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Sunday, March 21, 2010
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September 29, 2009 - The National Zoo's Nile hippopotamus is now in his new home in Milwaukee.
Happy the hippo was transported to Wisconsin in a custom-made crate placed on the back of a flatbed truck by a construction crane. Zoo staff had trained Happy to enter the crate and calmly remain inside it, and report that he did not have to be sedated for the trip.
Happy was born at the National Zoo in early January, 1981. He was named after the seasonal greeting, "Happy New Year." He shared space with the zoo's Asian elephants, but with construction begun on the new Elephant Trails exhibit, the zoo decided to move Happy to a larger space elsewhere.
Following a quarantine period, he'll make his public debut at the Milwaukee County Zoo, where Happy will be grouped with two female hippos, Patti and Puddles.
Matt McCleskey reports...
Happy, a 28-year-old Nile hippopotamus, will be leaving his long-time home at the National Zoo for new digs at the Milwaukee County Zoo in Wisconsin.
Courtesy of: Smithsonian Institution
September 29, 2009 - The U.S. Naval Academy has set up a temporary isolation unit and quarantined dozens of midshipmen with possible swine flu symptoms.
Commander Joe Carpenter says 170 midshipmen have been isolated this fall, in an attempt to curb the spread of the H1N1 virus. Although only seven cases of swine flu have been confirmed, as of Monday night there were 33 midshipmen in an isolation ward. The ward was converted from an existing athletic facility in the academy's dormitory.
Carpenter says the number of midshipmen in isolation at one time has ranged from a few dozen to 75 last Friday. Every morning midshipmen are asked how they are feeling. Anyone with flu-like symptoms is isolated as a precaution for two to four days.
Meymo Lyons reports...
September 29, 2009 - The D.C. Council is seeking to ban gas stations and convenience stores from selling individual cigars.
They're known as "blunts:" individually wrapped cigars that often come in flavors such as grape, apple or peach, and can cost less than $1. And according to the bill's sponsor Councilwoman Yvette Alexander, it's no secret what they're used for. "These individual cigars are being purchased for the sole purpose of smoking marijuana and PCP," says Alexander.
Alexander says legislation, which would not apply to tobacco shops or cigar bars, will curb marijuana use among young people.
Opponents of the bill include shop keepers who worry the ban will hurt business, and cigar store owners, who say the proposal's wording is too vague.
Patrick Madden reports...
The D.C. Council seeks to ban gas stations and convenience stores from selling individual cigars.
Courtesy of: Morgue File
September 29, 2009 - Some local business leaders are planning ahead to minimize the potential impact of the H1N1 flu virus on the local economy.
Peter Laporte, director of emergency management for Metro Transit, said that now is the time for local businesses to make plans to cope with a workforce decimated by illness.
"Sometimes you telecommute, or you do things off-site or off-campus," Laporte says. Laporte was one of the many panelists addressing business leaders at the Greater Washington Board of Trade's policy forum on swine flu.
Dr. Tom Sizemore, with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, says businesses that plan ahead won't have to make choices between safety and productivity. "Forward thinking plans will make a great difference in the economy, and in the health of the population," says Sizemore. About 200 people attended the forum.
Jonathan Wilson reports...
September 29, 2009 - The state of Maryland has settled several lawsuits alleging racial profiling by police over the past two decades. But the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union say disparities persist.
For every 100 whites stopped and searched on I-95 in MD, there are 300 to 400 blacks stopped and searched, even though blacks are no more likely than whites to have drugs or contraband. As a result, the NAACP and ACLU want the records of citizen complaints alleging racial profiling by state troopers.
Robert Wilkins is an attorney for NAACP and ACLU.
"One hundred complaints of racial profiling have been made since 2003 and Maryland State Police has found zero of them to be sustained," says Wilkins. "We are asking a basic question, which is why are the citizens zero for 100 when they make a complaint against State Police."
Wilkins says people are asked to simply trust that the state properly investigated. But the State of Maryland argues that the documents are the private personnel records of state troopers and are protected by law.
