Today, America remembers the life and legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This also marks the first celebration of the holiday at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, opened in August 2011 in its site at the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C.

Image of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial, showing the controversial "drum major" quote, which will be changed.

Of course, practically nothing in D.C. happens without controversy. With the King memorial, controversies arose over its sculptor, Chinese national Lei Yixin, the use of Chinese-sourced granite and the aesthetics of the design itself. The most recent issue was over a paraphrased quote etched into the side of the monument that critics say misrepresented King's words.

Almost as predictably, blame over the changed quote was placed on the contractor -- in this case, the lead architect and sculptor who edited the quote because the shorter version looked better in the space.

On January 13, 2012, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar gave the National Park Service, which has jurisdiction over the monument, 30 days to come up with a plan to fix the quote. The memorial project cost about $120 million (including $10 million from the U.S. Congress); look for a few more dollars to be spent on the project to make things right.

Highlights and Upcoming Features

We're seeing a lot of requests for information about labor rate analysis and government org charts. We'll look at creating some additional articles explaining how to use labor rates and org charts to help map out your capture strategy.

Some additional highlights:

IT Spending: Feds versus Contractors: Deltek analyst John Slye contributes the latest article in the Washington Post Capital Business series on government contracting, "IT Spending Expected to Peak in 2013 at $40.8B." In easier times, IT spending on federal employees and contract services grew together, though the harsh spending climate now means that agencies face some tough choices, and the federal IT workforce appears to be taking priority.

Feds Rock Glocks: Anthony Critelli took a look last week at the firearms maker Glock and its government contracting role.

Walk, Don't Write: James McCarthy of AOC Key Solutions looked at eight warning signs that suggest you should walk away from a proposal.

Contracting 101: Just published -- Lindley Ashline revisits basic questions about security clearances.

Also, we'll be continuing our Opportunity of the Week series, taking a closer look at teaming topics from our BD Weekly Roundup, recapping highlights from the CES Government conference, laying the groundwork for a special feature on matchmaking coming up in February and working on a series of new features and events starting in February. So stay tuned.

Joe Loong is the managing editor of GovWin from Deltek, the network that helps government contractors win new business every day. He can be reached at joeloong@deltek.com, or follow him on Twitter @joelogon.