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Sunday, December 20, 2009
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July 07, 2009 - (Through July 12) FEAST AT THE SOURCE Source Theatre packs three weeks with bite-sized performances during the Source Festival in Northwest D.C. through July 12th. Choreographers and playwrights have created 10-minute plays and inventive performance pieces, taking audiences on a frenetic and fun theatrical ride.
(July 8-August 2) SHEPHERDS OF THE STAGE Five plays and five playwrights produce five unique theatrical experiences at the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The festival kicks off tomorrow and runs through August 2nd. In this, its nineteenth season, the festival builds on the energy of previous performances with "Farragut North," a story of power and loyalty from inside a presidential primary, to "Yankee Tavern," where a young couple is caught up in one of the biggest conspiracies of all time.
(Through July 19) CASTLETON PERFORMANCES The home of one of the world's foremost conductors is flung open for a series of concerts in Castleton, Va., through July 19th. Since he stepped down from the podium at the New York Philharmonic, Maestro Lauren Maazel and his wife have been looking for something to do. They host the Castleton Festival Performances, featuring 170 young artists performing operas and symphonic concerts.
Lauren Maazel hosts a series of concerts at his home in Virginia through July 19th.
Courtesy of: Baltimore Sun Staff Photos
July 07, 2009 - Workers are preparing General Motors Corp.'s Powertrain Baltimore Transmission Plant in White Marsh to return to full production. Plant spokesman John Raut said about 40 people, including the maintenance, material and reliability workers, returned to work Monday to get the plant ready to start. Raut says about 200 hourly workers and 40 salary workers will return Tuesday for full production. The plant makes Pontiac six-speed Allison transmissions and a hybrid 2-mode. Raut says the plant was closed for about eight weeks because the plants it supplies in Michigan and Texas were down.
Meymo Lyons reports...
July 07, 2009 - Residents who live near Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., are keeping a close eye on the Army's effort to prevent toxic chemicals from reaching their drinking water. Two different poisons are mixed in with the soil there. The first, trichloroethylene, is a de-greaser, and the second, perchloroethylene, is used to strip paint. Traces of both chemicals were found in residential wells more than a decade ago. That discovery prompted years of testing and a variety of excavation projects. Army officials have now opted to spend $6 million to spread a mountain of tiny gray rocks across the former landfill to essentially entomb the toxins.
Maryland Senator Ben Cardin says the project is one of several environmental priorities on his list, including a similar issue at Fort Meade.
"We know that there's contaminants in the soil here," Cardin says. "We know that. I think now we have a game plan that should give the community much greater confidence that their public interest is being looked at as the highest priority."
But Barry Kissin, who oversees progress at Fort Detrick as a member of the Restoration Advisory Board, says he worries the issue has slipped to the bottom of the Army's priority list before.
"I'm going to go to every meeting I'm invited to and I'm going to listen very very carefully," he says. "I'm going to take careful stock of the progress being made, and I'm going to criticize when the deadlines aren't being made."
Project leaders with the Army say they will present future plans to monitor chemical levels -- plus other possible uses of the property -- in September.
David Klatt reports...
July 07, 2009 - Those working to get D.C. a vote in Congress say they're worried the pro-gun lobby will continue to try to weaken the District's gun laws. Eugene Kinlow, with D.C. Vote, says he's prepared for the possibility that gun lobbyists will try to attach an amendment to the D.C. Appropriations Bill this evening. This, after House Democratic leaders dropped plans a few months ago, to consider a proposal that would give the District a vote in Congress, because of a gun amendment. Kinlow was asked if this would take the pressure off D.C. Vote, so they could concentrate on getting the District a vote in Congress. He said no.
The National Rifle Associate did not immediately answer calls for comment.
Kavitha Cardoza reports...
July 07, 2009 - Same-sex marriages performed in other states will now be recognized by the District. The law took effect exactly one minute past midnight. Councilman David Catania says same-sex couples will now be entitled to the more than 200 legal rights and responsibilities that married couples share, such as inheritance and spousal benefits. Catania is D.C.'s first openly gay council member. He says the measure also lays the foundation for legalizing gay marriage in the District. Catania says he plans on introducing the legislation in the fall.
Patrick Madden reports...
