The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
TRIPLE-DIGIT HEAT EXPECTED
Pity poor Chris Brown, like a lot of people did Friday. With his walkie-talkie and badge identifying him as a bicycle messenger, almost every elevator he walked into had someone who remarked, unbidden, "I'm glad I don't do what you're doing." "I've got the air conditioner cranked at home, so when I walk in, the sweat will solidify, and I can wash it off," Brown, 29, said longingly, facing a workday in which his coping strategy for the heat boiled down to two steps: Keep drinking water and sweating.
With another oppressively hot weekend ahead, July has established itself as one of the hottest on record.
(WASHINGTON POST)
LEDO PIZZA MOVES TO COLLEGE PARK
After 55 years at its original location, Ledo Restaurant will close its doors in the Adelphi Shopping Center for the final time on Sunday. It will move to a new location in College Park, where owners expect to open the week of Aug. 8. The restaurant, which specializes in pizza, sandwiches and other Italian and American dishes, was founded by Tommy Marcos Sr. in 1955. Last year, the Marcos family signed an agreement to move into ground floor retail space in College Park's newly opened downtown parking garage, rather than make costly, extensive renovations to their longtime home. "It's going to be emotional. There's a lot of history in that location," said Tommy Marcos Jr., who owns and operates the restaurant with his brother, Jimmy. "I kind of grew up in there and I know a lot of people who have been in the area. There's just a lot of memories."
(GAZETTE.NET)
GAMBLING BOOM ON MARYLAND'S BORDERS
If you wanted to play blackjack, poker and roulette on the East Coast, you used to have to drive to Atlantic City. Now you just have to drive to Maryland's borders. That short trip is what Baltimore charter company Superior Tours is betting on. It has begun weekly trips to the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia, about a 90-minute drive west of Baltimore. Superior Tours packed two buses for its inaugural trip to Charles Town this month. "We've been taking people to Atlantic City for 16 years," said Marc Komins, an executive vice president at Superior Tours. "This was half the distance and half the price, so I thought our Atlantic City customers would enjoy going somewhere for a shorter day for half the money." While Maryland's slots-only program flounders amid delays and legal battles, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware are expanding the types of gambling that they allow.
(BALTIMORE SUN)
ECO-TERRORISM OR PLAIN VANDALISM?
If you're a loud-and-proud SUV driver in northwest D.C., be on the lookout for a possible eco-terrorist. At least 20 vehicles had slashed tires this morning in one neighborhood. And you guessed it: All of them were SUVs. Suspicious, right? Neighbors are already accusing the suspect of trying to make a point about their horrible gas mileage. This anti-gas-guzzler really taught those SUV drivers a lesson. Now they have to dump a perfectly good tire and replace it with a new one. Totally eco-friendly!
Where did the eco-terrorist hit last night? Between 39th and Calvert streets N.W., from Davis to Tunlaw.
(WASHINGTON CITY PAPER)
