The Post vs. Its Staff: The Post will be offering staff buyouts in an attempt to get rid of 48 employees, including Metro section staffers. Though the Metro staff is huge and covers a large region, we really hope the staff cuts don't mean stories about Falls Church dads who can't build treehouses go away. Also: We love a good acronym, but the so-called Separation Incentive Program, a.k.a. SIP, ought to come with a bottle of booze to sweeten the deal. These are journalists, after all. -3

Snow vs. You: It's wet and cold outside—and federal workers were allowed to work from home today in case the expected snow, which has yet to materialize, would lead to a repeat of last year's long march home. Heavy handed, yes, but better safe than sorry and all that. +2

D.C. vs. Harry Thomas Jr.: HTJ probably won't be paying the District back the $300,000 he owes, and going after his house isn't a viable option since it's in his wife's name. DCist notes: "Beyond what Thomas owes D.C., he's still on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes on the money he stole. He's to be sentenced in May for stealing the money, and face anywhere from three to four years in prison." (And a theory from your Needler: There are very few cases in which someone whose name isn't on the deed of the house he lives in—and presumably pays—for isn't trying to get over, right?). -4

Cameroon vs. Harvard University: Harvard University wants the building currently being used by the Cameroon embassy vacated: "the university is arguing that the African nation's mission in Washington had the option to extend its lease for the building but failed to do so. And now Harvard wants Cameroon out. The embassy signed a lease with the university in April 2010 to use the entire Georgetown building as its chancery building on Massachusetts Avenue was being renovated." In the battle of diplomats versus the university with a multi-billion dollar endowment, we wonder if it's possible for them both to lose. -2

Monday's Needle rating: 41 Today's score: -7 Today's Needle rating: 34

Back then, Hunter was the favorite of the National Organization For Marriage (which, name notwithstanding, opposes marriage when it doesn't involve a man and a woman). Today, he says he supports the District's same sex marriage law.

Related: Mike DeBonis reports that Tim Day, another Thomas challenger and the guy who brought everyone's attention to Thomas's shady finances, has also entered the race.

Anyway, has anyone seen other posters up? Are they just not as eye-catching as Hunter's?

Update: Bless Twitter. Martin Austermuhle and Jaime Fearer point out immediately that these posters are repurposed from Hunter's run in 2010. Ah well! As Austermuhle says: "Crafty, financially sound and environmentally conscious!" I will ask how many Hunter has left over if his staffer calls me back.

Photo by Shani Hilton

And Then There Were 12: For months, Harry Thomas Jr. claimed he was innocent of all the allegations against him, even after he agreed to repay the District $300,000 that the attorney general said he stole. And then all of a sudden, he admitted he did it all. In a guilty plea in federal court today, Thomas said he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars he'd helped direct to organizations that were supposed to be working on behalf of needy kids. He resigned his Ward 5 D.C. Council seat last night, and he'll be sentenced to prison on May 3. It's a cliché to say, "This is a sad day for D.C.," but phrases like that become clichés for a reason—because they're true. -5

No Parking, President Dining: Early this morning, Dupont Circle residents found temporary "no parking" signs had gone up all around the neighborhood, without the usual advance notice required for posting. Some cars had been towed. What, exactly, was going on? Just a lunch excursion for the most powerful man in the country, that's all. President Barack Obama zipped north to eat lunch with some supporters at Scion, the second such meal he's had lately. Last time, he was in Virginia. Maybe he's been reading Washington City Paper? -1

A Diaper On Every Pol: Out on the hustings, the men (and they're all men, now that Michele Bachmann has quit) who want to replace Obama like to talk about the career paths they'd bring to the White House should they win. One guy's a corporate raider, one guy's a K Street lobbyist without the title. A lesser-known rival, though, would arrive at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW having served as lawyer to the madame to the inside-the-Beltway stars. Montgomery Blair Sibley, attorney to the late Deborah Jean Palfrey, announced today he's seeking the presidency. No line so far on InTrade on Sibley's chances. -1

