The following stories are brought to you by the fine folks on the News4 assignment desk.
ARMY 'BIRTHER' PLEADS GUILTY TO 1 OF 2 CHARGES
WTOP: "An Army doctor who disobeyed orders to deploy to Afghanistan because he questioned President Barack Obama's eligibility for office pleaded guilty Tuesday to one of two charges against him.
Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin of Greeley, Colo., pleaded guilty in a military court to a charge that included not meeting with a superior when ordered to do so and not reporting to duty at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. Lakin, a 17-year veteran, faces up to 18 months in prison and dismissal from the Army when he is sentenced on that charge."
SURVIVOR OF MEDEVAC CRASH FILES $50M SUIT
The Gazette: "The sole survivor of a 2008 Maryland State Police helicopter crash in District Heights has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration, alleging negligence on the part of air traffic controllers.
Jordan Wells, 20, of Waldorf filed the suit Dec. 7 with the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Greenbelt.
The suit states that before the Sept. 27, 2008, crash, the FAA traffic controllers who were based at Joint Base Andrews gave Maryland State Police pilot Stephen J. Bunker dated information on weather conditions, failed to guide him in the Trooper 2 helicopter to a safe landing as navigation equipment began to falter and did not alert paramedics to the scene of the crash."
COUNCIL CONSIDERS EXTENSION OF GEORGETOWN ALCOHOL LICENSING BAN
DCist: "Are you ready for Georgetown to become "a party scene late at night with the streets overrun with cars, parking problems and people roaming around"? Me too! Wait....what?
The Georgetown Dish tipped us off that the D.C. Council addressed a moratorium on alcohol licenses in Georgetown this morning. The Committee on Public Works and Transportation has suggested extending the ban, which has existed for for over two decades, for another five years. This stretches beyond the three-year moratorium that the city's Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration recommended -- and it seems that everyone in the neighborhood, with or without clout, is on board."
FALLS CHURCH TOPS NATION IN MEDIAN INCOME, RATIO OF COLLEGE GRADS
Falls Church News-Press: "Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today, based on five years of information gathered in the American Community Survey, shows that the 11,400 residents of the City of Falls Church have the highest median income and the highest ratio of college graduates of any independent jurisdiction in the U.S.
The data shows that seven out of 10 adults in F.C.have at least a bachelor's degree, and 39 percent have advanced degrees, a higher ratio than even the "rocket scientists" in Los Alamos, New Mexico, home to the Los Alamos National Laboratory. In addition, the median household income in Falls Church tops $113,000. Falls Church Vice Mayor David Snyder, quoted by the Washington Post today, said of the median income number reflects a high number of two-income households. He stated, "It means there aren't a lot of super-rich people. But there are a lot of people who are strong achievers.""
