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Saturday, March 20, 2010
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March 25, 2009 - (Mar 26-29) SQUAT Catholic University of America presents Squat - the play, that is - opening tomorrow at the school's Callan Theatre and running through Sunday. This eclectic show portrays a couple of dysfunctional newlyweds, one single-minded entrepreneur and a small Central American revolution. The author, Stephen Lewis, is one of Catholic U's own, a Master of Fine Arts candidate in the playwriting program who's earned national honors.
(Mar 26-29) DIGGING INTO SHAKESPEARE What could be better during the fertile season of Spring than a little Digging Into Shakespeare at Round House Theatre in Silver Spring, tomorrow through Sunday. A local storyteller and a solo musician regale audiences with mostly disastrous experiences of trying to produce Shakespeare's plays, relationships with the actresses in them and encounters with nutty Shakespearian critics. A must-see for Shakespeare enthusiasts.
(Mar 28) LIVING LANDSCAPE You can join the [Pyramid Atlantic] arts center (http://www.pyramidatlanticartcenter.org/) in Silver Spring for a night of experimental film and video on land and city scapes, Saturday at 7pm. These moving images from around the globe represent a new level of visual and aural expression.
March 25, 2009 - The Environmental Protection Agency is putting hundreds of mountaintop coal-mining permits on hold until it can evaluate the projects' impacts on streams and wetlands.
Stephanie Kaye reports...
March 25, 2009 - A senator from Maryland is proposing that newspapers be allowed to operate as non-profit organizations.
Stephanie Kaye reports...
March 25, 2009 - D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's proposed budget calls for a sweeping expansion of automated traffic enforcement. Under the proposed budget, 35 of the District's almost 50 red-light cameras would become speed cameras too. Some will target drivers who speed up on yellow. Others will be mobile. Automated laser units would enforce speed limits in tunnels and automatic scales would catch overweight vehicles.
Fenty's office says the new enhancements will improve safety and let more officers be deployed in the community rather than be assigned to traffic enforcement. At the same time, the budget is attempting to close an $800 million gap, and it lists an expected annual revenue from these changes totaling $20 million.
Sabri Ben-Achour reports...
March 25, 2009 - The Key Bridge today will not explode as some had predicted. Media outlets initially reported that a 20- to 30-foot fireball would erupt near the bridge sometime this morning between 9:30 and mid-day. It was supposed to be a special effect for a CBS pilot being filmed in the District.
It turns out the fireball was blown out of proportion. A spokesperson for D.C.'s Office of Motion Picture and Television Development said there would be a mere plume of smoke on the water far from the bridge, and a flash lasting 2 seconds rather 2 minutes. There will be fire and EMS boats on hand though, just in case.
Sabri Ben-Achour reports...
March 25, 2009 - The D.C. Voting Rights Act is currently working its way through Congress. But as David Schultz reports, some local leaders want to go even further...
March 25, 2009 - Nearly all of the activists pushing for D.C. voting rights believe the city should one day become a state. But as David Schultz reports, they don't always agree on how to get there...
March 25, 2009 - Irreconcilable differences on reconciliation?
Todd Zwillich explains...
March 25, 2009 - Baltimore's historic Senator Theatre is facing foreclosure, unless a community group can save it from financial ruin. The theater's owner has missed several months of payments. The $900,000 mortgage is held by First Mariner Bank. A community group is trying to raise more than $70,000 to make the loan current. Otherwise, bankers will auction off the Senator Theatre next month at the Baltimore City Courthouse.
Stephanie Kaye reports...
March 25, 2009 - Amtrak says thousands of its employees who worked for years under an outdated contract will soon be receiving $145 million they're still owed in back pay. The national passenger railroad struck a deal with its workers in January 2008 after they came close to striking following years of unsuccessful mediation. The railroad has about 16,000 union employees. Some had been without an updated contract for eight years. Under a two-year payment plan, Amtrak already has paid out $428 million to its employees. The rest of the money should be disbursed on May 1st. A spokeswoman says the money will come from a combination of congressional appropriations and Amtrak general funds.
Matt McCleskey has more...
March 25, 2009 - As the Metro area population continues to grow, officials from across the region are urging pedestrians, drivers and bicyclists to be careful. As part of the 7th Street Smart campaign, there will be radio ads, improved traffic signals, and new sidewalks.
Jessica Gould reports ...
March 25, 2009 - Urban chicken farming is gaining popularity across the country. But that idea has not quite taken off in D.C. For years, if not decades, amateur agriculturists in the District have assumed raising and keeping chickens was against the rules.
As it turns out, there isn't actually a rule to revisit. Officials in the mayor's office say there is currently no law prohibiting raising chickens within city limits if residents follow guidelines on proper animal care and shelter.
With increasing desire for more local and affordable food options, people like Kevin Conrad believe now is the perfect time for backyard chicken coops to make a comeback. Conrad and his family have been raising chickens behind their home for the past seven years just across the DC border in Takoma Park.
Jonathan Wilson reports...
March 25, 2009 - Parking meters that can repair themselves are being phased out in the District, Sabri Ben-Achour reports...
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