Former Council Speaker Peter Vallone at the Jersey Shore (Photo: Facebook)

The national political media is overwhelmingly focused on the Republican Presidential caucuses taking place in the plains of Iowa tomorrow evening, and the developments have been rapid.

Here are some highlights:

Nate Silver predicts with 96% confidence that the Iowa victor will be Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, or Rick Santorum.

Newt Gingrich agrees, predicting that he won't win Iowa.

He's also no longer Mr. Nice Guy.

Rick Santorum is facing additional media scrutiny now.

The conservative blog RedState seems to be waging an anti-Santorum crusade.

Swinging back to New York:

It looks like draft legislative redistricting maps will be released next week.

Governor Andrew Cuomo will tackle school reform in Wednesday's State of the State speech.

Former David Paterson aide David Johnson asks for forgiveness.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says that the NYPD has "excellent relationship with the Muslim community."

The Ulster County Executive accuses New York City's Department of Environmental Protection of acting like “occupying nation" within his county's borders.

The MTA will be trying out its first weeknight work-related shutdown of a subway line next Monday.

This anti-hydrofracking video is pretty awesome: