Local Leads: 11/24/09

News you need to know

By CHARLIE BRAGALE

Updated 2:46 PM EDT, Tue, Nov 24, 2009

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The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:

USE CAUTION THIS THANKSGIVING
Virginia police want motorists to know: When they travel this Thanksgiving holiday, buckle up. For the last two Wednesday-to-Sunday travel periods surrounding Thanksgiving, there were 31 fatalities on the road. Thirty-nine percent weren’t wearing seat belts. (Richmond Times Dispatch)

MAN USED DAD'S MEDICARE...
A Maryland man accused of using his dead father's Medicare so he could pay for 145 prescriptions of powerful pain medications filled out by 60 Washington-area doctors over a three-year period is expected to plead guilty. Rodney T. Fahrenholtz was indicted on health care fraud charges last month. On Monday, a judge scheduled a December hearing for a plea agreement, which typically means the defendant plans to plead guilty, court records show. Calls to his attorney were not immediately returned. (wtop.com)

HOME SALES UP
U.S. home sales surged for the second month in a row in October, climbing to the highest level in 2 years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of an expiring tax credit. Home sales nationwide are now up nearly 37 percent from their bottom in January, data released yesterday showed, though they are still 16 percent below the peak in autumn 2005. At the current sales pace, there is only a 7-month supply of homes on the market and in some areas there are bidding wars. (Fredericksburg.com)

DINOSAUR BONES IN LAUREL
Maryland's new dinosaur park near Laurel has been opened for public prospecting on just two Saturday afternoons so far, and already one of the visitors' finds is headed to the Smithsonian Institution. On Saturday, a 9-year-old girl from Annandale, Va., picked up a small fossil bone that experienced dinosaur hunters say probably was a vertebra from near the end of a meat-eating "raptor's" tail. (Baltimore Sun)

SWEET AND SOUR ROADS
A thick, viscous fluid that is made from sugar beets, looks and feels like motor oil and smells a bit like instant coffee is part of the State Highway Administration's plans to keep Maryland roadways free of snow and ice this winter. The molasses-based substance, known as Ice Bite, will be used in a pilot project in Frederick and Howard counties to test its effectiveness in pre-treating highways before spraying salt. (Baltimore Sun)

TWO LOCAL TEENS WIN ON JEOPARDY
Two McLean teenagers recently advanced far in television’s “Jeopardy! Teen Tournament” and took home thousands of dollars for college and travel. Aidan Mehigan, son of Tom and Mary Mehigan, placed third overall and won $15,000. Stephanie Radke, daughter of Mark Radke and Helen Chaikovsky, made it to the quarter-finals and won $5,000. (Sun Gazette)