Geez, Seth MacFarlane was annoying last night. The P-G Magazine gave the Oscars an overall C+ grade, which seems about right. Back to the work-week:

1. Having trouble keeping the FBI probe of the Pittsburgh Police Bureau straight? The Mod Squad -- Lord, Navratil, Silver -- has an explainer. Rich is on WDVE talking about the investigation this morning at 9. (PS, Mayor Ravenstahl missed two public events he was scheduled for over the weekend.)

2. Now Monroeville's mayor is in trouble. Annie Siebert explains the wackiness in the major municipality east of town.

3. Pa arguably has more say in budget decisions now with both senators on the Finance Committee and others on good committees, Tracie Mauriello writes.

4. DC is barrelling towards huge domestic and military spending cuts later this week. Bob Casey is doing a conference call with reporters today to detail the impacts on Pa.

5. US Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, was on "Face The Nation" yesterday talking mental health.

Alright, folks, we at the Post-Gazette are keenly aware that we've been beating you over the head with story after story after story about public corruption, alleged public corruption, lax accounting creating opportunites for public corruption, and, oh, what else, federal authorities investigating public corruption.

But there was a bright spot of municipal news this week when we reported that Pittsburgh was invited to submit a bid to host the 2024 Olympics. WOOO!!

To be clear, we weren't the only city invited, but getting the letter put us in the fine company of cities like Milwaukee, Wisc., Rochester, N.Y. and the hated City of Brotherly Love. (Frankly, if they submit a bid, we should, too, just out of spite. Isn't that how this whole cross-state rivalry works?) My hometown, Sacramento, which is hanging on to its NBA team by a thread, was also on the list.

Admittedly, city officials expressed skepticism that the Steel City would put in a bid, a process that is expensive in and of itself, before you go even go about developing a creepy mascot. NPR reports that the Windy City's unsuccessful bid for the 2016 Olympics cost $100 million.

"Certainly there would be logistical challenges to meet even to put a bid together," said Joanna Doven, a spokeswoman for Mr. Ravenstahl. "We will look into what it would take and talk to the corporate and nonprofit community to see if they would be interested."

For the record: After the NCAA filed a lawsuit challenging Sen. Jake Corman's new law keeping the Penn State fine in Pennsylvania, the Appropriations Committee chairman said state-funded universities should demand new leadership at the association.

"The NCAA federal lawsuit is an unfortunate power grab by the NCAA, who appears to be more concerned with its national reputation than actually using the $60 million for those who need it the most," Corman said in a statement yesterday.

Full statement after the jump:

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl told the P-G last night that financial documents will disprove contentions by an ex police bodyguard that his security detail inappropriately used debit cards at the heart of the FBI's ongoing investigation.

Now City Controller Michael Lamb wants to see the documents too.

Lamb (along with councilman Bill Peduto) is challenging Ravenstahl in the Democratic primary for mayor this May, and in a letter issued from his government office (not his campaign, in other words) he asks Ravenstahl to hand over all statements and receipts related to the debit card spending within 10 days.

"To the degree these cards and or accounts were used for personal expenditures, please have the officers provide information on how and when reimbursement was effectuated," he writes. "The Controller's office pre-audits all expenditures of the City of Pittsburgh and given that these debit cards were used for official purposes these expenditures must follow the city's public process."

The full letter is below: