DL Open Thread: Thursday, February 5, 2026

For those who missed it, Al (not A I) alerted us to this comment from Sen. Stephanie Hansen re data centers:

“Given the growing emphasis on technology and artificial intelligence, it’s clear that data centers are here to stay – and it’s up to us to implement meaningful regulations that balance economic opportunity with energy affordability and reliability.”

Somewhere, James Maravelias nods in approval as he dusts off his Giant Rat.

Been scrolling the Washington Post front-page since the announced evisceration of staff became public.  Nary a mention.  Not newsworthy for Post readers, apparently.  Here, though, is an account of why many felt that it was a special place to work:

We’re witnessing a murder.

Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of The Washington Post, and Will Lewis, the publisher he appointed at the end of 2023, are embarking on the latest step of their plan to kill everything that makes the paper special. The Post has survived for nearly 150 years, evolving from a hometown family newspaper into an indispensable national institution, and a pillar of the democratic system. But if Bezos and Lewis continue down their present path, it may not survive much longer.

What’s happening to the Post is a public tragedy, but for me, it is also very personal. When my parents’ basement recently flooded, amid the waterlogged boxes of old photos and vinyl records, we found my younger sister’s baby book. There, on a page reserved for memories from the month she was born—news about visits from doting grandparents, perhaps, or descriptions of her mewling gurgles—my dad had filled the lines with news from our hometown paper, The Washington Post.

Journalism is—has always been—a tough industry. But I watched firsthand as Bezos, Lewis, and company spoke in turgid corporate-ese (“Fix it, build it, scale it”) and failed to launch—or even attempt to launch—initiatives that might achieve their grandiose visions. They began 2025 by unveiling the “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” of jumping from about 2.5 million subscribers to 200 million paying users, despite having ended the previous year hemorrhaging tens of thousands of their existing subscribers, all while blaming the journalists for the paper’s travails.

I don’t pretend to have the answers to the Post’s financial woes, or a successful business model for a local paper that is also the nation’s hometown paper. But I can tell you what will be lost if these two men—who don’t seem to understand what the Post was, what it still is, and what it could be—continue to treat it like a distressed asset or a bargaining chip with a president who, ultimately, does not respect bargaining supplicants.

Mark Kelly: ‘This Should Be A Non-Negotiable Demand’:

“We’ve got to get rid of the masks,” Kelly said. “They should be wearing body cameras, all of them, all of the time. And right now they need to get out of Minneapolis and really reevaluate, you know, what this agency should be. [Homeland Security Secretary] Kristi Noem needs to be fired, by the way—that’s a good starting point here. And the senior leadership there—the ones that have implemented these policies—these people need to go.”

Is Schumer listening?  Are Coons and LBR?

Because He Has Nothing Better To Do:

FBI Director Kash Patel is planning a trip to Tucson, Arizona, as President Trump deploys federal resources to find “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie’s mother, two sources tell Axios.

The big picture: Trump said on Truth Social he’d spoken with Guthrie, whose mother went missing from her home outside Tucson over the weekend in what law enforcement called “suspicious” circumstances, and was “directing ALL Federal Law Enforcement to be at the family’s, and Local Law Enforcement’s, complete disposal, IMMEDIATELY.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has known Guthrie for more than 25 years, also spoke with her on the phone Wednesday and is receiving constant updates on the case, Axios has learned.

• Patel, who was already heading to Tucson for another engagement, is “devoting all resources possible to help and is prepared to go if the situation warrants,” a source familiar with the matter said.
• Arizona officials are still leading the investigation and the FBI remains in a supportive role to the state, the source said.

With all due respect to Savannah Guthrie’s mom, isn’t this a bit over the top?  Especially for a government that disappears folks every day for the ‘crime’ of being human?

Does This Ordinance Weaken Police Accountability In NCC?  My initial sense is ‘yes’:

The New Castle County Council passed an ordinance earlier this week taking more authority over appointments to the county’s Police Accountability Board away from community groups and giving it to County Executive Marcus Henry. 

The move grants Henry the power to appoint the accountability board’s chair, replacing the previous system where the county executive had to ask for recommendations to fill the role from local nonprofit organizations.

The new ordinance also removes certain community representation requirements from the board, such as a civil rights group and a faith-based leader; mandates board members complete 20 hours of police officer-run training; and reduces the number annual board meetings from 10 to six. 

County council members and representatives from Henry’s office are lauding the ordinance as a way of tightening up the accountability board to make it more effective, but police reform advocates are pointing to it as another example of the accountability boards across the state not functioning properly.

The move by Henry was foreshadowed in a sit-down interview with Spotlight Delaware last spring, when he said that he had “a different perspective” on oversight of police.

“I appreciate the work of the Police Accountability Board and other efforts, but I look at it like this: At the end of day, I’m responsible. I’m personally responsible for what happens with the conduct of the police department,” he said. “I appreciate the help of citizens groups and others, but I don’t need additional help in terms of the seriousness and the veracity in my reviews to make sure we’re doing the best we can.”

Based on the ‘judgement’ that Henry has demonstrated so far, I think this is a mistake.

What do you want to talk about?