The Night Note: 12/16/09

News you need to know.

The following stories are brought to you by the fine folks on the News4 assignment desk.

TIGER IS ATHLETE OF DECADE
It's been a long time since the name Tiger Woods has been associated with good news for anyone other than the guys who come up with front pages for the New York Post, but that changed Wednesday when he was named Athlete of the Decade by the Associated Press. Woods got 56 of 142 votes for the honor, with more than half of the ballots sent by AP editors sent in after the entire world stopped paying attention to anything but his sex life late in November. (NBC Washington)

PRINCE CHARLES PRIVATE JET FAUX PAS
PRINCE Charles used up seven months’ worth of the average British person’s “carbon footprint” yesterday flying to Copenhagen on an executive jet to make a speech on climate change.


The heir to the throne, who prides himself on his green credentials, cost taxpayers an estimated £12,000 and racked up a 6.486-ton carbon footprint in one day by taking a seven-seater RAF Royal Flight HS125 jet to the summit in the Danish capital. (Daily Express)

CHANGE THE WAY THEY TOLL?
What would encourage people to take toll roads more often -- paying by trip or paying by the number of miles traveled?

Fairfax County is studying the idea of basing tolls on the number of miles you travel, rather than having a fixed price on the eight-lane Dulles Toll Road and the privately-owned Dulles Greenway.

"I think when people are penalized for a short trip, they won't take it," says Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova. (WTOP)

STOLEN MONEY MAILED BACK TO BANK
Someone mailed an envelope filled with money to a western Pennsylvania bank that was robbed earlier this month, and the FBI suspects it was either the repentant robber or an acquaintance of his.

Special Agent Jeff Killeen says the returned money doesn't cancel out the crime that was committed Dec. 9 at the PNC Bank in West Newton, a tiny borough about 20 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. (MSNBC)

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