Bush Thinks Texas Big for His Library
A Big Assist From An I-Team Legend
It's called "Project Klebnikov, "and it features American and Russian investigative reporters probing the gangland-style murder of the editor of Russia's Forbes . The reporters have lots of leads in the July 2004 slaying of Paul Klebnikov. And project insiders are confident that the killers will be found and prosecuted. Reason: Bob Greene, who headed the only other probe like it, is joining in. The Newsday journalist led the Arizona Project, the 1970s investigation into the car bombing of Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles. "Bob Greene," Project Klebnikov head Richard Behar tells our Joshua Davidovich, " can invigorate any investigative reporter."
In Saving Ellsworth, A Boost for Thune
Of all the victories for military bases slated for closing last week, the base-closing commission's reprieve for South Dakota's Ellsworth Air Force Base may have the greatest long-term impact. That's because the credit for saving the B-1B base is going to Sen. John Thune, and it's boosting talk of his political future. GOP insiders say to look for Thune to emerge as the leading choice to take over the National Republican Senatorial Committee next year and then to make the short list for vice president in 2008.
Too Humid for the Homeland Boss
Like a lot of Washington big shots, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff loves to run. It shows: He's 51 and rail thin. But he tells us that he really hates jogging in Washington's summer. "The humidity's been so difficult," he says, "I can't run." Fortunately, we talked to him after the weather broke last week. "Gorgeous morning," he cooed at the start of an 8 a.m. breakfast of scrambled eggs. "I ran this morning."
What Did You Expect? Hangman?
She's the hip new education secretary with a daughter in middle school and another in college, so naturally Margaret Spellings has been turned on to the popular math puzzle Sudoku. "Every morning," says an aide, "she religiously checks the Post for the day's game." You may know it: It's the mind-twisting math puzzle where the numbers 1 through 9 are used to fill a grid. It's harder than it sounds. Just last week, on a plane trip, for example, Spellings and a stranger sitting next to her compared notes on their games to solve the puzzle. "I'm an addict," she confesses.
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