Local Leads: 7/29/10

News you need to know

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

SNIPER SPEAKS
Convicted DC snipers Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammad were supposed to have had help carrying out their deadly attacks, and they may have been involved in more shootings than authorities suspected, according to an interview with actor William Shatner that airs Thursday. (Richmond Times Dispatch)

NO MORE PEEKING
Maryland has quietly stopped its longstanding practice of allowing teachers to review test booklets up to two weeks before its annual reading and math examinations were given. State officials said they changed the practice before this year's Maryland School Assessments after questions arose about whether teachers were reviewing the test for content, which would not be an appropriate use of the booklets. (Baltimore Sun)

WHO KILLED VANESSA PHAM?
A cousin of the 19-year-old Falls Church woman murdered last month described herself Monday as a “wreck” who’s been playing detective from her Norwalk, Conn. home while the stabbing of her relative, Vanessa Pham, goes unsolved by Fairfax County police. Theories ranging from a slaying by a member of nearby homeless communities to the plotted jealous rage of a female acquaintance are being mulled by friends and a local private investigator. But Fairfax County Officer Don Gotthardt said Tuesday police are now convinced the killer is an unknown person, having already eliminated any potential suspects from Pham’s inner circle. (Falls Church News Press)

NO A/C ON SCHOOL BUSES
When temperatures shot up over 100 degrees this summer, most people escaped the sweltering heat in air conditioning. But for Frederick County students who rode school buses this summer, that was not always an option. Elizabeth Shannon's autistic son, for example, was travelling for nearly two hours every day on a school bus without air conditioning this summer, even when the temperatures outside reached record highs. (Gazette)

ST. MARY'S TODAY SOLD
St. Mary's Today owner Kenneth C. Rossignol announced to his readers Sunday that the newspaper he has edited and published for the last 21 years has been bought by California businessman Terry Clarke. "A new publisher has come on board to guide the future of the newspaper," Rossignol wrote in a signed editorial. "Terry Clarke is assuming control and will put his considerable business abilities to work adding staff and investing in advertising opportunities." (The Enterprise)

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