News Archive - April 20, 2010

Latest Maryland Regional News

CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) Residents of Cumberland are making it clear that they oppose a merger of the city's two public high schools. Twenty-five speakers at a public meeting yesterday unanimously opposed consolidating Allegany and Fort Hill high schools.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) A Maryland House co...

Power Breakfast For April 20, 2010

If good fences make good neighbors, do bad fences make bad neighbors?

Today the Senate Homeland Security Committee takes up the matter of border security. Today's hearing focuses on the future of the so-called "virtual fence" - an array of high-tech monitoring devices with a track record th...

Latest D.C. Local News

WASHINGTON (AP) Advocates for victims of sexual abuse by priests are protesting plans by a retired Vatican cardinal to celebrate Mass in Washington, D.C. Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos is scheduled to celebrate a special Latin Mass on Saturday in honor of the fifth anniversary of Pope Benedict X...

Family Members Of D.C. Drive-By Shooting Victims Call For Action

By Patrick Madden

Family members of the victims from the mass shooting in Southeast D.C. are pushing for legislative action. Several spent Monday at two separate D.C. Council hearings pressing for explanations and accountability.

Nardyne Jefferies testimony was hard to listen to.

...

Latest Virginia Regional News

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) A judge has sentenced a former Virginia Tech graduate student who admitted to decapitating a classmate to life in prison. Haiyang Zhu (HY-yung JOO) was sentenced yesterday in Montgomery County Circuit Court to life without parole. The slaying was the first at the Blacksburg uni...

Possible Changes Ahead For MetroAccess

By David Schultz

Metro is considering making changes to the way it determines who is eligible for MetroAccess, its transit service for people with disabilities.

Currently, it uses a one-size-fits-all criteria. If Metro determines you're disabled and you're eligible for MetroAccess, yo...

Apollo Theater Exhibit In D.C. Shows Jackson's Hat

By BRETT ZONGKER Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) Michael Jackson's fedora, Ella Fitzgerald's dress and Louis Armstrong's trumpet are together in Washington to celebrate New York's Apollo Theater that helped make these stars shine.

The Smithsonian's not-yet-built black history...

Anacostia Restoration Plan Unveiled

By Sabri Ben-Achour

The Army Corps of Engineers has unveiled a $3 billion proposal for restoring the Anacostia River.

At Bladensburg Waterfront Park in Maryland, the tide unmasks some of the Anacostia River's problems. A tire pokes out of the water, part of the 20,000 tons of trash th...

D.C. Voting Rights Bill Will Not Come To House Floor

By Elizabeth Wynne Johnson

Political maneuvering has determined the fate of the D.C. Voting Rights Act -- at least for now. The bill to grant full voting representation to the citizens of D.C. was poised to come to the House floor, but today Democratic leaders announced the bill will not be...

WASA Northwest D.C. Tap Water Warning

By Marcus Rosenbaum

Areas affected:

*West Boundary: Western Avenue, NW

*North Boundary: River Road, NW

*East Boundary: Connecticut Avenue, NW

*South Boundary Nebraska Avenue, NW

The DC Water and Sewer Authority has again reduced the area affected by its advisor...

Following Shooting, D.C.'s Rehabilitative Approach Under Scrutiny

By Patrick Madden

Five years ago, Washington D.C. became a national model for juvenile justice reform. It moved away from locking up youths and placed more emphasis on rehabilitation. But after a mass shooting in Southeast D.C., some city lawmakers are now questioning the reform effort....

Environmental Group Pressing For Answers On Intersex Fish

By Sabri Ben-Achour

Environmental groups and politicians are campaigning to find out why "intersex" fish continue to show up in the Potomac river and its tributaries.

It's been seven years since male bass in the Potomac were found to have eggs and egg precursors growing in their repro...

House Dumps Legislation Giving D.C. Vote In Congress

By JIM ABRAMS Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) The House has abandoned plans to take up legislation giving residents of the District of Columbia a vote in Congress that has been denied them for over two centuries.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said he was "profoundly disapp...

Gun Enthusiasts Rally In Northern Virginia

By Michael Pope

Some supporters of the Second Amendment say they won't stop with armed protests against what they see as increasing federal intrusion. They plan on taking their concerns to the ballot box later this year.

Participants of the Restore the Constitution rally say the count...

UPDATE: Tap Water Warning Lifted For D.C.

From the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority:

The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (D.C. WASA) has canceled the advisory from this morning for some neighborhoods in Northwest to not use the water. The advisory has been lifted for all neighborhoods in the affected area.

As an...

Dorothy Height, Civil Rights Activist, Dies At 98

By BEN EVANS Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) Dorothy Height, the leading female voice of the 1960s civil rights movement and a participant in historic marches with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others, died Tuesday. She was 98.

Height, whose activism on behalf of women and mi...

Council Members Cool To Voting Rights Bill

Peter Granitz

The House could take up the D.C. Voting Rights Act this week. Some members of the D.C. Council will not support the bill if it weakens the District’s gun regulations.

Council Chairman Vincent Gray says giving up the ability to restrict guns locally is not worth the trade...

MarylandReporter.com: State Roundup April 20, 2010

From the Maryland Reporter website:

DRUNK DRIVING House Judiciary Chairman Joseph Vallario says he regrets not being able to reach a compromise on legislation to toughen drunk driving laws, writes Ashley Halsey III for the Washington Post.

A chart that Vallario used to support his dec...

Teacher Abducted By Student In Northwest D.C.

By Matt Bush

A student at Wilson High School in northwest D.C. has been arrested and charged with kidnapping a teacher who works at the school.

The incident occurred over the weekend when the 15-year-old student and an accomplice saw the woman in Adams-Morgan. Police say the pair forc...

"Art Beat" With Stephanie Kaye - Tuesday, April 20, 2010

(April 21-June 16) HAMFEST Hold the green eggs - this Hamfest is about the bard, not bacon. Captiol Hill's Folger Theatre kicks of Hamfest tomorrow in celebration of Shakespeare's great Dane. The festival features a series of programs in conjunction with the production through June 6th.

(Ap...