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Thursday, September 9, 2010
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January 07, 2010 - WASHINGTON (AP) The Tri-State Oversight Committee, which monitors safety at Metro, says a team of inspectors was nearly hit by a Metro train that appeared to be traveling at full speed. The committee said in a report released yesterday that the train appeared to be making no attempt to slow, as required by agency rules.
WASHINGTON (AP) A D.C. fire department official says Rock Creek Parkway was closed as rush hour gets underway after fire crews were called out for a smoking electrical cable. A D.C. Fire Department spokesman says the cable that runs under the Pennsylvania Avenue bridge in Georgetown was smoking.
WASHINGTON (AP) Opponents of a bill that would allow gay marriage in D.C. want to put a measure on the ballot to let voters weigh in. They filed paperwork with the Board of Elections and Ethics yesterday to try to put the referendum on the ballot.
NEW YORK (AP) NBA commissioner David Stern has indefinitely suspended Gilbert Arenas, saying the Washington Wizards guard is "not currently fit to take the court" for a game. Stern decided to punish Arenas now because he violated NBA rules by taking guns into Washington's locker room.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
January 07, 2010 - CAMBRIDGE, Md. (AP) Last year, Gov. O'Malley told the Maryland Association of Counties annual winter conference that there would be "lots of cuts all around" to address a $1.9 billion budget deficit. O'Malley must submit the state's annual budget later this month and finds himself in a similar predicament this year as the state faces a deficit of about $2 billion.
GREENBELT, Md. (AP) A former Bethesda honors student is set to be sentenced today for possessing bomb-making chemicals. Twenty-year-old Collin McKenzie-Gude pleaded guilty in September.
BALTIMORE (AP) A tearful Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon is promising a smooth transition as she leaves office following a plea agreement. In her first public remarks since agreeing to resign, she said yesterday she is sad because she has a great staff, not because of the decision she made.
BALTIMORE (AP) A federal judge has sentenced a Maryland man to 30 years in prison for killing his 8-year old stepson while the family was stationed in Japan. Twenty-eight-year-old Roberto DeLeon of Glen Burnie was convicted in October of murder in the 2007 slaying of Jordan Peterson.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
January 07, 2010 - McLEAN, Va., (AP) Contractors working on a Metrorail extension in Virginia plan to conduct testing that may sound like a small explosion. Contractors working on the Dulles Metrorail Project are planning to test the structural integrity of a support pillar early this afternoon, weather permitting.
SMITHFIELD, Va. (AP) Smithfield Foods says it will lay off fewer than 30 workers when it closes a Virginia plant this spring. That's a fraction of the 340 it projected when the company announced the move last year.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
January 07, 2010 - Montgomery and Prince Georges counties in Maryland are launching a joint task force targeting gangs. Nearly $3 million in federal money will help fund the initiative.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) says gangs know no borders, and efforts at stopping them shouldn't either. The money comes from a one-time federal grant.
Montgomery County state's attorney John McCarthy says the task force will focus on schools, where many gangs recruit new members.
Matt Bush reports...
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).
Courtesy of: Matt Bush
January 07, 2010 - Metro will consider raising fares to help balance its budget. Metro may "tack on" up to ten cents on all bus and train rides this spring.
It's one proposal that Metro's Board of Directors will look at to help close the transit agency's $40 million budget gap. Another option is to cut service, which Metro says could mean half-hour waits for trains on the weekend.
Other plans include eliminating bus lines, delaying maintenance work, and moving money from the capital budget into the operating fund. That route may be the easiest, at least politically, but Metro Board Member Chris Zimmerman says it will be costly down the road.
"Because that's just going to mean the system is going to get worse and the system will go down hill," says Zimmerman. "We can't allow that to happen."
All of these options are on the table and open for public input. Metro's scheduled a public hearing later this month and the board will then makes its decision on January 28th.
January 07, 2010 - By Jonathan Wilson
This evening in Virginia, the superintendent for Fairfax County Public Schools lays out his proposal for dealing with a projected $176 million budget shortfall, a deficit almost twice as large as what the district dealt with last year.
School board members, teachers, students and parents have been discussing the prospect of another year of painful cuts since last summer. Now the time for Superintendent Jack Dale to unveil his plan has come, and Dale is calling the situation demoralizing.
"An overriding theme from all of us, and many of us with 30-plus years experience, is: this is the worst situation we have ever been in," he says.
Many people are waiting to see whether Dale suggests scaling back the kindergarten day or eliminating foreign language programs in elementary schools. Increasing class sizes and cutting extracurriculars are also possibilities.
Chantilly High School track coach Matt Gilchrist says he's already been told indoor track teams across the county are likely to go, after being narrowly spared in last year's budget.
