Daily Intel hears there were layoffs today at Spin. Know details? Email us.

• Michael Psilakis's Gus & Gabriel was scheduled to open this evening. But then the air-conditioning stopped working so it didn't. Oh, well. [TFB, TFB]
• Ama in Soho has closed its doors after four years. [Eater]
• Le Pere Pinard on Ludlow Street has been shuttered. [Eater]
• Zen Palate in the financial district is no more. [EVGrieve]
• One more bit of bad news, in case all those closings weren't quite enough: the Dean & Deluca on University Place and 11th Street is gone. [Eater]

Fashion design competition show Project Runway is soon returning to us after a long hiatus, on the Lifetime network for ladies. And, in a new promo, the network makes very certain you know one thing: Good women watch Project Runway.

Barack Obama's bizarre alliance with NBC continued last week when the White House invited network chief/seasoned clubrat Ben Silverman over for a highly publicized meeting just in time for the launch of Silverman's shitty new show, The Philanthropist.

Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) conceded to former comedian Al Franken (Jew-SNL) today after losing an appeal to Minnesota's Supreme Court in the months-long litigation surrounding their 2008 Senate race. The standoff is over, and democracy is restored to long-suffering Minnesotans.

Celebrated slice-of-lifer and avid Twitterer Susan Orlean lives in Columbia County with four chickens. Or, rather, she did. On Sunday she set the creatures loose for a little constitutional. Now she's complaining about the cremation costs of one dead chicken.

YouTube co-founder Steve Chen has quietly left his baby behind, moving to a different Google division. Fellow co-founder Chad Hurley might leave too, PaidContent writes. Now comes a more Hollywood future for the video-sharing site.

Media everywhere are mourning the loss of MJ coverage this week as they regretfully turn back to boring things, like Iraq or Bernie Madoff. Here are today's headline highlights, as the web milks this Google trend for all it's worth.

Go to any function where advertising "creatives" gather, and you will see that guy: the one wearing some old Converse, or crazy purple-yellow-red-green Adidas he designed himself, online. The average old person would not think such a cool guy could be such a corporate hack, but they would be wrong! We're not here to give you list of facts about Alex Bogusky's career (he's the chairman of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the supercool ad agency that brought you the weird Burger King ads, Microsoft's current ad campaign, and many others—basically the EDGY agency that's not too edgy for corporate behemoths)—we're just here to demonstrate to you that, yes, Alex Bogusky is that ad guy. Okay:

Robert Pattinson riding a bike around Central Park on the set of Remember Me, and later standing with co-star Emilie de Ravin ... Shaquille O'Neal leaving his hotel in Midtown ... Mariah Carey filming the music video for her latest single, "Obsessed," including one scene with her dressed up dressed up as Eminem ... Leighton Meester, Chace Crawford, and Ed Westwick on the set of Gossip Girl ... and Rihanna walking into lunch yesterday at Philippe, and then turning up at the Gramercy Park Hotel last night for Allegra Versace's 23rd birthday party.

["Gossip Girl" pixie Taylor Momsen outside her New York hotel last night; image via INF]

U.S. troops have completed their withdrawal from major Iraqi cities, which is both awesome and terrifying. Iraqis are both celebrating and hiding in their basements, and the day has been marked by eerie calm and violence. Any questions?

Oh what did the cutest lil' morning newscasters get up to today? Well, we have everyone being awkward with celebrated skincare spokeslady, Vanessa L. Williams. She Botoxes!

Air France flight 447 plunged 35,000 feet into the Atlantic earlier this month, obliterating everyone aboard. Last night, a Yemenia Airways flight ditched in the Indian Ocean, killing 152. If only those planes had been equipped with air bags!

Did you know the Tiguan's engine is the next generation of the one found in our speedy GTI? Meet the Volkswagen Tiguan. Part SUV, part racecar.

If you've been opening your mailbox every afternoon wondering why you haven't received your invitation to Marc Jacobs' wedding to Lorenzo Martone—and you've been freaking out at the prospect that you didn't make the invite list—you can breathe a bit easier today: WWD reports that "the fashion world's most anticipated wedding" has been pushed back to August. "Martone attributed the delay to Jacobs' hectic work schedule, but said it is still planned for Provincetown, Mass., where Jacobs' business partner, Robert Duffy, has a vacation home." [WWD]

Gov. David Paterson may have the lowest approval ratings in the history of state politics—one recent poll found that just 21 percent of voters said they have a favorable view of him, compared to a 26 percent favorability rating for disgraced ex-governor Eliot Spitzer—but Paterson is about to change all that. He's landed the sort of boldface supporter that politicians dream about. It seems none other than Star Jones will be hosting a "sunset cocktail reception" for Paterson on July 11 in Wainscott. Prepare yourself for some major momentum when the next batch of poll numbers are released. [NYDN]

Minnesota Supreme Court: Al Franken won Senate election, governor expected to certify the results. [WCCO]

It turns out Mark Sanford left some things out of his big long weepy affair confession, including three New York encounters with his mistress. It turns out he felt the need to break up with her twice! Imagine that.