More Money, Fewer Problems: It's been years since federal workers got a pay raise, as every national politician in town has rushed to demonstrate their frugality by slashing salaries of public servants. (Public servants except Harry Thomas Jr., of course.) The White House has, apparently, decided that's gone on long enough. Civilian federal employees would get a .5 percent raise in fiscal year 2013 under President Barack Obama's proposed budget. Considering that stats out today showed that 12,000 public sector jobs vanished in the last month, chances are the country can afford it. And here in D.C., a raise for federal workers might help everyone. But since it's got to get through Congress first, we don't advise anyone start spending immediately. +2

Yesterday's Needle rating: 43 Today's score: -5 Friday bonus: +2 Today's Needle rating: 40

Tips For Thomas: Now that Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. has been formally charged by federal prosecutors for theft and filing false tax returns, the question becomes: What's next? Loose Lips is on it, musing about who could run to replace Thomas (should he resign, which he hasn't formally done yet), and getting tips from other politicians who have gone to jail, including a disgraced Philadelphia councilmember, Jimmy Tayoun. "It's all mental," Tayoun says. "It's nothing big."  Optimism! +3

Did They Get $1 Million? We don't like this lede: "Authorities are investigating the shooting death of a 7-month-old golden retriever puppy Wednesday in Middletown, according to County Animal Control Director Harold Domer." This is the second time a pet has been killed with a gunshot in the area this week. It's unclear if they're participating in the kill-your-pet-for-a-million-dollars experiment Slate writer Matthew Yglesias touted yesterday. -5

Safe Travels: Nearly 100 of D.C.'s National Guard soldiers are deploying to Afghanistan. Reports WJLA: "This is the 22nd post-9/11 deployment for the D.C. National Guard, with 32 of the guardsmen headed out for a second tour of duty." Good luck, and come home safely. -1

Marion Barry, Brought To You By White People: At least according to Marion Barry: "I have more white support than people say I do, but I don't worry about that," Barry told Huffington Post D.C. "That's what frustrates some of these white people out here. They get frustrated, all worked up. They can't do a damn thing to me or about me. Isn't that funny?" Hilarious. -3

Yesterday's Needle rating: 49 Today's score: -6 Today's Needle rating: 43

Federal prosecutors charged Ward 5 D.C. Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. today with theft and filing false tax returns.

For those of you just joining us: Allegations of misdeeds by a Thomas-run charity group called "Team Thomas"  have been floating around D.C. political circles for the better part of a year, prompting a legendary editorial crusade by the Washington Post.

In June, D.C.'s attorney general filed suit accusing the Democratic lawmaker and stalwart Vince Gray supporter of taking some $300,000 of money that was supposed to go to kids' charities and instead diverting it to personal use to pay for things like a luxury SUV. Washington City Paper's Alan Suderman reported the next month that other expenditures by the "Team Thomas" charity included golfing vacations and trips to Hooters—among other dubious expenditures contained in the sordid bank records obtained by City Paper. Thomas repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Late on a summer Friday afternoon—ie, prime bad-news-burying time—Thomas settled the lawsuit, agreeing to pay back the money but not acknowledging misdeeds. The closest Thomas' statement came to a mea culpa was a lame acknowledgment that his organization hadn't been rigorous enough about bookkeeping, though even that was mitigated with an assertion that "it is not uncommon for grantees, including DC agencies receiving federal funds, to have expenditures disallowed."

Meantime, a federal investigation has proceeded. Though three of Thomas' D.C. Council colleagues have demanded his resignation, others in city government—including Gray, who made a big stink about ethics during his campaign in 2010—have stayed mum, perhaps out of calculations about the politics of race, party, and federal investigation. Perhaps aware of this calculus, Thomas last fall re-emerged after keeping a low profile all summer.

Last month, IRS and FBI agents raided Thomas' house, seizing a Victory Ness motorcycle and a Chevy Tahoe SUV. (Just before the raid, he made a surprise appearance at a D.C. Council hearing on...ethics reform, which he said he was for.) The charging documents released today indicate the feds plan to keep those vehicles. This week, reports said Thomas was negotiating a plea deal that would require him to resign his seat before going to prison. The documents released today appear to be a prelude to that.

Thomas' resignation would mark the end of a dynasty. Thomas' father, Harry Thomas Senior, was a legendary local pol, the closest thing Washington ever had to a Chicago-style machinist. A 1996 City Paper profile painted him as the loveable guy who could get your pothole filled with one call, or show up with money to keep your electricity on, but who rarely bothered to introduce bills, conduct oversight, or otherwise do his legislative job. The elder Thomas lost his seat in 1998 and died soon afterwards (read a lovely obit of the man here).

The younger Thomas reclaimed his old man's seat in 2006, becoming part of a trio of legacy pols on the council. Meanwhile, his four-paragraph official biography on the D.C. Council's website dedicates nearly an entire paragraph to Team Thomas, which it calls "a non-profit organization for social change, citizen empowerment, community development, and youth and senior program development."

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

No Pictures: These days, just about everyone has a high-powered camera attached to their cell phones. So maybe it's not surprising that homegrown photography chain Penn Camera is closing up shop—but it's still a shame. Business over the holiday season apparently was precipitously low, and the Beltsville-based firm decided not to bother going on after that. Five stores will close immediately; three others will host going-out-of-business clearance sales. The chain operated for 58 years. As it happens, Kodak also filed for bankruptcy today. Now smile for the camera! -3

Special, And Expensive, Election?: Word broke last night that Ward 5 D.C. Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr.—he of the motorcycle and SUV that are now in federal custody—was considering a plea deal in which he'd resign his seat in exchange for a shorter prison sentence springing from an FBI and IRS investigation into his nonprofit, Team Thomas. Which might be good news for his constituents, if he's guilty of the charges against him, but it would also be bad news for the District's budget. The next election is scheduled to be held in 90 days, on April 3—too soon to roll a special election to fill Thomas' seat onto the ballot, under city law. But a Ward 5-only election would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Naturally, the only way to change the law to avoid the cost would be through an act of Congress. -3

District Of Dating: And now for another installment of meaningless national rankings! Today's episode: Dating. Using a hodgepodge of Census data and Google Trends stats, the Daily Beast has produced a traffic-whoring slideshow masquerading as a list of cities where it's easiest to get a date. Alexandria came in at number 19, and D.C. ranked 10. Which, actually, may explain the constant influx of Virginians to District bars; after they strike out across the river, they head our way. +1

Bikeshare, Brought To You By The Letter B: Those red bikes dashing around the city lately may soon double as billboards. District Department of Transportation officials are considering corporate sponsorships for Capital Bikeshare, complete with logos on the stations, the bikes, and even the program's name. The idea would be to reduce the amount of public money that's spent on the bikes, which in turn might keep Eric Cantor from nosing around the program. +1

Yesterday's Needle rating: 53 Today's score: -4 Today's Needle rating: 49

2400 Block of 17th Street NE, December 2

Page three photos are also posted in a big picture gallery.

Certificate of Occupation: The big worry for the people occupying McPherson Square has been that a sudden police raid–like the ones in New York, Oakland, UC-Davis, and, oh, just about every other Occupy encampment—would clear them out. This weekend's demolition notwithstanding, they shouldn't have to worry about that: A judge has ruled that authorities need to give 24 hours notice before evicting the protest. Good news for anyone who doesn't like the smell of tear gas or pepper spray. +2

Ethics R Us: Every member of the D.C. Council voted today to approve new ethics legislation–even the ones who have caught the FBI's fancy recently (like Harry Thomas Jr.). The bill would dial back, but not eliminate, the slushy constituent service funds councilmembers enjoy now; it would also set up a new body to enforce ethics complaints, apparently because the council thinks the current Board of Elections and Ethics isn't up to par. Anyone expecting the bill to immediately improve the conduct of the D.C. government, however, should probably take a look at a nice bridge we have for sale a bit to the north. -1

Turning Japanese: Tomorrow is a date that will live in infamy—especially if you attend Sidwell Friends and don't like edamame. The private school's lunch selection for Dec. 7 features the soy bean snacks, chicken teriyaki, something called "Oriental noodle salad," and other Asian-inspired dishes; its menu notes prominently that Dec. 7 is Pearl Harbor Day. School officials say it's coincidental; the food contractor chose the menu items, and the printing contractor automatically noted the date. With that mystery solved, now maybe someone can figure out why they still think it's okay to refer to anything as "Oriental." -1

