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November 14, 2007 - The Anacostia Watershed Society hopes a media boat tour will focus attention on the environmental impact of the freight train wreck in D.C. that ended with several coal-cars in the Anacostia river. Seven cars lay strewn by the train tracks along with twisted metal from the wreck. Environmental advocates say the Anacostia has a history of pollution, including lead, mercury and pesticides settled along the bottom.
Shia Levitt reports...
November 14, 2007 - Parents of Prince George's County students whose children are barred from school for failing to meet vaccination requirements have a date with the court. On Saturday, November 17, the first of a series of hearings will be held in Prince Georges County Circuit court in Upper Marlboro. At that time the parents or guardians of. 1,671 out of compliance students are ordered to appear. Health professionals will be on hand to vaccinate their kids. The deadline for compliance was September 20. Recent state policy requires all students in kindergarten through 10th grade to show proof of hepatitis b and chicken pox vaccinations.
Meymo Lyons reports...
November 14, 2007 - Construction of the new Washington "Nationals Park" is scheduled to be completed in time for opening day next season, and fans are going to notice some big changes. The old RFK Stadium was built in 1961 for both baseball and football, which explains the nearly round field and the even distribution of seats around the entire stadium. The new field in Southeast D.C. has an asymmetrical outfield wall and a smaller foul area. And the stands have been rearranged -- making Nationals Park hold slightly fewer fans -- but team president, Stan Kasten, says everyone will have a better view. In the new stadium, several levels are stacked on top of each other on the infield side, with five and ten dollar tickets at the top. At the other end of the price spectrum, there will be twice as many "premium," seats as in the old stadium.
Emily Reddy reports...
November 14, 2007 - Tensions between the U.S. and Iran draw more than a thousand people to a congressional town hall meeting in Alexandria, Virginia. The attendees, fresh from the rush-hour commute, came to hear one message, that a war between the U.S. and Iran can be prevented. Democratic Congressman Jim Moran, who opposed the war with Iraq and sponsored last night's forum told the overflow crowd he wants to head off both a war and the rise of another nuclear state. If the goal is to prevent Iran from developing its nuclear capability, one panelist said, the Bush administration should be actively negotiating with Tehran's religious and secular leaders.
Rosiland Jordan reports...
November 14, 2007 - Maryland's House of Delegates has approved nearly 500-million-dollars in spending cuts. The vast majority of the spending cuts apply to the fiscal year that begins in July of next year. The largest portion comes from scaling back funding increases for public schools. The increases had been meant to compensate schools for inflation. Also, the House voted to eliminate 750 vacant state jobs and also tap surplus funds in the state employee and retiree health insurance fund. The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Delegate Norman Conway, said the cuts are needed to help plug the state's more than $1.5 billion budget hole. But some Republicans say lawmakers need to do even more to hold the line on spending. Also, up for a vote in the House is legislation expanding health care coverage to 100,000 uninsured residents, which is projected to cost $250 million a year when fully phased in five years from now. And the House is yet to vote on putting a referendum on the November 2008 ballot asking voters whether the state should legalize slot machines. The Senate last week approved the health care expansion and the slots referendum.
Gene Kuleta reports from the Maryland State House...
November 14, 2007 - Power Breakfast, our daily look at what`s happening on Capitol Hill and at the White House...
November 14, 2007 - A dozen area hospitals in Maryland and Virginia are going "smoke-free" to prevent higher healthcare costs. Smoking-related illnesses cost Maryland two billion dollars a year and they are the leading cause of preventable death nationwide. That's why all five hospitals in Montgomery county and one in Frederick county are banning smoking on their campuses. The ban begins Thursday and coincides with the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout.
Katrina Matthews reports...
November 14, 2007 - The U.S. Supreme Court may be stalling on whether to take the D.C. gun control case. Handguns were illegal in the district, until a recent decision by a local court. Now the Supreme Court has a chance to decide whether D.C. gun control laws should stand. D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. She says the Court is between a rock and a hard place. Take the case, and the five conservative justices could favor gun owners. Don’t take the case, and D-C will have to lift the ban anyway. Capitol Hill Police Officer Conrad Smith can own his own gun because of his work, but he says all D.C. residents should be able to as well. A decision could come after next week’s scheduling conference. But analysts say it’s not uncommon for the justices to postpone decisions on complex cases for weeks.
Evelyn Lombardo reports...
November 14, 2007 - Leaders of the Washington Interfaith Network want Mayor Adrian Fenty to deliver on his campaign promises to local neighborhoods. Jessica Golloher was there when they called the mayor to task last night at the First Rock Baptist Church...
November 14, 2007 - The Medicare Part D annual open enrollment period begins Thursday and runs through December 31, allowing Medicare beneficiaries to change their prescription drug coverage. The "Working Together for Better Health" Medicare Bus Tour kicked off at the Asian Activities Center in Northwest Washington for fall open enrollment. Medicare/Medicaid representatives are helping people with Medicare choose health and drug coverage for 2008. Debbie Fearman helped Dick Wong compare his current health and drug coverage with other area plans to find a plan best for him. Fearman says it's time for those with Medicare to prepare for next year because costs associated with their current plans may change.
Nicole Back reports...
November 14, 2007 - The role of slavery in building the U.S. Capitol is absent from most history books. Congress is now moving to try and shed new light on an often overlooked chapter in the history of Washington, D.C., and the nation.
Todd Zwillich is on Capitol Hill with this report...
November 14, 2007 - (Nov 14) Chilean-American author and feminist Isabel Allende will speak at the Organization of American States tonight. The event is sponsored by the National Museum of Women in the Arts and will include a discussion led by the editor of The Washington Post's "Book World."
(Nov 14-Jan 30) The public doesn't always get to see diplomacy at work, but with "Artful Diplomacy: Art as Latin America's Ambassador in Washington, D.C." the diplomatic process is taken out of embassy conference rooms and into the community. With notable works of Latin American art from embassies and official residences housed in the District, the exhibit opens at the Inter-American Development Bank Cultural center today and runs through January.
(Through Dec 6) The Shakespeare Theatre Company has two stages running simultaneously - both with a bit of Marlowe. At the 7th Street Lansburgh Theater, audiences are getting (not gitting) a taste of Tamburlaine, a milestone in Elizabethan drama portraying the 14th century Persian warlord "Timur the Lame". The new Sydney Harman Hall presents another wayward ruler, Edward II, in the grip of a romantic obsession. Both run through December 6th.
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