"You read between the lines, last year, gymnastics and indoor track were at the top of their list, and there's no reason to assume that would change," says Gilchrist.
Gilchrist says this year the board has done a better job of keeping the proposed cuts under wraps so opposition hasn't had as much time to gain steam, but he says he's prepared to mount another fight to save indoor track in Fairfax.
January 07, 2010 - By Meymo Lyons
In a Civil War reenactment that went too far, Union and Confederate cavalry commanders who tussled on the field of battle in Virginia each were found not guilty of assault.
The two pressed charges against each other after the Sept. 19, 2009, reenactment of the Battle of Stanardsville. The Confederate commander claimed his Union counterpart knocked off his hat, and he allegedly responded by firing his revolver. Both men were on horseback and both said their actions were accidental. While the weapon was not loaded, the Union commander suffered facial injuries from the revolver's powder blast.
A judge concluded that he could not find either man guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt."
January 07, 2010 - By David Schultz
The U.S. Department of Justice released the results of a congressionally mandated survey today. Twelve percent of the juvenile inmates who responded say they've been sexual abused. That's three to four times higher than in surveys of adult inmates.
Of that 12 percent, an overwhelming majority say they were abused by facility staffers, not by their fellow inmates. Two facilities in Virginia, one in Culpeper and the other in Bon Air, were singled out for especially high rates of sexual abuse, more than 25 percent.
Bruce Twyman, a spokesman with the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, says the state will review it's training practices.
"This is not something that we take lightly in the state by any means," he says.
Nearly all the inmates who say they were sexually abused by staffers told the Department of Justice their abusers were female.
January 07, 2010 - By Kate Sheehy
Maryland's Governor is set to address the State Association of Counties tonight, with a nearly $2 billion budget deficit looming.
When O'Malley last addressed the group's annual winter conference, the state faced a $1.9 billion deficit and the governor said there would be "lots of cuts all around."
O'Malley has to submit the state's annual budget later this month, and this year finds the governor in a similar predicament, attempting to tackle a $2 billion deficit.
In addition to talking about the legislative session that begins next week, O'Malley is expected to address public safety during the speech.
Before speaking to the association this evening, the governor will be on the Eastern Shore highlighting efforts to create jobs in Maryland.
January 07, 2010 - (January 7) PERMANENT COLLECTION Combining the forces of art and theater, The Phillips Collection in D.C.'s Dupont Circle hosts an after-hours discussion about Round House Theatre's upcoming play, "Permanent Collection,". The session begins tonight at 6:30 during the gallery's "Phillips After 5" events. Thomas Gibbon's play revolves around the politics behind museum displays. The play's director, Timothy Douglas, hashes out issues of race and art with Phillips Collection curator Wendy Grossman and others.
(Ending January 10) MAN RAY IN AFRICA There are only a few more days to catch the Phillips' own display of African-themed art. The photos in an exhibit titled Man Ray, African Arts and the Modernist Lens come off the walls this Sunday. They show how the avant-garde photographer, born Emmanuel Radnitzky, brought a Western understanding to African art.
(January 8) BLIND BOYS DO IT BETTER No one does it better than the Blind Boys of Alabama, bringing their sweet harmony to downtown D.C.'s Warner Theater tomorrow night at 8 p.m. Heading into their seventh decade on stage, the Boys are joined by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band for a night of New Orleans sound.
(January 9) INSIDE MOUTH Flashpoint Gallery near Metro Center opens its newest exhibit, called Inside Mouth, with a reception Saturday night at 6 p.m. Jackie Milad's first solo show in Washington features spare, simple drawings that rob her subjects of their hair, forcing audiences to concentrate on face alone.
January 07, 2010 - When it comes to providing security at airports, Senior Commentator, Fred Fiske says it's time we all get used to profiling.
To respond to his opinion, go to The Conversation.
January 07, 2010 - By Rebecca Sheir
It's been nearly a week since stores in the District that sell food or liquor started charging customers for disposable bags. The 5 cent fee is striking customers in some unexpected places.
Scott Evans just shelled out 5 cents for a bright blue plastic bag containing not food, not drink, but rather-
"A printer and some paper and a cartridge for it," Evans says.
Okay, so the printer's actually in a separate box. But the point is, Evans was shopping at Best Buy. The electronics store. Not necessarily the first place that comes to mind when you think of the new bag fee.
"I don't even like plastic bags, to be honest with you," he says. "But they did ask me if I wanted it. And I didn't have any hands, so I needed to have a bag!"
The legislation says the fee applies to "grocery stores, drug stores, liquor stores, restaurants and food vendors."
