Our NEWS file has turned into a useful source of information, but i think the name doesn't clearly illustrate its purpose. Since we have been primarily using it to manage release notes, i propose we rename the file to RELEASE-NOTES.md.
As the name implies, i also propose that we formally use markdown syntax. This will make for more natural linking to other docs, and direct posting to our blog at release time (this is currently a manual process, translating NEWS to markdown).
