The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
SCHOOL PLASTERED IN SWASTIKA STICKERS
Police charged a Potomac High School student with plastering the school, and a patrol car, in swastika stickers. Stickers bearing the Nazi symbol were found on the doors, exits signs and lockers in the school at 3401 Panther Pride Drive between April 15 and May 5. Swastikas were also spread across a Prince William police cruiser belonging to a school resource officer, said county police spokeswoman Erika Hernandez. (Insidenova.com)
NATIONAL HARBOR PARKING WOES
There was a time when Zeno St. Cyr visited National Harbor nearly every week. St. Cyr, a resident of Fort Washington, would browse the development's shops and entertain guests at its newest restaurants. And then came the parking meters.
Like St. Cyr, area residents and business owners at the Oxon Hill development said parking rates at National Harbor's meters and garages are starting to hit their wallets hard. Curbside parking spaces that were previously free to use are now on strictly enforced metered parking as the county has continued installing paid meters at the development. (Gazette)
STRICT CELL PHONE BAN
The school board in Prince George's County is considering one of the strictest cell phone bans in the region. Educators say texting has become a huge problem in the classroom. Some students use their phones to record videos of fights in the hallways. (AP/wtop.com)
FINE FOR TYING UP DOGS
Alexandria residents face a proposed law that would block dog owners from tying up their pets outside -- whether at home or on city streets -- for more than 60 minutes. The City Council introduced an ordinance that would limit the amount of time residents or visitors can tether a dog outdoors to one hour per day. That includes tying dogs up outside restaurants in Old Town -- a common practice during the summer. (Washington Examiner)
INFECTED RESEARCHERS TO BETHESDA
A plan developed two years ago by the National Institutes of Health and recently finalized will send infected researchers to Bethesda instead of treating them locally. The plan was written as the government assembled a National Interagency Biodefense Campus at Fort Detrick. One of the labs, the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, decided researchers who accidentally infect themselves in the lab should be brought to the main NIH campus in Bethesda, to the newly renovated Special Clinic Studies Unit. (Frederick News Post)
JIMMY SMITS, CAPITOL 4TH
Actor Jimmy Smits and country music performer Reba McEntire are among celebrities lined up for this year's "A Capitol Fourth" show, broadcast live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. This is the 30th anniversary broadcast of the show, which leads up to Washington's fireworks display on the National Mall.
(Washington Business Journal)
