Today D.C. socialite bloggers awake facing less competition, the city has its first official mayoral candidacy announcement, and a friend of DCist speaks about his experiences as a journalist in Iraq. Plus it’s looking to be beautiful outside.

At left is the New River Gorge Bridge, the world’s second-longest and country’s second highest single-arch bridge, one of the highlights of this DCist’s recent visit to West Virginia.

Northern Virginia Group Bidding for Nats: The Post is reporting that a group that tried for 12 years to bring baseball to Northern Virginia has assumed new leadership in hopes of winning the heated bidding war for the Washington Nationals. Albert Lord, chairman of student loan corporation Sallie Mae, which is based in Reston, Va., took the helm of American Baseball Capital yesterday as competing groups filed bids for the Nats, expected to fetch upwards of $300 million. The Fred Malek-Jeffrey Zients group, composed of prominent investors and political insiders, is the leading contender.

Clues to Bicyclist’s Death Probed: U.S. Park Police have been looking at the various clues to solve the mystery surrounding the strangling death of an Alexandria man over the weekend, the Post notes. Mark Creasy, 48, was riding his bike on Daingerfield Island when he was attacked and killed, allegedly by a 35 year-old man later arrested for assaulting police officers after running across the George Washington Memorial Parkway while naked.

Briefly Noted: Suspects sought in a drive-by shooting that left a 17 year-old dead and a 15 year-old wounded in Northwest on Monday … Local leaders agree to work towards limiting air pollution … VDOT Commissioner moving on.