Local Leads: 2/5/2011

News you need to know

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

POLICE INCREASE PATROLS FOR SUPER BOWL
(NVDAILY.COM/AP)
"Police throughout the mid-Atlantic region are planning extra patrols on Super Bowl Sunday in a bid to deter drunken driving and keep the roads safe.  Virginia State Police say there will be an increased presence on interstate highways in northern Virginia from 8 p.m. Sunday to 4 a.m. Monday.  In Maryland, state police from all 22 barracks will deploy additional patrols to focus specifically on drunken driving. And troopers on regular duty will be asked to look for impaired drivers between service calls.  Local agencies will also be putting extra officers on the roads."

PANHANDLING PERMIT?
(GAZETTE.NET)
"Montgomery County panhandlers would have to apply for permits to ask drivers for spare change, under legislation Executive Isiah Leggett (D) is requesting of state lawmakers.  Leggett said panhandlers often stand in the median strip of county roads, which is allowed under county law, but that many approach drivers by walking into the street, which is not.  In the county, panhandling is legal, but aggressive panhandling is not.  A permitting system would allow the government to better regulate panhandling and other solicitations — from medians or roadsides — by tracking panhandlers and educating them on the rules, Leggett said."

PICK-UP ARTIST IN TOWN
(WTOP)
"Could you pick up on a pick-up artist if he was working his game right before your eyes? Adam Lyons doubts it.  "We've only been spotted twice in the past three years to my knowledge," Lyons says. "If a girl could actually come up to me or one of my instructors, I'd buy that girl a drink to say 'I'm impressed.'"   To operate as a lurking shadow over single women is far from what Lyons is trying to accomplish this weekend as he hosts a "boot camp" in downtown D.C. for men looking to improve their skills with the opposite sex.   Lyons, who in various circles is considered "The World's Greatest Pickup Artist," plans to help local men improve their ability to whisk women away over the course of his weekend workshop, and try do it without a hint of sleaze or cheese that can come from unskilled (and possibly desperate) men spitting out rehearsed pick-up lines."


HISTORICAL CHESS PIECES FOUND
(FREDERICKSBURG.COM)
"Presidents James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, who shared interests in education, architecture and politics, loved to match wits. Often, the architect of the Bill of Rights and the author of the Declaration of Independence dueled over a chess board. And now, archaeologists at Madison's home in Orange County say they've unearthed fragments of a chess set they think Madison used when playing his friend from neighboring Albemarle County.  Archaeologists recently found fragments of two pawns while investigating part of Madison's Montpelier estate. Initially, they thought the pieces' quarter-inch tops were sewing bobbins, but then figured out they were shards of chessmen.  Matthew Reeves, director of archaeology at the 2,650-acre estate, called the pieces "a treasure from the past reflecting James Madison's intellectual pursuits and social life.""

GEARING UP FOR CHINATOWN PARARDE
(WASHINGTONPOST.COM)
"The Year of the Hare Chinese New Year parade and celebration will close several streets in the District's Chinatown on Sunday afternoon. There's also another big event drawing crowds to Gallery Place: The Washington Capitals host the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Verizon Center on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (in a game that will be shown on NBC). The area around the Verizon Center will be incredibly packed on Sunday, so allow extra time if you're heading there.   Street closures related to the parade and celebration will mostly begin at 1:30 p.m. and run through 3:30 p.m. The closest Metro station is the Gallery Place-Chinatown stop, but in addition to crowds, there will be Metro work causing some delays on the Red Line. Again: leave a lot of extra time if you're heading this way."
 

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