Hello and welcome to the Daily Read for Wednesday -- there's a LOT going on between the ramp-up toward the presidential election and the ongoing Wall Street crisis. Please let us know what else you're seeing by posting your stories in the comments below. Here we go...

Nevada Nonprofit Raided » State authorities yesterday raided the Nevada office of ACORN, alleging that the communiy-organizing agency hired 59 felons as canvassers and submitted nearly 300 apparently fraudulent voter registration cards as part of an election drive. — The Trail

The Rush to Hire Bailout Managers » The Treasury Department's quick turn to start outsourcing the management of up to $700 billion in troubled securities means that the government has little time to assess the companies that will be partners in what could become one of the largest public-sector funds in American history. — Washington Post

Judge Orders Gitmo Detainees Freed » A federal judge has ordered the release of 17 Chinese Muslims being held at Guantanamo Bay military prison, saying the government cannot hold prisoners indefinitely without cause. The Justice Department is appealing the order. — Washington Post

FCC Probes DOD Media Campaign » The Federal Communications Commission is investigating whether five television networks and 19 former military officers violated government disclosure rules in providing on-air analysis of the war in Iraq and other issues. — Associated Press

Former UBS Exec Settles Insider Charges » David Aufhauser, the former general counsel at UBS, is the first senior Wall Street figure to settle insider trading allegations stemming from a probe into the auction-rate securities market. — Washington Post

Suit Alleges Pfizer Manipulation » Documents released last week in a lawsuit against Pfizer Inc. suggest the drug maker urged the suppression of medical studies that reached unfavorable conclusions about the effectiveness of the company's big-selling drug Neurontin. — Wall Street Journal

Md. Police Spied on Activists » The Maryland State Police say they have classified 53 nonviolent activists as terrorists and entered their names into state and federal terrorism databases. "The names don't belong in there. It's as simple as that," said Police Superintendent Terrence B. Sheridan. — Washington Post

Afghan Raid Inquiry » A U.S. military investigation into an Aug. 22 airstrike on a village in western Afghanistan has determined that more than 30 civilians were killed, far more than initially acknowledged by American commanders. — New York Times

Revisiting Russian Journalist's Death » Two years after Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was murdered in her Moscow apartment building, the government is proceeding with plans to prosecute three suspects in the slaying -- but the suspected gunman remains at large, and it is still unclear who ordered the assassination. — Washington Post