Despite my earlier report, it looks like PETA’s lettuce ladies didn’t have very meaty competition at the Rayburn Office Building today. American Meat Institute Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Janet Riley wrote and called in to CP to say that the AMI lunch is next week, not today, as I reported earlier.

“I guess PETA was so excited to protest our Hot Dog Lunch that they came a week early—and convinced you to cover ‘dueling lunches’ that didn’t occur,” wrote Riley.

On the phone, Riley described the calendar disconnect this way: “A girl from PETA called me a while back, asking if we were going to be having the hot dog lunch this year,” says Riley. “I asked what office she was calling from, and she kept saying, ‘my office, my office.’ Eventually I said, ‘you’re from PETA, right?’ and she sort of sheepishly said that she was. But she never asked what the date was. I think she got nervous and hung up.”

Adds Riley, “You know, the funny thing about it is, every year we’re having this event that is jam-packed, and we are turning people away because hot dogs are so popular. And outside they have to have people in lettuce leaf bikinis trying to entice people to eat their food because everyone prefers hot dogs.”

Riley says the AMI will wear “conservative khakis and golf shirts” at their event, which will, actually, be held next Wednesday, July 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Rayburn Building.

“It’s going to take more than a few girls in lettuce leaf bikinis to wrestle this beloved food out of Americans’ hands,” Riley wrote in an e-mail, adding: “Be sure to visit our new Hot Dog Etiquette video—it’s much more interesting than PETA’s erroneous media advisories. It was also the top featured video on You Tube July 4. It’s 2 ½ minutes long and will give you a good laugh after the irritation of having to retract your story.

Photo by CJ Sorg

During your first week at a new job, it’s expected to make mistakes while learning new tasks and ways of doing stuff, right? Well, I royally messed up, and in the publishing business, that sometimes means that everyone and their literate dog has access to that mistake.

The crossword fiends among us maybe have already noticed the error, but let me get it right out there in the open. On page 107 of this week’s City Paper, I mistakenly posted the answers to this week’s crossword where last week’s answers were supposed to be. Talk about flubbing up. I apologize for ruining your fun, crossword fans, and I’ve come up with a solution to not let it happen again, so have no fear.

One of the better corrections I’ve seen in a while, from today’s Post: “A May 31 Metro article about the Scripps National Spelling Bee misspelled last year’s winning word. The correct spelling is serrefine.” —Mark Athitakis

A correction in Saturday’s Post:

In the Jan. 30 Food section, a recipe for Brunswick stew called for pieces of rabbit with the skin on. The rabbit should be skinless. The corrected recipe appears in Recipe Finder at http://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes.

Craig Silverman’s excellent blog dedicated to newspaper corrections, Regret the Error, has just posted its feature on the corrections of the year. The one below only earned runner-up status for Silverman, but it’s a winner in my book:

The Sentinel-Review (Woodstock, Ontario):

In an article in Monday’s newspaper, there may have been a misperception about why a Woodstock man is going to Afghanistan on a voluntary mission. Kevin DeClark is going to Afghanistan to gain life experience to become a police officer when he returns, not to shoot guns and blow things up.
The Sentinel-Review apologizes for any embarrassment this may have caused.

In June 2006, two inmates escaped from the D.C. Jail by shimmying down a canopy. In the aftermath of the escape, officials pledged that the canopy, which protects waiting visitors from the elements, would be removed. But when At-Large Councilmember and Judiciary Committee Chairman Phil Mendelson toured the facility on Tuesday, he noted the canopy was still there. “I thought they removed it,” he says. “I was surprised. I was told a year ago that it jeopardized security.”

Corrections spokesperson Beverly Young blames former Mayor Anthony Williams. “Director Brown sought approval from the previous administration to have the canopy removed but did not receive response to his formal request,” Young writes in an e-mail. “Of concern was that the visitors would not have any shelter during inclement weather.” She adds that there are construction plans in the works that will address the visiting area.

Department of Corrections chief Devon Brown, now live on the D.C. Politics Hour With Kojo and Jonetta, just put out a cattle call for recruits. For the first time since Lorton Prison closed in 2001, the DOC is actively recruiting new corrections officers rather than relying on the pool of former Lorton guards.

So dust off those résumés!