The Washington Post, deploying just about everyone on staff to the story, including a feature on how families are coping, stuff on how funeral directors are coping, a piece on who won the local TV ratings (WRC-TV), and so much more.

The Washington City Paper, nailing coverage of snow-removal efforts, debates over the privatization of snow removal, in-depth reporting on disparities among streets, the whole Maria Lewis/"Louis" thing, and so much more.

The Examiner, on frustrations piling up around the region, not to mention Harry Jaffe scolding Chris Matthews for his Buffalo-Miami spiel.

Jaffe nails the classic commuter-tax angle to slam Matthews for his dig at the District for failing to clear the snow fast enough, or at all:

Most of the [complaints] came from District residents. They are valid criticisms of city agencies and workers who had to try to clear perhaps the most snow ever dropped on the District, since George Washington made it the seat of the federal government around 1800. Chalk it up to the push and shove between the government and the governed.

But when I hear talking face Chris Matthews gripe about the city's snow clearing capabilities, I'd like to shove a sock in his big mouth. Filling his MSNBC show with more nonsense than usual Wednesday night, Matthews called D.C. "a city that can't plow its streets."

Jaffe then says that if Matthews, when driving in from his "Montgomery County manse," just paid a toll at the border, perhaps Mayor Adrian M. Fenty could buy some more "rigs" and get the job done to Matthews' specs.

City dwellers are always a provincial lot. They live in tight quarters and feel entitled to lash out at people who live in plusher areas. Add to that the historic and exclusive injustices of serving as a resident of the District of Columbia: You have no meaningful representation in Congress; everyone in the region essentially pisses on you; and you have high taxes and bad schools. So when an outsider assails you and your people, the outsider is going to hear it. Expect the Matthews slams to continue into the weekend, along with temperatures in the 30s.

"If not today, it'll be tomorrow."

That's the promise of John Lisle, a spokesperson for the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) in a long-ranging interview this morning with City Desk. Lisle was referring to DDOT's sked for hitting the residential streets with plows and salt and so on.

The city's snow-removal operation, said Lisle, is finishing out its assault on the main arteries and preparing to move all that equipment into the neighborhoods. That's going to be good news for Joe D.C. Taxpayer, who up to now has seen a light touch by work crews on the lesser-traveled streets. According to Lisle, the city is divided into 82 neighborhood plowing zones, and each one is assigned its own light truck equipped with a plow. And given the enormity of this one-two punch over the last six days, that one light truck per rezzy zone has been overwhelmed.

Not only will equipment from the main routes get diverted to the rezzy streets over the next 24 hours, but DDOT is supplementing its fleet via contracting. Lisle said that some heavy-equipment mogul in Massachusetts pulled his name and number off the Internet and is offering to come down with some rigs. "People are out to make some money," says Lisle, noting that the city is deploying light and heavy plows, front-end loaders, backhoes, and Bobcats to get the job done.

Other key points:

*If your car is parked in an alley, you have a choice: Wait for spring or hire your own contractor. The city does not clear alleys, says Lisle, except for a few in which people live in carriage houses. The reasons for the no-alley-plowing are several: 1) Resources; 2) Alleys are too narrow to accommodate the snow that gets pushed around; 3) There are extreme liability questions—if you try to plow the alley, you're bound to sideswipe a few cars and a stray garage door.

*People are all over the map in terms of their feedback on the city's snow-removal performance. Says Lisle: "We’ve gotten some great positive feedback from people who appreciate all the hard work...and negative feedback from people whose street hasn't been plowed or plowed enough."

*Matthews wasn't totally off the mark. When asked if he'd heard about the remarks of MSNBC's Chris Matthews slamming the District's snow removal, Lisle said he'd seen a tweet about the matter. Here's, in part, what Matthews said: "Why can't a government town do a government job? It looked like Siberia without the Siberian discipline. We had the weather of Buffalo with the snowplowing capability of Miami." When apprised of that slight, Lisle showed a dimension that Matthews didn't: reasoned thinking. The District, said Lisle, sure doesn't have the equipment of a Buffalo when it comes to cleaning up after a winter storm. Nor is it as unprepared as a Miami. "We're in the middle," he says. "We plan for this year-round. Our crews have been working nonstop 12 hour shifts round the clock for six days straight. I can understand the individual frustration...I think that if you look at the city overall, I think we’ve done a great job."

