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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Council Lovefest for Serrano

PETER NICKLES LOVES CAPS

Preservationists love Gray

Good morning sweet readers! Happy autumnal equinox. LL will be celebrating harvest festivals all day if you want to stop by. Also, how satisfying is it to see the mayor, city manager and six councilmembers of Bell, Calif., being hauled away in handcuffs on charges that they ripped off millions of dollars from taxpayers? Police had to use a battering ram at the mayor’s house. Priceless. News time:

Courtland Reads The Comments: Post columnist Courtland Milloy made quite a splash in his last column when he penned probably the angriest diatribe LL’s ever read against Mayor Adrian Fenty, Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, and Attorney General Peter Nickles. So what does Milloy follow up with? This little ditty where he tries to make a larger point that the mean and angry people in the anonymous comment section of his paper’s website are trying to sabotage Almost Mayor Vincent Gray. “‘Once again D.C. returns to the days of corruption, graft, and incompetence . . . and the D.C. voters only have themselves to blame.’ You’ll find thousands of comments like that posted anonymously on The Washington Post Web site, alongside news stories and columns about the election. The volume of similarly expressed thoughts is so great as to give the impression of a massive mind meld, intent on subverting Gray by sheer force of ill will and contempt.” WHAT?! LL did not know that it was acceptable to write a whole column citing anonymous comments. If LL had known that, he wouldn’t waste his time trying to talk to, you know, real people. What a great set up: Write one angry column,watch the comments come in, write about those comments, watch more comments come in, write about those comments. It’s a perpetual column-writing machine. Genius!

AFTER THE JUMP: Gray and Rhee to meet; Brigg’s departure a shocker; No More September Primaries…

They’ve Set a Date: Gray and Rhee are set to meet tomorrow at noon for a hand-dancing lesson frank talk on Rhee’s future in D.C. The Post‘s Mike DeBonis says “there is no telling” how long the meeting will last, but hears reports that Gray’s schedule is open all afternoon. Bum, Bum Bmmmm.

So Long September: DeBonis also has a post up on how this last primary will probably be the city’s last in September because of a new federal law that requires juristictions to actually give a crap about military and overseas voters. So, what does this mean? DCist tells us: “Oh, man. I guess this means that we’ll be forced to sit inside for debates during lovely May weather, the Palisades Parade will now be a March tradition, and yard signs will be buried when the next December snowpocalypse hits town. (Not to mention the potential for six months of lame-duck government.)”

Relax White Voters, Gray is No Barry: Well, you’re not going to find much of an authority on Marion Barry than Tom Sherwood, who writes in his notebook that the fears of some voters that Gray is going to take the city back to the Barry-era are overblown. Sherwood also says that Rhee’s departure is a “foregone conclusion.” But what about their meeting, Tom?

New Name, Jack “Horse Shit” Evans: LL is kicking himself for missing the legislative breakfast yesterday morning. Turns out LL missed quite the show from Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, who did not like the fact that the media thinks some shady tax break for the Starbucks at Union Station is his idea. DCist has the definitive wrap up.

Stunning Departure: The Post‘s Bill Turque has reaction to D.C. State Superintendent of Education Kerri Briggs‘ abrupt departure last week in the form of an e-mail late Thursday that said Friday was her last day. (Note to LL’s bosses: LL appreciates that kind of style. When it’s LL’s turn to leave, you’ll be lucky to get more than an IM saying he’s outta here.) Turque finds that State Board of Education members were shocked. “‘I just don’t get it,’ said Mary Lord, Ward 2 representative on the board. ‘It is out of character for a dedicated steward of an education organization as big as OSSE [Office of the State Superintendent of Education] to pack her bags in the middle of the night and get out of Dodge.’ ‘I had no idea this was coming,’ said board chairman Ted Trabue (At Large). ‘At this level of professionalism, it is uncommon for someone to leave without significant notice.'”

I’m The Quarterback, I’m Popular: The D.C. Council approved a measure that would make the city the sixth jurisdiction the country to join the national popular vote pack, “an agreement among districts to allocate their electoral votes in presidential elections to the winner of the national popular vote,” reports Freeman Klopott at the Examiner. “The goal is to circumvent the Electoral College and allow the nation’s voters to elect their president directly without altering the Constitution. The pact goes into effect when 270 electoral votes have been cumulatively committed, the number needed for a presidential candidate to win. If the council’s bill becomes law and D.C. commits its three electoral votes, there will 76 pledged to the pact.” Chances of this ever actually happening? Zero percent.