After Hillary Clinton's started airing a commercial in Wisconsin questioning why Barack Obama declined to appear in another debate, Obama came back with his own ad. The voiceover says:After eighteen debates, with two more coming, Hillary says Barack Obama is ducking debates? It's the same old politics, the phony charges, and false attacks. On health care, even Bill Clinton's own labor secretary [Robert Reich] even says Obama covers "more people" than Hillary and does......

Graphic from CNN It was an exciting night of Super Tuesday primary returns. In the Democratic contest, Hillary Clinton won eight states, including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California, but Obama won twelve - Illinois, Connecticut, Alabama, and Missouri - among them (New Mexico is still undecided as the two candidates are in a tie). The NY Times notes that since there were no decisive victories, "an electoral fight...will unfold for weeks to......

An AP report that Mayor Bloomberg has been "conducting extensive polling and voter analysis in all 50 states" continues to fan the flames of a possible Bloomberg '08 bid. We can just imagine it: People in Alaska, Missouri, Ohio, all getting phone calls and asked, "How would you feel if a billionaire who happened to also be a mayor of a certain urban area decided to run for President - as an independent?" So far,......

Despite the fog, it looked this morning like today would be the warmest day of the month. Ha! The clear skies that were expected have given way to a layer of milky clouds. That will keep today's high to around what it is now -the mid-50s. Clouds will continue to thicken throughout the afternoon as a powerful cold front, that currently stretches from Hudson Bay to New Mexico, advances upon the region. A substantial amount......

Gov. Spitzer announced yesterday that illegal immigrants will be able to get valid New York State drivers licenses if they provide a valid and verifiable foreign passport. Spitzer hopes that the change, which reverses a four-year-old Pataki-era decision, will legitimize the 500,000-1 million undocumented immigrants who are driving in New York. In a repudiation of the federal government's stance, the governor said "We will not become part of what is propagated on the federal level......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a missing child on 42nd St. and 2nd Ave. in Manhattan, someone robbed the Commerce Bank on Fresh Pond Rd. in Queens, and a severed limb on West 183rd St. in Manhattan. Someone in Richmond, Indiana won the Powerball lottery with a prize of $314 million and change. Mega-Millions is up to $250 million, however, so if you feel you're in want of a quarter-billion dollars or perhaps just......

The East Village is hosting a three-day "Culture of Contact" festival at the Two Boots Cinema on East 3rd St. this week, featuring UFO buffs, a number of films, talks, and music, all with aliens as their subject matter. According to the article in the free commuter daily Metro, incontrovertible proof of an alien crash landing at Roswell, New Mexico has surfaced. Event organizer Jeremy Vaeini was spurred to call together fellow UFO followers after......

The doctor we wrote about Friday, who was connected to three separate cases of patients infected with hepatitis C, apparently has a less-than-stellar reputation. Dr. Brian Goldweber had his medical license suspended for three years in 1999 after he "botched" anesthesia in several patients and altered records in one case, according to the New York Post. The Dept. of Health has contacted approximately 4,500 patients of Goldweber to recommend they get tested for infectious diseases.......

The eight Democratic presidential candidates debated in New Hampshire last night, covering immigration, health care, and, of course, Iraq. Former Senator John Edwards, who is a distant third in the polls, went after Senators Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's voting on the Iraq spending bill, saying, "They went quietly to the floor of the Senate. They were among the last people to vote. They cast the right vote, and I applaud them for that.......

When the hustle and the bustle of city dwelling gets to be too much, it's the secret fantasy of most New Yorkers to give it all up for life in the country. But could you live without electricity, running water, paved roads and conventional law enforcement in a home you made yourself? Local documentarians and siblings, Randy and Jeremy Stulberg [pictured at below with astronaut Buzz Aldrin] spent time in New Mexico filming a group......

Last week the television networks had their upfronts previewing their fall lineups. So will your favorites be back and is there anything new that at least sounds good on paper? CBS Gone from the CBS fall line up are The Class, Close to Home, Jericho, and The King of Queens, but returning at mid-season are The Amazing Race and The New Adventures of Old Christine. The first new thing we will be seeing from CBS......

