Friday, July 25, 2008
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May 13, 2008 - The DC Council has passed a budget for next year that limits spending to less than one percent.
The $9.4 billion plan is one of the most fiscally conservative budgets in some time. Typically, the District has increased its spending anywhere from six to eight percent over the last several years.
Council member Yvette Alexander originally had concerns that the cap would affect much-needed services. But she says her colleagues made the plan a workable one.
It includes $773 million for the city`s ailing schools and an additional $6.5 million for public safety.
Jessica Golloher reports...
May 13, 2008 - Researchers at the University of Maryland are trying to put a dollar value on some of the intangible benefits of state forests. The goal is to give forest managers more information when they make decisions on land use. After surveying several hundred people, researchers with the Harry Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology concluded day users of state forests valued their experience at $96 per trip, while the average overnight camper valued the trip at $400. Most people surveyed said protecting areas that are critical to maintaining the balance of nature should come before protecting the most popular areas. The survey also looked into the value of forests in absorbing carbon dioxide from the air and how that affects when timber should be harvested.
Matt McCleskey has more...
May 13, 2008 - The Mid-Atlantic regions oysters are showing mixed results in a report on contamination levels. Mid-Atlantic Oysters contain fewer organic contaminants such as the pesticide DDT, but continue to have the highest levels of heavy metals nationwide, says a new report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAAs mussel watch program has monitored trace metals, pesticides, and industrial PCBs in mussel and oyster tissue from 1986 to 2006. The manager of the agency`s Mussel Watch Program says mussels and oysters are good indicators of general contamination levels because they filter the water. Fossil fuels, waste burning, mining and agriculture are primary sources for elevated concentrations of chemicals in coastal waters.
Sabri Ben-Achour reports...
May 13, 2008 - Olympics fans could get the opportunity to watch this summer's games on giant movie screens in downtown DC. Council member Jack Evans says that the city is in talks with the Chinese government to show the games on the life-size screens in August. The showings would be on a city-owned parcel of land on New York Avenue between 9th and 10th streets. Evans says it would be a great draw. The opening ceremonies begin on August 8.
Jessica Golloher reports...
May 13, 2008 - The final plans to develop the Old Convention Center site in Downtown DC are coming together.
The District has announced that it will lease a section of land on New York Avenue between 9th and 11 Streets to developer Hines Archstone Smith . The team has promised to create a four-star 400 room hotel and 100-thousand feet of retail space at the site.
Mayor Fenty says the additions will really make the city world-class.
The District was considering using the site for a public library.
Officials expect to break ground on the 850-million dollar mixed-use project by January 2009.
Jessica Golloher reports..
May 13, 2008 - The U.S. Supreme Court has granted a reprieve to an inmate on Virginias death row. Edward Nathaniel Bell was sentenced to death for killing a police officer in Winchester, Virginia in 2001. His execution had been scheduled for July. But now the Supreme Court has said it will consider whether lower courts correctly weighed Bells claim that his lawyer did a poor job representing him. Bell says he could have been spared a death sentence if his lawyer had performed better during the sentencing phase of his trial. The case goes before the Supreme Court this fall.
Matt McCleskey has more...
May 13, 2008 - Virginia's Department of Emergency Management is already dealing with two disasters. Workers are cleaning up from tornadoes in both Suffolk and Stafford County over the past two weeks, as well as minor flooding that struck northern Virginia yesterday. But something bigger lies ahead: hurricane season. It begins June 1, and forecasters are predicting a busy year.
The department has already conducted its first drill, a highway simulation of evacuating the Hampton Roads area to Richmond.
Matt Bush reports...
May 13, 2008 - Governor Kaine has unveiled his plan to raise revenue for transportation .... and it does NOT include raising the state gas tax.
The Governor said his proposal has three major goals. The first is safety...through shoring up the highway maintenance shortfall. That increases the statewide annual vehicle registration fee by 10-dollars, and the existing motor vehicle sales tax from three-to-four percent statewide. The second is regional help... through raising the sales tax by one cent in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. Kaine proposes increasing the statewide grantors tax on home sales by 25-percent for his third goal: mass transit.
Revenue totals equal more than 859 million in 2009 rising to one-point-one billion in 2014. The Governor said state lawmakers have time before a June 23rd special session to review and amend his proposals.
Tommie McNeil reports from Richmond...
May 13, 2008 - The Washington branch of the Red Cross is laying off about a fourth of its staff. The head of the organization says the slow economy is to blame. CEO Linda Mathes says the organization is "absolutely dependent" on donations and that the slumping economy has left the nonprofit $2 million short of what it needs. She says the group had to let go of paid staff and offer voluntary separation packages. Mathes says while people give very generously for big disaster relief intiatives, it is harder to raise money for the smaller relief efforts such as responses to fires. But Mathes says residents won`t see a reduction in services.
