Unsafe At Any Speed: The Post has been covering Twitter reaction to the story of the Beltway driver who allegedly hit a taxi while having having drunken sex and cruising along at 85 mph since the trial got underway. So it was probably inevitable that the defendant would wind up tweeting, too. But that defendant, Salem Trad, should probably find a way to make money on Twitter—a Fairfax County jury ordered him to pay $22,000 to plaintiff Abdu Omar. +1

Delusions of Grandeur?: The accusations Sulaimon Brown has made against Mayor Vince Gray and his former campaign aides might be easier to take seriously if Brown didn’t pull stunts like testifying before the D.C. Council wearing sunglasses. But apparently federal officials have been able to look past the shades long enough to get a grand jury to look into what Brown’s saying. Which isn’t good news for anyone who hopes Brown’s 15 minutes of local news fame will soon be over. -2

Greed, For Lack Of A Better Word, Is Good: It’s been a good year for Gannett CEO Craig Dubow, who runs one of the D.C. area’s high-profile national corporations, based in McLean. In March, the world learned he got a $1.25 million bonus and his pay doubled—even as the recession crushes what’s left of the media business he works in. Today, Gannett announced 700 layoffs around the company, which amounts to about 2 percent of its workers. Presumably, the annual salary of those 700 people adds up to about… $1.25 million? -2

Powerless: Managing expectations is always important in business. Pepco’s CEO, Joe Rigby, seems to have figured that out; he told the Montgomery County Council that the utility is “not even shooting for average” performance over the next few years. Which won’t come as a surprise to anyone who wondered each night last summer whether they’d be able to keep the lights on. Rigby claims his comment was taken out of context, but it sounds more like a classic Michael Kinsley-style gaffe. -3

Yesterday’s Needle rating: 64 Today’s score: -6 Today’s Needle rating: 58