Comfort Returns to Baltimore

March 19, 2010 - By Sabri Ben-Achour

The US Navy's Hospital Ship Comfort has returned from it's relief mission in Haiti and is now docked in Baltimore. The crew received a warm welcome from friends and family.

As the immense 894 foot ship silently glides into harbor, the giant red crosses painted on it's side dwarf the crew members standing on the flight deck.

From the dock, Terrence Harris strains to see the tiny silouhette of his mother.

"You see her leaning up there? Yeah she up there!" Harris says.

Harris is here with his aunt and cousin. They're all waving to his mom -- finally, Mom waves back.

After a crane hoists a giant unloading ramp up to the side of the ship, the crew begins to pour out, Navy-issue duffle bags in hand. Commander Marc Merino was in charge of nursing on the ship.

"It's great to be back, it always is, but you know, [I'm] physically and emotionally tired," he says.

His wife Patty Bennett greets him with a long hug.

"It's fabulous, you feel like your life's just on hold till you get back together. He's back so now our lives can start up again," she says.

The Comfort's medical crew treated 871 earthquake victims, -- people with the most complex and serious injuries in Haiti.

The crew performed 843 surgeries on limbs so shattered some medics had only read about such things in textbooks.

The Comfort isn't scheduled for any more relief operations this year. Its crew will dwindle from 1200 to just a few dozen. But the ship will remain on standby, ready to go if it's needed again.

This Week in Congress - March 19, 2010

March 19, 2010 - I’m Elizabeth Wynne Johnson of Capitol News Connection. This Week in Congress...

PELOSI: What a happy day for us at the Capitol of the United States …

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats held press conferences pretty much every day – inviting so-called “ordinary Americans” to help make the case for passing a health care overhaul bill. And setting the stage what they hoped would indeed be the final push toward a vote in the House. To that end, on Monday, Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman found herself upstaged.

EDELMAN: It makes critical investments in prevention…[babies crying] our next generation – that is making their voices heard [laughter]

PELOSI: Just so you know, after we’re finished here, these babies and children are going to members’ offices… [laughs]

Clearly – all’s fair in health care and politics. The week would see its share of partisan posturing – but for a while the real action would be with Democratic leaders in the House working to pin down the squirmiest and more wriggly members of their own caucus.

Not that Republicans were staying quiet. Senate minority whip Jon Kyl issued a warning to Democrats in the House:

KYL: If they think that they can fix the senate bill through reconciliation, they need to appreciate that that bill will likely not emerge from the senate in the same way that they pass it.

South Dakota Senator John Thune echoed the warning – and forecast ‘what next.’

THUNE: A lot of those things… aren’t going to withstand point of order, which obviously we intend to raise.

HOYER: Look, we talk a lot about process in this town. We are seized of the process issue.

House majority leader, Steny Hoyer.

HOYER: Very frankly, the family whose premiums went up 60%, they’re not focused on process, they’re focused on results … what does this mean to them?

The Democrats’ began to focus on a three-fold message about immediate changes when – and if – their bill passes. A message embodied by one Ed Morris of Franklin, a rural mountain community in western North Carolina. Owner of the Franklin Health and Fitness Center.

MORRIS: One of our employees had cardiac bypass surgery about eight years ago. … our premiums went out the roof the next year.

Morris believes the Democrats’ health care bill would help – by increasing the size of the insurance pool, reducing sudden increases in premiums, and by giving him a tax credit to off-set the cost of providing insurance to his employees.

MORRIS: So I’m here as a small business owner to urge my congressman, Congressman Heath Shuler, and really all the members of Congress – both Democrats and Republicans – to do the right thing.

That right thing, according to Morris, is to vote yes on the health care bill. But Shuler voted ‘no’ last time, saying the bill didn’t do enough to reduce costs. And he could be one of the Democrats giving Party leaders heartburn all the way to the bitter end.

SHULER: It has to have substantial changes from what the House bill was or even the previous Senate bill for me to change my mind.

By the end of the week – certain key pieces seemed to be falling into a place.

PELOSI: I’m very excited about the momentum that is developing around the bill…

The Congressional Budget Office finally put out a preliminary cost estimate. Republicans seized on the nearly one-trillion-dollar price tag over ten years. Democrats seized on the projected deficit reduction of 130-billion. Neither interested in seizing on the highly speculative nature of both numbers.

Apparently one number was solid, though. Democratic leaders announced they have the votes they need to pass their health care overhaul bill. Setting the stage one last time… for Sunday afternoon.

That was This Week in Congress. I’m Elizabeth Wynne Johnson, Capitol News Connection.

Latest D.C. Local News

March 19, 2010 - (AP) Day laborers walking from Long Island and Californians who sold tamales to pay for their trip are expected to rally Sunday in Washington, D.C. All told, tens of thousands of immigrants are expected in the nation's capital to dramatize their pleas for immigration reform.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Latest Maryland Regional News

March 19, 2010 - ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) Maryland employers who hire jobless residents could be in line for a $5,000 tax credit under a bill passed today by the House. The Senate has already approved the measure and Gov. Martin O'Malley is expected to sign it into law.

BALTIMORE (AP) Nine people have been indicted on charges of smuggling 120,000 pairs of counterfeit Nike shoes and half a million counterfeit Coach handbags through the Port of Baltimore. Authorities say undercover officers infiltrated the massive operation in 2008.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Latest Virginia Regional News

March 19, 2010 - FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) President Barack Obama led a campaign-style rally in northern Virginia today, appealing for final votes to pass his signature bill: the health care overhaul. Obama told a crowd in Fairfax that the insurance industry will still ``run wild'' if Sunday's House vote fails.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Gov. Bob McDonnell says he wants the federal government to remap a vast area 50 miles off Virginia earmarked for possible oil and gas exploration. The governor contends that remapping offshore acres could yield a future bonanza for Virginia from royalty payments.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) A new study suggests that a nearly inedible fish called menhaden is not the pollution-fighting wonder that the Chesapeake Bay needs. Scientists once though menhaden filtered out the bay's gunky algae but now they're not so sure it has much impact on water quality.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) The Navy says a SEAL from Virginia Beach has been killed in a battle with militants in Afghanistan. A Navy statement today identified the Seal as 36-year-old Adam Lee Brown and says he had been awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Some C & O Canal features still closed after flood

March 19, 2010 - HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) The National Park Service says some boat ramps and campgrounds along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal remain closed by debris from Potomac River flooding early in the week.

Rangers said Friday that nine boat ramps from Spring Gap in Allegany County to Edward's Ferry in Montgomery County are closed.

The Antietam Creek and McCoy's Ferry campgrounds are also closed, along with the Billy Goat Trail near Great Falls.

Park visitors should expect rough conditions along much of the towpath.

Ranger Peggie Gaul says the cost of repairs won't be known until at least next week. But she says the situation is better than in 1996, when two major floods caused $65 million in damage to the national historical park.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Group Led by Justice's Wife Cited For Fundraising Violation

March 19, 2010 - RICHMOND, Va. (AP) A Virginia-based conservative advocacy group led by the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been raising money without first registering with state regulators as required by law, according to consumer protection officials.

The state Office of Consumer Affairs sent a letter Thursday to Virginia Thomas, president of Liberty Central Inc., informing her of the violation. J. Michael Wright, the office's manager of regulatory programs, said the group's lawyer told him Friday that the filing would be sent that day.

Liberty Central was founded in November but did not become active until last month, said Amy Feather, director of business development and marketing.

Wright said it is not unusual for new organizations to be unaware of the registration requirement, but Liberty Central said in a written statement that it was waiting for a letter from the Internal Revenue Service establishing its nonprofit status before beginning the state registration process. The group said it received the IRS letter Thursday.

In its letter to Thomas, the consumer affairs office said failure to register before soliciting contributions in Virginia is punishable by fines of up to $5,000 for each violation. However, Wright said it is customary for the office to work with organizations to get them to comply rather than seek sanctions.

Metro Fires Texting Driver

March 19, 2010 - By Natalie Neumann

Metro has fired a bus driver who was caught texting by a passenger who posted pictures on a blog.

In the cell phone pictures uploaded on the Unsuck DC Metro blog the driver is caught tapping away on a cell phone with her left hand while holding on to the oversized steering wheel with her right.

The driver, who's name is being withheld by Metro, had been operating buses since October 2007 . Yesterday she was fired.

Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel says under a zero tolerance policy adopted in July 2009, Metro prohibits drivers from talking on cell phones, texting or using a PDA.

"Following an investigation, if it is deemed that someone is doing that they would be removed from service, permanently," Taubenkibel says.

Before Metro had a three strikes policy before a worker would be dismissed.

Taubenkibel says he doesn't have exact numbers, but concedes this is not the only firing of a driver caught texting on the job.

US Authorities Break Huge Counterfeit Goods Ring in Maryland

March 19, 2010 - BALTIMORE (AP) Nine people have been indicted on charges of smuggling 120,000 pairs of counterfeit Nike shoes and half a million counterfeit Coach handbags through the Port of Baltimore.

According to the 72-count federal indictment announced Friday, undercover officers infiltrated the massive operation in 2008, delivering a shipment of 10,000 Nike shoes to Brooklyn, N.Y. The arrests came this week.

The products were mostly manufactured in Malaysia and China. Three U.S. citizens are charged with smuggling, trafficking counterfeit goods and money laundering. Four Chinese citizens and two Malaysians also are charged.

Officials say the investigation also led to the arrests Thursday of six men in London, in what authorities are calling one of their biggest counterfeit goods busts.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Enviro groups challenge Va.'s EPA lawsuit

March 19, 2010 - RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Two environmental groups are challenging Virginia's legal action to block federal regulation of greenhouse gases.

The Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of Wetlands Watch filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington late Thursday supporting the Environmental Protection Agency's findings that greenhouse gases are dangerous to people.

The groups say Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli's challenge to the EPA findings is an ``unwarranted stall tactic'' that is a dangerous distraction from the impacts of climate change.

Cuccinelli is asking the EPA to reconsider its conclusion that carbon dioxide and other emissions contribute to dangerous global warming. He's also asking the federal appeals court to review the decision.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Latest D.C. Local News

March 19, 2010 - WASHINGTON (AP) Officials say more than 500 free cab rides were provided on St. Patrick's Day. The Washington Regional Alcohol Program says its SoberRide program provided 525 free cab rides on Wednesday and early yesterday. Rides were offered in Washington and the Maryland and Virginia suburbs.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Latest Maryland Regional News

March 19, 2010 - BALTIMORE (AP) A Navy hospital ship returns home to Baltimore today after a two-month mission to earthquake-stricken Haiti. The Navy says the USNS Comfort will arrive at Canton Pier at 10 a.m. The nearly 900-foot floating hospital left Baltimore Jan. 16 and began treating patients off the coast of Port-au-Prince four days later.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) Maryland's official song may include a line about ``Northern scum'' left over from the Civil War era, but the state isn't feeling so Southern anymore. These days, leaders feel they've got more in common with states to the north. Lawmakers successfully petitioned to move from the Southern Region of the Council of State Governments to the Eastern Region.

BALTIMORE (AP) Charles John ``Chick'' Lang, the longtime head of Pimlico Race Course who helped make the Preakness a must-watch for sports fans around the country, has died. He was 83.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Latest Virginia Regional News

March 19, 2010 - RICHMOND, Va. (AP) A new study suggests that menhaden -- the oily, nearly inedible fish -- may not have the pollution-fighting power in the Chesapeake Bay that scientists had once thought. The fish are key links in the bay's food chain. For years, it was thought that menhaden also helped by filtering out a lot of algae that otherwise would foul the bay.

WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama continues to push hard for his signature issue overhauling health care in America. He travels across the Potomac River today to speak about revamping health insurance at George Mason University in Northern Virginia.

WOODBRIDGE, Va. (AP) Prince William County health officials say someone from Freedom High School in Woodbridge has a confirmed case of tuberculosis. County health officials will screen people who spent the most time with the ill person and all students will be screened with a questionnaire about symptoms and risk of past exposure.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

MarylandReporter.com State Roundup March 19, 2010

March 19, 2010 - From the Maryland Reporter website:

CHELTENHAM The superintendent of the Cheltenham youth detention center has been demoted, two staffers have been fired, and others are suspended after the Department of Juvenile Services found security lapses that led to the death of a teacher at the facility, Peter Hermann writes in The Baltimore Sun. Mary Pat Flaherty has the story for The Washington Post, and Zoe Tillman writes for The Gazette. Kathleen Cairns has video for WBFF.

BUDGET The Senate budget committee put off decisions on $60 million in local school aid Thursday, but lawmakers made many controversial decisions about tax credits, environmental programs and life science research, Andy Rosen writes for MarylandReporter.com. Alan Brody and Erin Cunningham with The Gazette writes that lawmakers have split into two camps over the budget. Some want to make minimal cuts and wait out the economy, while others want to fix what they see as long-term problems now.

WAGE REQUIREMENTS A bill would set wage requirements for employees of companies that get more than $250,000 from the state in projects or development at 130 percent of the minimum wage, Nick Sohr reports for The Daily Record. But business groups blasted it, saying it would make state economic development funds "worthless."

GAMBLING The Senate got into a debate over whether to legalize card games at race tracks around the state, as a lawmaker sought to amend Senate President Mike Miller’s plan to put cards at Rosecroft Raceway in Prince George’s County. John Wagner has the story at the Post. Here’s Annie Linskey’s take from The Sun’s Maryland Politics blog.

SHORE FACILITY EPA officials are recommending further study of a controversial State Department security facility on the Eastern Shore, likely delaying construction into next year, Paul West writes for The Sun. A letter from the agency last week raised the question whether the project "may adversely affect the aquatic and terrestrial environment."

MEDICAL WEED State lawmakers are considering a plan to legalize medical marijuana for patients with "debilitating" illnesses, Hayley Peterson writes for the Washington Examiner. If enacted, supporters say the bill would be much tougher on marijuana distribution than the state law concerning narcotics like oxycontin.

FORECLOSURES Maryland had the 10th-highest foreclosure rate in the country last month, and officials are pushing hard for a bill that would require lenders to work with borrowers to fix loans before they move to seize property. Kevin James Shay has the story for The Gazette.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS Lawmakers have filed 38 bills to change the state constitution, Alan Brody writes for The Gazette. That’s a lot even in an election year, when changes approved by the legislature can appear on the ballot.

WAXTER CENTER The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony Thursday on a bill that would close Laurel's state-run Thomas J.S. Waxter Center for female juvenile offenders, Shauna Miller reports for Capital News Service.

SEX OFFENDERS Robert Lang has a roundup of bills that the House Judiciary Committee voted on Thursday evening. The panel approved increasing the sentence for second degree rape and sex offense involving a victim under 13, but rejected a bill that would have imposed the death penalty for the murder of a child who was sexually assaulted.

The sheer volume of bills to strengthen sex offender laws has one senator concerned. Sen. Brian Frosh, who heads the Judicial Proceedings Committee, is worried that too many changes could confuse the law, Sean Sedam writes for The Gazette.

WATER-BILL FORECLOSURES Sen. Jim Brochin was trying to pass a bill to make it harder for counties to seize properties over delinquent water debt, but the bill was postponed indefinitely on the Senate floor, Nick DiMarco writes for MarylandReporter.com.

SCHOOL FUNDING Lawmakers are running low on time to pass changes to the state’s “maintenance of effort” school funding laws, which require local governments not to cut school funding under penalty of state aid reductions. Marcus Moore has the story for The Gazette.

NOT SO SOUTHERN Despite Maryland's position south of the Mason-Dixon Line, lawmakers successfully petitioned to move from the Southern Region of the Council of State Governments to the Eastern Region, Brian Witte writes for the Associated Press.

WEALTH SHIFT Erin Cunningham at The Gazette highlights a report that shows Baltimore City and Washington, D.C. residents are becoming richer on average, well classically wealthy jurisdictions like Baltimore and Montgomery counties are getting poorer.

PRIMARY DATE The recently enacted federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act requiring that service members receive absentee ballots at least 45 days before the November election could prove problematic for Maryland's traditional September primary date, Tim Craig writes for The Post.

SUNSHINE Sunshine Week, which focuses on open government, is drawing to a close. Blair Lee writes in his Gazette column about some recent failings of transparency, highlighting a recent court decision in Baltimore City.

DISTRACTED DRIVING David Collins has a video report on the recent Senate debate on distracted driving. Floor action has been delayed twice this week.

WINE Although the fate of a proposal to legalize direct shipment of wine from winery to consumer remains uncertain, supporters have a backup plan in a proposal to study wine-shipping practices in other states, Nick Sohr writes in The Daily Record. After the study, they can revisit the issue next year.

EHRLICH Democrats are calling for an inquiry into whether former Gov. Bob Ehrlich’s Baltimore office has served as a “de facto campaign headquarters,” Margie Hyslop writes for The Gazette. Julie Bykowicz has more from The Sun blog.

REREG Sens. Jim Rosapepe and E.J. Pipkin are pushing for a plan to re-regulate the state electricity market, Nancy Royden writes in the Prince George's Sentinel. The Retail Energy Supply Association has entered testimony in support of the legislation, while BGE says competition among energy providers is increasing.

BALANCE BILLING A bill that would take patients out of health care billing procedures may also banish the practice of out-of-network doctors charging their patients the balance of the charge not covered by the insurer, Scott Graham writes for the Baltimore Business Journal.

LEGAL SERVICES Both chambers of the General Assembly have signed off on a bill that would raise civil filing fees to help poor people get legal services, Julie Bykowicz reports for The Sun’s blog.

UNION FEES Del. Chris Shank advocated for his bill blocking a potential requirement for state employees to pay union service fees, Erin Julius reports in The (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail. The bill would strip provisions passed last year allowing the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees to put a service fee in the contract between the state and employees. But AFSCME said it wouldn't try to implement the service fees amidst the recession.

MOONEY The race for the Republican primary for state senator in Frederick County is getting a lot more interesting, as newly appointed Del. Charles Jenkins is considering running against Sen. Alex Mooney in the September Republican primary, Meg Tully writes in The Frederick News-Post. His statement comes after Mooney sent a campaign mailing criticizing the process used to appoint Jenkins and touting his former aide Michael Hough, who is running for Jenkins's seat after being the runner-up for the appointment in January.

VALLARIO Barry Rascovar writes in his column for The Gazette that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph Vallario’s reputation for allowing panel members to grill witnesses could cost him.

GUNS Laslo Boyd writes in his Gazette column that anger is evident in the emotional debate over gun laws in Annapolis.

MARCH MADNESS The NCAA men’s basketball tournament kicked off Thursday, and The Gazette’s Reporter’s Notebook is chock full of General Assembly basketball stories. Plus, did O’Malley forget about Morgan State?

"STIMULANTS" Another Reporter’s Notebook entry from The Gazette talks about one delegate’s idea to promote a proposed ban on sexual stimulants by handing out pills like “Stiff Nights.” The handouts were unfortunately-timed, however.

MILLIONAIRES' TAX The General Assembly is considering renewing the millionaires' tax, originally implemented in 2008, Scott Dance writes for the Baltimore Business Journal.

TRACKING DEVICES Del. Chris Shank's proposal to start a pilot program for placing GPS tracking devices on those who fail to comply with protective orders in Washington County may get a bit bigger if two Prince George's County delegates have their way, Erin Julius writes for The Herald-Mail. Dels. Victor Ramirez and Benjamin Barnes were interested in adding Prince George's County to the pilot program, given the much larger number of protective order cases in the urban county.

Maryland House Passes New Safe Schools Act

March 19, 2010 - By Meymo Lyons

In Maryland, educators and police may soon be required to share more information about students who may be involved in gang activity.

The bill passed despite cries from privacy advocates concerned that good students could get a bad name.

The House of Delegates voted 139-0 to approve the "The Safe Schools Act of 2110." The bill would require the Maryland State Board of Education to develop a statewide policy for gang intervention, prevention and suppression that would include teacher training.

Currently, each school system deals with gang activity differently. The legislation, sponsored by House Speaker Michael Busch, comes after a 14-year-old boy from Crofton was beaten to death last year in an allegedly gang-related incident.

It requires educators and law enforcement to report the arrests of students for certain offenses to school personnel. The idea is to increase awareness about students committing crimes that could indicate gang membership. The measure now goes to the Senate.

Cell Phones In Prison A World-Wide Problem

March 19, 2010 - Cell phones are among the hottest contraband items in prison these days, with some inmates paying more for cell phones than for heroin. Maryland has recently received federal approval to test cell phone jamming the devices as one strategy for controlling the problem.

Lydia Wilson reports, the technology may help confront a world-wide challenge.

Maryland Lawmakers Push For Electric Car Tax Breaks

March 19, 2010 - State lawmakers in Maryland are backing tax breaks for residents who buy electric vehicles. The tax exemptions are capped at $2000 and limited to one per person or 10 per business.

The goal is to get more environmentally-friendly cars on the road by defraying the up-front cost of electric vehicles. Several plug-in electric vehicles are expected to hit the market later this year.

The Maryland Senate unanimously passed the measure Thursday. It now moves to the House of Delegates. Governor Martin O'Malley has made electrical vehicles a top priority. Earlier this month, the governor announced the state would provide $1 million in grants to help promote electric vehicles throughout the state.

Patrick Madden reports.

Montgomery County Plans For Collaboration To Deal With Truancy

March 19, 2010 - By Natalie Neumann

Last year close to 1,000 students were considered "habitually truant" in Montgomery County, Maryland. That means they missed 20 or more days of school. Council members are pushing for a collaborative approach to address the problem.

Montgomery County Council member Valerie Ervin commissioned a study to determine how to better prevent truancy. The report suggested that teachers, law enforcement and social services agencies work more closely together.

Kate Garvey, a social services officer with the county, says it's important to share information about at-risk students.

"We've got to collectively focus on the issues and the supports that are needed by children and their families, but we need to do it on a broad scale," says Garvey.

State's Attorney John McCarthy says truancy isn't an issue that his office typically deals with.

"But I think the reality is this is a proactive approach for us to collaboratively take," says McCarthy.

Habitual truancy decreased in Montgomery County from 2006 to 2009. But juvenile arrests increased 23 percent from fiscal year 2006 to 2008, and Ervin says truancy intervention may help prevent future arrests.

Police In Fairfax Help Prepare Young Drivers For The Worst

March 19, 2010 - By Jonathan Wilson

A class of young drivers in Fairfax, Virginia will get a chance this weekend to learn lessons rarely covered in Drivers' Ed.

Officer Michelle Humphries has been teaching the "Youthful Drivers" course for years and she says the mood at the start of the day is always the same.

"The first question I ask is 'Who wants to be here?'And I don't get very many hands," says Humphries.

Humphries says attitudes change when students realize they'll get to speed around a test track, learn what to do if brakes fail and play on a skid pan.

"They're getting vehicle dynamics, they're getting how to recover from a skid, and how to go on and off the road properly," she says.

Humphries says the idea is to simulate hazardous situations for inexperienced drivers, so they're better prepared for what can go wrong on real-world roads.

The New Face Of Columbia Pike: Here To Stay?

March 19, 2010 - By Jonathan Wilson

The pace of urban revitalization has slowed in the D.C. area. One community in Arlington County, Virginia is relying on momentum from the last economic boom to carry it forward.

Signs of change are easy to spot along the Columbia Pike corridor; older gas stations and low-slung apartment buildings are still here, but in the last few years, a handful of newer condo buildings and higher end retail space have cropped up.

Pam Holcomb is the director of the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization. She says the vision for the new buildings developed in the late nineties.

"Of course, we also had a good economy then, there was a lot of development everywhere," says Holcomb.

Stewart Schwartz, with the Coalition for Smarter Growth says leaders in Arlington established strict building codes early on, allowing developers to craft plans for the pedestrian-friendly streets and mixed-use buildings taking shape today.

"So you have multiple projects that have moved forward since then and not many revitalizing corridors can say they've had that in this region," says Schwartz.

Columbia Pike is not immune to the downturn. The apartments at 5500 Columbia Pike, which opened in the fall, are only 15 percent filled. But Schwartz says he expects the neighborhood to continue growing when the economy recovers.

New Bike Lanes For Downtown DC
Stephanie Kaye

March 19, 2010 - By Stephanie Kaye

New bike lanes downtown mean cars will be losing some ground in an effort to make streets safer for bicyclists.

DC's Department of Transportation held an open house to discuss the pilot program. Several streets, including Pennsylvania Avenue, and I and L Streets northwest, will be getting bike lanes starting in April. Jim Sebastian handles the pedestrian program for DDOT.

"Between 1990 and 2000 the number of people who bike-commuted doubled. It's doubled again in the last ten years. We want to capitalize on that," says Sebastian.

Sebastian says riders make about 87,000 daily bike trips in the region. Some of the new lanes will be cordoned off with pliable poles to discourage drivers from using them. And Pennsylvania Avenue will be getting a bikes-only "median" down the middle of the road.

Randall Myers is with the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.

"That's going to add protection to cyclists along with streetscaping and trees, to encourage cars not to make U-turns into cyclists," says Myers.

The city hopes the new lanes and more two-wheelers in its bike sharing program will work in tandem to encourage more cyclists to take to the streets, and leave the car at home.

Bike Lanes Planned for April

March 19, 2010 - As DC sets aside new bike-only lanes downtown, the agency expects to see more cyclists hitting the streets.

Jim Sebastian is with DC's Department of Transportation. "We're up to about three percent of DC residents bike to work, which is tripled since 1990." Sebastian expects to see that percentage go up, and wants to make cyclists safer on the roads.

A pilot program to lay bike-only lanes will start with Pennsylvania Avenue before moving on to I and J Streets and 5th and 19th Streets northwest. "Bicyclists are not just the lycra-clad racers you see out in the countryside or courriers downtown. These are people going every day in their business suits to work, or to the coffee shop. They're not biking just to bike. They're biking to get somewhere." Work on the bike-only lanes is set to begin in April.

Stephanie Kaye reports...

Belgian Chef Wins Embassy Chef Challenge

March 19, 2010 - By Rebecca Sheir

Washington, D.C. is home to a new top chef of the Embassies. Jan Van Haute of Belgium has sliced, diced and simmered his way to the title of Embassy Chef 2010.

The Embassy Chef Challenge is a fundraiser for Cultural Tourism D.C., a nonprofit coalition promoting Washington's arts and history.

And last night at the House of Sweden, chefs from ten embassies vied to taste sweet and savory victory. From Panama, with its vol-au-vents filled with avocado and shrimp salad...to Bahrain, with its chickpea kebob...to Belgium, which served creamed Brussels sprouts and mustard-panko crumble, along with pork-belly that chef Jan Van Haute had cooked in brown beer for 18 hours.

"We are very famous for our pork," says Van Haute. "We are a very tiny country but our number-one export product is pork, so, and now beer as well."

When the winner was announced, Van Haute, who's cooked for Washington's Belgian Ambassador a little more than a year, was practically speechless.

"This is just amazing," he said. "I don't have words. I almost started to cry."

But Van Haute isn't likely to shed any tears soon. In addition to earning the title of Embassy Chef 2010, he's earned a little vacation, too. After nearly a week practicing his winning dish in the kitchen, he says he's taking the apron, clogs and day, off.

Weekend Planner: Kites Of Asia

March 19, 2010 - There are signs of spring everywhere, and it's not just pollen that you'll find blowing in the wind. The Kites of Asia Day takes place inside the National Air and Space museum on Saturday, March 20th.

Andrew Hiller reports.

Power Breakfast For March 19, 2010

March 19, 2010 - "Whip" simply refers to the process of counting and securing votes. In the parliamentary sense of the word, Democratic leaders are whipping like mad in the countdown to what they now hope will be a vote on the health care bill Sunday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is on the spot to explain why locking down the 216 votes needed to pass the bill, is tough.

Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports.

President Obama Rallies Support In Virginia

March 19, 2010 - President Obama will be at George Mason University Fairfax, Virginia today for one last rally on healthcare reform.

Kavitha Cardoza reports.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli Talks With Host Matt McCleskey

March 19, 2010 - A final vote on President Obama's healthcare overhaul is expected Sunday. Virginia was the first legislative body to pass a law making mandated health insurance illegal and Ken Cuccinelli says he's ready to file legal action if the bill passes.

People Line Up For President Obama's Rally In Virginia

March 19, 2010 - By Kavitha Cardoza

Outside the Patriot Center at the George Mason University, hundreds of people have lined up to support and oppose President Obama’s final rally for healthcare reform.

Many of the people here support President Obama's healthcare reform initiative. One woman on crutches says she only realized how important it was when she was in a recent accident. Another man said he was laid off two months ago and couldn’t afford health insurance anymore. And one student Sophia Linlay says her family is behind the president 100 percent.

"My mom’s a nurse and my dad’s a doctor so I kind of go with them," says Linlay.

But there are protesters here as well. Ann Gerner is holding up a sign which reads "Obamacare will kill us." She says the proposal is "atrocious."

"Insurance premiums will go through the roof, private insurance companies will go out of business and the quality of care is going to decline," says Gerner.

The President is expected to speak here at 11:30.

Marathon Affects Weekend Travel In The District

March 19, 2010 - The Annual Suntrust National Marathon will cause some traffic glitches in the District on Saturday.

Streets will begin closing at 6:45 a.m. as runners line up at RFK Stadium. Once they set off, the race course snakes through six of the District's eight wards along its 26-mile route.

Cars can be parked along streets closed for the race but cannot be moved once the marathon has started -- to prevent accidents between drivers and runners.

Signs have been posted along the streets that are affected. Meanwhile, Metrorail will open at 5 ahead of the race, and some bus routes will be altered to accomodate runners.

More details are available on Metro's website.

Weekly Chat with Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney

March 19, 2010 - WAMU host Matt McCleskey talks with Washington Post Robert McCartney about Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's plans to legally challenge federal health care legislation, former Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich's political future, and the looming D.C. Mayoral race...

Maryland Senate Panel Votes to Cut 500 Jobs, Mostly Vacant

March 19, 2010 -

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) A Senate committee has approved cutting about 500 mostly vacant state jobs, and the panel moved ahead with a plan to start shifting some teacher pension costs to counties.

The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee made the decisions as it passed the panel's changes to Gov. Martin O'Malley's $13 billion budget on Friday.

The 500 job cuts would come from the executive branch.

The move will save about $11 million in fiscal year 2011.

As for pensions, the state now pays the entire cost. That would change by slowly having counties pick up more of the expense. In exchange, the state would pick up half the cost of Social Security, which is now paid entirely by counties.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Chesapeake Bay restoration goals released

March 19, 2010 - BALTIMORE (AP) The Chesapeake Bay Program is inviting the public to comment on draft goals and outcomes for bay restoration efforts.

The bay program says public feedback will be used to finalize the goals and outcomes, which will be paired with the final bay restoration strategy to be released by May 12.

The federal agency is developing a restoration strategy in response to an executive order last year by President Obama. A draft strategy released in November includes expanded regulation of large-scale animal farms and urban-suburban stormwater runoff, but leaves room for states to cut pollution before expansion of federal regulation. Critics complained the plan lacked details.

The goals and outcomes can now be viewed on the bay program's executive orderwebsite.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Latest D.C. Local News

March 18, 2010 - WASHINGTON (AP) An American-Islamic relations group says five young Americans from Alexandria who were charged with planning terror attacks in Pakistan sent letters to their parents detailing alleged torture. The men have pleaded not guilty to the charges in that nation.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Latest Maryland Regional News

March 18, 2010 - ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) A Maryland Senate committee has made sharp cuts to stem cell research and a fund to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay. The Senate budget committee voted to cut stem cell research funds by half, to $6.2 million, and also halve bay cleanup to $10 million.

ROSEDALE, Md. (AP) Baltimore County fire officials say a tanker truck hauling 2,600 gallons of diesel fuel has overturned, spilling its cargo and snarling Route 40 traffic. No injuries have been reported and hazmat crews are working to prevent the diesel from reaching nearby streams.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) Maryland's House has approved legislation intended to keep gang activity out of the state's schools. The measure would require educators and law enforcement to report the arrests of students for offenses that could be gang-related. It now goes to the Senate.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) Maryland Senators may amend a bill that originally proposed bringing new card games to one racetrack. Now the chamber says it may go a step further and expand card games to five additional locations but debate on the issue will continue Friday.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Latest Virginia Regional News

March 18, 2010 - RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Gov. Bob McDonnell has refused to stop the scheduled execution of a man who killed a teenage girl from Manassas and also attempted to kill her younger sister. Authorities say Paul Warner Powell is to die by electrocution at 9 p.m. tonight at a prison in Jarratt.

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) Police say they don't believe there is any credibility to e-mail and internet postings originating in Italy that threaten another attack on the Virginia Tech campus. But college president Charles Steger ordered more security on the campus as a precaution today.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) A former DuPont Co. worker has been ordered to 18 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to theft of trade secrets and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors say Michael Mitchell sent DuPont's Kevlar trade secrets to a rival company based in Korea.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) State funding for Virginia's higher-education system is continuing to shrink. Colleges and universities say they'll have to continue raising tuition and consider more cutbacks to help close the gap, especially after federal stimulus money disappears.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Montgomery County Council Hopes For Changes In Truancy Laws

March 18, 2010 - Montgomery County, Maryland is seeing an increase in juvenile crime and one county council member is working on truancy legislation she hopes will help reverse that trend.

The truancy law in Maryland allows for the prosecution of guardians-or adults who encourage truancy-but not the students who are missing school. State's Attorney John McCarthy says that makes it difficult for police officers to approach students on the street when they should be in school.

"Police are very reticent of going up and saying 'why aren't you in school,'" says Mccarthy. "Why? Because they are afraid that they're going to be charged with false arrest of a young person."

Montgomery County Council member Valerie Ervin says she's working on legislation to allow police officers to pick up truants and drive them back to school. She says that would help bring down truancy rates and help prevent other juvenile crime.

"We need to stop the cycle early on so that we find out when these kids are missing school and then find out ways to intervene," she says.

Ervin says there are other steps the county needs to take as well, including better tracking of student academic performance and using other factors to try to identify students at risk of missing school.

Firings And Discipline After Teacher Death

March 18, 2010 - By Sabri Ben-Achour

Maryland's Juvenile Services secretary says two employees have been fired and three disciplined after a teacher was killed at a state-run juvenile detention center in Prince George's County.

The Cheltenham Youth Facility is a place where children awaiting trial are held before their court date. It also houses a shelter for children under court supervision who are not considered dangerous.

Sixty-Five-year-old Hannah Wheeling was a teacher there, and her body was found outside a building at the facility on February 18th. Police say she was murdered. They haven't charged anyone, though they are focusing their investigation on a 13-year-old-boy housed at the shelter.

Juvenile Services Secretary Donald DeVore says one of the youth in the program has been transferred and admissions to the program have been suspended. Two staff members have been fired, a high-level administrator has been demoted, and a supervisor and program manager have been suspended.

DeVore says the investigation found that some youth in program weren't being supervised as Cheltenham policies require.

Transgender Woman Sues Under Law She Helped Write

March 18, 2010 - ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) A transgender aide to a Montgomery County councilwoman is suing the county for $5 million under an anti-discrimination law she helped write.

Dana Beyer, an adviser to Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg, helped draft a 2007 law that outlawed discrimination based on gender identity.

Now Beyer contends the county's ethics commission broke that law during an investigation of her.

Beyer was investigated by the commission after a complaint by a group that opposed the anti-discrimination law. The group said Beyer used her position to try to intimidate opponents of the bill who were gathering signatures.

Beyer filed the $5 million lawsuit in February.

County spokesman Patrick Lacefield says the county believes Beyer's claim has no merit and will ask a judge to dismiss it.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Former Gang Member Changes Lifestyle

March 18, 2010 - By Elliott Francis

Nineteen-year-old Ivan Cloyd used to belong to a gang where lives were lost regularly.

"I was part of the 'seven and oh' crew...we were beefing with 'fifth and oh,'" he says. "Three of my friends were killed in the same month."

Soon, the Alliance of Concerned Men stepped in. Over many months the group labored to arrange a truce between the two rival gangs, emphasizing a commitment to making a difference instead of spreading violence.

According to Ivan, it worked.

"We all came together, and put our guns down," says Ivan. "And from that day on nothing has happened between us."

A former high school dropout, Cloyd absorbed the advice and guidance he received and took it to another level. He re-entered high school and graduated. Ivan recently registered at Potomac College, and he'll begin studying there in April.

"I'm looking towards a business major; getting a bachelor's, and then I'll probably go to law school," he says. "Then, I'll just let the wind take me."

Rico Rush, president of The Alliance of Concerned Men, says he's proud of Ivan.

"He's just one of many guy's that we work with," says Rush. "There's so many youth out there waiting to shine; we just got to get the platform to help them do that."

Cloyd's also raising a one-year-old daughter and sharing his experience with at-risk youth in D.C.

Conversations: Michael Cottman Speaks With Neville Waters

March 18, 2010 - As part of our continuing series, "Conversations," reporter Michael Cottman speaks with Neville Waters, a sports marketing consultant, about Natalie Rudolph of Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C. Rudolph is one of only two female head coaches of a high school varsity football team in the United States.

D.C. Reports Drop In New AIDS Cases And Deaths

March 18, 2010 - By Patrick Madden

Health officials in D.C. say they are making strides in the fight against the HIV/AIDS. Dr. Shannon Hader, the city's top HIV/AIDS official, says the number of new AIDS cases and deaths declined by about a third from 2004 to 2008.

She says more people are getting tested. For example, there were nearly 100,000 HIV tests last year, double the number from 2006.And she says more people are seeking HIV medical treatment earlier, which is helping them live longer, healthier lives because it prevents HIV from becoming full-blown AIDS.

"The better we do, the more we must do as well because what we are finding with better services, better coverage, better strategies, we are finding people who were never served previously," says Hader.

The city still has the highest HIV rates in the country and the number of newly reported HIV cases increased last year by nine percent.

Hader says the next step in the fight against this epidemic is moving from, what she calls, the "promotion of availability to the promotion of use." That is, not only making condoms and HIV medications free and available to residents, but making sure they're widely used.

Teens Driving Less In D.C. Region

March 18, 2010 - By Matt Bush

As the use of social media tools such as Facebook and text messages is rising, the number of teens driving is dropping.

An analysis by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments shows those age 16 to 24 in the D.C. region took fewer trips per day in 2008 than in 1994. The biggest drop was in social or recreational trips says Robert Griffiths, COG's Technical Services Director.

"Almost by one half. So rather than traveling and seeing their friends. It's social networking, facebook, it's texting. It's virtually getting together with your friends," says Griffiths.

Griffiths adds one area that saw an increase among that age group was transportation to school.

