Want to know more about this colossal new local Web venture coming from the people who gave us Politico? Here are some questions and answers:

What's the name going to be?

Read More "More! Details on PostKiller.com" »

So the Washington Post appeared to want to make you pay big bucks for meet-ups with their reporters and editors. Politico had the scoop on the Post scheme in which Publisher Katharine Weymouth would host "salons" in which lobbyists and association muckety mucks would pay large sums of money to hobnob with Posties, Obama administration officials, and members of Congress.

Let's stop and just say it: This is/was really, really dumb. Unethical and dumb. Yesterday, Weymouth published a "Dear Reader" letter apologizing for the now-abandoned salons. It reads in part:

"A flier distributed last week suggested that we were selling access to power brokers in Washington through dinners that were to take place at my home. The flier was not approved by me or newsroom editors, and it did not accurately reflect what we had in mind. But let me be clear: The flier was not the only problem."

I wonder if the Weymouth has to put a stop order on the hot appetizers she planned on serving to D.C.'s elite. I hope the Post doesn't have to eat the cost of the flower arrangement orders. And I hope they got a deal on those fliers they're not going to use. Next time: Evites.

Read More "Post Salon Scandal Gets Full Take Down" »

Bill Hamilton, one of the most experienced editors at the Washington Post is taking the money and running. The 58-year-old Hamilton is availing himself of the Post's 2009 buyout offer and will join Politico on a yet-to-be-determined date.

After jump, Politico memo (implicitly) thanks Washington Post for the referral.

Read More "WaPo Enterprise Editor Bill Hamilton Bolts to Politico" »

The Washington Post has offered four buyout packages this decade---all of them generous bundles of cash and benefits designed to push older reporters and editors off the paper's payroll.

That, at least, is the intended consequence.

A less-intended consequence is that the Post abets competing publications by hastening the departure of top talent and rewarding them for making the leap. Along these lines, some names from past early-retirement rounds jump out: Investigative wizard Sue Schmidt took a Post buyout en route to the Wall Street Journal and legendary Federal Reserve correspondent John Berry cashed out in favor of a slot at Bloomberg. Tom Edsall went to the Huffington Post on buyout cash.

The 2009 buyout season, however, could add an even more compelling tale of ship-jumping. According to several sources, longtime Postie Bill Hamilton is pondering a move to Politico. When reached on this matter, Hamilton went into non-confirm-or-deny mode: "Just not going to talk about that," said Hamilton.

Read More "WaPo Buyouts: Helping the Competition?" »

In case you missed it, Maureen Dowd flat-out plagiarized either a) Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall or b) One of her friends, who quoted Josh Marshall in a phone call with Dowd. Either way, Dowd stole some shit and admitted it. Michael Calderone reports that it doesn't really matter. From NYT spokesperson Diane McNulty:

Read More "This Just In: Maureen Dowd Can Do Whatever the F*ck She Wants" »

Good morning, City Desk readers. If you missed our Food Day coverage yesterday, please give it a looksie now. There were sports. There was meat. There was heartache. Dumpster-diving, even. And other things that will alternately make you salivate and cry and dry heave. All in all, it was a comprehensive food day.

49% of Americans are inhumane monsters and other epithets, after the jump.

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: The Day After Food Day" »

Good afternoon, Washington. Below the links, City Paper is pleased to announce winners in its 2009 Inauguration Reader's Choice Contest.

*Ben Smith touches on the New York Times-Politico spat; Greg Sargent, meanwhile, mediates between the rhetoric of NYT Exec. Editor Bill Keller and that of Politico's John Harris.

*Farm Fresh Meat, hoping to cure his blogger's block, escapes to New Orleans for Mardi Gras.

Read More "Our Lunchtime Roundup: Bloggers, Booze, and Our Winners in the Readers’ Choice Photo Contest" »

Oof. Bad day in Rosslyn.

LL follows up on DCRTV's reporting earlier today of massive layoffs at Allbritton Communication's TV operations (ABC affiliate WJLA-TV and NewsChannel 8).

As far as on-air talent goes, reporter Andrea McCarren is out, DCRTV says, as well as reporter Alisa Parenti, sports guy Greg Toland, and reporters Sarah Lee and Emily Schmidt. Also out, LL hears, is planning editor Vince Vaughan.

Some other details revealed at a 3 p.m. staff meeting by Allbritton President Fred Ryan:

• 26 fired
• Across-the-board 3.9 percent pay cuts (the significance of the figure isn't known)
• Three-year salary freeze [UPDATE: until the economy recovers, which Allbritton is predicting will last three years]
• No more company matching contributions to 401(k)s

What about Joe Robert Allbritton's latest venture---Politico? They're, for the most part, off the hook, LL is told, and will keep hiring. DCRTV says Politico "has also cut back on other expenses - travel and some salary re-negotiations. However, another source tells us that there are no trimmings at the Politico, which is the only Allbritton division ahead of budget."

