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Sunday, March 21, 2010
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July 29, 2009 - The University of Maryland's College Park will freeze hiring and reduce staff through retirements and possible layoffs. School President Dan Mote says the school doesn't have a choice. It has to cut more than $14 million from its 2010 budget because of a state shortfall -- according to the Baltimore Sun. Mote warned in a letter to the university community that the next fiscal year could be even worse because of the absence of federal stimulus money. He says the university will add some new course options in an effort to generate revenue. The entire state university system has to come up with close to $38 million in reductions. Chancellor William Kerwin tells the Sun he'll present a plan to the Board of Regents at the end of the week.
Rebecca Blatt reports...
July 29, 2009 - For a third straight year, Montgomery County is facing a substantial budget shortfall. County Executive Isiah Leggett says the budget hole for next fiscal year is already $370 million. Furloughs of county government employees have already been discussed, but Leggett says it's way too early to draw any conclusions. Leggett's statements come as a new report on the county's economic indicators shows any recovery is still a long way off. David Platt, the county's chief economist, says the unemployment rate continues to rise. It's now over 5 percent.
Matt Bush reports...
July 29, 2009 - Families of the Virginia Tech shooting victims asked Gov. Tim Kaine on Tuesday to reopen a state commission's investigation of the 2007 mass killings in which 32 people died. Relatives of many those killed as well as students injured in the rampage and their families issued a statement urging Kaine to reopen the review because of inaccuracies and omissions in the report. The families' statement followed disclosure last week that the former director of the university's counseling center recently found missing mental health records for student gunman Seung-Hui Cho at his home. Cho committed suicide after killing students and faculty members in a dormitory and classroom building on the Blacksburg campus on April 16, 2007 -- the worst mass shootings in modern U.S. history.
Meymo Lyons has more....
July 29, 2009 - Alexandria Police Chief David Baker's career in law enforcement ends tomorrow, but the embattled public-safety official still faces charges he was driving while intoxicated. Baker's court appearance in Arlington today has been canceled now that he's retained well-known criminal defense attorney Jim Clark. The lawyer says Baker intends to plead not guilty when the case goes to trail -- a proceeding that could end with Baker receiving a mandatory five-day jail sentence and a six-month requirement for an ignition interlock device. Alexandria City Manager Jim Hartmann announced the chief's resignation in a Tuesday afternoon press conference that felt more like a funeral than a personnel notification. Baker had been under intense pressure to resign since Saturday, when his city-issued Ford Explorer sideswiped a Ford Escape on the ramp from Fairfax Drive to westbound Interstate 66 in Arlington County, sending the driver of the other car to the hospital for neck injuries. Baker was arrested and brought to the Arlington Detention Center, where his blood alcohol content was measured at point-nineteen -- that's more than twice the legal limit in Virginia. Acting Chief Earl Cook says the change in leadership at the department will not represent a change in direction.
Michael Pope reports...
July 29, 2009 - (July 31) BLUE PLANET The National Symphony Orchestra appears at [Wolf Trap] in Vienna Virginia for Blue Planet, Friday night at 8. Film sequences from the BBC/Discovery Channel tv series splash across screens on the stage, accompanied by George Fenton's original and moving score.
(Through August 13) RUBBER BULLETS Strathmore Fine Art in North Bethesda presents the exhibit Rubber Bullets and Feather Fountain on view through August 13th. This collection of modern art sculptures uses feathers, live butterflies and 7-foot tall missile-shaped silicone. It marks the Washington debut of New York artist Daniel Wurtzel. You can get a glimpse of the interactive works during the day, and at the Strathmore summer concert series Wednesday nights at 7.
(July 31-) DARK STAR PARK Rosslyn, Virginia celebrates the 25th anniversary of Dark Star Park with events tomorrow and Saturday. The festival, paying homage to this and other public art projects, kicks off tomorrow at dusk with a free outdoor screening of E.T at Gateway Park. The park's art sculptor, Nancy Holt, will be on hand Saturday morning at 9:32 to witness the spheres and poles of her creation come into alignment - a once-a-year ritual for area workers and residents.
(Fridays & Saturdays year-round) CAPITOL STEPPING
If you don't get enough political wrangling in D.C., the Capitol Steps is happy to provide more. The group's comedy show goes on every Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 year round at the [Ronald Reagan Building](
July 29, 2009 - Times may be tight in the arts, but sharing the burden with other groups means the show still goes on.