Last night, eight Democratic candidates met in the first debate of the already very long road to the 2008 presidential election. And the debate, which included Senators Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd, and Joseph Biden, as well as former Senator John Edwards and Mike Gravel, Representative Dennis Kucinich, and New Mexico Bill Richardson, was more an opportunity to criticize President Bush's policies, versus each other. With eight candidates vying to make the most......

On-air personalities (especially those of the "shock jock" genre) are really raising the bar in crossing the line this month. While there's been some high-profile stupid DJ behavior in the past - Hot 97's Tsunami Song, Opie & Anthony broadcasting a couple having sex at St. Patrick's, DJ Star asking listeners for information where a radio rival's young daughter goes to school so he could ejaculate and pee on her - the last week has......

Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of "Friday Night Lights" production to New Mexico. Bostonist was happy they finally found an Anna Nicole Smith connection to their fair city and that an Apple Store was opening up. They were less happy that new rules have been established limiting underage shows and that their Governor spending a lot......

Story of the Year: Beirut The story is so well documented it's hardly worth rewriting. And of course, that was the problem. A mountain of Blog Buzz was built before the band played their first New York concert ever. Before they had even fully formed the touring band. Always trying to meet the impossible expectations, their live shows were heavily scrutinized from day one, but the general consensus was that these guys were pretty darn......

Now, almost 100 hundred people have grown ill after eating E.coli-tainted spinach, with 14 of them becoming "gravely ill." The NY Times reports the company suspected as a possible source, Natural Selection Foods of San Juan Batista, voluntarily recalled its prepackaged spinach and salad bags, "as well as prepackaged spinach it processes for numerous other companies, including Dole." That's a lot of greens - you can see all the brands Natural Selections Foods provides......

Last night was the Gothamist-A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ at Water Taxi Beach that, despite the weather, was a great success. There was a great turnout with people sampling four different burgers and some also eating an elk burger. In fact, Gothamist is still recovering from our meat induced coma! The first interpretive burger on the menu was the Motz Burger, followed by the Guber Burger, the Green Chile Cheeseburger and finally the Butter......

[ed. note: Augieland will be joining us on Wednesdays to bring us his take on a New York dining spot.] After being closed for three years, Harry’s on Hanover Square officially reopened Friday night as Harry’s Café and Harry’s Steak, two separate restaurants. The entrance for the café is on Hanover Square, under the India House, and the steakhouse’s entrance is on Pearl Street. They are joined at their respective backs in the middle of......

Sorry you didn't get a chance to see David Blaine at Lincoln Center? Wish you could have seen the human spectacle and had all of your important questions answered? How did he hold his breath so long? How did his skin not fall off? How did he, er, handle his business without sullying the crystal clear water he bobbed about in? Well, too bad. But another sight to behold is Steve Vaught who's been on......

Rick Burnley, Poet/Activist ...

We're proud to announce that Neighborhoodies is sponsoring the Movable Hype 4.0 show on Monday. Amongst other things they'll be giving out goodie bags stuffed with treats! So get there early before they run out, it's first come first served. As if that weren't enough, we're also having a raffle. With admission you automatically get one raffle ticket and if you want to up your chances it'll only cost $1 for each additional ticket. The......

Many strange things happen at NYC public schools, but this hasn't happened (yet): A boy's school project of a 30 inch burrito left a New Mexico junior high school in lockdown yesterday. A concerned citizen called authorities when they spotted eighth grader Michael Morrissey carrying "something long and wrapped up." The best line, of many, from the AP:The drama ended two hours later when the suspicious item was identified as a 30-inch burrito filled with......

NY State will no longer impose the death penalty as State Assembly Democrats have killed a bill that would have brought it to the whole Assembly for a vote. NY State started to impose the death penalty in 1995, after Governor Pataki used the issue as part of his campaign platform when he ran against Mario Cuomo in 1994. However, last year, the death penalty was found unconstitutional by an appeals court. The AP notes......

Many Ask Gothamist readers have written to us recently with questions related to politics, current events, and the upcoming Republican convention and Presidential election. So Ask Gothamist is going to be bringing you non-partisan advice over the upcoming weeks and months about participating in the democratic process. Whatever your political leanings, it's a good idea to vote in the upcoming election, educate yourself about local and national candidates and issues, and make sure that your......

Dani Marco, Miss Rheingold...

Ghost Towns: Pictures of ghost towns in Arizona, California, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico | Ghost Town Gallery [via lightningfield]......