Says tipster: "this has sent shock waves thru the broadcast media in town."

AMENDMENT: City Paper's Ted Scheinman rightly points out that a serious crime occurred two hours before the All Hands on Deck effort was supposed to wrap up, and not two blocks from the MPD's Kennedy Street efforts: The burning of a car that may be a significant piece of evidence in the Chevy Chase murder. Whatever confidence the MPD's fliers inspired in Petworth residents has likely expired, although a case could be made that preventing car fires wasn't part of the plan.

The Politico's Ben Smith threw up the MPD's community outreach flier on his blog today, but made one huge mistake in his write-up:

The Washington, D.C. police department launched a new initiative with a familiar slogan today, hoping to bring the sense of national change to urban youth.

The "No Shots Fired" initatiative "encourages youth to have a peaceful gunfire-free weekend," according to the press release.

The "No Shots Fired" initiative began--and ended--this past weekend. And those fliers? They were handed out in Petworth on Friday and Saturday nights, at the MPD's questionable checkpoints on Kennedy Street (I have two at home, along with a sheet detailing recently-solved homicides, which MPD officers were handing out to drivers after they questioned them over unbuckled seatbelts and outstanding tickets). The press release for the initiative, part of phase IV of "All Hands on Deck," went out Friday afternoon.

Read More "The Politico’s Ben Smith Missed the Boat on Petworth Violence" »

* Headline of Politico's VP debate preview makes me giggle. Plus: We watch for the crashes:

With all their potential for pitfalls and insta-classic moments, the pair has made the build up to the showdown, to take place here Thursday night at Washington University, feel more like a NASCAR race than a serious political forum: the audience may be tuning in as much in anticipation of cringe-inducing pile-ups as they are to watch the typical parry-and-thrust of debate.

* The Onion, on the other hand, makes me cringe.

* Financial bailout: U.S. Senate tries, tries again, this time with "higher tax breaks, FDIC limits," reports the Washington Post: "The Senate last night easily approved a massive plan to shore up the U.S. financial system, but the measure faces a tougher test tomorrow in the House, where leaders will try to reverse the stunning defeat the legislation suffered earlier this week."

* Some inside stuff: Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy, a veteran of City Paper owner Creative Loafing, lends some valuable insight into the inner workings of CL and CEO Ben Eason, who Fennessy calls "a tireless networker with a love of jargon." The piece details a history of the Eason empire and its plans for the future. I'll say this: Despite the bankruptcy crunch, Creative Loafing employees and alums have been producing some great work about Creative Loafing lately.

* Catch up on Wonkette's gchat interview with "Washington's Only Wasillan." Spoiler: She's a sarcastic liberal! She's also boring enough to have to block during daytime hours to prevent that incessant gmail "ding" from disrupting your office banter. Pay $25 tonight to hang out with her at an Obama fundraiser at James Hoban’s, 1 Dupont Circle NW.

* And in this newspaper (still here!):

- Delaney, Greenwood, Janssen, and Wemple gang up on the Washington Nationals: Take my ticket, please!

- In Loose Lips: the Nats' finances are fucked, too.

- Tricia Olszewski on Bill Maher's Religulous and teenage love adventure Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.

- The debut of our new real estate column, Ruth Samuelson's Housing Complex.

Photo by Jeff Kubina

* Seven years later, a Pentagon memorial is unveiled. [Via Washington Post]

* The Examiner asks if we're safer than we were in 2001.

* Via Politico: Republican foreign policy experts don't have much to say on Palin; Obama and McCain call a 9/11 "truce"

* In alterna-9/11 news, Busboys and Poets kicks off the "9/11 Truth Film Festival" this evening at 6 p.m.

* In case you missed it: Check out Brightest Young Things' comprehensive Large-Hadron-Collider-Will Kill-Us-All Doomsday coverage from yesterday, complete with stellar crying baby photo accompaniment. And via DCist: How to tell if the Hadron Collider has destroyed the Earth yet.

* And in this newspaper:

- Arthur Delaney on winning and losing rec centers

- Jule Banville on the long, slow investigation of an Adams Morgan hate crime

- Mike DeBonis on why Kwame Brown loves Love (and the Park at 14th)

- Dave McKenna on the Redskins' struggle to quit smoking

- And our arts & entertainment column, Show & Tell, meets its makers.

* Find your sex & gender roundup over at The Sexist.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery