The Times-Picayune will no longer be a daily paper in the near future. According to a David Carr story on The New York Times website last night, Publisher Ashton Phelps' recently-announced retirement is set to precipitate a huge change at New Orleans' Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper of record. According to the report, which cites two newsroom sources, da Paper's publishing schedule could be cut to 2-3 days a week, and huge staff cuts are in the offing. Read the whole story here. Meanwhile, tweeting New Orleanians have already started campaigning to #SaveTheTP. Click through to see the full text of the internal memo from Publisher Ashton Phelps about the changes.

Proving that we're still sexy for spring, The New York Times' fascination with New Orleans and the entirety of Louisiana continues this weekend. This time, it's our geography they're goin' after.  With today's primary underway, the gray lady's FiveThirtyEight blog takes a look at the locations and voting habits of the state's Republican electorate with some really nice maps. Meanwhile, in the Sunday magazine, author Nathaniel Rich takes his stand down in Jungleland, aka the Lower 9. Rich's take on geography is more academic, with profs taking a star turn. But don't worry, there are animals and complaints about disaster tours, too.

Down here, we have rodeoes and Righteous Fur. But up North, there seems to be a little more sympathy for the nutria. Over at the New York Times, Washingtion state animator Drew Christie has an "op-doc" titled "Hi! I'm a Nutria." The piece challenges the idea that nutria fit into the rodent family, and dares to ask the question, "How long does it take to become a native?" As any Louisianan can tell you, those varmints have to be born here, unless, of course, they came from eastern Quebec. Watch the video here.

Amid all the Santorum and Newt-ered quotes, it's easy to forget Buddy Roemer is running for president. In this week's Iowa caucuses, the ex La. gov even got some votes. But now there's question about just how many. Even though Rick Santorum doesn't care, New York Times human political calculator Nate Silver has been looking into potential problems with the Iowa vote tally that would demand a recount if it were a real election and not a strange and antiquated caucus. Turns out, a precinct may have bemiscounted, giving Roemer six less votes than the 31 votes he got credit for in the initial tally. Every vote counts, Buddy!

In huge news around the food world, the Old Gray Lady's restaurant critic is moving on. Already, speculation abounds as to who will get their name on the mammoth New York Times expense account once occupied by the likes of William Grimes and Johnny Apple. Already, the process has serious NOLA implications. But, don't worry, the rumors don't include Alan Richman. National food blog, Eater, fingers the Times-Picayune's  Brett Anderson as a frontrunner for the job.

Like a good andouille, the final U.S. Census numbers for New Orleans tasted just right to Mark VanLandingham. But getting a glimpse of how any sausage has laid waste to many appetites, and VanLandingham is no different. In an op-ed published in today's New York Times titled "Making Murder Count," the Tulane demographer argues that Nagin administration posturing during post-Katrina population estimates by the Census created artificial signs of progress that left us feeling burnt when the actual 2010 numbers came in lower than expected, and more money wasn't available to combat endemic issues like the homicide rate. Read the whole thing here.

After suffering head trauma in a New York City bike accident last week, d.b.a. owner Ray Deter succumbed to his injuries Sunday. Remembrances of the 53-year-old are have been echoing throughout cyberspace. Eric Asimov of The New York Times credits Deter with pulling in a wide selection of craft brews at d.b.a.'s New York locations when the Big Apple was still a "beer desert." When he opened the New Orleans location in 2000, he did the same thing for Frenchmen St. As Bree O'Connor of Beer Sessions Radio remembers, d.b.a. Ray was also inclusive when it came to the way he treated people.

To yet again marvel at the strange tribe from Southeast Louisiana in their natural habitat, New Yorkers placed New Orleanians in a situation they're familiar with: heralding the resurrection of a great American destination to its prior glory. A jazz funeral was held for Coney Island, New Yorkers' great weekend getaway of yesteryear. The Old Gray Lady relates that the developers of the new-fangled Brooklyn Babylon hope to reopen the park next year with just as many rides as the 1960s. But, first, a mermaid had to pop out of a coffin carried by an unusually somber looking Dancing Man 504.

As the Fair Grounds Race Track (you know, the place where they have Jazz Fest) gears up for the season-ending, $1 million-fetching Louisiana Derby on Saturday, it's the thoroughbreds that are getting all the attention. Other than having better names, they're a lot prettier too. But (way) down closer to Earth, there are the very human stories of the people that make the track go round - jockeys, trainers and that all important man when betting is involved: the chaplain. In a story today, the New York Times spotlights a new arm of the Neighborhood Story Project that looks to bring the stories of these"backside" dwellers out of the shadows of the grandstand.

It figures that in choosing a bar theme to, shall we say, repurpose from New Orleans, New Yorkers would decide on the first place they probably hit off Rue Bourbon. Nevertheless, judging by a profile in the New York Times today, a new Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NYC, send-up to the Old Absinthe House at least deserves some points for crafting a painstaking replica.