The Night Note: 5/11/10

News you need to know.

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

AREA REAL ESTATE PRICES CLIMB
The latest read on Washington-area housing prices shows strong year-over-year gains, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Its quarterly report says the median price of a single-family home in the Washington region in the first quarter was $292,600, up 4.7 percent from a year ago.

Nationally, median home prices last quarter were down 0.7 percent from a year ago, but NAR says prices were up in 91 of the nation's 151 largest metro areas. NAR says 29 cities saw double-digit increases. (Washington Business Journal)

CONVICTED CLUB KINGPIN GETS THREE YEARS IN JAIL
Former nightlife impresario Abdul Karim Khanu was sentenced to more than three years in prison on Tuesday. Khanu, the former owner of nightclubs
DC Live, Platinum, and H2O,  has been detained since he was found guilty of tax-evasion charges on Dec. 1.

Khanu was accused of skimming money from two of his establishments-- DC Live and Platinum--from at least 2000 to 2003. Prosecutors say Khanu cheated the IRS out of millions, and that the mogul took the money both for personal use and to pay employees under the table. (Washington City Paper)

DC'S TOP JUDGE: BETTS MURDER HAS BEEN POLITICIZED
The Chief Judge for the District of Columbia says politicians have been using the murder of a popular D.C. principal for political gain and maintains the juvenile justice system is not broken.

Appearing on WTOP's Ask The Judges program Monday, D.C. Superior Court Chief Judge Lee Satterfield dismissed calls for an independent commission to review the breakdowns in the system that have resulted in seven teenagers - who were under the supervision of the juvenile justice system - being arrested for various murders this year. (WTOP)

WINERY ESTIMATES $400,000 LOSS DUE TO FROST
A May 10 morning frost nipped away at two Loudoun wineries’ grape crops.

Doug Fabbioli, owner of Fabbioli Cellars in Leesburg, estimates that 90 percent of his crop was damaged. Leesburg-based Tarara Winery estimates that 25 percent of its crop was damaged.

As a result, Fabbioli’s 2010 production will be dramatically reduced. He will able unable to serve the Reserve Cabernet Franc or Tre Sorelle. (Loudoun Times)

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