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March 05, 2010 - 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 arrived outside the military headquarters armed with two semiautomatic weapons, authorities said Friday. The shooter apparently left behind angry, anti-government Internet postings airing suspicions about the 9/11 attacks.
John Patrick Bedell, 36, of Hollister, Calif., was named as the gunman in the Thursday evening attack. Authorities said he'd had previous run-ins with the law.
Investigators have found no immediate connection to terrorism. The attack that superficially wounded two officers guarding the massive Defense Department headquarters appears to be a case of "a single individual who had issues," Richard Keevill, chief of Pentagon police, said Friday.
Hints of those issues emerged in anti-government Internet postings linked to Bedell. One blog linked to Bedell's page on the social networking site LinkedIn contained a two-part treatise on big government, including its vulnerability to being controlled by a criminal organization.
"This organization, like so many murderous governments throughout history, would see the sacrifice of thousands of its citizens, in an event such as the September 11 attacks, as a small cost in order to perpetuate its barbaric control," the blog post read.
Keevill described Bedell as "very well-educated" and well-dressed, wearing a suit that blended with commuters when he showed up at the Pentagon's subway entrance about 6:40 p.m. But he was concealing two 9 millimeter semiautomatic weapons and "many magazines" of ammunition, Keevill said.
When Bedell seemed to reach into his pocket for worker identification, he was instead reaching for a gun, Keevill said.
"He just reached in his pocket, pulled out a gun and started shooting" at point-blank range, Keevill said. "He walked up very cool. He had no real emotion on his face."
Bedell died Thursday night from head wounds received when the two injured officers and another officer returned fire, Keevill said.
Although the gunfire near the subway exit in Arlington, Va., lasted less than a minute, Keevill said, numerous shots were fired. Bedell was not wearing body armor, he added.
One officer suffered a thigh wound and the other was hit in the shoulder. Keevill said they were superficial injuries, and both have been released from the hospital.
There was more ammunition in Bedell's car, which authorities found in a local parking garage.
"He came here from California," Keevill said. "We were able to identify certain locations that he spent that last several weeks making his way from the West coast to the East coast."
Keevill said he did not know what motivated the shooting: "I have no idea what his intentions were."
On a Wikipedia page linked to Bedell, a user by the name JPatrickBedell revealed ill feelings toward the government and the armed forces.
JPatrickBedell wrote that he was "determined to see that justice is served" in the death of Marine Col. James Sabow, who was found dead in the backyard of his California home in 1991. The death was ruled a suicide but the case has long been the source of theories of a cover up. Sabow's family has maintained that he was murdered because he was about to expose covert military operations in Central America involving drug smuggling.
That posting can be linked to Bedell through court documents matching the shooter's birth date but Keevill said Friday that authorities had not made "a final determination" that the shooter was the same Bedell. The user named JPatrickBedell wrote the Sabow case was "a step toward establishing the truth of events such as the September 11 demolitions."
That same posting railed against the government's enforcement of marijuana laws and included links to the author's 2006 court case in Orange County, Calif., involving allegations of cultivating marijuana and resisting a police officer. Court records available online show the date of birth on the case mentioned by the user JPatrickBedell matches that of the John Patrick Bedell suspected in the shooting.
The assault at the very threshold of the Pentagon the U.S. capital's ground zero on Sept. 11, 2001 came four months after a deadly attack on the Army's Fort Hood, Texas, post allegedly by a U.S. Army psychiatrist with radical Islamic leanings.
Hatred of the government motivated a man in Texas last month to fly a small plane into a building housing Internal Revenue Service offices, killing an IRS employee and himself.
The shooting resembled one in January in which a gunman walked up to the security entrance of a Las Vegas courthouse and opened fire with a shotgun, killing one officer and wounding another before being gunned down in a barrage of return fire.
The subway station is immediately adjacent to the Pentagon building, a five-sided northern Virginia colossus across the Potomac River from Washington. Since a redesign following the 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon, riders can no longer disembark directly into the building. Riders take a long escalator ride to the surface from the underground station, then pass through a security check outside the doors of the building, where further security awaits.
Transit officials said the subway station would remain closed at least part of the day Friday while the FBI continued its investigation.
Keevill said the gunman gave no clue to the officers at the checkpoint about what he was going to do.
"There was no distress," he said. "When he reached into his pocket, they assumed he was going to get a pass and he came up with a gun."
Keevill added: "We have layers of security and it worked. He never got inside the building to hurt anyone." Ronald Domingues, 74, who lives next door to Bedell's parents in a gated golf course community in Hollister, said he doesn't know the family well. But he said Bedell sometimes lived with his parents and struck him "like a normal young man."
"I wouldn't suspect he would be involved in anything like this," Domingues said.
Domingues described the neighborhood as middle-class. He said the Bedells live in a one story Southwestern-style stucco home, which was dark Thursday night.
Associated Press writers Eileen Sullivan, Christine Simmons, Pauline Jelinek, Anne Gearan, Mike Gracia, Nafeesa Syeed, Philip Elliott and Kasey Jones contributed to this report.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
The Youtube video below was posted by suspect Bedell almost four years ago.
March 05, 2010 - 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 chief of the Pentagon police says the gunman who shot two Pentagon police officers was well armed with two 9 millimeter semiautomatic weapons and several magazines of ammunition. Thirty-six-year-old John Patrick Bedell of Hollister, Calif., was identified as the shooter and died last night from head wounds received in the exchange with police.
WASHINGTON (AP) The head of the Federal Transit Administration says Metro and its independent oversight agency aren't doing enough to guarantee the safety of passengers or workers. The report presented yesterday to Washington-area members of Congress finds the agency's safety office has been marginalized.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
March 05, 2010 - 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 Arundel County Board of Elections today.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) The Maryland Senate has killed a measure that would prohibit restrictions on homeowners or tenants who contact their neighbors about upcoming elections or issues. Senators voted today against the bill proposed by Frederick County Sen. Alex Mooney, which he said protected free speech.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
March 05, 2010 - 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. (AP) A worker at a Fairfax County high school often recognized as the nation's best has been charged with embezzling to pay for gambling trips to Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Police today arrested 37-year-old Susan T. Litwin of Woodbridge and charged her with stealing $279,000 from Thomas Jefferson High School.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) A dozen transit improvement projects in Virginia will share $12.7 million in stimulus funding. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the grants today. The grants include $5 million awarded to the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation to buy vans, buses and miscellaneous equipment for rural areas.
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) President Barack Obama says the new jobs report "is actually better than expected." A jobs report released today said the unemployment rate held at 9.7 percent last month as employers shed 36,000 jobs. Obama blamed snowstorms that buried the East Coast.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
March 05, 2010 - 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, Namisi said officers swarmed over him and put handcuffs on him.
Two guards were shot and the shooter was mortally wounded.
Namisi says he was searched repeatedly, but officers didn't ask him many questions during the three hours they held him. He was shaken by the experience.
Namisi doesn't know why he was swept up in a search for evidence, but says there were few people outside the Pentagon at the time. He says he might have attracted attention because he cut one of his hands when he dropped to the ground and the hand was bloody.
Namisi, who is originally from Uganda, lives in Burke. He was headed home after a flight from Houston to Reagan National Airport.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Officer Jeffery Amos, 46, is one of two officers shot during last night's incident by the Pentagon Metro station.
Courtesy of: Pentagon Force Protection Agency
View more images from this gallery.
March 05, 2010 - 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 officials that only the General Assembly can determine which classes of people are protected by state government nondiscrimination policies. Legislators have repeatedly refused to ban discrimination against gays in state employment practices.
The Republican attorney general says in the letter, dated Thursday, that state institutions cannot adopt a policy position that has been rejected by the General Assembly.
Democrats and gay-rights activists are criticizing Cuccinelli's move.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
March 05, 2010 - 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 sufficient for accurate data. The CDC needed a 60 percent response rate but only received 36 percent. The survey includes information on student depression, seat belt and condom use.
The office of the state superintendent of education is responsible for implementing the survey. In a hearing discussing the office, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray was not satisfied with the survey results.
"The 36 percent response rate is not good."
Joyce Fourth represents the D.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. She says reliable data is the foundation for sound policy.
"Without it, it is not possible to make good decisions," she says.
She says the inaccurate data will make organizations like hers less competitive in winning grants and other funding.
Some organizations accused the office of not making health a priority.
Kerri Briggs is State Superintendent of Education for the district. In a written statement she says student health is a priority and the office has taken steps to improve the next survey responses.
March 05, 2010 - 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. We call it a pause, pray and praise session when the kids actually sit down and think about themselves and what they're going to do tomorrow," she says.
This is Spingarn's first year with a robotics club. When no other teachers stepped up to lead the team, King, a guidance counselor, offered to do it. As a result, the robotics club often looks more like a support group than an electronics lesson.
"I am a counselor," says King. "I definitely don't know anything about engineering or putting things together. But what I am good at is organizing and getting students to go beyond the limit."
Spingarn’s robot is bare bones, a rectangle on wheels. Soon after the match starts, it stalls. King's daughter, Mioni, is the club's leader.
"Actually, it got the ball stuck in the middle of the wiring and everything and the chain popped," she explains.
She says she's just happy to see the rookie team compete.
"But we still got the experience and we’re here," she says.
Nearly 60 teams are participating in the contest.
Students from the Spingarn Senior High School prepare their robot for competition.
Courtesy of: Jessica Gould
March 05, 2010 - 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 find them. Shawn Allee found one leak is raising questions about how nuclear power plants are regulated:
I meet anti-nuclear activist Susan Shapiro in some hills northwest of New York City. We drive where we can see the Indian Point nuclear power station across the Hudson River. Shapiro tells me it’s leaked radioactive water into the ground.
Shapiro: It's not contained and they know that. In fact, their answer was to let it leak into the groundwater. For years it might have been leaking. We know it’s been leaking for the last five, because that’s when we found it.
And for Shapiro, things get worse. We stop along the river.
Allee: What's the significance of this place?
Shapiro: This is where they're planning to put the 'desal' plant.
Allee: What kind of plant?
Shapiro: Desalination plant for...they want to take the Hudson River water which is a briny water and desalinate it and give it to Rockland County people as their drinking water.
The water plant and the nuclear power plant have been filing important paperwork about how they’d use the river they share.
Shapiro: Neither one refers to the other. The desal plant doesn’t mention Indian Point, and Indian Point doesn’t mention the desal plant. And we’re looking at it...how can they not mention it?
I asked both the water company, United Water, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission about this. The water plant’s application was made after the Indian Point leaks were well-known. But a spokesman says water tests show the Hudson’s water, before and after treatment, will be far below federal limits for pollutants, including radioactive ones from Indian Point.
Things are complicated on the Indian Point side, though. To start, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission wants to make clear, people shouldn’t worry. Here’s NRC spokesman Scott Burnell.
Burnell: By virtue of the vast quantities of water traveling through the Hudson, any isotopes that would make it to the river would automatically be diluted to several orders of magnitude, meaning they would be incapable of posing any public health risk.
The NRC is reviewing Indian Point’s operations, because the plant wants to run an additional 20 years beyond its current license. The plant filed an environmental report to get permission. But that filing does not mention the desalination plant, even though these filings are supposed to mention drinking water facilities. The deputy head of the NRC’s re-licensing division says the agency’s "looking into that right now" – almost three years after the water company made its intentions clear.
Indian Point is just one nuclear plant that’s leaked radioactive water. At least 27 reactors have leaked. The NRC says "at least" 27 because the agency learns about leaks from companies that own nuclear power plants. In some cases they’re not found and reported for years. Burnell says these kinds of leaks pose little health threat, so his agency doesn’t demand inch-by-inch inspections of every pipe and drain.
Burnell: The issue there returns to the limits of the NRC's authority. We have the authority to ensure the plant is capable of shutting down safely. We do expect that the systems will remain whole and not leak. We do not, however, have the authority to enforce a standard that goes beyond what's necessary to safely shut down the plant.
To recap...the federal government wants to stop leaks, but it won’t step in unless there’s potential for a massive accident, health threat or exorbitant clean up costs when a plant closes.
As for the nuclear power industry? It says plant owners are trying to meet higher standards, but they’re self-imposed standards, and it doesn’t think regulators should change that. Here’s Ralph Andersen, with The Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade group.
Andersen: We've given it that enhanced priority, but to then say that the regulators should take that on, that's a whole different reach, in my mind.
So, the NRC says it’s not going to change its rules on leaks because it feels those rules are effective now.
For The Environment Report, I’m Shawn Allee.
Indian Point Nuclear Station, as seen from the opposite side of the Hudson River. A spent fuel and other systems have leaked tritium and other radionuclides into the groundwater below.
Courtesy of: Shawn Allee
March 05, 2010 - 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 says all first ladies since 1912 have contributed to the collection, though not all have parted with their ball gowns.
The Obama gown will join those currently on display from Helen Taft, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosalynn Carter and Laura Bush.
March 05, 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 for it, we will not pay for anything. We will not pay for anything!
At issue – temporary extensions of jobless benefits and short-term health insurance subsidies. The Republican Senator from Kentucky was on a mission to call out Democrats for failing to abide by their own "pay-go" rules. Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski was among the Democrats who blasted him for choosing this particular moment.
MIKULSKI I come to the floor of the Senate to say to my colleague from Kentucky, ‘Let the unemployment bill go!’
Bunning’s Last Stand lasted well into Tuesday. By that time he was also drawing heat for some rather un-statesmanlike behavior off the floor – namely a certain gesture involving his middle finger (and a journalist asking questions).
Bunning finally ended his de facto filibuster in exchange for an amendment agreeing to pay for the extensions. States that already had to furlough road projects or suspend benefits began the mad scramble to catch up.
This week, President Obama unveiled his newest – and last-est – directive regarding health care. And this plan included several provisions of Republican origin.
LIEBERMAN Therefore I’d hate to see us now rush to push it through by the so-called reconciliation process.
Connecticut Independent Joe Lieberman.
LIEBERMAN I think out to take 2,3, 4 weeks and figure out how we can do something on a bipartisan basis.
Instead, this became the week that the Majority Party all but gave up any pretense of avoiding the reconciliation route.
On Wednesday Congressman Charlie Rangel agreed to step down as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Thus ending a long-running standoff of his own. The 20-term Democrat from Harlem is the focus of a wide-ranging and intensifying ethics probe.
HINCHEY He’s doing I think the appropriate thing. And I think he was advised to do that by others here.
That’s Rangel’s fellow New York Democrat Maurice Hinchey.
HINCHEY He’s doing it as this process moves forward. And we’ll see how that works out for him.
In the meantime, a stage has been set for a showdown – and not between Democrats and Republicans. There was a taste of the growing tension between the chambers in what Congresswoman Louise Slaughter had to say shortly before the House voted on a jobs bill Thursday.
SLAUGHTER We did not follow our own rules on this bill. This bill was posted this morning at 9 o’clock. [Reporter: Are you ok with that?] No I’m not! But if I had to just characterize what happens here, it’s the House works far too fast and the Senate works far too slow.
Missouri congressman Emanuel Cleaver took it further.
CLEAVER Everything always hinges on what we can get out of the Senate. And almost always the answer is ‘very little.’ Over in this chamber Nancy Pelosi can say ‘I will get this done’ and it will get done. That’s not the case over there.
Next week, the jobs bill heads back once again to the Senate. With House Democrats watching closely to see whether certain promises are kept – namely on a highway fix and provisions for low-income and minority businesses.
That was This Week in Congress. I’m Elizabeth Wynne Johnson, Capitol News Connection.
March 05, 2010 - 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 cases where landlords increased rent 30 percent from year to year.
Losak would like see the county enact a rent control law like there is in New York City. He says it would not have an adverse affect on landlords or developers looking to build new apartments.
"If you look in New York and you try to get an apartment in Manhattan, forget about it," he says. "They're expensive as all get out, and they're still rent stabilized."
But the person who received the group's report, county executive Isiah Leggett, doesn't support rent control. He'd rather see the county use the bully pulpit and out landlords who increase rents exorbitantly.
"We have not used the power of county government if you will, to expose them, and to work cooperatively with them," says Leggett. "They are benefiting, and have the ability to raise their rents, because of things we've done in places like Silver Spring. We've helped them with sidewalks, we've helped them with lighting, we've helped them with security."
Currently, the county does have voluntary rent increase guidelines, but Leggett admits those aren't working very well.
March 05, 2010 - 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 $279,000 from Thomas Jefferson high school in Fairfax County.
Since 2007 the magnet school has been named the nation's top public high school by U.S. News and World Report.
Litwin allegedly wrote checks to herself ranging from $2,500 to $35,000 over the last two years from school accounts. Federal prosecutors say she used the money to fuel a gambling habit and pay off credit card debt.
School system spokesman Paul Regnier says Litwin resigned earlier this week.
March 05, 2010 - 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 passengers to South Hayes Street, just outside the Pentagon. But many commuters at the bus bay in Pentagon City worry about getting to work on time.
One woman lives near U Street in Northwest D.C., and works in Skyline, so she usually takes a bus from the Pentagon to her office. When asked how she plans on getting to work, she says, "I'm gonna see if the shuttle comes! And then if not, the cabs are like $15, which is pretty annoying."
Several commuters say they're surprised the Pentagon station remains closed after last night's incident. Richard Keevill, chief of Pentagon Police, says a significant number of shots were fired, so investigators need more time to explore the crime scene.
Undated FBI photo of John Patrick Bedell, the gunman who was killed in a shootout with police officers at the Pentagon Metro station.
Courtesy of: NBC4.com
March 05, 2010 - 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 is a writer living in Great Falls, Virginia.
What do you think? Tell us on The Conversation.
March 05, 2010 - Morning Edition host Matt McCleskey talks with Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney about the week's top stories...
March 05, 2010 - 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 proposals that will be taken up later this year. But Board Member Jim Graham, a D.C. Councilman, says even considering them is too extreme.
"I have a number of concerns about this," says Graham, "But first and foremost is the uproar that this is going to cause."
Chris Zimmerman, a member of the Metro Board and the Arlington County Board, acknowledges the cuts and fare hikes will be controversial. But he says the public should at least be allowed to weigh in on them.
"We should put everything on the table, understanding that will get people upset about a lot of things," says Zimmerman. "They should be upset."
Public hearings on the proposed budget start later this month and go on through the spring.
March 05, 2010 - 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.
Matt Bush reports...
March 05, 2010 - 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, easily cured. That's one of the reasons why the school system and the city government are working together to move the clinic, which is currently located in a run-down trailer behind a strip mall. Over the summer, they plan to relocate the facility to T.C. Williams High School and rename it the Teen Wellness Center.
Michael Pope reports...
March 05, 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 Washingtonians both young and old, portraying figures from African American history and those making headlines today. This year's theme is "Lift Every Voice and Stand." Call 202-645-6242 for more information.
(March 5-April 11) THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA Arena Stage moves into its remodeled home in Southeast DC this fall. Before it does, the theater opens tonight with The Light in the Piazza, its penultimate play in Crystal City, Virginia, running through April 11th. Fate brings together a young American woman and a handsome Italian man in a whirlwind courtship shadowed by family secrets.
(March 6 & 7) LAS PINTURAS And historic Glen Echo Park's Yellow Barn Gallery features the work of Cuban-born artist Roger Perez in the exhibit Las Pinturas tomorrow and Sunday. Perez trains a wandering eye on the rolling hills of the Piedmont region and the sands of Puerto Vallarta, contrasting Virginia's farmlands with the beaches of Mexico.
March 05, 2010 - 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.
Pentagon Police Chief Richard Keevill says the gunman, now identified by police as 36 year-old John Patrick Bedell, appeared calm and said nothing to the officers before reaching into his pocket for a handgun.
"We see folks come up to the Pentagon everyday with their passes in different places. He reached into his pocket, they assumed he was getting his pass," says Keevill. "He came out with a gun and just started shooting."
Keevill says the officers were able to return fire leaving the gunman with critical injuries. All three were taken to George Washington University Hospital. The shooter later died of a head wound.
Police closed the Pentagon metro stop and locked down the building for a short time after the shooting.
Keevill says Arlington County Police, the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service are all assisting with the investigation.
Police cordoned off the area around the Pentagon Metro entrance after a gunman opened fire Thursday evening, wounding two Pentagon Police officers.
Courtesy of: Jonathan Wilson
March 05, 2010 - 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 firearms made or sold in the state from federal law and shield concealed handgun permit holders' information from the public.
Also tabled was a bill crafted by Republican delegate Scott Lingamfelter, of Prince William County, which would have repealed the states 17-year-old ban on buying more than one handgun a month.
Republicans and gun rights advocates cried foul when the subcommittee was created earlier in the week and given the authority to kill bills without a vote of the full committee.
It was Democrats' only hope of killing some of the measures because even though they have the majority on the full committee, several party members regularly vote with Republicans to approve pro-gun bills.
March 05, 2010 - 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 every Friday through April 2.
Andrew Hiller has more.
March 05, 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 February's headline a forgone conclusion.
Elizabeth Wynne Johnson reports.
March 05, 2010 - 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 weapons and several magazines of ammunition.
Chief Richard Keevill says authorities also found more ammunition in Bedell's car, that was found later in a Washington area parking garage. He died overnight from head wounds received in the exchange with police.
The two officers injured have been released from the hospital and are on administrative leave.
Keevill says they have found no immediate connection to domestic or foreign terrorism, but do not know Bedell's motive. He says it appeared Bedell acted alone and spent the last several weeks driving from California.
March 05, 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 Maryland should recognize same-sex marriages from other states.
Sean Sedam at the Gazette examines the impact of the gay-marriage on Gansler's political career. In his column, Blair Lee argues that Gansler’s personal opinion got in the way of his legal judgment.
BUDGET CUTS Gov. Martin O'Malley said Thursday that he plans to incorporate some Republican-proposed budget cuts, David Collins reports for WBAL-TV. Republicans say they're surprised that the governor actually listened to their proposals.
TEACHER SURVEY Most Maryland teachers are satisfied with their jobs, based on a survey to which 43,000 of them responded, Liz Bowie reports Marcus Moore has the Gazette take.
SCHOOL CLOSINGS Arthur Hirsch reports for The Sun that people are angry at the Archdiocese of Baltimore for planning to close 13 schools. But although 2,152 students will be displaced by the closures, all have been guaranteed spots in the archdiocese's remaining schools. WMAR reports that the Archdiocese denied speculation that they would be selling the properties.
RAWLINGS-BLAKE Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was taken to the hospital Thursday morning with chest pains, numbness and dizziness, The Sun reports. After 11 hours, she was released and she went back to work. WBAL-TV reports that she said she needs to "slow down" on her coffee habit.
FALSE CLAIMS Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan to recoup money lost through Medicaid has come under fire from health care professionals and businesses, Scott Graham reports for the Baltimore Business Journal. The parties take issue with a provision protecting and rewarding whistleblowers.
TRANSIT FUNDING The Maryland Transit Administration may not have enough money for personnel and operations in next year's budget, legislative analysts warn, but state transit officials insist that they’ll make do with the funding the governor gave them, Andy Rosen reports on MarylandReporter.com.
DeVORE Republican lawmakers called for the resignation of Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Donald DeVore in light of a teacher's death at one of the facilities last month, Julie Bykowicz writes for The Sun's Maryland Politics blog. But O'Malley says he has "full confidence" in DeVore. Doug Tallman reports on the resignation request in the Gazette.
LEAD PAINT Advocates and health officials are pushing for stricter lead-paint laws, specifically requiring landlords to test for lead dust in rental properties built before 1950 if they will be occupied by families with children, Timothy Wheeler writes in The Sun. But Landlords say the bill would force them to make extra repairs and upgrades, costing as much as $1,000 a rental unit.
TAX CREDITS Del. LeRoy Myers has introduced a bill that would create a tax credit for businesses that that establish or expand a business facility in the state resulting in at least 10 new jobs, Erin Julius reports in The (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail. Myers argues that Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed jobs tax credit doesn't adequately address job creation.
RENTAL FORECLOSURES State lawmakers are considering a bill that would protect renters of properties if landlords enter foreclosure, John Rydell reports for WBFF.
TEACHER UNIONS Local school officials railed against a bill that would create a neutral third party to handle school labor disputes, warning that the measure could usurp local spending authority, Nick DiMarco writes in MarylandReporter.com.
TARP MONEY Gov. O'Malley is asking the White House to give state governments $3 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program money so they can expand their loan-guarantee programs, Gary Haber writes in the Baltimore Business Journal. Doing so would cause banks to make $18 billion available to small businesses, O'Malley and 27 other governors said in a letter to President Barack Obama.
ROBO CALLS Rep. Frank Kratovil has been targeted by Republican robo-calls attacking the Democrat over the federal health care debate, Paul West writes for The Sun's Maryland Politics blog. But Kratovil said this week that he intends to vote against the health care legislation.
LICENSE PLATES Del. Donald Elliott has proposed dropping the front license plate from vehicles in the state, Meg Tully reports for the Frederick News Post. Elliott suggested the move as a cost-cutting measure, but police and toll workers oppose it because it makes law and toll enforcement easier, Steve Fermier reports for WBAL Radio.
ASSEMBLY WORK There’s lots left to do in the legislature with five weeks left to do, Doug Tallman reports in the Gazette.
NOTEBOOK The Gazette notebook has items on the Duke-Terps game, Vinnie DeMarco’s book, and more of Mike Miller’s musings from the rostrum.
COUNTY CUTS Erin Cunningham at the Gazette has more coverage of this week’s news conference by the Maryland Association of Counties, trying to stave off further cuts to local aid.
LIBRARY UNIONS Library administrators are fighting legislation that would give collective bargaining rights to their employees, Alan Brody reports in the Gazette.
RAMSAY Barry Rascovar comes to the defense of David Ramsay, retiring president of the University of Maryland at Baltimore, in his Gazette column.
EHRLICH The FCC has asked the state Democratic Party for the tape that backs up their complaint against former Gov. Bob Ehrlich, Margie Hyslop reports in the Gazette.
BAY FUND Environmentalists are battling proposed cuts to the Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund, Sean Sedam reports in the Gazette.
ALCOHOL TAXES Legislators continue to push for increases in the alcohol taxes, Erin Cunningham reports in the Gazette.
March 05, 2010 - 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 classes of people are protected by state nondiscrimination policies. Legislators have repeatedly refused to ban discrimination against gays in state employment practices.
The Republican attorney general says state institutions can't adopt a policy position that has been rejected by the general assembly. Democrats and gay-rights activists are criticizing Cuccinelli's move.
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