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Sunday, November 8, 2009
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October 07, 2008 - (Oct 8-Nov 16) HENRY IV The Folger Shakespeare Library sets the scene for Henry IV, opening Wednesday at 8pm and running through November 16th. In the midst of an unstable political landscape, the monarch's rule comes under threat, forcing his son, Prince Hal, to pull his head out of the whiskey bottle and back into the royal business before the family's reign goes into the tank. Torn between carousing with the feisty Falstaff, or resuming his noble duties and protecting the throne, the drama of the battlefield and the comedy of the neighborhood barroom converge in one great historical play.
(Oct 8-Nov 2) A BEAUTIFUL VIEW The play A Beautiful View opens at the Studio Theater tomorrow at 8pm and runs through November 2nd. This mysterious comedy, that's also a powerful love story, follows two women through their tumultuous 30-year relationship.
(Oct 8) CANTARE FIESTA Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Cantare Fiesta! at Adventure Theater in historic Glen Echo Park. This musical journey through Latin America teaches children about the three distinct cultures that shaped the sounds of salsa, from the land`s indigenous people, to the European and African settlers who also helped define the mosaic landscape.
The play opens October 8th, 2008.
courtesy of: Studio Theatre
October 07, 2008 - The District's Child and Family Services agency won't be held in contempt by a federal judge for now, after agreeing to a series of emergency actions. Advocacy Group Children's Rights, in legal proceedings with the District over the performance of Child and Family Services for nearly two decades, asked a judge to hold the agency in contempt this summer after what it called serious deterioration over the past year. Problems included a long backlog of abuse and neglect investigations, significant staff vacancies - currently at 25 percent of caseworkers - inadequate medical care for children and long delays in finding kids adoptive homes. The agreement reached Monday mandates that the District retains several groups of consultants to revamp CFSA's management and find a new director. It has had three in the past year and a half. It also calls for CFSA to eliminate much of its backlog and quickly place many children in permanent homes. The agency has just more than two months to do it. If it isn't, the contempt motion will be revived.
Sabri Ben-Achour reports...
October 07, 2008 - In Virginia, two General Assembly advisory panels are grappling with how to make public records available to the media and others without disclosing Social Security numbers in a way that violates privacy rights.
Anne Marie Morgan reports...
October 07, 2008 - Police believe two suspects are following Asian business owners - typically older couples - home and then robbing them. Initially police believed these targeted robberies were confined to three instances in Montgomery County, but now detectives are investigating as many as ten similar incidents in the District. Police from both jurisdictions are working together and insist the investigation is progressing. In the meanwhile, they are asking citizens to stay alert, call police if they think they are being followed and make sure all doors and windows are properly locked.
Sabri Ben-Achour reports..
October 07, 2008 - At midnight Monday, time ran out for residents in D.C. and Virginia to sign up to vote.
Kat Glass had a hard time finding people who didn't make that deadline...
October 07, 2008 - New development among the Anacostia River by Nationals Park has finally been given the go-ahead. The Riverfront on the Anacostia will encapsulate more than 1 million square feet and will include retail space, hotels and office buildings. But a new city park is also part of the development. It will be named for Diamond Teague, who was murdered five years ago this month. The 19-year old was a member of the Earth Conservation Corps, a group of DC Teens that clean up the Anacostia River. His mother Florence says her son once spoke at an Earth Day event with former D.C. Mayor Tony Williams, who made a promise to her after Diamond was killed. The park is slated to open in the spring, while construction on the new development could begin in 2011.
Matt Bush reports...
October 07, 2008 - Visitors to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia are being urged to be on the lookout for aggressive bears.
This year there are 130 to 150 reports of encounters with unfriendly or uneasy bears in the park. Officials are responding by posting signs warning people that the animals could be aggressive.
It's the first time in years the park has put out such warnings. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports 30 workers have been trained to deal with the bears in ways to scare them away. While there have been no injuries, officials say they want to make sure the 105-mile-long park remains safe for visitors.
Pat Brogan reports...
October 07, 2008 - Policy tents and events spring up around Nashville in anticipation of tonight's presidential debate. Nina Cardona reports from Music City, while Todd Zwillich reports from Capitol Hill...
October 07, 2008 - Some medevac helicopters in Maryland are up and running a little more than a week after a helicopter crash in Maryland killed four people and injured a fifth. More flights are expected to resume service soon. Meanwhile, a top emergency response official is calling for changes he says will improve services in the wake of the fatal accident.
Robert Bass, the executive director of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems, announced new operating procedures Monday. First responders will now have to consult with physicians before using helicopters for emergency transport. Responders used to make those decisions themselves. Bass says a system for consultations is still in the works -- but he expects them to be done while helicopters prepare for flight, and he says they should take about 60 to 90 seconds.
A national panel of experts will also review operations for Maryland's medevacs and evaluate the response in the September 28th crash.
Bass says that the new procedure and the review should not be seen as criticisms of first responders, who make tough decisions under difficult circumstances.
Rebecca Blatt reports...
October 07, 2008 - October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and there are a number of events planned in our region to draw attention to the issue. State's attorney Glenn Ivey -- of Maryland's Prince George's County -- is helping promote one called Project Safe Sunday. Ivey has focused on domestic violence prevention and prosecution throughout his tenure.
Earlier, WAMU host Matt McCleskey sat down with Glen Ivey and asked him about the prevalence of domestic violence...
October 07, 2008 - The superintendent of schools in Maryland's Montgomery County says teachers shouldn't expect their scheduled pay raises in the next fiscal year because the school system can't afford them. Montgomery County is facing a projected $250 million shortfall for fiscal year 2010. School Board President Nancy Navarro says that means planned 5.3 percent raises for teachers are probably unrealistic.
School officials say Superintendent Jerry Weast is calling next year's budget situation "dire," and says labor contracts will have to be renegotiated. The county's teachers are in the second year of a three-year contract, and the director of the teachers union says they have not agreed to renegotiate.
Rebecca Blatt reports...
October 07, 2008 - Suspected illegal immigrants accounted for nearly one in every 10 people detained by police in Frederick County in the past six months. Sheriff Chuck Jenkins says the statistics indicate the success of his agency`s partnership with federal officials to enforce immigration policies. Frederick County is the only Maryland jurisdiction taking part in a program which trains local police to check the immigration status of those they arrest.
Meymo Lyons reports...
October 07, 2008 - A D.C. firefighter disciplined in the botched response to the beating death of a veteran New York Times reporter is suing the city. According to documents filed in federal court- Firefighter Frelimo Simba claims he was harshly punished in part because he is black. Simba is seeking $600,000 in the suit, which also makes claims of a hostile work environment. David Rosenbaum was beaten with a pipe during a mugging near his home in January 2006, just days after the longtime reporter in the Times` Washington bureau had retired.
Meymo Lyons reports...
October 07, 2008 - A Maryland senate committee is poring over a new report on state police surveillance powers. The Report, released last week, was commissioned in response to state police surveillance in 2005 and 2006 of anti-war and anti-death penalty demonstrators. That undercover work led to 53 people being documented as terrorists. State police superintendent Terrance Sheridan says those powers were not needed for the work that was done. Sheridan was not the superintendent at the time. Timothy Hutchens was, and said police wanted to know whether any demonstrators would try to disrupt an upcoming execution of a state inmate. The 53 people in question are being contacted by police, and will have their records in the case purged.
Matt Bush reports from Annapolis...