The givers-away of the cult edition of Darwin's Origin of Species have been spotted! A graduate student at Virginia Tech, Josette Torres, reports via Twitter that she was handed a copy yesterday. She thought this was just random. But now she knows better. It's not random, it's divine!

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It wouldn't be fair to write just about the so-called Virgin Vault at Virginia Tech. Because the Blacksburg campus has also been home to a seven-story all-male dorm so manly it earned itself not one, but two, nicknames over the years: the "Man Castle" and the "Seven Layers of Players."

With over 1,000 beds, that's a lot of players.

Read More "Virginia Tech’s “Man Castle”: Now Less Manly" »

Reading about the "Booty Wall" at Howard University last week sent one regular City Paper reader on a trip down memory lane. A graduate of Virginia Tech, she wrote in to share some of the particulars of her time living in that school's "Virgin Vault."

Read More "Enter at Your Own Risk: A Tale from Virginia Tech’s “Virgin Vault”" »

Today, Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho's family has allowed for the release of his newly discovered mental-health records. The records were located recently at the home of the former-head of the school's counseling center. WaPo reports the not-stunning news that Virginia Tech's counselors essentially blew off Cho in late 2005---nearly two years before he went on his shooting rampage. He was never treated at the center despite a court order, and the recommendation of an area hospital.

WaPo writes:

"The long-awaited records, which were taken home by the fired director of Cook Counseling Center, do not provide a clearer insight into the mind of the college junior who would later kill 32 students and teachers before shooting himself in the deadliest shooting by an individual in U.S. history. Instead, they provide another window into the broken mental health system that allowed him to slip through its cracks."

The records do indeed read like a troubled student falling through the cracks.

Read More "Shocker: V-Tech Therapists Failed Shooter" »

As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---"Peter Nickles: I Will Not Call You Back," "Video: Is Cleveland Park Dead?" and "The Pershing Park Case: Did A District Official Commit Perjury?"

Morning all. A big thanks to the local politico reporters and Wilson Building staffers who a) Jokingly thought I had become LL; b) Wished me luck in compiling the must-read briefing on local politics; and c) failed to mention the "resident" controversy from yesterday. A few local heavyweights inquired about LL's bike ride to Dewey Beach and wondered if he had made it to the Rusty Rudder safely. I reached LL via e-mail. Here is what he wrote about his trek:

"Uh, well, we left gonzaga HS at 4:30 a.m. then took back roads to just across the severn river in annapolis where we were bused across the bay bridge to where 50 meets 404. it started out looking like it was going to be cloudy and rain all day, but by the time we crossed the bridge the clouds were gone and the sun was shining. so it was really hot. the route kinda sucked. its exactly the same as driving; we rode on the shoulder of these roads the whole time, trucks whizzing pasy, chickenshit in the air, no real scenery of note. but it was for a good cause--autism research--and it was pretty well run, lots of rest stops with powerbars and water and bananas and all that stuff. The first leg I did pretty fast, finishing 35 mi in about two and a half hours. the second leg was somewhat slower---five and a half hours to do 65 mi to Bethany Beach--but i was among the first half of finishers (at 2:15 p.m.) on my junky old bike. so yeah, it was good."

Now on to the news: Councilmember Phil Mendelson has joined colleague Councilmember Mary Cheh in calling for AG Peter Nickles to resign. Cheh spoke out to City Desk last Friday. So what has provoked the councilmembers? The OAG's conduct in a Pershing Park lawsuit in which police evidence has gone missing and/or has been destroyed, among other discovery problems. The U.S. District Court judge in the case has promised painful sanctions, has called on the D.C. Council to investigate the matter, and ordered Nickles to provide a sworn statement explaining his office's conduct. The Examiner's Bill Myers gets Mendo on the record calling for Nickles to go. Nickles offers his usual bulldog-with-rabies react: "It's politics at its worst. They have no idea what's going on." What's going on is available via transcript. News Channel 8's Bruce DePuyt has Cheh and Nickles on the Pershing Park issue. Nickles says he is "troubled" by the missing evidence, and will follow the law. Cheh stands by her comments and says D.C. needs a new attorney general.

LEAD TROUBLES: WaPo is reporting that House investigators have found many more children than previously reported had high levels of lead in their blood during the drinking water crisis from a few years ago. Key graphs: "Local officials could not say Monday whether some children with unsafe lead exposure have gone without intervention to reduce their health risks. The CDC and city health department had reported dangerously high lead levels in 193 children in 2003, the worst year for high concentrations of lead in city tap water. But lab data gathered by congressional investigators this year show that the actual number was 486 children."

AFTER THE JUMP: More public transpo issues, D.C. Police are getting some federal dough, Legal Seafood is fighting to stay inside National Reagan National Airport, WaPo stands up for press freedoms(!) and much, much more.

Read More "‘Politics At Its Worst’: Loose Lips Daily" »

Brett Favre's gone, so Michael Vick talk dominates.

Vinny Cerrato yesterday told the Washington Post that the Redskins will not pursue Vick, doggedly or otherwise. But Cerrato has fibbed so many times about personnel matters, most blatantly while acquiring Jason Taylor from Miami last summer, that his credibility in these situations is less than zero. So over at Dan Snyder's message board, extremeskins.com, the should-we-or-shouldn't-we talk raged on. Vick has a surprising amount of support among the Skins fan base, probably from a combination of loyalty from Virginia Tech alums and Jason Campbell's lack of a strong following.

But the anti-Vick crowd around here is much more passionate. The poster Bostic Hog spoke for a bunch of folks when he wrote: "Do you think Danny will offer us a refund on our season tickets if he signs Vick? Kind of like a breach of contract thing, or maybe a morals clause, like the players have."

I'm guessing the chances of Vick signing with the Redskins are better than the chances that Snyder will offer refunds to fans if he does. And no matter who Vick plays for, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell should make him wear jersey #K9.

(AFTER THE JUMP: Vick programs cable TV? Nats feel more thunder? Weequahic High School was a bunch of losers?)

Read More "Cheap Seats Daily: Michael Vick Inspired ‘Whale Wars’?" »

Virginia Tech has some more explaining to do. More than two years after Seung Hui Cho went on his murderous rampage across the school's sprawling campus, the Post is reporting that his mental-health records from Tech's counseling center have been found.

The new records contradict Virginia Tech's old narrative of events. The records appear to suggest that Cho received far more counseling at the university than had been previously reported. How the records disappeared is now being investigated as a criminal matter.

Read More "VA Tech Gunman’s Mental Health Records Found" »

Yesterday, an important moment came between all the memorials and tributes marking the two-year anniversary of the massacre at Virgina Tech. Two victims' families filed lawsuits in Fairfax County. The families of Julia Kathleen Pryde and Erin Nicole Peterson had opted out of the $11 million settlement and had to meet a two-year time limit to file suits. They met their deadline.

Good for them.

Read More "Remembering And Fighting For Erin Peterson" »