Fail To The Drug Tests: Life as a professional football player isn't that easy. Sure, you get paid a lot of money to play sports, but you have a high risk of concussions and other cataclysmic injuries—and you can't just smoke weed whenever you want to. That's the lesson from the suspension the NFL handed out today to Trent Williams and Fred Davis of the Washington Redskins for failing three drug tests; they'll miss four games, starting Sunday, ending their seasons. Which is to say, don't bet on the team winning out. -2

Yesterday's Needle rating: 59 Today's score: -2 Today's Needle rating: 57

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Back in 1996, I wrote a column for Washington City Paper about the only goal I ever had: I wanted to hit a home run in softball.

A real home run.

Not an inside-the-park thingee any punch-and-judy swinger will occasionally get out of a good bounce or an inept opponent. I wanted an outside-the-park, over-the-fence, going-going-gone 300-plus-foot job, like only the big boys hit.

At the time, I'd never hit a real one, after more than a decade of playing on the same team. And with each season the warning track was getting further and further from the plate for me.

But, as I wrote, an Oregon company named DeMarini had just introduced a high-tech —or, to my mind, magic —bat called the Double-Walled, which, for $300, made the longball seem possible even for slugs like me. My buddy Gary, a friend since high school who I'd been playing in leagues with for years and who was similarly sick of living a homerless existence, shelled out the bucks.

The advent of the DeMarini, I wrote, kept hope alive that I wouldn't go to the grave having never touched 'em all.

I got a call at home shortly after the story was published. The guy on the other end said his name was Harry Thomas Jr., and that, yeah, his dad was the D.C. Councilman. Thomas said he'd read my story and was just the guy to help. He said he was a slo-pitch batting coach.

Until that call, I didn't know there was such a thing as a hitting coach for slo-pitch softball.

With just a few trips to the batting cage with him, he said, he was sure he could teach me how to hit a tater, just as he'd taught a lot of other guys who shared my dream.

Thomas was very nice, and really seemed to care about me leaving the yard. He said he'd do it all gratis, too.  All I had to do was show up.

I thanked him but said no thanks, using the journalistic ethics of taking a freebie as my crutch. Really, I was just too ashamed at my age to get professional coaching to play a beer-league game.

Besides, by then the DeMarini had arrived in our clubhouse.

I've thought about that call from Thomas every now and then over the years and giggled at how earnest he was and how much he wanted to help.

Especially when I read that the guy who wanted to teach an old fart like me how to hit a softball pro bono had allegedly filched $300,000 that was supposed to be used TO TEACH KIDS HOW TO HIT A BASEBALL!!!!

I can only hope that all the kids who also never got hitting lessons from Thomas had access, as I did, to a $300 magic bat.

I retired from slo-pitch around 2003 after hitting my second homer. I can die happy.

But what about the children?

10:05 Media wait behind police car as federal agents search D.C. Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr.'s house.

More pictures after the jump.

10:15 And now MPD has police tape up, just in case @mikedebonis planned to sneak into the house.

10:19 HTJ's attorney Fred Cooke talking to one of his client's neighbors.

10:23 IRS agents (with badges) leaving HTJ's house.

Follow Madden and Loose Lips for updates as they come.

Photos by Mike Madden

Via Loose Lips:

WTOP's Mark Segraves is reporting that the FBI is at Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr.'s house, but at the moment has not been arrested.

LL is hearing all sorts of disparate info from his sources at the Wilson Building about what's currently happening. LL will be updating throughout the day as more facts become available.

Thomas and his attorney Fred Cooke Jr. were not immediately available for comment.