Kavitha Cardoza has more...
May 13, 2008 - (Through May 27) ELEKTRA Richard Strauss' Elektra takes the stage at the Kennedy Center Opera House until May 27th. Imagine...an opera so short it doesn`t have an intermission. This Washington National Opera production, chronicling a royal family destroyed by conspiracy, madness, and vengeance, stars Susan Bullock, whose performance in the title role has been hailed around the world. Discounted tickets go on sale the day of the performance tonight and Thursday. You can also learn a bit more about this classic opera in a Q&A with performers and production crew after next Sunday's matinee.
(May 13-Jul 18) I RENT MYSELF TO A DREAM Opening tonight, I Rent Myself to Dream brings the art of Alvaro Santiago to the Mexican Cultural Institute through July 18, with an opening reception tonight at 6:30. Esoteric and other-worldly images feature floating angel-like bodies in bright pastels, woven into paintings, ceramics, woodcarvings and sculptures, defined by energetic lines and fierce colors. It's where Marc Chagall meets Salvadore Dali.
(May 13 & 14, May 21 & 22) STUDENT TEN-MINUTE PLAY COMPETITION The works of young winners from Arena Stage's annual Ten-Minute Play Competition are featured at the Warehouse Theater tonight, tomorrow and next week on Wednesday and Thursday. The 10 student plays were culled from nearly 700 local contenders, showcasing the budding creativity of area youth. Plays that earned honorable mentions will be read this week; full productions of the top 10 picks will be staged next week. Featuring "The Funeral," written by Silver Spring 7th grader Emma; "Waiting for Godot...to Leave," by Alexandria 12th grader Gabriel; and "Learning to Care," penned by 6th grader Katharine, the performances celebrate the imagination of adolescence.
(May 9-17) ERASERHEAD Fans of the uncanny and eerie films of David Lynch can get a new look at his 1977 independent surrealist-horror film Eraserhead screening at the AFI Silver Theater until Saturday. An unusual motion picture recognized more for its mood and imagery than its coherent plot, this brand new 35mm release is a compilation of bizarre fantasy dream sequences, featuring a man who lives on the moon, a mutant baby, and a girl in a radiator. Movie-goers are encouraged to draw their own deep conclusions.
May 13, 2008 - Governor Tim Kaine has unveiled a plan to increase revenue for transportation in Virginia. The proposal has three goals and does not raise the state's gas tax. The first goal is improving safety by shoring up the highway maintenance shortfall. That increases the statewide annual vehicle registration fee by $10 and the existing motor vehicle sales tax from 3 to 4 percent statewide. The second is providing regional help by raising the sales tax in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads by one cent. Kaine proposes increasing the statewide grantor's tax on home sales by 25 percent for his third goal: mass transit.
Revenue totals would equal more than $859 million in 2009 rising to $1.1 billion in 2014. The Governor said state lawmakers have time before a June 23rd special session to review and amend his proposals.
Tommie McNeil reports...
May 13, 2008 - The Washington region's Red Cross is laying off staff. Its leader blames the slow economy. About a fourth of the staff at the American Red Cross... National Capital Region will be laid off. CEO Linda Mathes....says they had to let go o f paid staff as well as offer voluntary separation packages because they projected an almost 2 million dollar gap in what they needed and what they would be able to raise. mathes says while people give very generously for big disaster relief intiatives... it's harder to raise money for the smaller... everyday ones like fires. But Mathes says residents won't see a reduction in services. Mathes says they hope increase the number of volunteers at the Red Cross. She says this is difficult...because it's also a time when the need for services has dramatically increased.
Kavitha Cardoza reports...
May 13, 2008 -
May 13, 2008 - Clean, quite, fuel-efficient diesel engines are replacing the dirty, smelly ones of the past. That was one of the hot topics at this week's Society of Automotive Engineers Conference, which brings government and industry professionals together to work on transportation issues. Some experts there say diesel engines allow you to go faster and use less fuel.
Faryl Ury checked out the diesel cars and filed this report...
May 13, 2008 - Several crime-fighting measures are now on the books in Maryland after Governor Martin O'Malley signed them into law this week. One of the new laws expands the states crime DNA database. It allows authorities to take DNA samples from people who are charged with violent crimes and felony burglary. Currently, officials can only take DNA after convictions. Also among the new laws are
measures to toughen penalties for identity thieves
and for people who attend dogfights or cockfights.
OMalley also approved a controversial six-month delay
of a new law than bans manufacturers of dish detergent
from making or selling dish soap containing more than
a trace amount of phosphorus, which environmental
groups say pollutes the Chesapeake Bay and other
bodies of water. O`Malley says the delay is
reasonable, but opponents of it say it will result in
more of the pollutant being dumped into waterways.
Gene Kuleta reports from Annapolis...
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