"One of the comments on the Millenial Generation is it's probably our best educated generation, but least employed, at least at this point in their career. With the state the economy is in, it's good to stay in school a little bit longer," she says.

The same analysis showed those 65 and older now took close to 20 percent more trips than they did in 1994.

New Hall of Human Origins Opens
Stephanie Kaye

March 18, 2010 - At the National Museum of Natural History, visitors are getting a first look at a new, permanent exhibit. Visitors lined up past the giant squid outside the Hall of Human Origins as it opened at exactly twelve noon on Wednesday, 100 years to the second since the museum first opened its doors.

Inside, the exhibit details evolution and the development of the human species. You can get your photo taken in a "caveman photo booth" to see what you might have looked like 95,000 years ago. Curator Richard Potts. "This is not a hall that tells you what it means to be human. This is a hall where we ask the visitors the question as they connect their personal lives and experiences of what it means to be human to the evidence of how we became human. "

The interactive exhibit, says Potts, helps break down the barrier between current-day museum visitors and our earliest ancestors.

Stephanie Kaye reports...

Groups Sue Over Stormwater

March 18, 2010 - By Sabri Ben-Achour

Maryland's Montgomery County has received a new permit to regulate stormwater runoff. But several environmental groups are challenging it in court. The a case could have ramifications for the rest of the state.

The permits are meant to control stormwater runoff on a county by county basis. They include stormwater management plans, but Ed Merrifield, with Potomac Riverkeeper, says the permits aren't enforceable.

"They don't put numeric limits on the effluents - the pollution - that could be stopped. Unless you have limits on what really comes out of the pipes and goes into our streams, there can still be problems," says Merrifield.

A spokesman for Maryland's Department of the Environment says the county's permit is one of the most progressive in the nation, though he declined to explain how the permit was progressive. In a response to public comments posted last year, the Department said that it was not required to limit or check effluent from all storm drains, calling that cost prohibitive.

Hearing To Close Down Detention Center For Girls In Maryland

March 18, 2010 - By Kavitha Cardoza

Lawmakers in Maryland will consider a proposal Thursday to close down the only secure detention center exclusively for girls in the state. Some advocates say issues at the facility are symptomatic of a larger problem, the unequal treatment of boys and girls in the juvenile justice system.

Sonia Kumar is with the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland and meets regularly with some of the approximately 35 girls at the Waxter Center in Laurel. Kumar says independent state monitors have documented concerns about the safety of the facility and staffing shortages.

But there's also a lack of programing. For example, Kumar says there are several options for boys in Maryland including wilderness programs and after school supervised youth centers.

"At the youth centers, boys have access to an Olympic size swimming pool. The girls at Waxter for gym will sometimes walk around the cafeteria. That's the level of disparities we're talking about," says Kumar.

Kumar says the point of the juvenile system is rehabilitation, but that isn't happening for the girls at Waxter.

"They come out either the same or worse off then they were before because you've compounded those problems by disrupting any sort of positive relationships with their families or in the community," she says.

The head of the Waxter center did not return calls for comment.

Delegate Kathleen Dumais of Montgomery County has introduced a bill to close the facility. The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear testimony on the proposal today.

"Birds In The Park" Flock To D.C.

March 18, 2010 - By Rebecca Sheir

A new breed of bird is making its temporary home in Washington, D.C. The flock is actually a traveling art exhibit, inspired by the war in Iraq.

Visitors to the National Mall might notice something different today: a flock of white and blue birds, clustering on the grass.

From far away they kind of look like real birds just strangely still, says Christy Hengst, the Sante Fe-based artist who makes the birds out of porcelain. Then she covers them with cobalt blue text and images.

"I had saved a bunch of newspapers from the lead-up to the Iraq War," says Hengst. "So it started with me using them and altering them as I silk-screen printed onto the porcelain."

Hengst also silk-screens what she calls more mundane things: poems, recipes, photos of her children. She calls the exhibit, which she's taking on a self-funded tour across the country and abroad, Birds in the Park.

"Things like weapons capabilities can become everyday or ordinary, where you're really detached," she says. "I was thinking that sometimes people just treat it as something normal, like birds in the park."

Hengst says shes curious to see how Washingtonians react to the exhibit: whether they'll stop, stare and stay a while or walk on by, like any other normal day.

D.C. Anti-Gang Coalition Sponsors Workshop

March 18, 2010 - By Elliott Francis

An organization that has brokered six truce settlements between gangs in D.C. is taking on a new challenge. The Alliance of Concerned Men is focusing attention on helping case workers who work with gang members.

Members representing six community based organizations are here on the 4th floor of the Columbia Heights Youth Club. They are searching for answers to questions raised by the chronic problem of gang violence.

Much of the focus is on helping the case workers, so they can help others, says Alliance president Rico Rush.

"...We need some healing in our community, not only with the folks who are suffering but we need it for the care providers, the care givers, because with this kind of work you can get burned out," he says.

The workshop was the group's first focusing on case workers. Discussing methods and offering suggestions to difficult issues that come up working with gangs. The alliance plans to hold a rally in Columbia Heights this month to promote funding for community outreach.

Power Breakfast For March 18, 2010

March 18, 2010 - The Slaughter House Rules.

Today in the House Rules Committee, there's all kinds of drama surrounding the immediate future of the health care bill.

Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports.

Healthcare Debate Continues, States Weigh Mandatory Health Insurance Provision

March 18, 2010 - House Democrats are hoping for a final vote on health care overhaul, Sunday at the earliest. Meanwhile many states are opposing the mandatory health insurance provision in the bill.

Kavitha Cardoza reports...

MarylandReporter.com: State Roundup Mar. 18, 2010

March 18, 2010 - From the Maryland Reporter website:

SEX OFFENDERS The House of Delegates gave preliminary approval to two major bills concerning sex offenders, writes Annie Linskey for The Sun’s Maryland Politics blog. While bills passing through both the House and Senate are in place to strengthen sex offender laws, some are questioning if they are "tough enough," writes the Annapolis Capital’s Liam Farrell.

David Collins has a video report for WBAL-TV News. The House Judiciary Committee will vote on a bill Thursday that would impose a mandatory 20-year sentence on sex offenders, reports WBAL’s Robert Lang.

TAX BRACKET Maryland Chamber Action Network blogger Will Burns opposes the extension of a tax surcharge on incomes above $1 million.

TAX CREDIT Archbishop Edwin O’Brien is urging lawmakers to support a bill that would help financially strapped private schools with a tax credit given toward contributions. The Sun’s Arthur Hirsch has the story. The bill now awaits an uncertain fate in the House, according to Andy Rosen and Nick DiMarco for MarylandReporter.com.

DROPOUT According to this Associated Press story, posted by WMAR, the Senate voted to increase the age students are required to attend school to 18 years old.

STALLED The Environmental Protection Agency may have slowed construction on a security facility to be built on the Eastern Shore because it may "adversely affect the aquatic and terrestrial environment," according to Annie Linskey for The Sun’s Maryland Politics blog.

GAMBLING Annapolis Capital staff writer Allison Bourg says more trouble looms in Anne Arundel county, where the fight continues over possible slots in Arundel Mills mall.

GAS TAX A bill supporting a limit to increases in the gas tax seems unlikely following a hearing in the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, writes Nick DiMarco for MarylandReporter.com.

HEALTH CARE Del. John Donoghue has a bill in to allow doctors to coordinate health care, Erin Julius reports in the Hagerstown Herald-Mail.

EHRLICH According to this Associated Press story, posted by the Annapolis Capital, former Gov. Bob Ehrlich is considering a run for the Senate.

COURT DATES Baltimore City police officials criticized a bill that would allow people who received traffic citations the option to select their own court date, writes Michael Dresser for The Sun’s Getting There blog.

SETTING LIMITS Senators want to limit the amount of a tax levied to property owners, writes Daniel Valentine for the Gazette of Politics and Business.

AMAZON TAX Local retailers and national corporate giants are going at it again on a bill that would increase sales tax for out-of-state businesses, writes Nick Sohr for the Daily Record.

COURT JUDGES Attorney General Doug Gansler is being criticized for a bill that would enable circuit court judges to run unopposed in retention elections, Steve Lash writes for The Daily Record.

SICK DAYS In a Frederick News-Post column, Marta Mossburg writes about abuse of sick days and personal leave by state employees.

HIGHWAYS Gov. O’Malley believes digital highway signs informing drivers of commute times may be having some unintentional consequences along Maryland roads, Kai Jackson reports for WJZ. According to WTOP’s Adam Tuss, commuters are complaining that the signs slow traffic.

DATE VIOLENCE Local families testified in favor of a bill that would add education on date violence to school curriculums, according to Kate Ryan for WTOP.

NOTEBOOK Post blog Maryland Politics touches on the ups and downs from yesterday’s State House meetings, written by John Wagner.

PG TAXES Prince George's County senators are seeking limits on three taxes that could save county property owners several hundreds of dollars each year, Daniel Valentine reports in the Gazette.

Advisory For Recreational Use Of Upper Potomac

March 17, 2010 - ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) Maryland Natural Resources Police are advising against recreational uses of the upper Potomac River and its creeks and streams through Friday.

Natural Resources Police say recent rains have made river levels hazardous on the entire main stem of the upper Potomac from Kitzmiller to Little Falls.

The agency says fishermen, boaters and others could be confronted with life-threatening conditions.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Latest D.C. Local News

March 17, 2010 - WASHINGTON (AP) Several groups are offering St. Patrick's Day revelers free taxicab rides home to help curb drunken driving. The nonprofit organization Washington Regional Alcohol Program is making its SoberRide service is available to residents in Washington and the counties of Montgomery, Prince George's, Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William and eastern Loudoun.