For those unaware of why the FBI might be at Thomas' house, read here.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Eat Your Vegetables: For years, stereotypes of D.C. dining began and ended with lobbyists sitting in steakhouses, carving up the world along with their filets. That's now well out of date—and as a new survey shows, D.C. apparently has the highest percentage in the country of diners who eat vegetarian meals when visiting restaurants. Don't tell The Palm! +2

Republicans Squatting: Beleaguered D.C. Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. found time recently, between his official government duties and whatever worries he might have about a criminal investigation into his Team Thomas organization, to register for Twitter. When he did, he listed a website to reach him, HThomas5.org. Unfortunately for Thomas, he didn't bother registering that domain before taking the Twitter feed live—so the D.C. GOP bought it and redirected it to their own site bashing him. Just goes to show the Internet may be a rougher place than the Wilson Building. -1

Ethics R Us: As for the rest of the D.C. government, expect ethics to be in the front of everyone's mind from now on. Why? Because the city has posted signs with handy tips on whether or not to engage in unscrupulous behavior around official buildings. Among the questions employees should ask: "If you do it will you feel bad," "How would it look in the newspaper," and "Would I be proud to have my kids, parents, significant other know?" As DCist pointed out, though, apparently some folks could have used the poster around this time last year. -3

Beck to Basics: The Washington Redskins have finally remedied a glaring weakness in the team's offense—their quarterback has been, up to this week, Rex "Sexy Rexy" Grossman. The only problem with the team's announcement today of a new starting quarterback? That QB is John Beck, whose NFL career up to now has barely registered on the consciousnesses of the legions of stat geeks out there. Fans on the team-owned ExtremeSkins message board greeted the news with a long exploration of whether Beck is really, as Wikipedia reports, Glenn Beck's cousin. The rest of us mostly shrugged, and prepared for the inevitable moment Sunday when the team's promising start to the 2011-12 season slips further into distant memory. -2

Yesterday's Needle rating: 61 Today's score: -4 Today's Needle rating: 57

Always Low Prices On Guns: It turned out Walmart didn't need much of a hard sell to get D.C. government officials to welcome them to town; the only argument the city's really putting up so far is about whether they'll deign to give us four stores, or five, not about whether they'll do things like, oh, pay reasonable wages, not lock workers in the stores overnight, and generally avoid disrupting existing businesses. But one concession the Bentonville gang had made was that, in deference to the District's gun laws, their stores wouldn't sell firearms. Now the city seems to be trying to get them to undo that, too. Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier says it "makes a lot of sense" for Walmart to sell guns in D.C. When can we just go ahead and rename the Wilson Building for Sam Walton? -3

The Name Game: Some Metro stations have easy names—think "Metro Center," or "Dupont Circle." Others have complicated ones, like "Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan," or "Vienna/Fairfax-GMU." The complicated names may be on their way out; Metro officials have decided to lop off most add-ons and relegate them to subtitles, based on a series of focus groups with riders. Meanwhile, the Washington Nationals still want to add a curly "W" to the Navy Yard station on the Green Line, which riders liked. Must have done the focus groups during the recent winning streak. +2

Federal Express: Typically, it's considered bad news when any top city officials are under investigation by federal authorities. Here in D.C., we've got a whole bunch. Council Chairman Kwame "Fully Loaded" Brown's 2008 campaign finance reports have been referred to the FBI and federal prosecutors; the feds are already looking into allegations against Mayor Vince Gray (though we suspect that investigation isn't going anywhere) and Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr., and they tried to bribe Ward 1's Jim Graham already, too. At this rate, they'll be able to get a quorum together at the FBI headquarters. -3

The Future... Is Now: Trains on Metrorail have looked like relics from the 1970s since, well, the 1970s. So it'll take some getting used to the fancy new design officials unveiled today. Gone are the orange and yellow seats and brown carpets, replaced by blue seats and dark stone-looking floors. The new trains will roll out in the next two to five years. The system is also allowing riders to add money to their SmarTrip cards online, instead of having to use the farecard machines in stations to do it. Lest we all be overwhelmed by too much progress too fast, that one's just a pilot program for now. +2

