The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
12 STITCHES FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA
(WASHINGTON POST)
"In the basketball presidency, it was bound to happen. In a Friday morning pickup game, President Obama was accidentally elbowed by one of his fellow players, forcing him to get 12 stitches in his lip, the White House said. Obama received the stitches under local anesthesia in the doctor's office on the ground floor of the White House after he returned home from the game at Fort McNair, a military base where he often plays. The White House at first did not identify the person who went up for a shot and elbowed Obama, who was playing defense. But later Friday, administration officials released a statement from Rey Decerega, the director of programs for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, who injured Obama in the last of five five-on-five games."
CHRISTMAS TREE FARMERS READY
(WTOP)
"The smell is unmistakable -- Christmas. White Pine, Scotch Pine, Red Cedar and Douglas Fir surround Peter Knop at Ticonderoga Farms in Chantilly, which is open Thursday for families whose Thanksgiving tradition includes choosing and cutting down the year's Christmas tree. With trees ranging from table-top size to 30 feet tall, Knop says "most people know what kind they want before they get here." Getting up close, the trees needles range from long and willowy to short and needle-sharp. "The softest tree would be your white pine. It's has quite strong branches for ornaments," says Knop."
SHOPPERS SWARM POTOMAC MILLS
(INSIDE NOVA) "Shoppers didn’t just walk into Potomac Mills mall when it opened at midnight Friday, they ran. More than 25 people looking for discounted shoes swarmed the front of a Foot Action athletic wear store before employees were able to raise the overhead security gates. Shoppers were told to form two lines before they could enter. "We've got to get this gate open," one mall security guard told the crowd. As stores opened, the masses at the mall continued to grow in size, eventually becoming wall-to-wall crowds, some of which stood between velvet ropes as they waited to get into such fashionable shops as J Crew, Coach and Juicy Couture."
WILL SHOPPERS BUY SMALL BIZ SATURDAY?
(WASHINGTON EXAMINER)
"Why should the Walmarts and Targets of the retail world gobble up all the doorbuster sales fun? More than 1 million people have joined (on Facebook, anyway) a movement called Small Business Saturday, the mom 'n pop shop answer to the madness of Black Friday.SBS is a national movement to drive shoppers to local merchants across the country and support the idea that they "create jobs, boost the economy and preserve neighborhoods around the country," according to the mission statement. Of course, as wonderful as it is to support your local businesses, we'd be remiss if we didn't note that SBS was conjured up by American Express OPEN, the company’s small business unit. AmEx is also giving registered card members a $25 credit if they shop at a small businesses on Saturday."
MD DEER HUNTING SEASON BEGINS
(FREDERICK NEWSPOST)
"Jeff Wilson began hunting 33 years ago, when he was 7. He remembers staying up until 3 a.m. the night before firearm deer season began, restless with anticipation. On Friday, he browsed the wares at The Gun Center in Frederick with his son on the eve of the start of this year's two-week-long firearm deer season. He said he gets more rest than when he was a child. "I guess the biggest excitement about deer hunting is that you never know what you'll see," Wilson said. Each year, about 56,000 hunters seek deer with a firearm in the state, and they kill about 54 percent of the harvested deer, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. During the 2009-2010 season, hunters in Frederick County killed 8,447 deer."
