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Saturday, July 4, 2009
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July 29, 2008 - One Maryland family wrongly accused of child abuse because of their sons rare disorder will share their story with hundreds of physicians attending the American Association for Clinical Chemistry`s annual meeting at the Washington Convention Center.
Jessica Forres has more...
July 29, 2008 - The slowing economy and high gas prices have prompted Virginia's colleges and universities to take steps that will save students some money, while making it easier to take a full course load with a busy schedule.
Tommie McNeil has more from Richmond...
July 29, 2008 - Despite promises to fix the city's troubled youth employment program, some students say they won't participate again next year.
Jessica Golloher visited one such program at McKinley High School...
July 29, 2008 - In Maryland, officials in Montgomery County are looking to expand a program to catch car thieves. Nearly 2,500 cars were stolen in Montgomery County last year, and 9,000 were broken into. That's an increase of more than 10 percent in a year. Council member Phil Andrews wants to expand a program that catches thieves using bait cars. Bait cars are vehicles that are meant to be stolen. They can be tracked and shut down by police, and they are equipped to videotape anyone who is stealing the car or breaking into them. Andrews says they can be very effective. He cites a successful program in Vancouver, Canada, where car thefts fell by 35 percent. But in Montgomery County there are few bait cars in operation at any given moment. The councilman hopes to find federal grant money to expand the program.
Sabri Ben-Achour reports...
July 29, 2008 - The first jurisdiction in Maryland authorized to use speed cameras is catching a lot of people who are driving over the speed limit.
Montgomery County's cameras are catching almost 20,000 speeders every month. The cameras are in school zones and on residential streets, where speed limits are as much as 35 miles per hour.
Vehicles traveling at least ten miles an hour over the speed limit receive $40 tickets. Officials say they collected more than $5 million during the first nine months the cameras were used, and they expect to collect more than $10 million in the next year.
Bill Redlin reports...
July 29, 2008 - Mosquitoes testing positive for West Nile virus continue to increase in the region -- most recently near a high school in Virginia.
Mosquitoes are frequently collected throughout the area for testing. This time, near Stonewall Jackson High School in Prince William County, tests came back positive for the virus.
Officials with the Virginia Department of Health say the best protection is to wear long, loose-fitting clothes and apply insect repellent.
West Nile was first confirmed in the Commonwealth eight years ago. Last year three human cases of West Nile were confirmed. All three people recovered...
Pat Brogan reports...
July 29, 2008 - There have been 24 homicides this year in the Trinidad neighborhood of D.C. The latest victim was Alonzo Robinson, a 13-year old visiting from Alabama. In response, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier says strategic checkpoints will continue until a federal court rules otherwise.
But as police search for solutions, a community is looking to itself for answers.
Patrick Madden reports...
July 29, 2008 - Senators move closer to compromise on energy policies, China flexes its muscles at home and abroad, and Senator Barbara Boxer is expected to call for the resignation of EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson.
Todd Zwillich reports...
July 29, 2008 - In Maryland, the brother of imprisoned Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, shared his views on capital punishment Monday with a state commission examining the issue.
In its first of at least four public hearings, a 23-member panel heard from David Kaczynski, who alerted the FBI when he suspected his brother Ted was the Unabomber. David Kaczynski told the commission he wrestled with the decision of whether to alert the authorities. He said if he didn't, his brother might kill again, and if he did turn him in, his brother might eventually be convicted and executed.
Also testifying was University of Iowa law professor David Baldus, who said evidence supports the view that racial discrimination exists in the application of the death penalty. Ted Kaczynski, who is white, was arrested in 1996 and is now serving a life prison sentence. His brother testified to the panel alongside Bill Babbitt, who also turned in his brother, who was later convicted of murder. Babbitt's brother, Manny, who was black, was executed in 1999. The commission is to report its findings to the General Assembly by mid-December.
Gene Kuleta reports...
July 29, 2008 - The Chairman of Virginia's Republican Party is calling for a state investigation into the possibility of widespread, coordinated voter fraud in the Commonwealth.
Connie Stevens has more...
July 29, 2008 - The Maryland Attorney General's Office is investigating claims that a former state contractor inflated the number of cancer cases in the state registry.
Officials in Maryland say that employees of Macro International appear to have overstated cancer numbers to meet the standards of a national certification organization.
The Baltimore Sun reports that, as a result, researchers asked about 400 women, who did not have cervical cancer, to participate in a study of the disease. Calls from several of the women tipped off officials that there was a problem with the registry.
A Macro executive declined comment on the allegations, citing company policy.
Rebecca Blatt reports...
July 29, 2008 - In Maryland, an official in College Park says taxpayers should not be paying to have city documents on the Internet translated into other languages.
City Councilman Jack Perry says English is the language of commerce in the United States, and that the city should establish English as its official language. He's proposing College Park study towns that have taken that step to determine whether it has been good for the local economy. Perry is upset that College Park's Web site offers translation into Spanish, French, Italian and German at a cost of $810 a year.
Taneytown and Walkersville, Md., have made English their official language.
Bill Redlin reports...
July 29, 2008 - In a decision which is expected to affect hundreds of students in western Fairfax County, a Circuit Court judge has upheld the school board's right to change school boundary lines
A group of parents whose children were assigned to new schools sued the system for overstepping its authority. The parents argued that officials could not use criteria such as socio-economic factors in redrawing school zones.
But a Circuit Court judge ruled in favor of the school board Monday. He said that the board did not act arbitrarily or abuse its discretion.
A Fairfax County Schools spokeswoman says the new boundaries will go into effect for this coming school year.
Rebecca Blatt reports...
July 29, 2008 - Some ambulance drivers in DC are under investigation for deliberately ignoring calls for help.
They're supposed to be there when you need them -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But two Fire and Emergency Medical Services crews are being accused of not answering radio calls by entering a certain area in Tenleytown known as the dead zone.
Ray Forte says he can't believe drivers would intentionally do something like that in a life or death situation.
Fire EMS Spokesman Allan Etter says is if the allegations are true his agency will act swiftly.
Four workers have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
Jessica Golloher reports...
July 29, 2008 - (Aug 2) VENUS THEATRE Calling all actors - Maryland's Venus Theatre is holding open auditions for their fall festival on Saturday from noon to 3 pm. The wRighting Women Reading Series program is searching for playwrights, actors and directors to explore exciting new works.
(Aug 2) JAMAICAN INDEPENDENCE This weekend and next, there's a festival of fetes as Jamaica revels in its 46th year of independence from Britain. The Jamaica Association of Maryland celebrates the island state's sovereignty with a ball this Saturday at Martin's West in Baltimore from 9 until dawn, co-sponsored by the Baltimore Cricket & Social Club. The following Saturday, August 9, the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel will be elegantly transformed and alive with excitement as the Jamaican Nationals Association commemorates the Caribbean state's self-rule with the Governor General of Jamaica, Sir Kenneth Hall and other distinguished guests. This fund-raising celebration will benefit Jamaica House DC, a home for immigrants living in the Washington area. Two evenings of wine, dinner and dancing, where all are welcome to rejoice in the magic of this island "of wood and water."
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