Officials are planning on a crowd of up to 4 million on National Mall on January 20 trying to catch a glimpse of the swearing in. If the number holds, it'll be the largest crowd ever to assemble on the Mall. Planners are adding more Jumbo Trons on the Mall and along the parade route to help give faraway onlookers a view of the goings-on.

We've reported here and here just what lengths out-of-towners might go to to book lodging for the inauguration. Well, here's a new twist: Hotels in Pennsylvania, 90 miles from Washington, are booking up for the inauguration.

Hope for inauguration ticket-seekers: the New York Times reports that the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies is working with Capitol architects to see if they can squeeze in extra seats for the inauguration.

The Philadelphia Daily News is running a heartfelt letter from a reader pleading his case to Pennsylvania senators for why he should be given a ticket to the inauguration. It reads like a grade-school essay; the pub titled the letter, "What an inauguration ticket would mean to me."

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