The Kennedy Center is full of the usual crowd. But on this night, white-haired ladies and dapper gentlemen mingle with children, teens and families for an international hip hop show.
The U.S. State Department agrees. Colombia Barrosse runs the department's cultural arm, creating partnerships around the world, including this one. She says spending money on programs like this also helps arts groups make it over the recession "hump." Ramien Pierre coordinates education programs at the Kennedy Center, and believes the investment is well worth it.
The Kennedy Center hosts a free event every night in its main foyer on the Millenium Stage.
Stephanie Kaye reports...
July 29, 2009 - Maryland ranks 25th nationwide in overall child well being, but home visit prenatal programs are helping to change that. Mathew Jospeh compiles data on child well-being for Maryland. He says the best way to improve key indicators of child welfare is to make prenatal care more available.
Nia Williams is a nurse with just such a program run by Montgomery County called S.M.I.L.E. She makes monthly home visits from pregnancy to when the infant turns 1. We caught up with her driving to a client's home. Nia is greeted at the door by Djenbou Dialo, who's from Guinea. They'll meet for an hour or more.
That's a far cry from the five minutes that Djenbou says she got with her normal doctor. The S.M.I.L.E. program says their mothers are 60 percent less likely than average to have problems with their pregnancy. With Nia's guidance, this first-time mom is learning how to keep her four month old son healthy.
Mana Rabiee reports...
July 29, 2009 - Members of Annandale's large Korean Community met with police and top county officials to discuss a murder that has made news around the world. By all accounts, Lee Chung was a very special woman. As an acupuncturist and herbalist she often cared for senior citizens and was known for treating them to Korean Barbecue next door. On Friday, an elderly client found her bound and stabbed to death in her home.
Michael Kwon is with Korean American Association of Northern Virginia. He says word spread fast.
"The day of the murder, there were people rushing to the scene, emotionally charged," he says. "They really respected her and it was very very clear that she was really loved by a lot of people."
Kwon says Korean media from Virginia to Seoul have covered Chung's Death. Police told community members that the murder was not random and that neighbors shouldn't be afraid of a repeat attack. They said they couldn't elaborate without jeopardizing the ongoing investigation.
Lieutenant Gun Lee, with the Fairfax Police, says relations between police and Annandale's large Korean community haven't always been great because of cultural and linguistic differences. But Lee says the sheer generosity of this one special lady has gone a long way to changing that. He says many people have called in with tips.
"The community has really stepped up to the plate and provided more information in than in the past," he says.
He adds that Fairfax county police have been recruiting bilingual officers, and that's helped a lot too.
Sabri Ben-Achour reports...
July 29, 2009 - The trial of Banita Jacks is set to reconvene this morning at 11:00 at D.C. Superior Court. Jacks is accused of starving, abusing and then killing her four daughters in 2007. The District's Child and Family Services agency had received numerous complaints about the mother in the months leading up to the girls' deaths, and the case cast a long shadow of doubt on the ability of the agency to investigate abuse cases. The city and child advocates are battling to this day over the fate of the agency. But a federal judge is now considering the fate of Jacks, after hearing closing arguments on Monday. Jacks faces life in prison without parole.
Sabri Ben-Achour reports...
July 29, 2009 - Today, some 50 members of the House officially resurrect the Congressional Dairy Farmers Caucus, and the Senate version of a health care overhaul plan remains locked in the Finance Committee.
Elizabeth Wynne Johnson has more...
July 29, 2009 - Despite forecasts that the "dead zone" in the Chesapeake Bay would be smaller this summer, scientists say that's not the case. When pollution from things like fertilizer runoff and sewers gets into the Bay, more algae grows as a result. In some areas, that algae uses up so much of the oxygen in the water that fish and crabs and other shellfish can't survive, creating a "dead zone."
Earlier this summer, scientists at the University of Michigan had predicted the Chesapeake's dead zone would be smaller this year because low rainfall in parts of New York and Pennsylvania would mean less runoff was draining into the Bay from the Susquehanna River. But recent samples taken by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science show the size of the affected area is typical for this time of year. Scientist Bill Dennison tells the Baltimore Sun heavy rains in Maryland and Virginia likely offset the reduced flow from the Susquehanna.
Matt McCleskey has more...
