As Jack Shafer observes in yesterday's column, the Annie Le murder has received the sort of national coverage usually reserved for celebrity deaths and award-show gaffes. To wit, Shafer's incomplete but telling catalog:

The New York Times...has already published five articles about Le's disappearance and murder and the apprehension of suspect Raymond Clark III. The Boston Globe has published at least six stories about the case, and the Washington Post has run at least three briefs from the Associated Press. The Times of London, published five time zones away, can't seem to sate its appetite for Annie Le news. Even the proletarian New York tabloids—the Post and the Daily News—have gone ape for the story.

...besides which, a slew of well-sourced and quick-response articles in the university's paper of record, and, by my count, two cover spots in the Washington Post Express.

My problem with Shafer's piece isn't his gripe that crimes at Yale and Harvard receive undue attention. (They do; always have.) I went to Yale—graduated, even—and Shafer's points are well taken. But what the media critic misses is that, when it comes to murder, the Ivy League's disproportionate share of media attention is part of a larger, and more regrettable, trend.

Read More "The Annie Le Media Fest: It’s Not Just About the Ivies" »

Says why.i.hate.dc, which has a photo. Legba Carrefour, get yourself down there, my man!

(Previous ghost bike coverage: 1 2 3 4

Photograph by Darrow Montgomery

More on the ghost bikes

Legba Carrefour left for Dupont Circle at 5 a.m. this morning with a borrowed truck full of white bikes. The Columbia Heights resident, 27, didn't know Alice Swanson, the struck-and-killed cyclist whose memorial was removed from the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and 20th and R Streets NW last month.

But Carrefour, who says he's been two-wheeling through the District since he was 6, says he got "really angry" about the ghost bike's removal, and spent weeks Dumpster-diving, as well as wailing on Freecycle and Craigslist, looking for old bikes. The idea, which he's got a blog for: He'd put up 22, one for each year of Swanson's life, all spray-painted white. As of 10:30 a.m., 16 were still there; Carrefour figures people have nicked them while he's been off gathering flowers to stick on them.

Carrefour has a scar on his right arm from a collision with a cab, and a chipped tooth from a run-in with an SUV. He has no plans to trade his Surly Steamroller. "One, I couldn't get around anywhere. It's fun, it's relaxing, and it's easy. Also I can't afford a car."

He looks at the circle, screwing up his face at the newly placed sign warning drivers to yield to bikes. "If they take it down," he says, gesturing to the bike he's placed where Swanson's original memorial was, "I have a bunch more that are already white."

More photos of the bikes after the jump
Read More "Ghost Bikes Return to Dupont Circle: Alice Swanson Rides Again" »

City Paper managing editor Andrew Beaujon is hot on the case of the proliferation of ghost bikes near Dupont Circle, mentioned in City Desk's Morning Roundup this morning (so far, he has counted 16 rather than the 22 reported by the blog Alice Swanson Rides Again, but still).

Read More "The Ghost Bike(s) Are Back! See Them Here!" »

ANOTHER HORSE'S ASS NAMED JOE WILSON, this time a Republican, breaks decorum and accidentally says what he thinks. This is a cause of great concern! In American politics, there is a ridiculously precious conceit called decorum, which means you can Twitter a retort or pound your opponents on a chat show later, but you must never, ever, show the passion for your job one would take for granted in a high school football coach.

Someone just called me, from Germany (!) to say that there are 22 ghost bikes in Dupont Circle today to honor Alice Swanson. Great!

AFTER THE JUMP: Trees, eagles, bells, weird traffic circles, Giants fans, Beatles, Big Star
Read More "Morning Roundup: “You Lie!” Edition" »

Anna Shoup emailed City Paper with news that Alice Swanson's aunt was at the intersection of Connecticut and R streets NW today, where she replaced her niece's memorial ghost bike (which the Department of Public Works removed on Friday) with flowers and a hand-written sign that reads, "Why has the mayor taken the bike?"

D.C. cyclists are planning a local route as part of the national Ride of Silence tomorrow that will pass the places where Alice Swanson and Ian Wolfe died, as well as American Univeristy, where Brent Hurd, killed while cycling in India, taught.

The ride will start at 7 p.m. at the Jefferson Memorial and will be over by 10 p.m. The WashCycle, which planned the route, encourages people to wear a helmet and to bring a black armband to remember those injured on bikes. "If you have been injured while cycling," the site says, "please wear a red armband instead. As we will be riding at dusk you should also bring reflective clothing and lights for your bike."

The Ride of Silence, started by a Dallas-area cyclist in 2003 to honor an endurance rider killed by the mirror of a passing bus, is not sponsored by anyone and it's free. Anyone can participate in tomorrow's D.C. ride.

Photograph of Alice Swanson's ghost bike at the 2000 block of R Street NW by Darrow Montgomery

1. Which WaPo Writers Are Pulling in 230K? by Erik Wemple

2. A Diner/Tryst Yoga Comedy: Plans for 14th and T Revealed by Jule Banville

3. Update: SIX Flagging by Dave McKenna

4. LNS Reality Show Update by Amanda Hess

5. Bolt Bus Is Bunk! by Angela Valdez

6. Allstate Gets a Spanking by Erik Wemple

7. City Paper Softball Team Seeks Real Competitors by Andrew Beaujon

8. 2000 Block of R Street NW, July 9 by Jule Banville

9. The Elusive Metal Shopping Cart by Brianne Downing

10. Isn't Anyone Bothered by the Lara Logan Sex Scandal Coverage? by Angela Valdez

Photo by Flickr user Hello My Name Is Dev

Photograph by Darrow Montgomery

The "ghost bike" memorial for 22-year-old Alice Swanson was installed anonymously where she died yesterday at 20th and R streets in Dupont Circle.

The tragedy is one that hits home for many: for Alice's coworkers and former coworkers, for her housemates in Mount Pleasant, for her friends in D.C. and from college at Amherst, and from home in Northborough, Mass. It hits the many cyclists in this town and anyone who witnessed the accident or its aftermath. It's probably her father, though, who expresses the loss best (from the Boston Globe):

She is so energetic and enthusiastic. She always wants to explore or travel. She’s got a room full of maps here, world maps and things like that. She wanted to travel.

I just feel that she had so many things that she wanted to do—to help people. Now it's not going to happen.

Condolences to all who knew and loved Alice.

UPDATE: WABA (Washington Area Bicyclist Association) to hold a memorial service and press conference tonight at 6:30 near the intersection. Cyclists and others who attend are encouraged to bring bike lights and flowers.