We’re getting ready to publish our annual ballot for readers on the top Maine stories of the year. We’ll publish the ballot in an upcoming Sunday Insight section and at pressherald.com, then run the results at the end of December.

I just e-mailed the following note to our news staff regarding the hiring of our new Washington, D.C., Correspondent:

Folks,

Jeannine, Bob and I are pleased to announce that Jonathan Kaplan will join our news staff on Dec. 17 as Washington, D.C., Correspondent.

For the past five years Jonathan has been a staff writer at The Hill, where he has covered both the Republican and Democratic majorities in the House, business and lobbying and political campaigns. He made two reporting trips to Iraq in 2003 and 2005, and covered elections in Venezuela.

A Chicago native, Jonathan is a 1994 graduate of Colby College, where he majored in government and economics. He received a Master’s in public policy from the University of Chicago in 1996.

Jonathan joins the Press Herald at a busy and exciting time. He will lead our coverage of the 2008 election, focusing on the U.S. Senate race between Susan Collins and Tom Allen, and the presidential election. He will also write a weekly column for the Telegram and help launch our first political blog on pressherald.com.

We expect to have him up here within a few weeks of his start date, so please be sure to stop by and say hello when you see him.

Andrew

Once again I find myself looking at the calendar and realizing I haven’t posted for awhile.