News Archive - October 15, 2009

Larceny On The Rise At Montgomery County Metrorail Stations

Police in Montgomery County, Maryland are trying to slow a surge in thefts from vehicles parked at Metro stations. A county council report shows larceny crimes jumped ten percent at mass transit stations last year, almost exclusively in Metro parking lots. The Twinbrook Metrorail station in Rock...

Abu Ghraib Appeal Centers on Confusion at Prison

A soldier convicted of maltreating detainees at Abu Ghraib in Iraq says she hopes her appeal to the military's highest court will exonerate all whose reputations were tarnished in the scandal.

Former Army Reserve Specialist Sabrina Harman of Lorton, Virginia spoke with the Associated Press...

Nation's Report Card In Math Shows D.C. Making Big Gains

On federally funded achievement tests, often referred to as the nation's report card , the District of Columbia and only four other states saw increases in math at both the 4th and 8th grade levels.

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress or NAEP, the District of Columb...

Prince George's County Health Department Offers H1N1 Vaccine

H1N1 intranasal spray and injections are available for adults today from noon to 4 p.m. at the Springhill Lake Health and Wellness Fair, at Springhill Lake Elementary School. The school is located at 6060 Springhill Drive, Greenbelt, Maryland.

Every Thursday, starting October 22, H1N1 vacci...

Tensions Between Latinos and D.C. Council High

Tensions are rising between the D.C. Council and the city's Latino community. Last week, the council rejected Mayor Fenty's pick to lead the department of parks and recreation.

Several Latino leaders are calling on the D.C. council to formally apologize for the treatment of Xiena Hartsock,a...

"Conversations"....Michael Cottman Speaks With Marc Duber

As part of our continuing series "Conversations," reporter Michael Cottman speaks with Marc Duber, executive vice president of The Bernstein Companies, about residential development on the Southwest D.C. waterfront...

Latest D.C. News

WASHINGTON (AP) The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is giving $10 million to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture planned for the National Mall in Washington. The grant announced today will support the capital campaign for design and construction of the new...

Some Say Oysters Key to Saving Chesapeake

To some oysters are a delicacy, but to environmentalists they may be the key to saving the Chesapeake Bay.

In pre-Colonial times, there were so many oysters in the Chesapeake, that their natural water-filtering mechanisms required only four days to clean the bay. Since then, the number of o...

Latest Virginia Regional News

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) The Commonwealth Transportation Board has awarded contracts for stimulus projects that include replacing or repairing 119 bridges and culverts across Virginia. The Virginia Department of Transportation says 112 of the structures are deficient.

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) The Navy s...

Difficult Prosecution Yields A "Hollow Victory"

Nineteen year old Robert Hannah admits to punching Tony Hunter just over a year ago outside a gay bar on Northwest DC's 14th street. Hunter fell back, hit his head and fell into a coma. He died ten days later. Hannah plead guilty to simple assault and was sentenced to six months in jail. Chris Fa...

Latest Maryland Regional News

BALTIMORE (AP) Rodger Doxsey, an early leader of the Hubble Space Telescope's science team, has died at age 62, according to the Hubble Web site. Doxsey died of cancer Tuesday after entering a hospice over the weekend.

WASHINGTON (AP) More cell phone users will be able to get service in the...

Feds Get More Involved In Chesapeake Cleanup

In her spare time, Michelle Ryan scuba dives in the Chesapeake as part of an environmental group that builds oyster reefs.

She says the water is so polluted, it's sometimes impossible to see her hand in front of her face. "It's like diving with your eyes closed," Ryan says. "Yes, it's that...

Maryland 24 State's Attorneys Subpoenaed in Death Penalty Case

All 24 of Maryland's state's attorneys may have to testify about how they decide whether to seek the death penalty in capital cases.

The case in question involves an inmate accused of killing a prison guard in 2006 at the now-closed Maryland house of correction at Jessup. As part of Lee Ste...

College Campus Security Seminar Held in D.C.

College campus security professionals in the Washington region are taking a closer look at plans for threat assessment. The goal: to avoid tragedies like 2007's Virginia Tech shooting.

Approximately 200 security personnel, clinical physiologists, and school administrators attended this trai...

Attorney for D.C. Sniper to Ask for Client's Clemency

The attorney for convicted D.C. sniper John Allen Muhammad says he plans to ask for clemency for his client. Muhammad was sentenced to death in 2002 for the slaying of Dean Harold Meyers at a Manassas gas station during a string of shootings that left ten people dead and three wounded in Virginia...

Metro Expands Underground Wireless Network

Savvy cell-phone users know you can use Verizon in underground Metro stations.Ditto with Sprint phones roaming onto the Verizon network. But try using AT&T or T-Mobile and no such luck.

Until now.

Metro has united with the four carriers to build a new wireless network, slated to d...

Unique Challenges in Fight Against AIDS Among Latinos in No. VA

Health agencies across our region are marking National Latino AIDS Awareness Day today.

Health workers and educators in Northern Virginia say the fight against HIV/AIDS in their Latino communities may be even harder than it is within the DC city limits

Yvonne Williams is the executive...

Power Breakfast for October 15, 2009

A House Veterans' Affairs panel meets this afternoon to consider the GI Bill, post 9-11. The bill enticed more than 275,000 veterans to apply for college.

Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports...

Superstars Shine Their Light On D.C. School

San Miguel School in Northwest, D.C. is on a mission to help underprivileged Latino boys succeed. All the boys come from immigrant families and many don't speak English when they arrive. But school president Thomas Gerrow says there's no limit to what these children can achieve, and celebrities J...