News Archive - March 5, 2010

VA Atty. Gen.: College Should Rescind Certain Anti-Discrimination Policies

By Rebecca Blatt

Virginia's attorney general is advising the state's public colleges to rescind policies that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Kenneth Cuccinelli sent a letter to college presidents saying that only the general assembly can determine which cl...

Elite VA High School Allegedly Hit By Embezzler

A worker at a northern Virginia high school often recognized as the nation's best has been charged with embezzling nearly $280,000 to pay for gambling trips to Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

Police on Friday arrested 37-year-old Susan T. Litwin of Woodbridge and charged her with stealing $279...

Pentagon Shooter Had Multiple Weapons

By Kate Sheehy

More details are emerging about the gunman who opened fire outside the Pentagon's Metro entrance Thursday evening, injuring two police officers.

The chief of the Pentagon police says 36-year-old John Patrick Bedell was well armed with two 9 millimeter semiautomatic weap...

Metro Considers Unprecedented Cuts, Fare Hikes

By David Schultz

No more eight-car trains. Rail service ending at midnight on weekends. The elimination of more than a dozen bus lines. And a 35-cent across the board fare hike.

The Metro Board will consider all of these measures as it tries to balance its budget.

These are just...

Witness Heard "Pop" As Pentagon Shooting Began

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) Dan Namisi emerged from the Pentagon Metro station, headed for a bus home, and heard a "pop."

He hit the ground to get out of harm's way as shooting erupted Thursday night between a gunman and Pentagon guards and he didn't see what happened. The next thing he knew, Namis...

Report Calls For Rent Control In Montgomery County

By Matt Bush

There are landlords in Montgomery County who increase rents substantially every year; now a report is calling for rent controls to stop them from doing so.

Matt Losak is the chairman of the county's tenant work group, which came up with the report. He says they found case...

Power Breakfast For March 5, 2010

It is the Winter of Our Economic Discontent.

Today the Joint Economic Committee gathers to discuss February job numbers. The purpose of the monthly hearing is to discern and analyze trends. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez knows going into this one, though, record levels of snow and rain make...

Commentary - Lynn Peterson Mobley

It’s well established that texting and chatting on mobile devices can be a major distraction while driving. But commentator Lynn Peterson Mobley says lately she feels like she’s missing out on big chunks of her life–especially while driving in to D.C. from Great Falls.

Lynn Peterson Mobley...

Renewing The Nuclear Past (Part 3)

From The Environment Report

Producer: Shawn Allee

You might think a nuclear power station would have the tightest pipes imaginable to keep radioactive liquids from contaminating water underground. But the truth is, dozens of reactors have spouted leaks, and sometimes it took years to...

MarylandReporter.com: State Roundup Mar. 5, 2010

From the Maryland Reporter website:

GANSLER Del. Don Dwyer said he will soon set in motion plans to impeach Attorney General Doug Gansler but won't specify when, Nick Sohr writes in The Daily Record's Eye on Annapolis blog. Dwyer's efforts stem from the attorney general's legal opinion that...

Weekend Planner - Friday Night Eclectic

North Bethesda's Strathmore is the home of symphonies, galleries, and touring acts that range from Peking Acrobats to musical stars like Suzanne Vega. But on Friday nights, the arts center is trying to be something else... a nightlife hot spot.

Strathmore's Friday Night Eclectic series runs...

VA Official: Colleges Can't Protect Gays

By LARRY O'DELL Associated Press Writer

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Virginia's attorney general is advising the state's public colleges to rescind policies that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Kenneth Cuccinelli says in a letter to college presidents and other offic...

Latest Maryland Regional News

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) A coalition against slot machine gambling near a popular shopping mall has submitted thousands of additional signatures to force a vote on the proposal. The coalition, which includes community groups and the Maryland Jockey Club, says it delivered 16,702 signatures to the Anne...

VA Senate Democrats Kill Slew Of Pro-Gun Proposals

By Jonathan Wilson

In Virginia, a Senate subcommittee created to block pro-gun legislation has shot down numerous proposals to loosen the state's gun laws.

The special subcommittee of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee on Thursday rejected 10 bills, including measures to exempt fi...

First Lady Michelle Obama To Donate Ball Gown To Smithsonian

By Rebecca Blatt

The one-shoulder, white, beaded gown first lady Michelle Obama wore to the Inaugural balls is going on display.

Mrs. Obama plans to donate the gown to the first ladies collection at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. The Smithsonian say...

Latest Virginia Regional News

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) The Pentagon Metro station has reopened, a day after a gunman was killed in a shootout with police officers. The north entrance to the station reopened shortly after noon today. The station had been closed while the FBI investigated yesterday's shooting.

ALEXANDRIA, Va....

Pentagon Police Say Gunman Was Calm Before Opening Fire

By Jonathan Wilson

Two police officers are recovering from gunshot wounds after a gunman opened fire outside the Metro entrance to the Pentagon last night.

Police say the gunman opened fire outside the Pentagon at 6:40 Thursday evening leaving two officers with graze wounds.

Pe...

This Week In Congress - March 5, 2010

SCRIPT:

I’m Elizabeth Wynne Johnson of Capitol News Connection. This Week in Congress.

If you didn’t know the name "Jim Bunning" before...that was about to change.

BUNNING There comes a time when 100 Senators are for something that we all support. If we can’t find $10B to pay f...

Latest D.C. Local News

WASHINGTON (AP) The Federal Emergency Management Agency says the District of Columbia will be eligible for disaster aid in connection with the season's first big snowstorm in mid-December. President Barack Obama declared the storm a major disaster for D.C. this week.

WASHINGTON (AP) The chi...

"Art Beat" With Stephanie Kaye - Weekend Events, March 5-7, 2010

(March 5) BLACKS IN WAX DC's Department of Parks and Rec host Blacks in Wax, with a special opening for students this afternoon at 1 p.m. and later tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. for the after-work crowd, at the Southeast Tennis & Learning Center. This "living wax" museum is made up of Washingtoni...

Organizations Blame District Office For Inaccurate Data

By Natalie Neumann

Youth health organizations are outraged at the district's superintendent of education for not properly implementing a survey that could affect their funding.

The responses for the Center for Disease Control's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey weren't sufficien...

Angry Anti-Gov't Writing Linked To Pentagon Gunman

UPDATE: HOLLISTER, Calif. (AP) Source: Parents of Pentagon shooter warned authorities their son was upset, might have gun.

By MATT APUZZO and DEVLIN BARRETT Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) A California man killed in a shootout with Pentagon police drove cross-country and arri...

Teen Clinic Could Help Reduce Chlamydia Rate In Alexandria

Alexandria has some of the highest levels of chlamydia in Virginia, according to a recent study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Nurses at the city's teen clinic say it's particularly a problem among young people. The good news is that chlamydia is easily tested and, if it's caught,...

Rookie Robotics Team Seeks To Beat The Odds

By Jessica Gould

To win the competition, teams have to use their robots to push a soccer ball into a small, mesh goal. But Richelle King says the students at Spingarn Senior High School in Northeast D.C. have other goals in mind.

"Whatever we're doing we have to sit and take a break....

Shooting Closes Pentagon Station

By Rebecca Sheir

The Pentagon Metro stop is closed because of an ongoing investigation involving a gunman who police say shot two officers. The closure is affecting the commute of thousands of residents in the area.

Metro is providing additional buses at Pentagon City to take passenge...

Montgomery County To Offer Services In More Languages

Despite budget problems, Montgomery County, Maryland will increase the number of languages in which it will offer official services. Currently, the county website can be read in five languages in addition to English. County Executive Isiah Leggett believes that's good, but not good enough.

...