July 29, 2009 - Judge Frederick Weisberg first found Jacks guilty on four counts of cruelty to children for starving and abusing her four daughters - 5 year old Aja Fogle, 6 year old N'Kiah Fogle, 11 year old Tatiana Jacks and 16 year old Brittany Jacks. He found the mother guilty on four counts of felony murder, and three counts of first degree premeditated murder for strangling to death the three youngest girls. The only reason he couldn't find Jacks guilty of first degree murder in the death of the oldest child, was because Jacks had so maltreated the girl that the death could have been a suicide.
The bodies of all four girls were so badly decomposed that forensic evidence couldn't determine an exact cause of death, but investigators did find what they said were almost certainly stab wounds. Jacks sat perfectly still, her face motionless while the Judge read the verdicts. Several rows behind her, her mother, who testified for the prosecution, was equally still, her mouth barely open, looking despondent.
Attorney Peter Krauthammer said he was disappointed with the ruling "I feel bad for Jacks... She's facing life in jail." When asked if he would continue pursuing a last minute insanity argument, submitted after closing arguments on Monday, he only said "we will pursue every appellate avenue available to us."
Prosecutors Deborah Sines and Michelle Jackson said they were pleased with the verdict but "nobody comes out of this court room happy, nobody can take back the last few months of those girls lives."
Sabri Ben-Achour reports...
July 29, 2009 - Some Prince George's County taxi drivers are alleging widespread corruption in the county's cab system. In Prince Georges County, drivers for the most part get fares through a dispatch system, called Taxi Taxi. It's owner is the same as Silver Cab Company, the second biggest taxi operator in the county. Drivers claim the dispatch system favors drivers affiliated with Silver Cab, or the two other major operators, Blue Bird and Paramount.
David Tekele is a member of County Taxi Workers Alliance. He's also a driver, who now drives in D.C., which he blames on the dispatch system, saying it has denied him work. Taxi Taxi says the dispatch system uses GPS to determine which cab is the closest to the call, and that who operates the cab doesn't matter.
Matt Bush reports...
July 29, 2009 - Police in Maryland's Montgomery County are investigating the death of a man who was apparently shot by one of the county's own officers.
The shooting happened Wednesday at about 3 a.m. Police say two officers were dispatched to an apartment complex after someone called 911 but hung up or was disconnected before speaking to a dispatcher. Montgomery County Police spokesperson Lucille Baur says a gun and a knife were found near the man's body. Baur says the investigation is in the early stages.
"We know at least one of our officers fired and that the male subject was suffering from an apparent gunshot wound we cannot officially give the cause and manner of death until the medical examiner in Baltimore has made a ruling," she says.
The officers, a male with the department for 5 years and a 2-year female veteran, are on paid administrative leave pending the investigation. Neither were injured.
Natalie Neumann reports...
July 29, 2009 - At least five teenage Senate pages are suspected of having swine flu. A House committee is concerned that even Congress doesn't know what to do when the disease strikes close to home. The committee heard testimony about the government's readiness for a new swine flu outbreak in the fall. But Chair Bennie Thompson was more concerned about the Senate pages with flu-like symptoms.
"Part of our dilemma as members of Congress is we've been in contact with potentially some of the people, and we have no knowledge of it other than reading it in the paper," he says. "I think that's part of the issue, that we don't really have a plan of informing people when potential situations like this exist."
In addition to lawmakers, staffers and others that work in the Capitol, up to 17,000 tourists come through the building every day. The Senate Sargent at Arms informed Senate offices of the possible flu cases and told them not to worry. He said the pages had been quarantined and treated by a physician.
Tanya Snyder reports from the Capitol...
July 29, 2009 - Montgomery County Police have identified a man shot by a county officer. The shooting happened Wednesday about 3 a.m. in the 12200 block of Eagle's Nest Court in Germantown. Thirty-nine-year-old Eliodoro Hernandez was shot and killed. Police say two officers went to the apartment complex after someone called 911 about 2:40 a.m. but hung up or was disconnected before speaking to a dispatcher. Police say Officer Jesse Dickensheets fired his weapon twice; one of the shots caused Hernandez's death. A BB gun resembling a semiautomatic handgun and an eight-to-10-inch carving knife was found near Hernandez's body, but police said it was unclear whether he had fired the gun.
Meymo Lyons reports...
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