Local Leads: 4/11/2009

GUN SHOW LOOPHOLE  ADS
New York's mayor and relatives of Virginia Tech massacre victims are releasing a new television ad next week urging the state to close a gun show loophole.  The second anniversary of the shooting is next Thursday.  New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will join victims' relatives in Arlington on Monday to release the ad.  It calls for Virginia to end a practice allowing what are called "occasional sellers" at gun shows to sell weapons without conducting background checks.
(AP/WTOP)

SPEED CAMERA BILL HEADS TO THE GOVERNOR

The House of Delegates on Friday passed a bill allowing counties and municipalities statewide to install speed enforcement cameras near schools and in highway work zones.  The bill, which passed 94-41 after two days of debate, is headed to Gov. Martin O'Malley's desk.  It allows local jurisdictions to issue $40 tickets to speeders photographed going 12 mph or more above the posted limit. Drivers would not receive points on their license.  The Senate passed the measure last week after bringing it back to the floor for reconsideration a day after it was voted down.  Opponents of the bill said that the cameras, currently allowed in Montgomery County only, were nothing more than revenue generators and that police officers are better for public safety.
(GAZETTE.NET)

RESTON FAMILY STILL MISSING

Detectives are asking for the public’s help in locating a Reston woman and her two young children.   Police were called last night after Amy Beth West, 37, did not show up for a scheduled 8 p.m. meeting.  Officers responded to her home in the 11400 block Esplanade Drive and found her car, purse, cell phone and credit cards.  West and her two children are considered endangered missing persons. West takes medications for a mental disorder and may not have them with her.  It is also possible she may be armed with a handgun.   West was last seen with her children, Maximus James and Jack William West, yesterday morning.  Maximus is 6 years old, 3 feet 8 inches tall and 45 pounds; Jack is about 1 year old, 2 feet tall and about 35 pounds. Amy West is approximately 5 feet 4 inches and 145 pounds. All three family members have brown hair and brown eyes.
(FAIRFAX TIMES)

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS BATTLE

Virginia Democrats on Thursday began what promised to be a lengthy protest of the Republican-led House’s refusal to expand unemployment benefits, preventing the commonwealth from receiving $125 million in federal stimulus funds.  Gov. Tim Kaine had proposed to extend benefits to two new groups: part-time workers and those in job-training programs. The change would have satisfied the White House’s conditions for the stimulus aid.  The measure didn’t, however, satisfy Virginia business groups and GOP legislators, who blocked it on a 53-46 vote Wednesday. They argued the expansion would have created a new burden for employers once the stimulus windfall ran out.  Democrats swiftly denounced the GOP’s decision to block the expansion, setting up a political battle likely to continue until November elections, in which Virginians will vote for a new governor, all 100 delegate seats and other statewide offices. “I don’t think there is any question that what happened yesterday is an elevation of politics over and above the welfare of a lot of people in this commonwealth,” Virginia Democratic Party Chairman Richard Cranwell told The Examiner.

(DC EXAMINER)

DC BALDUCCI'S WILL CLOSE
Recession-minded consumers who once embraced artisan cheeses and fine olive oils are scaling back, and among the losers is gourmet grocer Balducci's.  The embattled chain is planning to shut down its only store in the District at the end of June.  The store on New Mexico Avenue near American University is one of four locations -- the others are in Ridgefield, Conn., and New York City -- scheduled to close under a company reorganization. Balducci's spokeswoman Jennifer Barton said the stores in Bethesda, McLean and Alexandria will remain open, along with the ones in Greenwich and Westport, Conn., and Scarsdale, N.Y.  Balducci's has grappled with instability in its top ranks over the past decade, a time of increased competition from high-end food retailers.

(THE WASHINGTON POST)

D.C. APARTMENT MARKET AMONG THE BEST

The D.C. area continues to boast one of the best apartment markets in the U.S., with a vacancy rate well below the national number, according to a report published by Delta Associates, in consultation with Transwestern. As of the first quarter of 2009, the region’s stabilized vacancy rate for Class A and Class B apartments increased to 4.6 percent from 4.5 percent a year ago. While the D.C. area posts one of the lowest vacancy rates of any metro area, compared to the national rate of 6.6 percent, D.C.’s rate is still high by its standards. “While several quarters of weaker performance are ahead for the Washington metro, the groundwork is being laid for stronger market conditions in 2012, and perhaps an emerging product shortage by late 2012 or early 2013,” says the report.  Rent increases over the past 12 months for all investment grade apartments kept under the long-term average of 4.2 percent per annum, at 0.5 percent since March 2008.
(WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL)