Anaconda Found Hiding in Toilet | Patch PM

Stories to share this evening:

Anaconda Found Hiding in Toilet in Arlington

Arlington County Animal Control made an alarming discovery in a toilet in south Arlington recently: a large yellow anaconda. Responding to a call at a local apartment, they had expected a wild snake or ball python, but were surprised to find it was a juvenile yellow anaconda, a species endemic to South America that can grow to be one of the largest snakes in the world. >>> Read more.

Washington Monument Plunges Into Darkness [PHOTO]

It was a spooky sight Tuesday night: the Washington Monument, usually a beacon of light on the darkest of nights in the nation's capital, suddenly went dark at around 7 p.m. The blinking red light atop the monument that warns approaching aircraft worked fine, but the spotlights that bathe the structure in light when the sun sets were suddenly shut off. >>> Read more.

• National Weather Service summary shows that Northern Virginia saw a very warm, mainly dry year in 2016.

• The president-elect's daughter and soon-to-be former first family could make for awkward neighbors.

• Friday morning commute could be slippery in the DC metro area, if weather forecasts hold, calling for an inch of snow in Northern Virginia.

• The hawk was perched in front of a VDOT camera on I-95 North, sound of Old Keene Mill Road. VDOT posted the bird's photo Tuesday online.

• An alleged DUI driver struck a Loudoun County Sheriff's Office cruiser head-on on New Year's Day at 3 a.m.

Patch PM shares a few of the day’s must-read items from our Va. and D.C. networks. The Patch community platform covers communities across the area.