It is an early evening here at The Hatchet as we close out a 20-page issue. We had the opportunity to print a big paper for Feb. 11 because of our Valentine’s Day content. We do special issues several times a year and it gives a chance for our Life and Arts departments to chip in with some creative material. This year, we have involved our News team and urged them to contribute content as well.

We have a particularly strong issue (I think) tomorrow, with tons of interesting stuff. Staff writer Danielle Meister gave a great look at the happenings at the Board of Trustee meetings with two strong front page pieces. Bryan Han, a senior staff writer, did an in-depth analysis of Federal Election Commission campaign funds to see who at the University is giving to whom ¬¬– a must read this campaign season. Sarah Biggart, a staff writer on our Metro team, took a look at the D.C. primary and its widening influence. Emily Cahn, a staff writer on the Student Association beat, gives readers an interesting angle of the Ann Coulter event. And Ben Solomon, our venerable senior staff photographer, contributed some awesome art of Rob Diggs, a GW basketball star, from the team’s Saturday night upset.

Breaking news became an issue late Sunday evening when Metro Editor Eric Roper learned of a tree falling down and causing power outages on Foxhall Road near the Mount Vernon campus. He and Ryder Haske, an assistant photo editor, headed up around 10:45 p.m. to check it out. From his BlackBerry, Roper filed a blog post which talked about the impact. We decided keep it out of the paper and place it online. Roper said he did not think it would prevent Vern students from getting to Foggy Bottom and vice versa. Only time will tell if his predictions were right.

Again, I urge anyone and everyone to contact me at [email protected]. Post on the blog, e-mail me or send us a letter. Please let us know what’s on your mind.