little peeved at what has come to be known as the state’s “flush tax,” writes WTOP. In order to raise money to upgrade the state’s sewage treatment plants to protect the vulnerable Chesapeake Bay from pollutants, Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich this year endorsed a new…

On Sundays, DCist publishes opinion pieces about life in D.C. The opinions below belong entirely to the author, who, in this case, is reader Timothy Ebner. To add your opinion to the fray, please email me. Leave it to our Capitol City to make politics out of the holiday season. Apparently political correctness now goes as far as Christmas trees or should I say Holiday trees? This year House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) wrote…

You can never have too many Christmas trees. The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree is being lit today on the West Front Lawn of the Capitol. The U.S. Air Force band will perform and House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), will light the U.S. Capitol Holiday Tree tonight. The White House already has their tree up, but DCist thinks it’s a bit garish compared to the tastefulness of the Capitol tree. In fact, we urge any and…

We hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. The weather today should be sunny with temperatures in the low 50s. UDC Gave Free Housing to Athletes: Who knew that that the University of the District of Columbia’s official mascot was the Firebirds? We certainly didn’t. The W.Times continues to follow the basketball scandal at UDC, which has forced the university to cut its basketball program. The NCAA violations? Housing student athletes for free. From Suitland…