News Archive - February 23, 2010

Arlington Schools' Chief Proposes Class Size Bump And New Fees

By Jonathan Wilson

In Virginia, Arlington County's public school superintendent is recommending class size increases and new student fees as part of his plan to close a $12 million budget gap.

Under Superintendent Pat Murphy's proposal, Arlington students would pay a new athletic part...

MarylandReporter.com: State Roundup Feb. 23, 2010

From the Maryland Reporter website:

STATE OF BALTIMORE Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake gave her first State of the City address. The Daily Record's Robbie Whelan writes that it focused mainly on the city's budget problems. Gary Haber has the Baltimore Business Journal's story. Juli...

Maryland Lawmakers React To Obama's Health Plan

By Peter Granitz

Lawmakers in Maryland are reviewing President Obama's health care draft in preparation of Thursday's health care summit. But not all expect sweeping progress.

The White House is deeming the plan a compromise between both sides of the Capitol. The president's version w...

Fairfax County Executive Proposes Higher Tax Rate, Major Cuts

By Jonathan Wilson

In Virginia, Fairfax County's executive supports cutting 280 county jobs and raising the tax rate as part of his strategy to close a $250 million budget gap.

County Executive Anthony Griffin's proposal calls for increasing Fairfax's real estate tax rate by 5 cents f...

Latest D.C. Local News

WASHINGTON (AP) Metro leaders are telling federal investigators they are already addressing safety concerns, even as more details about the transit system's deadly train crash last year emerge. National Transportation Safety Board members gathered in Washington today for the first day of a hearin...

Senate Bill Introduced To Establish Federal Oversight Of Rail Transit

By Rebecca Blatt

The National Transportation Safety Board will open a three-day hearing this morning on the Metro crash that killed 9 people in June. The hearing is expected to include discussion of safety oversight.

Meanwhile, four senators are moving forward with legislation to make...

Day One Of NTSB Hearing

By Matt Bush

Metro's general manager and board chairman were among those who testified during day one of a National Transportation Safety Board hearing into last June's red line crash that killed nine people.

Few questions specifically focused on the accident itself. One that did came...

Latest Virginia Regional News

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) A national nonprofit is criticizing Virginia Tech's decision to withhold preliminary findings on whether it complied with campus security laws in 2007 when a gunman killed 32 people before committing suicide. A spokesman says the school will still release the government's fin...

New Baltimore Mayor Calls For New Era Of Ethics

By Sabri Ben-Achour

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake has been in office just 20 days, but she is pledging to make a clean break with the type of politics that preceded her. In her State of the City Address, Rawlings-Blake called for a new era of ethics.

"Those of us who manage...

D.C. Warns Of Preventable Deaths

By Sabri Ben-Achour

Almost half of the causes of death in the District of Columbia are preventable, according to a new report.

The city's Department of Health released a report outlining all the preventable causes of death. The number one cause was tobacco, which accounted for 16 perc...

Latest Maryland Regional News

GERMANTOWN, Md. (AP) The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland is protesting the treatment of a middle-school student who refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. The ACLU says that on January 27th the 13-year-old girl refused to stand during the pledge at Roberto Clemente Middle Schoo...

Pets' Safety And Health At Risk In Winter Months

By Rebecca Sheir

As winter slogs on, the ice and snow can endanger people's health and safety. But some pets are at risk, too.

Tim Kimener, a veterinary technician in Northwest D.C., says a major danger is the snow itself.

"When they step down into the snow when it's frozen at t...

Marion Barry Apologizes For Contract To Girlfriend

WASHINGTON (AP) Former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry is apologizing for embarrassing the city and city council by improperly awarding a contract to a woman he had been dating.

The current D.C. Council member said Tuesday at a southeast Washington church that he hadn't done anything illegal but th...

Power Breakfast For February 23, 2010

Congress gets involved on behalf of military spouses reeling from a sudden cut-off.

The My Spouse Career Advancement Account is a financial assistance program for military wives and husbands. It helps pay for education and career training.

Elizabeth Wynn Johnson reports...

VA General Assembly Grants Tribal Recognition

Virginia's General Assembly granted state recognition to an Indian tribe based in Stafford County this month. It's a victory for Virginia Indians, who are still trying to overcome the damaging effects of a 1924 state law that stripped them of their identity.

Sarah McConnell reports...

NTSB Hears From Metro On Fatal Train Crash

By NAFEESA SYEED Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) Metro leaders stressed to federal investigators on Tuesday that efforts to address safety concerns are under way, even as more details about the transit system's deadly train crash last year emerged.

Members of the National Tran...

Budget Cuts Could Disproportionately Affect Northern VA

By Jonathan Wilson

After sifting through budget proposals released by Virginia state Senate and House committees this week, county leaders in Northern Virginia say some cuts being considered could disproportionately affect their region.

Jay Fisette, a Democrat, is chair of the Arlingt...

Child Slavery In Haiti And D.C.

As commentator Andrea Powell notes, there's been broad media coverage of the increased dangers of being sold into modern day slavery that many Haitian children face, but the problem also exists in our own backyard.

Powell is Executive Director of the Washington D.C.-based FAIR Fund...

National Aquarium In Baltimore Expecting Baby Dolphin

By Meymo Lyons

A baby dolphin is on the way at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

Aquarium officials say an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin named Jade is expected to give birth by Mid-March.

Aquarium staff and a group of 50 trained volunteers have begun around-the-clock observation...

Louduon County Gives Swine Flu Shots At Dulles

By Elliott Francis

The Loudoun County Health Department has been offering free H1N1 vaccines at its clinic in Leesburg, Virginia. Now the county is expanding the service and giving out vaccinations at a local airport.

The portable clinic is located at Dulles International in the bagga...

VA NAACP Says Salvation Army Shelter Unsafe

PETERSBURG, Va. (AP) The Virginia NAACP is urging that authorities investigate complaints about unsafe conditions at a Salvation Army emergency shelter in Petersburg.

The state conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People says it has received numerous complai...

"Art Beat" With Stephanie Kaye - Tuesday, February 23, 2010

(Through February 25) GET SHORTY If you're looking for an excuse to downsize, check out this year's Academy Award-nominated short films through Thursday at E Street Cinema in downtown D.C. You can decide for yourself which shorty is deserving of a little Oscar glory among the animated and live-ac...