Barry Bearak, a New York Times staffer familiar in these parts from his many years as a star writer at the L.A. Times, quietly circulated a three-page proposal asking for $1 million to write a book on the recent travails roiling his employer, the New York Observer reports. The NYT "needs to be periodically examined, explained, exposed...It's again time for a dedicated writer to take a long, hard look," he supposedly wrote. Bearak tells the Observer, however, that he has decided not to pursue the project. (New York Observer, middle of column)