The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
PAY MORE TOLLS, WIDEN I-270
Are you ready to pay higher tolls at Maryland toll facilities to widen a highway whose benefits you'll never use and which puts Baltimore at a competitive disadvantage? It's not out of the question. Ben Ross of the Action Committee for Transit raised that possibility while we were chatting the other day about the proposed $4.6 billion project to widen Interstate 270 by adding two express toll lanes in each direction. (Baltimore Sun)
GET READY TO BAKE
The Mid-Atlantic region is bracing for extreme heat. The National Weather Service has issued heat advisories and warnings in the Washington region and in Maryland and Delaware through tonight. (Frederick News Post)
DRESS UP FOR COURT
Court clerks can't give visitors legal advice, but they will furnish them with information, receipts for payments and directions to courtrooms and other offices. They also lent Rose Briscoe a pair of scissors. The Lexington Park woman dutifully arrived at the Carter state office building in Leonardtown in May for a preliminary inquiry on a charge of unauthorized drinking in a shopping center's parking lot. She discovered that she was out of compliance with a prohibition against wearing shorts in court. (The Independent)
FAIRFAX SCHOOLS OPENING SOON!
County school officials are expecting 173,573 students back in the classroom when school resumes on Sept. 8, according to new projections. That would rank Fairfax as by far the largest school district in Virginia, and the 12th largest across the nation. (Sun Gazette)
LOUDOUN SEX ASSAULT
The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office is investigating the alleged sexual assault of a 32-year-old Fairfax County woman in the Chantilly area Aug. 7. The woman told police she was going to a residence in the 25600 block of Gum Spring Road at about 6:30 p.m. when two men approached her, Sheriff's Office spokesman Kraig Troxell said. She said that one of the attackers held her while a second attacker sexually assaulted her. (Loudoun Times)
VACANT HOME REGISTRY
Prince George’s County will require property owners to register vacant or unoccupied residential buildings as of Aug. 21, according to legislation signed by County Executive Jack Johnson and the county council. The law, which was signed in July, aims to prevent neighborhood eye sores and property neglect and requires that all residential property subject to foreclosure be registered. (Washington Business Journal)
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
MD BUDGET SUGGESTIONS
Maryland residents who want to make recommendations on how the state should handle its budget problems have until midnight. The deadline for submitting ideas on the Web is midnight Monday. Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration already has received thousands of comments. Last month, the Board of Public Works approved about $280 million in spending reductions in a step toward addressing a shortfall of more than $700 million.(wtop.com)
MATCHBOOK CONVENTION
If you're looking to meet your match, you could get lucky among the international matchbook cover collectors gathering this week for an annual convention in Hagerstown. The Rathkamp Matchcover Society says nearly 300 collectors from the United States, Canada, England and Australia are expected at the event, which runs Monday through Saturday. The society, named for a Rhode Island collector who died in 1940, claims to be the world's oldest and largest organization focusing on matchbook covers. Matchbook collectors are known as phillumenists, which means "lovers of light." (ap/Baltimore Sun)