July 07, 2009 - The exiled leader of a Muslim minority group is denying Chinese government accusations that she incited riots that have left 156 people dead in western China. Uighurs are an ethnic and religious minority group in Western China, and Rebiya Kadeer is referred to as their mother. She's lived in Fairfax, Va., since 2005, when she was exiled from China because of her involvement in an independence movement there. The D.C. area has one of the largest Uighur communities in the United States. Chinese government officials have accused her of masterminding the riots that broke out over the weekend . The riots began as protests over the killings of two Uighur factory workers. China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported that Kadeer was recorded on tape saying "something will happen in Urumchi" (the state capital). Kadeer says she only called family members to warn them to steer clear of planned protests, and accused the Chinese government of using excessive force.
Sabri Ben-Achour reports...
July 07, 2009 - The Obama Administration's new drug czar wants to do away with the language of the "war" on drugs. Elizabeth Wynne Johnson takes a look at reactions to and ramifications of such a change...
July 07, 2009 - Metro officials are considering rehabilitation work on its Red Line, but the project would not address the problems investigators have focused on in the wake of last week's train collision. The project would include work on the public address system and closed circuit televisions, according to The Washington Examiner. It would also involve updates to the power rooms that help run the system, platform tiles, track fencing and station signs. All of that is estimated to cost $177 million.
But the National Transportation Safety Board's probe into the June 22nd crash has looked at a malfunctioning track circuit and a data transmitter. None of the work in the proposed rehabilitation project would address those issues.
Rebecca Blatt reports...
July 07, 2009 - A National Funeral Home employee who publicly accused the company of mishandling bodies at its Falls Church facility says he was fired for speaking to the media. Twenty-year-old Robert Ranghelli says he was told he was fired for violating company policies by talking to the media and appearing with a company van in a photograph in The Washington Post. The funeral home is a regional embalming and storage facility for Service Corporation International.
An SCI spokeswoman told the Post that Ranghelli was terminated but wouldn't comment on the reason. Ranghelli alleges that bodies of military veterans awaiting burial at Arlington National Cemetery were stored for months on racks in an unrefrigerated garage at the home. SCI has defended the practice, saying that it does not violate any laws. Ranghelli's attorney says might file a whistle-blower lawsuit.
Jonathan Wilson reports...
July 07, 2009 - A new report suggests that the polluted waters of the Chesapeake Bay are becoming increasingly dangerous to humans. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation claims that more people are getting sick from dangerous bacteria becoming more widespread because of global warming and nutrient pollution. Virginia's health department has reported that infections from a species of bacteria called Vibrio increased from 12 in 1999 to 30 in 2008. Reported cases are on the rise in Maryland as well. Chesapeake Bay Foundation president William Baker calls the proliferation of bacteria "a national disgrace" and faults the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to clean up the bay.
David Klatt has more from Annapolis...
July 07, 2009 - D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty has signed a bill that would charge a fee of five cents for every paper and plastic bag sold in the District. The law goes into effect in January 2010. In a statement, Fenty called disposable bags "a menace to our waterways." The fee is meant to discourage their use while creating a fund that would cleanup the badly polluted Anacostia River. A recent study showed plastic bags make up as much as half the trash in the river and its tributaries. The nickel fee would apply to grocery stores, pharmacies and eateries. The fee will not apply to bags used for certain items including newspapers, produce and prescription drugs.
Kavitha Cardoza reports...
July 07, 2009 - A Prince George's County mayor shared his story on Capitol Hill to illustrate problems with the nation's drug enforcement policies. It's been almost a year since a police SWAT team raided Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo's home. During the four-hour ordeal, the Calvo's two dogs were shot and killed, while he and his mother-in-law were bound and interrogated.
Since his exoneration, Calvo helped pass state legislation to increase oversight of law enforcement agencies. He now wants change on the federal level. Calvo noted the Justice Department's controversial Bryne Grant program. The program has been criticized for its lack of oversight and failure to reduce crime.
Calvo spoke at an event sponsored by the Cato Institute. Other speakers called on Congress to abolish mandatory minimum sentencing and treat drug use as a health problem, not a crime.
Sara Sciammacco reports.....
July 07, 2009 - Virginia Governor Tim Kaine has rejected a second request under the state's Freedom of Information Act for records of his travel. Kaine's office denied an Associated Press request for bare information on where the chief executive and Democratic National Committee chief traveled and the cost of any trips. The governor's office cited the same law and 1991 state Supreme Court ruling used to deny an earlier request from the Virginia GOP.
The past four governors have used the same basis to withhold documents. Kaine did release a fragmentary 15-line spreadsheet. It reflects a three-night February stay in Washington, $495 in National Governors Association registration fees and $3,830 in gasoline for the executive vehicle fleet.
Meymo Lyons reports....
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