WASHINGTON (AP) The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History is delving into a key question of all time: What does it mean to be human? The museum opens a new hall today dedicated to the story of human evolution.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Latest Maryland Regional News

March 17, 2010 - ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) Maryland senators have endorsed requiring school attendance until age 18. Senators voted 31-16 today to increase the dropout age from 16 but made the change contingent on the governor funding the initiative.

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) Leading environmental groups are seeking a court review of Montgomery County's stormwater discharge permit. Critics charge no enforceable limits have been placed on the key Maryland county for how much pollution can wash into the Potomac river.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Latest Virginia Regional News

March 17, 2010 - DINWIDDIE, Va. (AP) Virginia transportation officials say they will use an emergency maintenance fund to operate several highway rest areas that had been shuttered by then-Gov. Tim amid deep recession. Gov. Bob McDonnell took part in reopening one of the areas today on I-85.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) A gay-rights group is urging public college presidents to join in their campaign to fortify Virginia' anti-discrimination law. Equality Virginia has sent a letter to college presidents urging them to get behind the fight to change the law.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Dominion Virginia Power says it plans to spend more than $500 million to make improvements to its power stations across Virginia. The company has announced plans to upgrade 13 power plants so that they can produce electricity more efficiently.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) A new report suggests that counties in southern Virginia are among the unhealthiest in the state. The report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds Northern Virginia counties had the healthiest behaviors when it comes to smoking, obesity and other factors.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Report On Trips Taken Daily Per Person

March 17, 2010 - By Matt Bush

Older people in the D.C. region are driving more, while younger people are driving less, according to a report from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

The report analyzed two previous surveys of the number of trips each person takes per day. Those 65 years and older increased their trips from 1994 to 2008. Robert Griffths of COG attributes that to the fact seniors in this region are healthier and wealthier.

"They're making more and more daily trips, probably not in the peak period," he says. "But more trips overall, with the biggest increases being shopping trips, personal business trips, seeing your doctor, or your lawyer, or your banker."

During the same time period, those aged 16 to 24 took fewer trips. Griffiths says social media tools like Facebook and texting allow young people to stay in touch without leaving home.

Irish Organization Pushes A Different Way To Celebrate

March 17, 2010 - By Natalie Neumann

Some celebrate St. Patrick's Day by sporting green clothing and kicking back a few green beers. But one group is pushing people to celebrate differently.

Outside of the Dupont Circle, Linda Murray coaxes passersby to grab a free book.

"Would anyone like a free Irish book for St. Patrick's Day?" she asks.

Murray is a Dublin native who helped found the Irish arts and culture organization Solas Nua, which means new light. The organization is giving away 10,000 books of contemporary Irish literature for St. Patrick's Day.

Volunteers started handing out books at six this morning and have been at 14 Metro stop locations. Murray says it's a great day for creating a sense of goodwill.

"It's also an alternative for celebrating St. Patrick's Day, which is obviously my national holiday," she says.

Sarah Barak grabbed some books from the stand at Dupont. She says the book giveaway shows the Irish culture is more than just partying on St. Patrick's day.

"And of course I know that, but at the same time I haven't read anything from an Irish author in a decade," she says.

Murray hopes the books will get into the hands of people who will read them.

"The idea is hopefully they'll start a love affair with a new Irish writer they didn't know about," says Murray.

Solas Nua will be giving away books until 7 p.m. tonight, or until they run out.

Baltimore May Take Middle Road On Bag Bill

March 17, 2010 - By Sabri Ben-Achour

A plastic bag bill being considered by Baltimore's City Council is taking a middle road in the debate over how to deal with litter from grocery carriers.

A Baltimore City Council committee opted not to follow the example of D.C., and rejected a bag surcharge. Instead, they approved a bill that would allow food sellers two options: voluntarily cut back on plastic bag use and meet certain recycling requirements, or be banned from using plastic bags altogether.

Food sellers would be required to keep track of certain data in order to find out whether people use fewer bags or just switch to paper. Councilman James B. Kraft says he believes he has enough votes to pass the bill precisely because it avoids a bag fee or a total ban. Maryland's General Assembly is considering such a bag surcharge that would apply statewide.

Hands-On Program Gets Students To Love Their Broccoli

March 17, 2010 - By Rebecca Sheir

This week marks the one-year anniversary of First Lady Michelle Obama's White House kitchen garden. But nearly four decades before Mrs. Obama began her push for healthy eating, organic gardening and environmental literacy for children, a group in Washington was doing just that.

If you have a young child, the following might sound like music to your ears.

"Give me some claps if you ate all your broccoli!"

Those are the claps of third graders at the Trinidad campus of Center City Public Charter Schools, where Kacie Warner has just helped them cook a vegetable stir-fry, as a lesson on the parts of edible plants.

"Whats our stem?," asks Warner.

"Celery!" shout the students.

"What are our leaves?"

"Spinach!"

"What did we put in for our fruit?"

"Peppers!"

Warner is the Education Coordinator for the Garden Science Program, Garden Science Program which brings lessons in nutrition, environmental, earth and life sciences, to elementary schools in D.C. Kaifa Anderson-Hall, the program director, says the hands-on curriculum aligns with the students science standards and builds excitement about fruits and vegetables.

"Where they may [say], Ah, I don't like that, when you have them plant up seedlings of spinach and basil like they've been able to do here in the classroom," says Anderson-Hall, "and they are responsible for watching it grow that's how you make the transformation."

The stir-fry is the grand finale of an eight-week curriculum. Next,the Washington Youth Garden Washington Youth Garden will help the school build its own outdoor garden, so students can keep learning about the scientific, nutritional and, yes, gustatory wonders of the plant world, right in their own backyard.

D.C. Council Wants City To Stop Releasing Inmates Late at Night

March 17, 2010 - By Patrick Madden

Lawmakers in District want the city stop to stop releasing inmates late at night. City law states prisoners must be released before 10 pm. But last year, D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles said the law was unconstitutional because the cut-off forced the jail to hold some prisoners overnight.

Since then, Council member Phil Mendelson says the number of inmates released past 10 o clock has increased ten fold.

"That's what this is about. It's to give them free hand to release prisoners at 3,4,5 in the morning, which serves nobody any purpose," says Mendelson.

Mendelson says he's concerned about the welfare of prisoners and the safety of neighborhoods. His bill, which was passed in council Tuesday, discourages the jail from letting prisoners out after 10 p.m.

Council member David Catania voted against bill, warning if inmates are held over to the next morning, the city could open itself up to lawsuits.

Mendelson's bill requires the city make every attempt to release the inmate before 10 p.m. And if not, provide transportation, housing, clothing, and 7 days worth of medication.

"Hall Of Human Origins" Opens On Anniversary Of Museum's Origins

March 17, 2010 - By Stephanie Kaye

One of the Smithsonian museums turns one hundred years old today. And along with a birthday party, the Museum of Natural History will unveil a new exhibit at the exact time its doors first opened.

Although museum director Christian Samper wasn't there, he says he can imagine the scene.

"When it opened back in 1910, this was the second largest building that existed here, after the capitol. It was a grandiose building, a great place to showcase the world to the people of Washington," says Samper.

To celebrate its 100th year, the museum will be taking a look back...way back.

"We're opening a major new exhibition devoted to the topic of human origins, and asking the fundamental question of what does it mean to be human," he says.

Special events and displays, including an exhibit of photos chronicling the museum's history, will recognize the anniversary throughout the year.

Fairfax Leaders Meet For "Snow Summit"

March 17, 2010 - By Jonathan Wilson

This weeks Spring-like weather may seem an odd time for something called a snow summit. But leaders in Fairfax County, Virginia want to make sure lessons learned from this winters storms don't melt away.

Representatives from Virginia's Department of Transportation spoke at the summit Tuesday. VDOTs Branco Vlacich asked for more understanding from citizens, saying the thousands of phone calls during the storm may have actually slowed the department's effort to plow 20 million tons of snow from roads in Northern Virginia.

"Getting thousands of phone calls saying our road isn't done, really doesn't help us," says Vlacich, "because then it gets hard to sort out what we did do, and what needs to get done."

A big concern for supervisors is snow piling up on sidewalks and around bus stops.

County supervisor Jeff McKay says the county could require business owners and residents to clear their own sidewalks, but that could be tricky.

"We don't want to subject our citizens to trying to move a 15-foot iceberg that's been created by a snowplow, after an area has already been cleared by that citizen," says McKay.

Clearing sidewalks around schools was a major obstacle after the storm. A county executive praised the shoveling done by parents and teachers, calling the work "nothing short of Herculean."

Maryland Considers Banning A Common Flame Retardant

March 17, 2010 - By Sabri Ben-Achour

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced it will take a closer look at a common fire retardant called Decabrominated Diphenyl Ether (DecaDBE). It's one of a family of flame retardants called Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers. They're commonly used in household plastics that make up things such as furniture and electronics.

Jenny Levin is with Maryland Public Interest Research Group.

"This is a chemical linked by over 100 peer reviewed studies to neuro-developmental problems such as hyperactivity, problems with learning and memory," says Levin.

But almost all of those studies were conducted with animals, and the science is not conclusive enough for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to propose a ban on DecaBDE. The EPA has arranged for a voluntary phaseout by some major U.S. producers and an importer by 2014.

Two bills in Maryland would go further and ban it altogether. One would go into effect at the end of 2010, the other in 2014, paralleling the voluntary phaseout.

But some businesses don’t yet have a good substitute. Lewis Taffer is with iGPS, a company that uses plastic palates for shipping.

"It's the most widely used and most heavily tested flame retardant in the world, there is no question that it saves thousands of people's lives every year and millions of dollars in property," says Taffer.

Taffer and others argue that if Maryland bans DecaBDE the state should give businesses more time to find an alternative.

Power Breakfast For March 17, 2010

March 17, 2010 - More fiscally responsible than thou?

Senate Republicans meet late this afternoon for some tough talk - amongst each other - on earmarks.

Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports.

