A deliberative roundup of one city’s local politics. 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:

Sulaimon Brown Flees

Read: Emails on Webb Hiring

Good morning sweet readers! It’s Friday, and to get your weekend started off right, here’s a song in honor of Sulaimon Brown. News time:

The Hearing To End All Hearings: LL hardly knows where to being with yesterday’s council hearing on the Gray administration’s hiring practices. The most dramatic part of what felt like a 142-hour episode was when former mayoral candidate and chief administration antagonist Sulaimon Brown showed up, told a bunch of reporters that the hearing was b.s., and took off with Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh’s staff in not-so-hot pursuit with a subpoena. Or, as the Washington Times‘ Tom Howell Jr. nicely put it: “Sulaimon Brown managed to hijack the D.C. political spotlight once again without opening his mouth — at least not in the right place.” Gerri Mason Hall headlined and said that regrets, she has a few, from her brief run as Gray’s chief of staff. Probably the biggest regret is Hall’s hiring of Brown, which she said was her decision, though Gray confidante Lorraine Green “told her to talk to the mayor about Brown and that that was a factor in meeting with him about a job. But [Hall]said she did not speak with the mayor about Brown and that no one directed her to hire him.” So why did Hall decide to hire Brown? She says he was “aggressive” and “persistent” and “he was always around the mayor and I wanted to remove the distraction.” [Note to Bill Keller: LL is coming to hang out with you, forever.] Oh, and there was a whole lot more regarding the hiring of connected children and the firing of former DOES acting boss Rochelle Webb. Even the Wall Street Journal took notice.

AFTER THE JUMP: Downshut? At-large news; Everyone’s on Kojo…

The End is Near?: LL doesn’t think a federal shutdown will happen, based on nothing more than a gut feeling. The plethora of shutdown-related news is a little overwhelming. But basically, the District is getting screwed, and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is just a wee bit mad. Yesterday, Norton said District residents should tell Congress “to go straight to hell.” The Post editorial page sounded off on congressional Republicans as well. (Meanwhile, an aide to one Republican, Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, called Washington City Paper to inquire about the snowball tax the paper jokingly proposed in this week’s issue.)

At-Large News: Special election candidate Vincent Orange is the new Vince Gray, at least as far as the Washington Teacher’s Union is concern. The WTU gave Orange their endorsement yesterday, adding to his collection of union support. The FOP gave its nod to the sole Republican candidate, Patrick “Law and Order” Mara.

Gray sked:  WaPo chat online at 12:30 p.m. Meeting with education transition team, and attending

Capital Area Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Awards dinner.

Council sked: Hearings on police and fire.

Kojo: Five at-large candidates somehow squeeze into the studio at noon.