News Archive - November 11, 2009

Latest Maryland Regional News

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) The Montgomery County Council has endorsed a plan to add reversible high-occupancy toll lanes on parts of Interstate 270. Solo commuters would have to pay to use the lanes endorsed in an informal vote yesterday, but carpools, vans and buses could travel on them for free.

...

No More Teen Tanning In Howard County, Maryland

By David Schultz

The Howard County Board of Health instituted a "tanning ban" for anyone under the age of 18. A county spokesman says they're the first jurisdiction in the nation to do so.

The board was spurred to act by the World Health Organization, which declared tanning beds to be...

Latest D.C. Local News

WASHINGTON (AP) A proposed same-sex marriage bill has moved forward from a D.C. city council committee. It's expected to be voted on by the full council next month.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Jury Selected For Baltimore Mayor's Trial

By Rebecca Blatt

A jury of nine women and three men will decide guilt or innocence in Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's theft trial.

The 12 jurors and six alternates were seated Tuesday after a two day selection process.

Dixon's lead attorney says he's "satisfied with the jury." Th...

Latest Virginia Regional News

JARRATT, Va. (AP) Sniper John Allen Muhammad refused to utter any last words as he was executed in Virginia. The 48-year-old died last night and took to the grave answers about why and how he plotted the killings of 10 people that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area for three weeks in October 2...

VA Congressman Pushes For Teleworking Legislation

By Jonathan Wilson

A Congressman from Northern Virginia says the solution to the region's traffic problems could be eliminating the distinction between home and office for thousands of government workers.

Congressman Gerry Connolly says the biggest obstacles for the movement, now comm...

New Requirement For Pregnancy Centers In Montgomery County

By Stephanie Kaye

Montgomery County wants pregnancy centers that are against abortion to provide a disclaimer for clients.

Some centers bill themselves as places to get information about abortion, then try to counsel women away from the procedure. Abortion rights advocates say these c...

Prince George's County Charges Bookish Thieves

By Sabri Ben-Achour

Prosecutors in Prince George's County, Maryland say they have charged 12 people with stealing a total of $87,000 worth of books from public libraries. Each of the 12 allegedly checked out about 75 books, the maximum allowed, and then never returned them.

Prosecuto...

Montgomery Co. Council Backs I-270 HOT Lanes

By Natalie Neumann

The Montgomery County Council has endorsed a plan to add reversible high-occupancy toll lanes on parts of Interstate 270.

The new lanes, endorsed unanimously in an informal vote on Tuesday, would be free for carpools, vans and buses, but solo commuters would have to...

H1N1 Latest Illness Shared By Owners And Pets

By Rebecca Sheir

Word of a cat in Iowa catching H1N1 is now spreading and veterinarians are warning pet owners to be careful.

Lori Price lives in Friendship Heights with her four Greater Swiss Mountain dogs and she adores them. When she heard about a cat in Iowa recently getting H1N1...

Maryland Advocacy Group Files Suit Against Frederick County Police

By Elliott Francis

A local Latino advocacy group is suing Frederick county police, accusing them of racial profiling.

The complaint was filed in U.S. district court by Casa de Maryland. "We filed suit here in Greenbelt on behalf of Roxana Arianna against the Frederick county commissio...

Veterans At Walter Reed Share Their Stories

By Patrick Madden

For many wounded veterans, the Fisher House at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center is their home away from home. The non-profit organization houses veterans and their families at little or no cost.

First Lady Encourages Veteran Community Service

By Rebecca Sheir

Mission Serve is a program expanding opportunities for veterans to perform community service. At today's inauguration of the initiative, First Lady Michelle Obama says she believes that's something these men and women are hard-wired to do.

"For many of these folks, s...

"Art Beat" With Stephanie Kaye - Wednesday, November 11, 2009

By Stephanie Kaye

(November 12 & 13) STEP AFRIKA! The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park, Maryland hosts Step Afrika! - that's with an exclamation point - tomorrow and Friday night at 8. The group tours, teaches, and of course steps in a boot-stomping, percussive styl...

Film Spreads Word About Solders' Sacrifice

By Stephanie Kaye

An indie film opening this week deals with newly returned veterans and the families of those who are never coming home.

Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson play soldiers in the movie "The Messenger," assigned to a "casualty notification team." Back from duty, the two make...

Black Churches Fight Spread Of H1N1

By David Schultz

Reverend Anthony Evans is telling his parishioners to give each other fist bumps rather than handshakes, not because they're cool, but because they spread fewer germs.

Rev. Evans is having a tougher time convincing his congregants to get the H1N1 vaccine. He says ever...

Power Breakfast for November 11, 2009

House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman, Bob Filner (D-CA) can easily rattle off a string of accomplishments Congress has done for Veterans, this Veterans' Day.

Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports...

Commentary...The Importance of Physician Assistants...Jennifer Hedden

The health care debate is asking who needs to be covered, for what services and how to pay for it all.

But commentator and Northern Virginia physician assistant Jennifer Hedden says nothing is being said about how hard it is to find a doctor who has time to provide the answers you're seekin...