Local Leads: 12/26/2009

News you need to know

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

READY, SET, SHOP
Shoppers returned to malls Saturday, rummaging through thinly stocked shelves hunting for deals, next year's Christmas gifts and, for most, gifts for themselves.  Retailers made a push to woo gift-card-toting shoppers by slashing prices and offering doorbuster deals often reserved for the day after Thanksgiving.  Diana Mayfield, a 56-year-old business trainer from Jacksonville, Ill. managed to get two Christmas ornaments for $6, marked down from $28. She was out before dawn Saturday, scouring for next year's Christmas gifts.  "It's 60% off original, so that's pretty good," she said while eyeing a rack of sweaters. "I usually get my electronics the day after Thanksgiving, and we get clothes and paper goods the day after Christmas."
(USA TODAY)

MORE AIRPORT SCREENING THIS WEEKEND
A Nigerian man, claiming to be linked to al-Qaeda, allegedly tried to set off an incendiary device aboard a transatlantic airplane Friday as it descended toward Detroit's airport in what the White House called an attempted act of terrorism.  The man was quickly subdued after another passenger leapt on top of him, others on the plane said, and Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam landed safely around 1 p.m. Friday. The suspect was being treated at a hospital for burns he suffered while igniting the device, the Transportation Security Administration said.  The FBI is investigating the incident. President Obama, celebrating Christmas in Hawaii, was informed about it, a spokesman said, and he asked aides to ensure that all measures are in place to provide secure air travel.  Officials said they are not prepared to raise the terrorism alert level, currently at orange -- or the second-highest of five levels -- for domestic and international air travel. However, the Homeland Security Department said late Friday that passengers "may notice additional screening measures, put into place to ensure the safety of the traveling public on domestic and international flights."
(WASHINGTON POST)
 

KIDNAPPED GIRL'S BODY FOUND
The body of a kidnapped 11-year-old girl was found Christmas Day after a search that brought about 3,000 volunteers out to comb the muddy fields and woods of Wicomico County, law enforcement officials said.  Police say Sarah Haley Foxwell had been taken Tuesday night from her bedroom by a registered sex offender who has been held in her abduction for the past three days.  The girl's body was discovered about 4 p.m. in the Rum Ridge area of northern Wicomico about three-quarters of a mile south of the Maryland- Delaware state line, an area that had been a focus of the search.  Wicomico Sheriff Mike Lewis said no additional charges have been brought against Thomas James Leggs Jr., the sex offender who had been charged with kidnapping the girl. But he described the death as a murder.  Police would not comment on the cause of death or condition of Sarah's body.
(BALTIMORE SUN)

METRO OPEN LATE FOR SUNDAY'S SKINS GAME
Metro will run additional trains and its Morgan Boulevard station will stay open late to accommodate crowds expected for the Redskins' game at nearby FedEx Field.  The last Blue Line train will depart the station at 12:27 a.m. Sunday.  Metro says if the game goes into overtime officials will make sure trains are available to get fans home.  Parking at the Morgan Boulevard and Largo Town Center stations will cost $25.
(WTOP)

HUNTER FINDS MISSING FAMILY DOG
 For the Dolchan family, Christmas came early, on Dec. 22, when their blind, 14-year-old Jack Russell terrier, Boomer, was returned to them after spending five nights on Big Savage Mountain, surviving one of the worst snow storms in anybody’s memory.  “We let him out to pee like we always do,” said Katie Dolchan. “It was 5:15 p.m. Dec. 17.”  Katie’s husband, Bill, said Boomer’s routine is to do his business, return to the garage and bark, whereupon the door to warmth and love is opened and Boomer re-enters for pets from the Dolchan kids, Tyler, Madison and Liam.  This time there was no barking. This time there was no Boomer. Bill readily admits that this time there was panic.  “Tyler and I started looking and couldn’t find a trace of him. For three hours we searched, driving around using a spotlight. I’m sure people thought we were trying to spotlight deer.”  Katie, who was summoned from one of her children’s activities, figured a coyote had gotten the Jack Russell. “We could hear coyotes on the mountain as we searched,” she said.
(CUMBERLAND TIMES-NEWS)
 

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