"It's a loss of the privacy protection that the legislature has determined is appropriate for personnel records," says David Moore, assistant attorney general of Maryland.
Moore argues that state law clearly prohibits releasing those types of documents and doing so would set a dangerous precedent that would affect other personal information that the legislature has sought to protect, from welfare records to education records.
A lower court ruled that the records could be released if personal information was redacted. The state is appealing that ruling, arguing even redacted personal documents can't be released.
Sabri Ben-Achour reports...
September 29, 2009 - NFL player Michael Vick spoke to about 20 students from local schools at the Covenant Baptist Church in southwest D.C. this afternoon. Vick spoke of the cruelty and pointlessness of dog fighting, saying he didn't know why he got involved in the illegal activity. The event was sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States.
Vick, who recently finished serving a federal sentence for being involved in a dog fighting operation, said he wants to be a voice for change.
David Schultz reports...
NFL player Michael Vick is swarmed by media and fans after his anti-dog fighting speech at Covenant Baptist Church in southwest D.C.
Courtesy of: David Schultz
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September 29, 2009 - Maryland has a new poet laureate. Governor Martin O'Malley has selected University of Maryland professor Stanley Plumly. Plumly founded the school's Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing.
Plumly has written nine books of poetry including a finalist for a National Book Award in 2007. His work has been widely published in The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Paris Review. He has earned a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Plumly says he's flattered by the honor and looks forward to being part of the best of Maryland's culture.
Rebecca Blatt reports...
September 29, 2009 - (September 30) CONVERSATION WITH AN ARTIST The Phillips Collection presents Conversations with Artists a free and lively discussion tomorrow at 5:30 at the D.C. gallery. The subject: Conrad Bakker. The medium: everyday objects. Bakker uses humor to highlight conspicuous consumption in modern culture. You can find out more during this informal conversation about his ongoing series Untitled Projects, which includes sculptures replicating the ordinary and mundane.
(September 30) WHAT'S IT ALL MEAN The Smithsonian American Art Museum hosts a free lecture, What's It All Mean in downtown D.C. at 7 p.m. tomorrow. The talk is part of the annual Clarice Smith Distinguished Lectures in American Art series. Click here for more information on Wiley's exhibition, which opens at the museum on Friday.
(September 29) TERRA ANTARCTICA National Geographic in downtown D.C. lets audiences paddle among blue glaciers without getting cold during Terra Antarctica, part of a free film series, today at noon. Audiences can explore Earth's most remote continent at sea level with filmmaker and explorer Jon Bowermaster, as he captures Antarctica's rare, naturally beautiful images on film.
September 29, 2009 - The Montgomery County council will unveil a report tonight on the county's speed camera program. The county asked and received from the state permission to install the cameras two years ago. Now, all jurisdictions in Maryland are allowed to have them.
The report comes as some county leaders, including the county executive, are pushing for more cameras and speed humps.
Council president Phil Andrews says he prefers the cameras. Andrews says the county also is looking into creating more traffic circles to replace stop lights.
Matt Bush reports...
September 29, 2009 - With the start of Maryland's new texting while driving ban, there's a new push in Virginia to reduce the number of so-called 'distracted drivers' on the Beltway.
Virginia's new Distracted Driver campaign targets the habits of 56 percent of all drivers on the Capital Beltway who say they regularly use their cell phones or text while driving.
Triple A Mid-Atlantic's Lon Anderson says it's a dangerous activity, especially around highway construction. "The idea here is to just remind drivers that you shouldn't be doing anything else but driving when you're on the Capital Beltway, and two, when you're in a construction zone, holy smokes...just hang up!"
Meanwhile, a two-day seminar on the subject sponsored by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood begins Wednesday, and a new law that bans texting while driving in Maryland goes into effect Thursday.
Eighteen states including Virginia have laws that ban cell phone use and, or texting while driving.
Elliott Francis reports...
September 29, 2009 - Local food banks are preparing for another busy holiday season and hoping the local community will continue to respond to the steady stream of hungry families.
The waiting room is full at the Arlington Food Assistance Center, or AFAC. One regular client, a 77-year-old who didn't want to give her name, says though she's hopeful an economic recovery is on the way, there are no signs of it here.
"No, I don't see it. I think it will get better; this holiday season people are still going to be suffering a little," she says.
AFAC's Executive Director Christine Lucas says she hopes local donors don't assume the worst is over for needy families.
"I just can only hope that the community will respond, that they won't say, 'We helped AFAC last year, we can't help them this year,'" Lucas says. "We will definitely need their help this year."
The Capital Area Food Bank, which distributes food to 700 local agencies including AFAC, doled out more than 23 million pounds of food last year, its most ever. That number is expected to rise again this year.
Jonathan Wilson reports...
September 29, 2009 - The District has fired the contractor charged with creating a database of critical student information. The contractor chosen by the District to develop the information system, hasn't. At least not on time. Mayor Adrian Fenty says the city terminated the contract of Williams Adley and Company for missing multiple deadlines. "You never want problems like this to happen, but we're on top of it. We're getting a new contractor and we should have everything ready for next school year."
The Statewide Longitudinal Education Data Warehouse, or SLED, will - one day - be a database that links all kinds of information on the District's students: Standardized test scores, grades, immunization records, whether they get free or reduced lunches, and information about their teachers. The idea is that more information and better tracking will help the District close achievement gaps and address student needs.
The city says the contracting problems have delayed the project by about 9 months.
Sabri Ben-Achour reports...
September 29, 2009 - Metro police officers have stepped up their patrols to monitor disruptive students riding Metro trains and buses on their way home.
As students get off the red line train at the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro station at three o'clock in the afternoon, they see Lieutenant Doug Durham standing nearby. At six feet five inches, he's an imposing figure. He says there are "countless" complaints from passengers about students behaving badly. So Metro police hope their presence will make students will think twice about their behavior.
Durham says behavior ranges from students jumping turnstiles, spitting or roughhousing to more serious behaviors like stabbings and shootings.
Metro police sometimes just stand next to teens who are loud. But for more serious problems can give them written warnings or even arrest them. Some of the busiest stations for Metro police officers include Tenleytown, Anacostia and Deanwood.
Kavitha Cardoza reports...
September 29, 2009 - D.C. Council members are considering new legislation that would allow property owners to prohibit smoking up to 25 feet from buildings. D.C.'s ban on smoking in bars and other public places went into effect in 2007. Since then, D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson says, people have taken to smoking directly outside buildings where smoking is banned. "That may be ok, and on the other hand, it may be that the building owner doesn't wanit it," he says. "This would give the ability to the building owner to say no."
The proposal is part of a larger bill -- primarily intended to reduce smoking among teenagers. Mendelson is proposing tougher penalties for people who sell tobacco to minors and tougher penalties for minors caught buying or possessing tobacco products.
Rebecca Blatt reports...
September 29, 2009 - Today in the Senate Finance Committee markup of a proposed health care overhaul, Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia is expected to introduce an amendment to create a public insurance plan.
Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports...
September 29, 2009 - A two-day summit on marriage and the African-American community begins at Hampton University today. Religious leaders, psychologists and other specialists will be talking about the state of marriage, and how to reverse trends like high divorce rates and out-of-wedlock births. The conference marks the launch of the National Center on African-American Marriage and Parenting at Hampton University. The director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, W. Bradford Wilcox, tells the Washington Times, the summit is timely with an ever-widening marriage gap in America that largely runs along racial and socio-economic lines.
Bill Redlin reports...
September 29, 2009 - Businesses in Maryland could see higher tax rates next year to help beef up the state's dwindling unemployment fund. The annual calculation of the unemployment fund will be released Wednesday and a low fund could mean a tax hike for employers. State workers expect the numbers to show the largest allowable increase is needed to replenish the fund. The fund's balance fell from close to $900 million a year ago to $341 million this month. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate grew from 4.5 percent to 7.2 percent during that same time. Any potential tax increase would vary from business to business, depending on how many workers an employer has laid off in recent years.
Natalie Neumann has the details....
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