Thursday, I wrote that Michele Tafoya was "likely" to be named WCCO-AM's noon-3 p.m. host next week. Today, C.J. casts some doubt on the hiring, noting the Good Neighbor's announcement had been delayed amid "insider" speculation that money and Tafoya's Monday Night Football committment are the snags.

That might be right — I'm relying on insiders, too, which is not definitive. However, I have a couple of additional data points that could explain the hold-up.

I had called Tafoya's agent Wednesday for comment; this morning I got a call from an assistant letting me know Tafoya would respond via email. The assistant happened to mention Tafoya was in Colombia.

Now, as beautiful as that country probably is, it's not a typical vacation spot — unless you're adopting a child. As the Strib's Judd Zulgad noted last fall, Tafoya and her husband Mark Vandersall "are in the process of adopting a girl from South America."

I've had friends who've adopted kids from Colombia, and the process is anything but tightly scheduled. As I recall, my friends Jim and Jean were down there for weeks.

So it's possible — and I fully acknowledge this is a Friday afternoon fit of speculation — that South American bureaucracy is holding up WCCO's announcement, possibly for weeks. (It might also explain why C.J. didn't get a response when she called Tafoya.)

Another tea leaf: I of course emailed Tafoya promptly to ask if she was the pick, and if money and MNF were issues. She very politely declined to comment — which in my world heightens the chance there's an announcement to protect.

She also declined to confirm she was down south, but did note she's 44, not 45 as I originally reported. Correction noted, and stay tuned for what might be a bigger mea culpa next week.