Depressing news item of the day: Someone decided to ignore—-or wasn’t familiar with—-the District’s safe-haven law and decided to abandon a newborn girl on the doorstep of a house in Northeast. While neighbors found the baby in the morning and tried to revive her, they were unsuccessful. She died, and the homeowner on whose steps the baby was found says, “Even a knock on the door and then somebody could take care of it. It was freezing last night.” Police are trying to find out if anyone in the area has been pregnant recently. –10

You Won’t Have Wikipedia To Kick Around Much Longer On Wednesday: The publicly edited encyclopedia will be closing its U.S. site for 24 hours in protest of SOPA, anti-piracy legislation making its way through Congress. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo—-who also opposes the legislation—-says that’s “just silly.” Expect many tweets about Wikipedia being down on Wednesday. -1

Copyediting Delayed Is (Not) Copy-Editing Denied: When the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial was unveiled last fall, a few eagle eyes noticed that one quote chiseled on reverend’s side was strangely not-humble. “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness,” it read. Turns out King was just saying people could call him that if they absolutely must, and now Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is demanding the Park Service find a solution to the mistake within 30 days. Fox notes that some people have mixed feelings over correcting the quote: “‘He was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness,’ opined Marcel Kouaho, of Southwest Washington, D.C. Kouaho believes the paraphrased inscription properly captures the essence of King’s character. So does Jean Williams of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, who said the current inscription is part of the artist’s ‘rendition of things.'” -2

Missing Person: WJLA reports that Howard University student Arianna Carr is missing. “Carr left her home in Oakland, Calif. on a flight to Washington, D.C. on January 7. It was reported that she did arrive in D.C. and has been seen on campus. However, family members have not been able to contact her. Anyone with information is asked to contact the the Howard University Department of Public Safety at (202) 806-1100.” -5

Friday’s Needle rating: 43 Today’s score: -18 Today’s Needle rating: 25