The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
METRO ON HEIGHTENED ALERT
Metro police officers are on heightened alert following the failed New York City bombing in Times Square over the weekend.
K-9 teams, specialty officers and extra units are being deployed at some stations, Kiss and Ride lots and station entrances as a direct result of the terror plot. (wtop.com)
NEIGHBORS FEUD, LEADS TO DEATH
As neighborhood disputes go, the ones between Ronald Ragland Sr. and Robert D. Mitchell were pretty trivial, neighbors said.
Who could throw a bigger cookout? Whose lawn was in better shape? These were the kinds of concerns, neighbors said, that had the two men shouting across the street at each other from their Brandywine homes. (Washington Post)
HOLD THE WHISTLE
Alexandria has become a whistle stop town — in more ways than one. Trains have been a regular feature of city life here since before the Civil War. But lately they’ve been making a ruckus. All over Alexandria, the sound of train whistles has been heard at all hours of the night and day. The reason for the noise is simple — construction. (Alexandria Gazette Packet)
LOCAL DINOSAURS AT THE SMITHSONIAN
The Smithsonian Institution's Dinosaur Hall is filled with the skeletons of magnificent giants, collected from around the world by professional paleontologists. But the museum's first-ever exhibition of dinosaur fossils from the museum's own "backyard" would not have been possible without the contributions of local amateurs. (Baltimore Sun)
"WHAT KIND OF LOWLIFE WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"
The owners of an auto salvage company thought they were doing a nice thing for students. Last month, Buddy and Karen Smith of North County Recovery donated two totaled cars to Chesapeake High School for a mock car accident aimed at teaching students not to drink and drive. Many high schools host similar events in the spring to deter students from imbibing at the prom.
But last week, the Smiths discovered that someone had stolen the fiberglass hood, cold-air intake system, battery and headlights from one of the cars - about $1,400 worth of parts. (The Capital)