Free Taxi Rides Available During St. Patrick's Day

March 17, 2010 - By Kavitha Cardoza

As St. Patrick's Day celebrations get underway, police are cracking down on drunk driving, and some groups are reminding revelers there are free taxi rides available to help get them home safely.

Almost every person arrested for drunk driving says they wished they had planned a safe ride home, according to Kurt Erickson, with the Washington Regional Alcohol Program.

"Whether it be designating a driver, or using public transportation or at least remembering the number for SoberRide." Erickson says the program covers fares up to $50 and rides are available between 4 p.m. today and 4 a.m. tomorrow morning across the Washington Metro area.

Erickson says drinking and driving affects more than just the driver.

"The randomness of drunk driving is just huge," he says. "A third of drunk driving's victims are non-intoxicated drivers, non- intoxicated passengers, non-intoxicated pedestrians."

Several police and sheriff's departments are planning sobriety checkpoints and extra DUI patrols. The number for SoberRide is 1-800-200 TAXI.

MarylandReporter.com: State Roundup Mar. 17, 2010

March 17, 2010 - From the Maryland Reporter website:

Today we've got renewed coverage of sex offender bills, slots discussion heats up as the state considers rebidding Rocky Gap and the legal battle over slots at Arundel Mills continues. And Bob Ehrlich tests out a possible campaign message.

SEX OFFENDERS The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee heard testimony on the slew of sex offender laws making their way through the General Assembly yesterday, Steve Lash writes for The Daily Record. But the state judiciary and the Office of the Public Defender opposed the legislation, arguing that the bills strip courts of discretion and could stigmatize criminals for life. Robert Lang has multimedia for WBAL Radio. Dave Collins has a video report for WBAL TV, as does Fox 45's John Rydell.

Republicans are buying time to try to shape pending sex offender law reforms so they will more closely resemble original GOP proposals. Aaron Davis has the story on The Washington Post blog.

SLOTS Proponents of slots in Western Maryland advocated sweetening the deal for Rocky Gap because otherwise, nobody will want to build there, Annie Linskey writes in The Baltimore Sun. Investors want to change the tax rate on gambling revenues there and lower the required capital investment, Sen. George Edwards said. And others say that the Rocky Gap Lodge and Golf Resort would shut down by 2013 without slot machines, Hayley Peterson reports for the Washington Examiner.

And opponents of a slots casino at Arundel Mills mall are fighting back against the developer who filed suit, claiming their work petitioning was done illegally, Liz Farmer reports for The Daily Record. The anti-slots groups filed motions to intervene in the lawsuit, arguing that Cordish Co. sued to deter citizens from exercising their political rights. Ryan Sharrow has the story for the Baltimore Business Journal.

BOOZE There are 68 bills relating to minute changes in alcohol regulation, making their way through the General Assembly this year, Erich Wagner reports for MarylandReporter.com. Most only affect one jurisdiction, and very few people understand the complicated set of liquor laws.

TABLE GAMES Sen. Catherine Pugh wants to bring table games to Maryland to help the state's tourism industry, the Associated Press reports. She pushed for a Senate panel to have a public vote on whether to allow expanded gambling, which includes craps, poker and the like.

JUDICIAL ELECTIONS Annie Linskey with The Sun writes for the paper’s politics blog that House Judiciary Committee chairman may have shown his hand in favor of continuing judicial elections during a debate on sex offender legislation.

TRAFFIC COURT A bill that would take away the automatic day in court for traffic violators has passed the Senate, Michael Dresser reports in his Getting There blog for The Sun. Accused offenders would have to request a hearing if the bill passes.

BOAST A proposal to grant tax credits for corporate donations to private schools survived back-to-back attempts to weaken it in the Senate and is expected to come up for a final vote in that chamber this week, Nick DiMarco writes for MarylandReporter.com.

JOBS JOBS JOBS House Republicans are expected to try to add provisions to a job creation tax credit proposal by Gov. Martin O’Malley, Nick Sohr writes in his Eye on Annapolis Blog for The Daily Record. He writes that GOP delegates are concerned that the credit may not reach enough small businesses.

EHRLICH Could-be gubernatorial candidate Bob Ehrlich began shaping a potential campaign message in an address before the Pikesville Chamber of Commerce, Julie Bykowicz reports for The Sun. Ehrlich said that the state has much to offer, but has a problem in the General Assembly. And the Associated Press reports that Ehrlich said supporters are urging him to run for U.S. Senate instead of governor. John Wagner has the story for the Post.

GREEN Maryland would have to look for environmentally-friendly products when making state purchasing decisions, under a bill backed by Gov. Martin O'Malley, but opponents are concerned the measure could cost the state hundreds of factory jobs, Nick DiMarco reports for MarylandReporter.com.

EDUCATION SPENDING A bill that would change the way counties can apply for waivers of their education spending requirement is moving through the House, the Maryland Association of Counties writes on its Conduit Street blog. Counties have been seeking to reform the "maintenance of effort" rules that require counties to spend as much on education each year as they did the previous year.

CLOSED CAPTIONING Deaf residents testified before the House Ways and Means Committee in support of a bill requiring candidates to provide closed captioning for television and web campaign ads, Meg Tully writes in the Frederick News-Post. The bill's sponsor, Del. Joseph Bartlett, said he hasn't used closed captioning on his campaign ads, but said he would do so from now on.

Ehrlich May Challenge Mikulski

March 16, 2010 - By Stephanie Kaye

One of Maryland's former governors is thinking about running for U.S. Senate. Robert Ehrlich says thoughts about running for the Senate are "in the mix" as he weighs his options for running for office.

Ehrlich spoke to a group of small business owners in Pikesville today. He says supporters are urging him to run against U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski in November.

Ehrlich was rumored to be considering a challenge to Governor Martin O'Malley. It's unclear when Ehrlich will announce definitive plans.

Latest D.C. Local News

March 16, 2010 - WASHINGTON (AP) A D.C. Councilwoman wants the city to change the way it gets rid of surplus property such as fire trucks, chairs and printers. Councilwoman Mary Cheh introduced a bill today to make the changes.

WASHINGTON (AP) Any D.C. public school employee who has sexual contact with a student would be fired under a bill introduced by a D.C. Council member. Earlier in the year, D.C. public schools disclosed that an 18-year-old special needs student allegedly became pregnant by a teacher. That teacher has since been fired.

WASHINGTON (AP) Metro officials say rail ridership rebounded quickly after its blizzard low in February. Officials said yesterday that ridership increased by more than 760,000 trips in a few days.

WASHINGTON (AP) The D.C. council has voted to require inmates leaving the city's jail in evening and early morning hours to have transportation and housing before being released. The bill passed today requires that inmates released between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. must be provided transportation.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Latest Maryland Regional News

March 16, 2010 - ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) A Baltimore senator wants to bring table games like craps, poker and roulette to Maryland in the hopes of increasing tourism. Baltimore Sen. Catherine Pugh urged a Senate panel today to support letting the public decide whether to allow the games in Maryland.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) Slots opponents say they have asked the court to dismiss a lawsuit over the validity of petition signatures they have gathered in hopes of halting slot machines. Representatives of groups opposed to slots at an Anne Arundel County mall said today that efforts to gather petition signatures were "completely lawful."

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Latest Virginia Regional News

March 16, 2010 - FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) A jury in Fairfax County has acquitted a 39-year-old father of murdering his infant son after a defense expert raised doubts about the validity of shaken baby syndrome. Prosecutors said that Elmer J. Midence violently shook his eight-month-old son last year at their Springfield home, causing injuries that resulted in the baby's death.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Virginia Department of Transportation crews have patched, repaired or filled more than 43,000 potholes since March 1st, the first day of its pothole blitz. Gov. McDonnell announced today that crews have worked day and night to address the pavement hazards on state-maintained roads.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) A high school student is being accused of bringing a gun to a school in Newport News. Nineteen-year-old Wayne Raynod King was charged today with a felony count of having a firearm on school property and a misdemeanor count of having a concealed weapon.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Virginia regulators are being urged to carefully examine a proposed rate increase for Appalachian Power. The State Corporation Commission held a public hearing today to discuss the company's request for a 12.5 percent base rate increase.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Roosevelt High School Reopens After Lockdown

March 16, 2010 - A high school campus in Greenbelt, Maryland has reopened after classrooms there were placed on lockdown earlier today.

Elliott Francis reports...

Honda To Recall 410,000 Vehicles For Brake Problem

March 16, 2010 - By TOM KRISHERAP Auto Writer

DETROIT (AP) Honda Motor Co. says it is recalling about 410,000 Odyssey minivans and Element small trucks because of problems with the brake pedals.

The recall includes 344,000 Odysseys and 68,000 Elements from the 2007 and 2008 model years.

Honda says the brake pedals can feel soft to drivers and must be depressed closer to the floor than usual before the vehicles will fully stop. The condition worsens over time but affects only some of the vehicles.

The company says the problem happens because a part in the stability control system can let a small amount of air into the braking system.

Honda says owners should take their vehicles to a dealer as soon as they get notification from Honda. Letters will go out at the end of April.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Police: Shots Fired Near Greenbelt High School

March 16, 2010 - GREENBELT, Md. (AP) Police have reopened a Greenbelt high school after shots were fired nearby.

Prince George's County public schools spokeswoman Tanzi West Barbour says a couple of people came out of the woods next to Eleanor Roosevelt High School, fired shots and then ran back into the woods Tuesday morning. West Barbour says the shooting happened across the street and not on school property. No one was injured.

Greenbelt police spokeswoman Officer Kelly Lawson says the school was locked down as a precaution. Lawson says officers searched the area by helicopter and on the ground but did not find anyone.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

VA Fills 43,000 Potholes In Two Weeks

March 16, 2010 - RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Virginia Department of Transportation crews have patched, repaired or filled more than 43,000 potholes since March 1, the first day of its pothole blitz.

Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Tuesday that crews have worked day and night to address the pavement hazards on state-maintained roads.

As this month's wet weather and varying temperatures create more potholes, McDonnell said crews will continue to prioritize repairs based on severity and location.

Melting snow and ice from a barrage of winter storms revealed thousands of potholes across the commonwealth.

The state budgeted $45.8 million for asphalt and concrete patching through June 30.

To report a pothole, call 800-367-7623 (ROAD). TTY users should call 711.

On the Net: www.VirginiaDOT.org
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Church In PG Rallies Against Metro Budget Cuts

March 16, 2010 - By David Schultz

Although it sounds like religious services, the gathering at Gethsemane United Methodist Church in Capitol Heights, Md. is actually a rally in opposition to Metro's budget proposals, which include the elimination of dozens of bus lines and a fare increase of more than 20 percent.

JoVone Pender, a younger member of Gethsemane Church, told the congregation how the fare hike would affect him. He says he's working in his first job and he relies on Metro to get him there.

"The Metro rates are going up and taking a toll on my newly-employed pockets," he says.

Theresa Bryant, a District resident, spoke about how bus service is already inadequate-even before any lines are eliminated.

"The Metro system was able to get millions of people to the Obama inauguration," she says. "But I can't get to church, because the F14 doesn't run on Sunday."

Metro Board Member Elizabeth Hewlett, who represents Prince George's County, came on toward the end to answer the congregation's questions. But she was "amen-ed" off the stage after she went over her allotted two minutes.

The Metro Board is holding public hearings over the next few months on the proposed service cuts and increased fares before it casts a final vote in June. The first of Metro's six budget hearings is scheduled for this Monday at Oakton High School in Vienna, Va. It starts at 7 p.m.

Advocates Debate Strength Of Open Government Bill

March 16, 2010 - By Peter Granitz

Some open-government advocates are questioning how far an open-meetings bill, set to hit the D.C. Council, will actually go.

Ward Four councilmember Muriel Bowser will introduce the “Open Government is Good Government Act” today. The bill would require public bodies, the Council, task forces, boards and commissions, to open their doors to citizens and the press if a quorum is present.

“You have public bodies that meet, do their business and come out and vote in public,” says Bowser.

In 2009 Bowser joined the rest of the Council in voting to raise taxes. The vote followed meetings closed to the public.

But not all good-government-types believe the hype. Caitlin Ginley with the Center for Public Integrity says it’s a step in the right direction but falls short. If lawmakers want to truly open up government, she says they’d be better enacting stricter financial disclosure laws.

“Putting an open meetings law under a huge umbrella act like that and making it sound like this is the 'be all end all' in good government can sort of be misleading to your constituents," says Ginley.

A similar measure came up in 2006 but never passed the full Council.

DCRA Launches Website For Basement Landlords And Tenants

March 16, 2010 - By Rebecca Sheir

The so-called English basement is a widespread rental option in Washington, as row-house buyers often expect to lease their lower level to help with the mortgage. A new website from D.C.s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs is educating landlords and tenants on how to rent out basement apartments legally.

Features on the website is a note from DCRA that says the agency has uncovered a number of illegal rentals recently, including units filled with carbon monoxide from leaky water heaters.

Certainly because there's less air flow in basement apartments, carbon monoxide and other hazards can be a bigger deal, says Barrett Colombo, who has been living in basement apartments like this cozy and rustic unit in Mt. Pleasant, for about three years.

"This is the main room," says Colombo, as he gives a tour of the place. "As you can see, its a shared space. And so we have a kitchen, a couch, and more of a table space."

Though Colombo hasn't encountered anything as hazardous as carbon monoxide, he says basement living does have its drawbacks.

"We saw some kind of terrestrial mollusk coming up out of the drain the other day," he recounts. "I mean, that's part of living near other animals that live at our same level."

The website offers guidelines and checklists for landlords, and a discussion forum for tenants. So far, users have posted items about licenses, exit points, ceiling heights-- but no mention of mollusks yet.

Fairfax School Board Member Says Va. Budget Plan Holds Some Good News

March 16, 2010 - By Jonathan Wilson

Despite unprecedented funding cuts to public education included in the budget just approved by Virginia, state lawmakers and board members for Fairfax County Public Schools say there's some good news for their district.

Fairfax County School Board members passed a budget earlier this year that included 600 job cuts.

At the time, board members, such as budget chair Jane Strauss, warned parents and teachers that more cuts were possible depending on state funding.

Now that state lawmakers have reached a compromise budget, Strauss says there's a chance those additional cuts can be avoided.

"We are hoping that we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel of this adventure because our parents don't want us to back up anymore," says Strauss.

State lawmakers officially unfroze the Local Composite Index funding, which nets Fairfax $61 million, and lessened the District's responsibility for paying into the teacher retirement fund.

Strauss says those moves could offset the plan by county leaders to give the school district $98 million less than board members requested.

D.C. Promises To Hire Workers For Weatherization Program

March 16, 2010 - By Patrick Madden

As D.C.'s unemployment rate continues to hover around 12 percent, city leaders are promising to hire out-of-work residents to weatherize homes. For years, Quentin Freeland found steady work as a construction worker. But when the jobs dried up about a year and half ago, Freeland says it hasn't been easy.

"We've been getting up early in the morning, running down to the woods, pulling scraps out of the woods, scrap metal, and we take it to the scrap yard and that's how we make our money during the day," says Freeland.

Freeland and a friend joined hundreds of others at the Covenant Baptist Church in Southwest D.C. Monday night to hear more about a plan to train and hire hundreds of residents to weatherize low-income homes.

Church pastor Christine Wiley told the crowd, which included Mayor Adrian Fenty and other city leaders, residents are tired of job training programs that do not lead to jobs.

"So we are putting everyone on notice, we are not going to put up with talk anymore, we want work!" Wiley shouts.

Mayor Fenty promised the crowd the city would spend about $10 to $20 million dollars training residents to weatherize homes but offered few details on when the program would launch.

Power Breakfast For March 16, 2010

March 16, 2010 - Redefining "freedom of information" in the 21st Century.

Today Congressman Steve Israel of New York introduces the Public Online Information Act. Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, says the bill reflects a new formula for what constitutes transparency.

Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports.

MarylandReporter.com: State Roundup Mar. 16, 2010

March 16, 2010 - From the Maryland Reporter website:

TEACHERS’ PENSIONS Shifting some of the costs of teachers’ pensions to the counties is "back on the table," writes Michael Sanderson for Conduit Street (MACo) blog. Considerations for the cut may save about $60 million, according to this Associated Press article posted by WTOP Washington.

BUDGET CUTS The Baltimore Sun’s Annie Linskey followed along as the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee voted on hundreds of line items in Gov. Martin O’Malley’s spending plan. She made special mention in the Baltimore Sun blog of Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden, D-Baltimore City, and his attempts to keep some money off the chopping block.

Community and private colleges took the brunt of about $200 million in cuts from Gov. O'Malley's $32 billion budget, according to Len Lazarick for MarylandReporter.com. State lawmakers could be calling in the reserves, or rather, a local income tax reserve, according to this Associated Press article posted by WTOP.

STATE CONTRACTS AFSCME, the big state employee union, says the state could save millions by cutting spending on contractual services, Sean Sedam reports in the Gazette.

CITY ROADS A Senate budget subcommittee voted to not share $30 million for Baltimore City roads with other counties, writes Andy Rosen for MarylandReporter.com.

COMBINED REPORTING The commission studying business taxes will now finish its work in December under legislation passed by both the House and the Senate, Kevin James Shay reports in the Gazette.

PUBLIC BROADCASTING AUDIT Findings from a report released Monday indicate the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission violated state regulations when awarding contracts, according to Anne Kramer for WBAL. The commission disagrees with half of the findings, in particular an issue regarding how vendors were paid over the course of two years, writes Nick DiMarco for MarylandReporter.com. The Daily Record posted this Associated Press story, detailing the commission’s reasoning for paying the vendors without a contract.

TRANSPARENCY Marta Mossburg's column debuts in the Sun with a call for greater transparency in state grants.

VALLARIO Del. Sue Kullen calls House Judiciary Committee chairman Delegate Joseph Vallario "tyrannical," reports Tom LoBianco for WYPR. The chairman defends the perception people have of him as unwilling to listen to bills he doesn’t like.

STATE FUNDS Public schools have their hands held out for $187 million, reports Alex DeMetrick for WJZ.

TEXTING Support for a bill that would allow police to pull drivers over for texting behind the wheel is growing, says WJZ’s Pat Warren.

DROPOUT AGE Senators voted to amend a bill Monday night that would require school attendance until students were 18-years-old, according to this Associated Press article, posted by Fox 45 Baltimore.

SEX OFFENDERS Senate lawmakers will be hearing two dozen bills Tuesday, regarding cracking down on sex offenders. Hayley Peterson has the story for the Washington Examiner.

BAY PROTECTION Two identical bills are making their way through the House and Senate that would revoke the licenses of oyster poachers, a measure put forth to protect the Bay, Jennifer Hlad writes for Capital News Service, posted by The Daily Record.

EXPANSION A proposal has been made for an expansion of the Maryland State Archives facility, writes Annapolis Capital staff writer Liam Farrell.

BAD CREDIT Lorraine Mirabella talks about how bad credit is keeping people from getting jobs in this Sun column.

ACORN The Maryland chapter of ACORN will not be reopening, according to a group official Monday. A former leader said the tarnished reputation of the group is partly the cause, according to Sun staff writer Brent Jones.

PRISON Counties say the state’s plan of housing hundreds of federal inmates by 2012 in the Baltimore Supermax prison is "hurting them" financially, according to this Associated Press article posted by Fox 45 Baltimore. Last year the Supermax held an average of 183 prisoners, adds Steve Fermier for WBAL Radio.