News Archive - September 2, 2009

Power Breakfast - September 2, 2009

August 31, 2009 - President Obama set aside $5 billion in the economic stimulus package for the weatherization of a million low-income homes.

The Laborers' International Union of North America has its sights set on building capacity so the private sector can meet the President's long-term g...

Virginia Employment Rates Improved in Most Areas

The state employment commission reports the seasonally-adjusted rate fell from 7.e percent in June to 6.9 percent in July. Also, the number of workers without jobs declined by 16,500 to 289,700.

The state agency says the rate improved in part because summer plant furloughs ended, and colleg...

Young Workers Moving Back Home

As the economy continues to shed jobs, more and more younger workers are moving back home or not moving out at all.

I meet up with Troy Wade, 30, one sunny afternoon in Georgetown. When Wade lost his job at a security firm this past year, he asked his parents if he could move back. They wer...

"Art Beat" with Stephanie Kaye - Wednesday, September 2, 2009

(September 2, 10 & 12) SWEATER SET The femme duo Sweater Set performs some LIVE sets during concerts this week and next in D.C. Maureen Andary and Sara Curtin make up the duo and perform at two free events - tonight as the opening act at the Shakespeare Theater's Harman Center prior to Tamin...

Local Political Leaders Say They're Ready For H1N1 Despite Budget Woes

The heads of Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. say they're ready for the re-emergence of the H1N1 flu virus this fall, despite budget woes in all three jurisdictions.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty has had to make budget cuts this year. Maryland governor Martin O'Malley announced last week he will trim...

Arraignment For Man Accused In Museum Shooting

The man charged with killing a security guard at the National Holocaust Museum appeared, for the first time, in Federal Court this morning.

The 89-year-old, self described white supremacist was brought into district court confined to a wheelchair, the result of injuries sustained in the att...

Park Service Ponders Rock Creek Deer Population

The National Park Service is asking the public to sound off on a Deer Management Plan in Rock Creek Park.

The Park Service last year counted approximately 350 white-tailed deer in Rock Creek Park. That's 67 animals per-square-mile.

That's why the Park Service is soliciting public comm...

Number Of Students Not Being Educated Called "National Emergency"

Experts called the number of students not being educated in the U.S. "a national emergency," And they talked about strategies so that can change.

According to A bipartisan commission on the No Child Left Behind law, the national graduation rate is just 70 percent. And of those students who...

Group Wants To Define Marriage In D.C.

Eight people have filed a request to hold a ballot initiative that would define marriage in D.C. as only between a man and a woman.

The filing was led by Harry Jackson, who pastors a Maryland church. If approved by the city's election board, the initiative would be put on the November 2010...

Woman Abducted At Franconia Metro Stop

Fairfax County police have charged a Maryland man with kidnapping a woman at gunpoint at the Franconia-Springfield metro stop in northern Virginia.

Diallo Outing, a 22-year-old from Oxon Hill, is accused of forcing a woman into the trunk of her car in the metro parking garage. He faces four...

New Policies Spell Out What It Means To Be A Catholic School

The Archdiocese of Washington has developed new policies which spell out what it means to be a Catholic school.

For example, there's a section on catholic identity which requires students attend mass, that all meals be blessed and a crucifix hung in every classroom. It also lists how often...

Every Baltimore Police Officer To Get A Blackberry

By BEN NUCKOLS Associated Press Writer

BALTIMORE (AP) Baltimore will become one of the first cities in the nation to issue every police officer a Blackberry that allows for instant warrant checks, under a plan officials approved Wednesday.

The city's Board of Estimates approved using...

D.C. Public Charter Schools To Compare Each Other Through New Framework

The D.C. Public Charter School Board has developed a uniform evaluation policy where schools within the system can now be compared to each other.

Public charter schools each have an independent board and they often have specific missions. Tamara Lumpkin with the Public Charter School Board...

Colleges Report Influenza-like Illnesses

A few of Virginia's colleges and universities are reporting clusters of influenza-like illnesses as they await the availability of the vaccine for the H1N1 virus.

Many schools have been working with public health officials on influenza strategies and have set up H1N1 information pages on th...

September 11 Slated For Communication Drill

Text messaging, Twitter and social networking Web sites could help families stay in touch in the wake of a disaster. The Safe America Foundation is teaming up with the the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the "Drill Down for Safety" program.

The idea is to make people more aware of co...