We've had a raft of news this past week, and stellar coverage of everything thrown our way. It started Monday with an early evening Metro crash. Anchored by Lena Sun and Lyndsey Layton, but with dozens joining in, our newsroom delivered swift, enterprising coverage instantly for the web and into the next day's paper. Throughout last week the staff stayed with the story, surfacing some of the best accountability reporting against a highly competitive field. When Mark Sanford took to the podium for his bizarre confessional, the National staff jumped in with coverage that was as colorful as the calamity itself. And when Michael Jackson died unexpectedly, right at deadline, we rose up again, this time with Style in the lead. Yesterday's paper was The Washington Post at its best, crowned by Eli Saslow's poetic masterpiece, a narrative intricately and emotionally woven together from the tireless efforts of many. The photographs and design were as compelling as the story.

Sports is now due. Perhaps a winning streak by the Nationals?

Anyhow, there was some pretty good journalism getting tossed about on this holiday weekend. The Washington Post's Eli Saslow went to Texas to monitor the GWB post-presidency and came back with all kinds of details, including an account of a dinner with the Bushes and neighbors, the efforts of some Boy Scouts to penetrate the former prez's cocoon, and the usual template about how Bush gets up early, goes to the office, keeps in touch with former administration officials, etc. I'm guessing the piece weighed in at about 3,000 words.

So how did the New York Times manage to fit more into a piece one fraction of that size? Because it had one key detail: Dick Cheney isn't coming to an anticipated administration reunion. Gotta say that the Cheney bit was worth a lot more than the fact that George and Laura don't like to cook too much.

Post's Tim Craig on how D.C. is going all liberal all of a sudden.

AP goes into some detail on the Chandra Levy--Ingmar Guandique case, talking about how the thing is riddled with holes. This is one of those stories that rests on, like, "former prosecutors" and various experts.

Missed the blossom? BYT has got you covered.