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Sunday, November 8, 2009
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November 20, 2007 - The revenue may not be enough to prevent fare hikes, but Metro makes good money selling its retired parts. Metro made more than one million dollars selling old buses vehicles, parts, and scrap metal last year. Metro Surplus property manager Adrian Sclawy says people have creative ways of using the old parking meters they sell. Items with the Metro logo are popular, such as Metrorail maps from 1998. The maps sell for $10 dollars. A burned-out bus sits across the yard. Wires and insulation are visible inside. Sclawy says the price is $3,000.
Liz Anderson reports...
November 20, 2007 - Power Breakfast, our daily look at what's happening on Capitol Hill and at the White House...
November 20, 2007 - Fairfax County Park Authority says parks in the county are doing well. The Park Authority's yearly household survey finds eight out of ten households used parks in the county to some extent in the past year. The three most important aspects of parks to residents are natural resource preservation, athletic fields and RECenters. More and more non-white households are also using parks and related facilities. The report helps the county determine what needs to be fixed, or added, by the Park Authority.
Pat Brogan reports...
November 20, 2007 - Many security guards in D.C say they can't make ends meet on their salaries. Denise Butler guards a commercial property, owned by Beacon Capital Partners. She works 40 hours a week and makes $10 an hour. The single parent says it's not enough money to support her and her three children. Butler says she needs to make at least $15 an hour, and the only way she can do that is to carry a gun. In an effort to combat the problem, D.C. Council Member Brown co-introduced the Enhanced Professional Security Amendment Act of 2007 that would set the wage and benefit level for security officers protecting private commercial office buildings at $11.51 and hour plus $3.16 for benefits. The bill passed through the Public Safety and Judiciary Committee on November 13 and is scheduled for the first of two final votes on December 10.
Jessica Golloher reports...
November 20, 2007 - A second teenager has died as a result of yesterday's single vehicle accident in Montgomery County, Maryland. Described as a vibrant and intelligent student, Ricardo Orellana-Hernandez died from injuries he sustained when the car he was riding in hit a tree. Another passenger, Oswaldo Rosales, who died at the scene, was a model student with a 3.6 grade point average. Both were 16-years-old and police say neither was wearing a seatbelt. Authorities say the 19 year-old driver, Jose Miguel Gomez, was buckled up. He remains hospitalized. The teens attended Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville where assistant principal Veronica McCall says safe driving is taught. A candlelight vigil at the school has been scheduled for 7 p.m.
Katrina Matthews reports...
November 20, 2007 - More manufacturing jobs are coming to Virginia. Rolls-Royce, the aerospace company, says it will build a new jet engine factory in Prince George County, Virginia, just south of Richmond. The factory will build a new engine for mid-size corporate jets and possibly expand to building engines for the regional jet market. It will also be capable of building the F136 engine for the Joint Strike Fighter, a new-generation U.S. military jet. About 500 jobs will be created, and the factory should be open by the end of 2009.
Rosiland Jordan reports...
November 20, 2007 - After scouring D.C. area stores, a consumer safety group says there are lots of dangerous toys on the shelves this holiday season. Curious George dolls, farm animal figurines and Bob the Builder are just a few of the toys the U.S. Public Interest Research Group touted as dangerous. Only Curious George with his lead painted plastic face has been recalled. Maryland Democratic Congressman Chris Van Hollen says that's because the Consumer Product Safety Commission gives short shrift to inspecting toys. Still, the Commission has told Congress it doesn't want more authority or funding. Van Hollen says that's not acceptable. Toy company representatives say they're taking care of the problem with increased testing and safety tip website for parents. Congress hopes to pass stricter standard legislation before it adjourns in December.
Jodi Breisler reports from Capitol Hill...
November 20, 2007 - Prince William County, Virginia is getting a new corporate resident. The new resident is pharmaceutical firm Covance, which plans to move into a facility currently owned by pharmaceutical giant, Eli Lilly. It will use the plant for medicine research and development. 450 employees now working in Vienna and Chantilly, Virginia will move to the new facility by 2011, and the company plans to hire another 100 staffers. Covance plans to invest about $175 million in the project.
Rosiland Jordan reports...
November 20, 2007 - (Nov 20) The D.C. Improv hosts some local talent in the D.C. Comedy Showcase tonight, as part of a quest to find the funniest local up-and-coming comedians before they rise to stardom - and tickets for their shows become expensive. Ryan Conner hosts the night as contestants perform tight 8-minute sets that will be scored by judges.
(Nov 20) SKETCHING: DRAW AND DISCOVER The Smithsonian American Art Museum is pulling out all the pencils today at 3 o'clock for "Sketching: Draw and Discover." After a discussion about artists' sketches, participants will get to be artists themselves - bring your pencils and sketchbooks - as they try to sketch some of the more than 3,000 works of art on display.
(Nov 20) NIGHTCLEANERS The National Museum of Women in the Arts is showing the Berwick Street Film Collective's 1975 movie "Nightcleaners" which chronicles efforts to unionize office cleaning women in Britain. It's the ORIGINAL British version of the popular American television show "The Office." Nightcleaners is part of the museum's current exhibit "WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution." Reservations are required, the film airs tonight at 6:30.
November 20, 2007 - The U.S. Marine Corps kicked off their annual "Toys for Tots" giveaway at Union Station this morning. Most of the areas top brass, including D-Cs fire and police chiefs, were on hand for the ceremony, but the shows star for the nearly 100 school children was Santa Claus. This year marks the 60th anniversary for the Marines trademark charity "Toys for Tots" and the eleventh year the ceremony has been held at Union Station. D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton was also there to lend Santa a hand, giving out basketballs, dolls, and other gifts from a bright red sack. Each year, local marines distribute about 300,000 presents to D.C. schoolkids.
Patrick Madden WAMU 885 News.
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