I'm late to the conversation, but I wanted to congratulate Jeff and Mark on this great news. They're definitely deserving of this ratification of their worth and community contributions. So thanks to Matt for making this happen!

Regarding the people complaining about WPTavern having a special place within WP Dashboards, it's deserved -- Jeff for the longest time was consistent and thorough in reporting on WordPress, from these posts to the forums to his podcast. And the reason it's been appearing lately in your dashboards isn't because of being recently included -- it's likely been due to a renewed effort to post. And after all, if you don't like it, just hide the WordPress News from your dashboard; no one makes you keep it on.