Before you jump into our pile of hill-related links, a quick note about a nifty little upgrade to the site. While I'm still working on the total overhaul of the CHS design (working, working, working on the Internets. You can't see work on the Internet until it's ready! But it will look something like this), Neighborlogs has added a nice feature at the top of every post that allows you to easily page back and forth in the post stream. Enjoy!

And, oh yeah, I do plan on having a beer tonight with the gals from cap to the hill -- stop by Moe Bar around 5p and say hey.

• The MSFT axe has fallen. Or will fall. 5k over the next year. 1,400 today. Hope you aren't in the mix. Judging by the steamy windows of the Connectors -- and a lot of my neighbors -- there are a lot of 'Softies on the hill.
• Chop Suey suspects plead not guilty. Only one of the alleged conspirators charged with murder -- the guy allegedly at the heart of the feud that left one dead and two wounded charged with drug possession.
• CHS sponsor The Capitol Hill Handyman gets Daily Candy Love. I get a kick out of seeing the Handyman's trucks zipping around the hill to tackle a 'handy' project.
• Olivar adds brunch. I'm such a cynic. Whenever I see brunch announcements, my mind automatically turns to thoughts of struggles and a business trying to increase its revenue stream. I have not idea if that is the case for Olivar. Can somebody who knows the restaurant biz brush my cynicism away?
• Seattlest visits the one man band that is Thomas St. Bistro -- and, Seattlest says, at those prices, it can't complain.
• Can't help but think of Tackleberry and Hightower. SPD seeks citizen candidates for Community Police Academy. I wanna be Bobcat Goldthwait.
• Speaking of wholesome entertainment, it's time to sign up your boys and girls for Seattle Central Little League. Mom, Dad, you have until Feb. 28 but if you wait that long, you are a bad parent. Every child deserve the opportunity to strike out in front of a crowd, be terrified beneath a pop fly and, yes, occasionally hit the game winning triple.

Come January 15th, another 160 of your Capitol Hill friends and neighbors might be out of a job. There are rumors of a big 10% layoff coming at Microsoft. With around 6,500 Microsoft employees in the city, figure at least 25% of them live on the Hill and assume the rumored cut will hit every 'Softie equally (which it won't) -- that would leave about 162 Capitol Hill residents looking for a new job. Further assume disproportinate percentage of CHS readership amongst those 162, and we're talking economic disaster for this blog. Or, a big uptick in content submitted to the site. One of the two.

Of course the folks at Caffe Vita are no strangers to fine pizza -- Vita owner Michael McConnell also owns Capitol Hill establishment (and Seattle's very best pizza) Via Tribunali. And yet it's still a wonderful surprise to discover that a much-anticipated NYC pizza restaurant will be serving Caffe Vita coffee when it opens next month. I had no idea it was the sort of coffee that could make that leap.

This marks the third time I've been surprised to see a Capitol Hill export pop up outside of Seattle. The Sound's most famous exports might still be Nirvana, Microsoft, Boeing and Starbucks, but it seems like a raft of newer brands and products are also making headway. Top Pot donuts (also founded in Capitol Hill) have achieved nationwide distribution on the back of their recent Starbucks deal. Then there's Savage Love, a column I'd been enjoying for years, unaware of its provenance until I moved -- purely by coincidence -- to the very same block of Capitol Hill that The Stranger calls home.

So if Seattle has a cultural...