And all that candy in Best Buy's checkout line technically makes the retailer a "food vendor." Ditto on a sporting goods store selling energy bars. Or a department store hawking gourmet chocolates.
But that doesn't bother Natalie Oudar, another Best Buy shopper.
"I think it's a good thing,:" says Oudar. "I think it'll push people to start bringing their own bags, and less plastic will be used."
Of course, that's easy for her to say: the jump drive she just purchased was small enough to toss into her purse.
January 07, 2010 - By Rebecca Blatt
Some are criticizing the plea deal that Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon has accepted. It requires that she resign, but prosecutors are defending it. Dixon already was convicted of misappropriating gift cards for the needy and was to be tried for perjury in March.
Dixon's criminal record will be wiped clean if she satisfies the terms of the agreement -- including a $45,000 charitable contribution, 500 hours of community service and 2 years of probation.
State Prosecutor Robert Rohrbaugh denies the agreement is a slap on the wrist.
"If you're a mayor of a major city, and you've lost your job and you're not being able to be employed by the city of Baltimore or the state of Maryland for several years, I think that's a major slap on the wrist. It's beyond a slap on the wrist," Rohrbaugh says.
Dixon promises a smooth transition as she prepares to step down on February 4th when Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore's city council president, will become mayor. She was elected to the city council in 1995, and followed Dixon as council president in 2007.
January 07, 2010 - By Rebecca Blatt
The agency that oversees safety on Metro says some of its workers were nearly hit by a train during an inspection in December, and the agency is suggesting that Metro doesn't enforce all safety rules.
Calling the incident a "near miss," the Tri-State Oversite Committee says a Metro train passed investigators at what appeared to be full speed, sending the group scrambling to avoid being hit.
Special regulations require trains to slow down two stations prior to where a work crew is located but the committee's report says that rule "does not appear to be applied or enforced in general".
It also criticizes how Metro issues alerts that workers are on or near the tracks.
In response, Metro says it's working aggressively to implement a safety plan, has increased surveillance, is retraining employees on proper communication procedures and has established a task force to review related safety policies .
January 07, 2010 - By Kavitha Cardoza
Public school students in D.C. can accumulate 20 unexcused absences every year before being referred to Child and Family Services, but a proposal before the city council would cut that number in half.
When the Board of Education voted to increase the number from 10 to 20, its president, Lisa Raymond says members believed in-school interventions would be more effective. "So not to be as quick to send a child, to refer to another agency but to really try and deal with the issues at the school level where the school professionals will know the child, know the family and try and address the challenges," Raymond says.
But now, several council members want to return to the lower number for children between the ages of 5 and 13. Among them is Councilman Tommy Wells who says truancy was reduced by half when the 10 day rule was in effect during his time on the school board.
A city council vote in favor of the change would supersede the school board's decision.
January 07, 2010 - By Jonathan Wilson
New Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan arrives in Washington with two Super Bowl rings, as well as a relationship with Skins owner Dan Snyder goes back farther than some may realize.
Daniel Snyders interest in hiring Mike Shanahan may have started years ago.
During his introduction at Redskins Park in Ashburn on Wednesday the new head coach recalled a half-joking proposition Snyder once made to Pat Bowlen, the owner of the Denver Broncos, the team Shanahan coached at the time.
"Mr. Snyder was talking to Mr. Bowlen at the time, and said, I wanna trade for your coach. Mr. Bowlen said, 'Don't pay him any attention,'" says Shanahan. "We had some fun."
Shanahan says he'll spend the next couple of weeks talking to assistant coaches wishing to remain with the team, and others he'd like to hire to help the turn the franchise around.
"I'm not going to make very many staff moves right away. I'm going to take my time," he says.
One decision Shanahan has already made is the hiring of his son, Kyle Shanahan. He spent last season as the offensive coordinator for the Houston Texans, and is expected to fill the same role here.
Mike Shanahan, new head coach of the Washington Redskins. New General Manager Bruce Allen sits next to him.
Courtesy of: Jonathan Wilson
January 07, 2010 - Send lawyers, guns - and mother.
No one ever said legislating "change" would be easy. With Congress mired in health care, cap & trade and more, why not take on another issue that has vexed it for years? Take immigration. Ben Johnson of the American Immigration Council says the stars have aligned for reform.
Eric Niiler reports.
January 07, 2010 - Baltimore's Mayor, Sheila Dixon has accepted a plea deal on perjury charges, as part of that, she's agreed to resign next month. She had already been convicted of misappropriating gift cards for the needy.
Metro Editor at The Baltimore Sun speaks with host Matt McCleskey about what this all means for the city.
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