Photograph by Darrow Montgomery

CHRIS MATTHEWS PLAYED HARDBALL last night with the District, pounding Fenty like back-to-back snowstorms. D.C., said Matthews, has "the weather of Buffalo with the snowplowing capability of Miami." LL dispatched Matthews nicely last night; for a more nuanced take check out yesterday's Kojo NnamdeNnamdi, on which I heard DDOT head Gabe Klein remind people that you can't fund snow removal with the expectation that you'll get 15 inches a year, then freak out when that isn't enough money to deal with 60.

MORE SNOW MONDAY? Parents region-wide will freaking contemplate suicide if this happens. Today will be my kids' seventh day in the house, and when you find yourself shaking your head knowingly at a Petula Dvorak column, you know it's grim. Not "Johnny Damon looking for a job" grim, but close.

BY THE WAY DO YOU KNOW HOW SERIOUS THIS STORM WAS? It sort of affected New York City!

WHAT'S THE BUZZ? Google Buzz! I'm not sure what it is, but I have 31 followers on it and am following 45 others. Seems like a good way to keep up with my friends' bon mots, even if it has a "huge privacy flaw." We still get to care about privacy? Some things I learned in Google Buzz yesterday: Genius CP alum Mike Riggs has decided to consolidate all his information there: "Hey Buzzers! Welcome to my Google land, where everything tastes like John Mayer's regret!" and stalwart contributor Aaron Leitko is organizing a videoshoot on the CP parking deck. "Aaron, is this offer only good while there's snow piled up? How many cameras?" asked Tom Carrico at 10:07 p.m. Sorry if that's a flaw in your privacy, dudes.

ALLEZ LES HABS! (Sorry.)

Chris Matthews had knives out for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty on his MSNBC show tonight, calling D.C. "a city that can't plow its streets."

"Why can't a government town do a government job?" he asked. "It looked like Siberia without the Siberian discipline. We had the weather of Buffalo with the snowplowing capability of Miami."

He had as his guests Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. and Jerry Phillips, a community affairs producer for WRC-TV—both of whom happily joined in the lambasting. Thomas repeated his calls to bring in federal authorities; Phillips compared it to 9/11, with "a communication and a mobilization problem."

Thomas went on about how councilmembers hadn't been consulted, "the mayor should have coordinated with us," bla bla bla. He found a willing listener in Matthews, who said, "I keep thinking, snow is predictable. We know it's coming. It came last week. It came this week....You see no planning; I see no planning."

"I've watched big cities where mayor lose their offices," Matthews continued, before reciting the litany of mayors felled by snowflakes—Chicago's Michael Bilandic, New York's John Lindsay, Marion Barry. "We've got a very sophisticated mayor this time, everybody liked him for a while. And I'm telling you, it's time for a competition in the next primary round here. I think somebody's gotta run. This city needs a little better effort right now. I'd like to see some action."

Listen, Chris. You're going to slam our local leadership for failing to clear the streets from the biggest snowstorm in 88 years within 48 hours. Fine. Then LL would like to see you and your Montgomery County neighbors start to pay tax on the income you're earning here in the District. Then you get to bitch all you want. 'Cause that money would buy some serious snowplows.

Huffington Post reports that MSNBC "Hardball" anchor Chris Matthews is running for senate in Pennsylvania. The website writes:

"According to multiple sources, who confirmed the Tip O'Neill staffer-cum-MSNBC host has negotiated with veteran Obama staffers to enlist in his campaign, Chris Matthews will run for United States Senate in Pennsylvania in 2010. Matthews, 62, will run as a Democrat. Arlen Specter, the aging Republican incumbent, will be 80 if he chooses to run for re-election."

Seems like that weird feeling Obama inspired in Matthews' leg reached his head. I wonder if people in PA will take him seriously. Whatever happens it will at least be a fun race to watch. I hope there will be some moments like this: