Five Things for Tuesday

1. Paul Ryan - The vetting process of newly minted Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan has begun and there were some standout pieces this morning.

• The Washington Post noted, "During more than 13 years in Congress, Ryan has passed just two of his bills into law." Those laws - one renamed a post office, the other "lowered the excise tax on parts used to make arrows," according to the article.
• The New York Times wrote about Ryan's fundraising ability, "Less well-known are Mr. Ryan’s close ties to the donors and activists who have channeled Tea Party anger into a $400 million political machine, financed by a network of conservative and libertarian donors that now rivals, and occasionally challenges, the Republican establishment behind Mr. Romney."

2. Featured blog post - Matt Wilson wrote on his blog "Lost in Columbia" on Monday about his excitement for the development of Downtown Columbia. Wilson has been a leading local voice for the development. In this post he compares the sudden, but thoroughly planned development of the NoMA (North of Massachusetts Avenue) area in D.C. with the proposed development of Downtown.

3. Strasburg shut-down, O's making a wild run - Believe it or not, the Nats have the best record in baseball this morning, 72-44. But with that news, comes some bad news, they're going to shut down their 24-year-old ace Stephen Strasburg who is approaching his 160-180 inning pitch limit. The Washington Post asked a number of the team's players about the decision and (predictably) they weren't happy, but understood why it was being made. Meanwhile, the Orioles are tied for first-place with Tampa Bay in the wild card standings (yes, really.)

4. Weather - After a rainy morning, it's supposed to remain cloudy throughout the day with a chance of possibly severe afternoon storms, according to weather.com. The high is predicted to be 84.

5. Featured Event - Tonight at the in Jessup, Chef R.L Boyd of Mie N Yu in D.C. will take on Chef Luis Echeverria of Newton's Table in Bethesda at Blob's Park in Jessup. Each chef will make an appetizer, an entree and a dessert and the winner will face off against Columbia's own Chris Lewis of Iron Bridge Wine Co. in the contest's semifinal next week. (6-9 p.m., Tickets are $25)

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