Join The Conversation! Talk about the news of the day with public radio fans on WAMU 88.5's The Conversation.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Your Amazon.com purchases support WAMU 88.5
Your purchases from the NPR Store support WAMU 88.5
November 04, 2009 - WASHINGTON (AP) Metro says several communication services are down in its system. A Metro spokeswoman says an outage to an internal distribution unit has taken the Metro data center computer out of commission since 2:45 a.m. today.
WASHINGTON (AP) Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is pressing for a change in how local crimes are prosecuted in the District of Columbia. Norton introduced a bill in Congress yesterday that would allow D.C. residents to elect their own district attorney.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
November 04, 2009 - BALTIMORE (AP) The parents of a 14-year-old Baltimore girl who died of swine flu are urging other parents to vaccinate their children. Destinee Parker died in late September. She had no underlying medical conditions that her parents or doctors are aware of.
BALTIMORE (AP) Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon says she's "excited" about the prospect of putting theft charges behind her. Dixon goes on trial next week. he Democratic mayor is accused of stealing gift cards donated for needy families. She has denied all wrongdoing and says "a lot of truth will come out" during court proceedings.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) The Board of Public Works has approved about $24 million in stadium-related projects, including a new scoreboard at M+T Bank Stadium. The new scoreboard will cost about $4 million to replace the one that has been in place since the stadium opened in 1998.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
November 04, 2009 - RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Republicans have defeated another Democratic incumbent in the House of Delegates, increasing their net gain to five seats with one race still undecided. T. Scott Garrett narrowly defeated Democrat Shannon Valentine of Lynchburg in yesterday's election.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Virginia Governor Tim Kaine says Democratic losses in Virginia and New Jersey had more to do with local issues than the first-year performance of President Barack Obama. Exit polling showed support for Obama remained steady despite Virginia's Republican sweep, led by Bob McDonnell's landslide victory over Democrat Creigh Deeds in the governor's race.
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) Sarah Palin's taking her "Going Rogue" book tour to Roanoke. Bypassing the usual promotional route, the former Alaska governor has penciled in Roanoke for the tour but has yet to schedule a date.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) The parents of a Virginia Tech student who went missing in Charlottesville last month are asking the community to help search for her this weekend. Twenty-year-old Morgan Dana Harrington was last seen on a bridge that crosses railroad tracks after she became separated from her friends at a Metallica concert October 17th.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
November 04, 2009 - Voters in Maine overturned the state's same-sex marriage law Tuesday, delivering a blow those leading the push for gay marriage here in D.C.
Sultan Shakir, field director for the Human Rights Campaign, says the vote in Maine will not derail the effort to let same-sex couples marry in the District. "Well the initial reaction was disappointment," said Shakir. "I don't think there is ever a reason to slowdown on expanding equality, regardless of what happens in Maine."
Local opponents of gay marriage are calling Tuesday's results a "victory." They have tried to put similar measures on the ballot here in D.C. But their initial effort was blocked by the D.C. Board of Elections for violating the city's Human Rights Act.
Another ruling is expected later this month.
Patrick Madden reports...
November 04, 2009 - Montgomery County is suffering from a massive computer failure that's affecting it's traffic lights. While the lights are working, the system that coordinates them is not.
According to county spokesperson Esther Bowring, the county has one of the most advanced traffic management systems in the area. Not only are lights programmed for rush hour, there are hundreds of video cameras and a traffic plane that goes up every day to monitor traffic. A team of engineers uses that data in real time to control major intersections from a central computer system.
Not today. The computer seems to be sending signals, but the lights aren't receiving them. Nobody seems to know why.
Bowring said the cameras and traffic plane will still be used, and engineers are being sent out to manually change the timing at key intersections.
Sabri Ben-Achour reports...
November 04, 2009 - An 18-year-old senior at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland lost his first political campaign last night, but says he will try again.
Waleed Ovase ran for Rockville city council. He was one of ten candidates seeking four positions. His campaign team was mostly made up of friends and classmates at Montgomery High school. Ovase finished ninth. Disappointment quickly gave way to resolve. Ovase says he will run for council again in two years.
Matt Bush reports...
Waleed Ovase, 18, sitting in the yellow chair, waits for election results with his campaign staff, classmates and friends from his high school.
Courtesy of: Matt Bush
November 04, 2009 - Motorists in Virginia will need a few more quarters to use the Dulles toll road starting in January. The Metropolitan Washington Airport's Authority operates the toll road, and its board of directors approved the rate increase at its monthly meeting today.
The vote means it will cost $1 for two axle vehicles at the main toll plaza and 75 cents on the ramps starting January 1st.
The toll hike is just a first step of a phased increase. By 2012, drivers will have to pay $1.50 at the main toll plaza. There are no increases planned for the ramp areas in 2011 or 2012.
Revenues from the increase will fund maintenance, road improvements, and construction of the Metrorail extension project. The last toll increase came in 2005.
Jonathan Wilson reports...
Motorists in Virginia will need a few more quarters to use the Dulles toll road starting in January.
Courtesy of: www.flickr.com/drbeachvacation
November 04, 2009 - The city of Greenbelt has elected its first ever black city council member. Greenbelt residents cast more than 1,800 votes for Emmett Jordan.
Only incumbent Mayor Judith Davis received more votes. That means Jordan becomes not only the city's first African-American councilman, but also likely its Mayor Pro Tem after the council holds an internal vote on November 9th.
Earlier this year, Greenbelt's city council altered its charter, creating two more seats on the council in an effort to increase voter turnout and diversity among city leaders.
The move came after criticism from the NAACP about the Greenbelt city council's historic lack of minority representation; the city's population is nearly 50 percent black.
Jonathan Wilson reports...
The city of Greenbelt has elected its first ever black city council member. Greenbelt residents cast more than 1,800 votes for Emmett Jordan.
Courtesy of: www.jordanforgreenbelt.org
November 04, 2009 - Jean Cryor, the commissioner of the Montgomery County Planning Board, has died.
Cryor served as a member of the House of Delegates for 12 years, representing district 15 in Montgomery County before serving more than two years as the county's planning board commissioner.
Cryor died last night. She was 70 and had been battling cancer.
Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson says Cryor brought years of experience and wisdom to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.
Cryor spent much of her career in journalism, including time as editor and publisher of the local Gazette Newspapers. She launched the Potomac, Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Poolesville Gazette newspapers.
Natalie Neumann reports...
Jean Cryor served as a member of the House of Delegates for 12 years, representing district 15 in Montgomery County before serving more than two years as the county's planning board commissioner.
Courtesy of: www.montgomeryplanning.org
November 04, 2009 - It could be their careers, their love of the single-life or something else, but young adults in D.C. are getting married later in life than their peers nationwide.
Thirty-year-old Lindsay Harrison of Northwest D.C. is just now thinking about marriage. "Until a year or so ago, I was all about, always knew I wanted to go to graduate school, get my MBA, wanted to do this, that and the other thing with my career, and it isn't until probably recently that I'm like, ok--is this what I really wanted to do?" said Harrison.
Lindsay is not alone, she's actually part of the norm. A Pew Research Center study shows 30 as the median age for women in the District to get hitched. For men, it's 32. That's four years older than the national average for their respective groups.
Kristin Maiorano reports...
It could be their careers, their love of the single-life or something else, but young adults in D.C. are getting married later in life than their peers nationwide.
Courtesy of: www.flickr.com/nerdcoregirl
November 04, 2009 - (November 5-6) DISFARMER Puppets tend to be pretty outgoing, but a troupe at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Centerin College Park, Maryland, portrays the life of a hermit artist tomorrow and Friday at 8p.m. This table-top puppetry performance re-creates the life of reclusive portrait photographer Mike Disfarmer, providing an adult glimpse of a true outsider, with charming puppetry, funny script and banjo score.
(November 5) SCIENCE CAFE Science Cafe encourages audiences to "uncover the unseen" tomorrow night at the Koshland Science Museum from 6:30 to 8 p.m. From creating pipe organs out of soda bottles to designing four-dimensional objects, NASA's Dan Goods leads an informal discussion while exploring the intersection between art and science during this happy hour event.
Goods is part of a team commissioned to create a data-driven sculpture as the centerpiece artwork for a new extension at the San Jose airport. Join Goods as he shares examples of his work and leads an informal discussion about integrating art and science.
(November 5) DUKE ELLINGTON ORCHESTRA The Duke Ellington Orchestra meets at The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda tomorrow night at 8 p.m., as America's contribution to world music takes center stage. The band performs legendary jazz standards led by Barry Lee Hall.
November 04, 2009 - The plan would boost tolls on the Dulles toll road from 75 cents to $1.50 at the main gate, and from 50 cents to 75 cents at the ramps, by 2012. The Metropolitan Airports Authority board, which operates the road, will vote on the proposal.
The board first will consider a report summarizing public comments. Of the more than 200 respondents, three-quarters say they oppose the hikes.
The report also includes rebuttals by the airport authority's administrative staff, who say the new rates align with those of other toll roads of comparable lengths in Virginia and other states.
The airport's authority is using highway tolls, federal money and special tax districts to finance the $5 billion extension of Metro to Dulles International Airport.
Rebecca Sheir reports...
The plan would boost tolls on the Dulles toll road from 75 cents to $1.50 at the main gate, and from 50 cents to 75 cents at the ramps, by 2012. The Metropolitan Airports Authority board, which operates the road, will vote on the proposal.
Courtesy of: www.flickr.com/drbeachvacation
November 04, 2009 - Voters in Takoma Park, Maryland used a voting system that made its debut in a municipal election nationwide.
The Scantegrity system was created by a group of universities, including George Washington and University of Maryland Baltimore County. A voter uses a paper ballot marked with invisible ink, which is exposed with a special marker. That marker reveals a code, which the voter can then use to check online whether their vote was tabulated correctly.
Matt Bush reprts...
A sample ballot used in the Takoma Park election.
Courtesy of: Matt Bush
November 04, 2009 - State Senator Ken Cuccinelli represented Fairfax County in the General Assembly, and he was known as one of the most conservative legislators in commonwealth.
He is now the Virginia's Attorney General-elect.
In his victory speech last night, Cuccinelli said he'll use his new position forcefully.
"We're coming into office with a mandate from the people of Virginia to alter the course of change in Virginia," he told supporters in Richmond.
The conservative rhetoric makes some Democrats uneasy. David Bulova is a Democrat from Fairfax County who serves in the House of Delegates. He says Cuccinelli needs to think bipartisan when he takes office.
"With the Attorney General's position, it's important when you get elected that you're not just out there representing the 55 or 60 percent of the people out there who voted for you," Bulova says.
Cuccinelli's Democratic opponent, former state senator Steve Shannon, says he wants to work with Cuccinelli on combating gangs and stopping child predators.
David Schultz reports...
State Senator Ken Cuccinelli represented Fairfax County in the General Assembly, and he was known as one of the most conservative legislators in commonwealth.
Courtesy of: www.cuccinelli.com
November 04, 2009 - Last year, young Americans showed up in record numbers to vote and even though turnout was lower for Tuesday's elections, several youth leaders say that doesn't mean there is less interest in politics.
Deputy Director of Campus Progress Erica Williams says young people are staying involved in ways that go beyond voting, "Young people have been coordinating rallies across the nation on issues like health care. They've stayed involved, they've they've done photo petitions and lobbied their representatives and elected officials. The activity has continued, it's just a little bit more challenging."
Rock the Vote President Heather Smith says if politicians make sure young people are informed and also registered to vote they'll see the results of those efforts at the polls.
Kristin Maiorano reports...
Last year, young Americans showed up in record numbers to vote and even though turnout was lower for Tuesday's elections, several youth leaders say that doesn't mean there is less interest in politics.
Courtesy of: www.flickr.com/Theresa Thompson
November 04, 2009 - Democrats won all five open-seat Delegate races: three in Fairfax County, one in Arlington County and another in Prince William County. But Democratic candidates in Northern Virginia failed to unseat any Republican incumbents, including Delegate Dave Albo of Fairfax, one of the Democrats' prime targets.
In addition, there are two Democratic incumbents from Northern Virginia whose seats are in jeopardy. Margi Vanderhye and Dave Marsden each held leads of only a couple hundred votes after all the ballot counting finished late last night.
David Schultz reports...
November 04, 2009 - Some Democrats in Northern Virginia say Bob McDonnell will need to reach across the aisle early if he hopes to solve problems important to this area. Transportation has been a focus of Northern Virginia and some voters say Bob McDonnell's focus on the issue propelled his candidacy.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova, a Democrat, fears McDonnell will make Northern Virginia choose between transportation funding and money for education, public safety, and human services. "Those are priorities, as well as transportation," Bulova says. "We cannot sacrifice one for the other."
Congressman Gerry Connolly, who represents part of Northern Virginia, says Democrats will be watching to make sure the new Governor makes good on his campaign promises. Connolly sees an implicit promise to govern as a moderate.
"The Republican candidate got out there -- he moved from the center to the right," Connolly says. "We're going to hold our Republic Governor to that moderate pledge."
Connolly says moderate views on social issues are just as important as moderate economic policies in Northern Virginia.
Jonathan Wilson reports...
Deeds supporters in Fairfax meet to watch the election results. Some Democrats in Northern Virginia say Bob McDonnell will need to reach across the aisle early if he hopes to solve problems important to this area.
Courtesy of: Jonathan Wilson
November 04, 2009 - Some Democrats in Northern Virginia say closer ties to the White House would have made the difference for their party on election day.
Most of the party volunteers gathered at the Fairfax Democrats election night dinner seemed more philosophical than disappointed about their losses.
June Chason says Virginia Democrats and their gubernatorial candidate -- Creigh Deeds -- should have asked the White House for more help.
"I felt that Deeds could have gone to Obama sooner than he did," Chason says.
For Jim McBride it wasnt about asking for help.
He says Virginia Democrats needed to fully adopt the Presidents agenda and political tactics.
"I think we need to be embracing the President's agenda, and his outreach methods to young people, African-Americans, and other groups of people," McBride says.
Despite misgivings about this election McBride and many other volunteers say they still feel Virginia is fertile ground for the Democratic Party.
Jonathan Wilson reports...
November 04, 2009 - Virginia Republicans had plenty to celebrate at a party in Falls Church.
They arrived slowly soon after the polls closed, but by 8 pm the hall at the Fairview Park Marriott was full of supporters cheering the news that Republican Bob McDonnell was the projected winner of the governors race.
Some here consider the sweep for Republicans a referendum on the Obama presidency. "We've turned back Obama. That's what it means. We've turned back Obama," says Tony Debeniditis.
Scott Ward, the president of the Republican state leadership committee, says things will be different in Virginia moving forward.
"As much as Democrats want to spin what's going on here, I think the folks in Washington need to take notice that the people in Virginia are tired of the overreach and the 'government knows what's best' mentality coming out of D.C.," said Ward.
Elliott Francis reports...
Republican supporters celebrate another GOP election victory.
Courtesy of: Elliot Francis
View more images from this gallery.
November 04, 2009 - Many Republicans in Virginia say they're hoping to re-build their party with the momentum from Tuesdays sweep.
At local victory celebration in Fairfax county Republicans from Virginia like Kevin McCormick were optimistic about the future of party. "I think its a rebirth of the conservative movement in Northern Virginia."
The statewide sweep for Republicans is a shift from the past eight years of Democratic dominance. Craig Filburn, a Republican party goer, says this change is good. "It's a very strong referendum on the people versus the party, I mean you look at New York and New Jersey and what's going on here and its good. I think Republicans are making a strong comeback and I think its significant."
Some here say they're excited about McDonnell's plans for the state's economy and transportation. Most seem genuinely impressed over the lift his win has given to the GOP.
Elliott Francis reports...
Many Republicans in Virginia say they're hoping to re-build their party with the momentum from Tuesdays sweep.
Courtesy of: Elliot Francis
November 04, 2009 - A second day of would-be climate bill markup dawns in uncertainty today. Yesterday Republicans made good on their boycott threat - except Senator George Voinovich, who showed up long enough to reaffirm his party's demand for an extra five weeks.
Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports...
November 04, 2009 - Republicans swept the state wide races in Viginia yesterday. Jeff Schapiro, political reporter and columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch joins WAMU's Morning Edition Host Matt McCleskey to talk about the results...
November 04, 2009 - Several Metro communications systems were down this morning. Commuters have been unable to use their debit cards to buy rail tickets, the public address system isn't working and on buses fare boxes aren't working so commuters are being allowed to ride free.
Metro Access customers cannot schedule rides. Lisa Farbstein spokesperson for Metro says there was a power outage which shut down a critical data center. She was asked whether this was a security issue, that so many communications systems could be taken down at once.
"I think what it shows is how important communcations are to everybody and in this day and age we tend to take these things for granted. And I think we're getting a reminder today for sure."
Farbstein says technicians are working to fix the problem. Commuters wanting to complain about the inconvenience can't, the customer service number is also out of commission.
Kavitha Cardoza reports...
privacy policy - terms of use - contact - sitemap - directions - rss - podcasts - jobs - community
Copyright WAMU 88.5 American University Radio | 4000 Brandywine Street NW | Washington, DC 20016-8082 | (202)885-1200
