News Archive - October 16, 2009

Latest Maryland Regional News

BALTIMORE (AP) Federal prosecutors say a Bethesda woman has been sentenced to two years in prison for her role in mortgage fraud tied to 25 properties in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia worth millions. Forty-four-year-old Sabrina Weinberg was sentenced today.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated P...

John Brown's Body Lies-a-Mouldering, But His Reputation Changes

Today marks 150 years since John Brown led a band of 18 abolitionists on a mission to seize a federal arsenal and arm the slaves of Virginia. The most basic facts are there, but how people view those events has changed over time.

Alice Keesey Mecoy's family knows this. She is a great, gre...

Latest D.C. Local News

WASHINGTON (AP) Lawmakers asked House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer about rumors of attaching a plan to give D.C. residents a voting member of Congress to a defense funding bill. The Maryland Congressman did not say if that would happen but continued to speak of his support for the measure.

W...

West Virginia Marks 150th Anniversary of Harpers Ferry Raid

It's cold and drizzling at Harpers Ferry, just as it was a century and a half ago - almost to the day - when John Brown tried to foment a slave rebellion. Diane Young, a professor of history at Youngstown University, leads me along the Potomac River to a small engine house.

"This is where B...

Latest Virginia Regional News

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) The Western District of Virginia has a new U.S. attorney. Timothy Heaphy has served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District and in Washington, D.C. He had worked in private practice since 2006.

MIDDLETOWN, Va. (AP) Thermo Fisher Scientific Incorporated is pl...

"Art Beat" with Stephanie Kaye - Weekend Events, October 16-18, 2008

(October 17-April 11) FASHIONING JAPAN From kimono to couture, The Textile Museum presents Fashioning Japan, a new exhibit opening in downtown D.C. tomorrow. The show runs through April of next year, presenting an astounding array of cloth-as-art, featuring designs that boggle the mind. The Text...

Police Remember Their Canine Counterparts

Virginia is dedicating a memorial this afternoon for a different kind of hero killed in the line of duty.

About 100 K-9 officers and their partners are expected at a ceremony today in Blacksburg remembering the sacrifices of law enforcement dogs. They'll help dedicate a statue installed at...

Local Health Agency Steps Up Efforts to Reach Latino Community

Latinos make up an estimated 13 percent of the population but 18 percent all new AIDS cases in the U.S. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But a non-profit agency in Northern Virginia says a new focus on the Latino community there is starting to make a difference.

...

House Could Debate D.C. Voting Rights In Defense Spending Package

An exchange on the floor of the U.S. House is leading some to speculate about the possibility of attaching a D.C. Voting Rights amendment to a defense spending bill.

D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton says she's looked at a variety of legislative ways to pass a voting rights bill. "I don't...

The Region's Top Stories With Washington Post Columnist Robert McCartney

There is a lot going on this week around the Washington region: Virginia's gubernatorial candidates move toward the finish line, D.C. students show some gains while at the same time the council looks into teacher layoffs and an update on slots in Maryland.

Washington Post columnist Robert M...

Lost Kindergartener in Alexandria Prompts Changes

After a school bus in Alexandria, Virginia dropped a five-year-old Kindergarten student in an unfamiliar neighborhood, administrators are trying to figure out ways to prevent what happened to him from taking place again. Gavin Salinas made it home OK after a stranger noticed him crying and called...

Local Swine Flu Vaccine Locations

The Washington Post has compiled a list of locations to get the swine flu vaccine. Click here to go directly to the site.

MD Senator Hopes to Change Women's Health Insurance Premiums

Women pay higher health insurance premiums than men in Maryland, Virginia and DC. And many are denied care for pre-existing conditions only women have. This discrimination was the focus of a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill.

Insurers are allowed to charge men and women different rates...

If D.C. Mayor Fenty Isn't Relected, Will Chancellor Rhee Stay?

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has pledged to stay through the end of Mayor Adrian Fenty's second term. But what happens if he isn't reelected?

Rhee often says she thinks she can close the academic achievement gap for children and transform D.C.s public school system by the end of Fe...

This Week In Congress - Oct. 16, 2009

On Tuesday, the median age of people wearing suits and high heels in the Capitol dropped considerably. Scores of earnest 20-somethings flanked Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her announcement of a new provision in the House version of health care overhaul.

Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports...

Power Breakfast for October 16, 2009

Both Senate and House are out of session today. This morning, the Brookings Institution hosts a discussion on policy options for Afghanistan.

Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports...

Mikulski Focuses on Women's Coverage in Health Care Debate

Women pay higher health insurance premiums than men in Maryland, Virginia and D.C. And many are denied care for pre-existing conditions only women have. This discrimination was the focus of a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill.

Insurers are allowed to charge men and women different rates...

Bike Ride To Close Major Streets Saturday Morning

A number of major roads will be open to bicycles only tomorrow morning for the Washington and Arlington Community Bike Ride.

Imagine, no traffic on the Whitehurst Freeway or the GW Parkway. Those are just a couple of the "forbidden roads" on the community ride map, says event organizer Rick...

Weekend Planner: Pumpkin Carving Contests

Every few weeks Fritz Hahn joins us to talk about what happens in the DC region after the sun goes down. He writes about nightlife for the Washington Post and he's one of the Going Out Gurus at the washingtonpost.com. This week, he tells David Furst where to find pumpkin carving contests in neigh...

Virginia's Infrastructure Earns Poor Grades

An engineering group gives Virginia's roads, dams and other infrastructures poor grades. The state's section of the American Society of Civil Engineers rtes the state's infrastructure in thirteen categories, giving it an overall grade of D+. The condition of Virginia's roads received a D-, while...