The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
LOCAL PINBALL WIZARD
Silver Spring resident has 800 or more pinball machines in his home. For some 25 years, Silverman has been buying arcade pinball machines, those gaudily colored, delightfully cacophonic games of skill that involve a steel ball, a bunch of rubber bumpers amid a sea of flashing lights and a pair of electronic flippers that serve as the only thing between million-point success and hole-in-the-floor oblivion. (Baltimore Sun)
CASH FOR CLUNKERS SCRAPPED TONIGHT
With tonight's 8 p.m. deadline for the "Cash for Clunkers" program approaching, automobile dealerships were trying to finish the paperwork on those sales they had already made. (Baltimore Sun)
MARYLAND PRIEST INVESTIGATED
The Archdiocese of Baltimore has removed a former Frederick priest from the ministry, pending an investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse. Monsignor Thomas Bevan, 73, was most recently a pastor at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Cumberland. An individual who contacted the archdiocese alleges Bevan abused him on separate occasions in the mid-1970s while a student at the St. John Catholic Church parish school in Frederick , according to an archdiocese press release. The allegations are also being investigated by the Frederick County Sheriff's Office and Frederick County State's Attorney. (Frederick News-Post)
RESIDENTS FIGHT SHOPPING CENTER
Springdale residents hoping to block construction of a shopping center they allege will be a community nuisance have begun raising money to pay for an attorney in the event that they decide to appeal the county's approval of the project. Meanwhile, the attorney representing the center's developer said he is waiting on community representatives to contact him to discuss ways to address residents' concerns and create a covenant to determine what types of stores would be allowed in the center. (Gazette)
DULLES TOLL INCREASE
Tolls could increase on the Dulles Toll Road next January to help pay for the $2.6 billion Silver Line Metro expansion to Dulles Airport. Local business owners are already being taxed for the first phase of the expansion, which is currently under construction and could open by 2013. Public hearings begin tonight on the proposed 25-cent toll increase on the Dulles Toll Road, and similar hikes could come in 2011 and 2012. (wtop.com)
INTERNET FOR ALL
Montgomery, Prince George's and Howard counties and eight other Maryland jurisdictions are seeking $100 million in federal stimulus funds to expand their broadband Internet capabilities. The 11 jurisdictions are seeking funds primarily to give schools, libraries and government agencies greater access to online videos, teleconferencing and downloads through speedier high-capacity connections. The money also would be used to build dedicated phone and data lines for public safety use during a disaster, an attempt to avert the communications problems experienced in New York and Washington during the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. (Washington Post)
YOGA BATTLE
The tussle has pitted yoga enthusiasts against bureaucrats. At issue: Are yoga teacher training programs akin to vocational classes that should be regulated by the state? Or is Big Brother stretching too far into a centuries-old spiritual practice? The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia recently declared that studios offering yoga teacher instruction must be certified. That involves a $2,500 fee, audits, annual charges of at least $500 and a pile of paperwork. (Washington Post)