Yesterday's Needle rating: 52 Today's score: -2 Today's Needle rating: 50

Wilson Building Whirlwind: The summer is usually a little slow for political news. Today wasn't. First, D.C. officials announced that the city was suing Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. for allegedly using earmarks to buy himself an Audi. Thomas says he's done nothing wrong, but the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office were already investigating him before D.C. Attorney General Irv Nathan referred the matter to them. No sooner was the Thomas story done for the day then Sulaimon Brown took the witness stand at the Wilson Building, wearing sunglasses he refused to take off and getting into snippy arguments with members of the D.C. Council. The best exchange came late in the day, when Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry was arguing with Brown. Brown told Barry, "You know, you were locked up by the same FBI I've been talking to," prompting Barry to reply, "You out of your goddamn mind." Aren't we all! -6

End of the Line: When Metrobuses are delayed, it's usually because of traffic, not because they smashed into each other. But this afternoon, near Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and W Street SE, that's precisely what happened. At least six people were injured, apparently none seriously. And yes, traffic, for anyone on a bus passing through the same area, was backed up. -3

Tommymandered?: Walk out on the street right now, stop the first five people you see, and ask them what ward they live in if they're D.C. residents. It's unlikely they'd all get it right, which makes the uproar over D.C. Council redistricting seem like a typical low stakes, high emotions local politics fight. This time, though, the most emotive people seem to have won. A final redistricting map will keep Hill East residents who had wanted to stay in Ward 6 there and represented by Tommy Wells, instead of moving them to Yvette Alexander's Ward 7 territory. Look for another fight over almost identical issues in ten years. +1

Thou Shall Not Steal: The best time to commit burglary is, obviously enough, when no one's going to be in whatever building you're planning to steal from. Or, if you're breaking into a church, when they're all busy praying. That was the strategy police say Stephen Ernest Wing Jr. and Andrew Phillip Conteh used yesterday morning, when they snuck in a back door of the Christ is Lord Ministry in Woodbridge, Va., flashed guns at the parishioners counting money collected during the service, and ran off. They were identified not long afterward and arrested—which the Old Testament could probably have predicted. -1

Friday's Needle rating: 63 Today's score: -9 Today's Needle rating: 54

Parking Fairies: From the Bloomingdale blog comes an announcement by a local resident who has convened a "parking focus group" because, "...CM Thomas and Dr. Johnson expressed that they wanted to empower members of the community to take charge and address some of the concerns and issues within their own communities. Parking was noted as one of the prevalent issues." Though the post contains no word on what kind of problems and solutions will be addressed at the upcoming April 7 community meeting with a DDOT official, a commenter is already concerned: "Why do you have to hate on the positive growth the community is showing? These businesses are building a stronger community – shouldn't you be proud to live in a community that has such fine neighborhood businesses?" Or, maybe this'll just be Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr.'s chance to promote his fondness for Sunday morning angle parking.

Harbor Ferries: American River Taxi began its operation quietly last year, but Southwest...The Little Quadrant That Could reports that the company could be making more of a splash during its 2011 season. Per its website, "Water Taxi stops include Georgetown / Washington Harbor Landing, The Wharf : Main Landing at Gangplank Marina, and The Yards / Nationals Stadium Landing (Diamond Teague Terminal). The travel time between stops ranges from 20 to 35 minutes, following the current government speed regulations on the river." Reportedly, more stops ("Old Town Alexandria, National Harbor, Poplar Point, and Reagan National Airport") will be added, too. If you're not excited, at least former DDOT director Gabe Klein is.

JBG, Sowing: The Washington Business Journal reports that developer JBG is boosting its investment portfolio in the U Street corridor by "assembling and bidding" for several historic buildings in the area. In response to the posting of the article on the U Street News email list, a resident says, "This will be interesting. Development on the Metro Parcels were stalemated up for about 4 years has CM Graham battled to pay-to-play the Metro sites to his team LaKritz-Alder and the Fenty administration to Banneker Development. Now we have JBG who has the muscle but little [track] record in non-downtown neighborhoods." This news complements last week's Housing Complex column, wherein "developer farms" were discussed as a good thing for neighborhoods.

Scurlockian: Left for LeDroit continues to explore the archives of photographer Addison Scurlock with jaunts into the neighborhood's past. Featured recently: 7th and T streets NW in 1939 and after the 1968 riots, and Ethical Pharmacy—which occupied the building that will host the forthcoming Shaw's Tavern.