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TEEN TRIES FRESH APPROACH TO AID AFRICA
At age 16, Spotsylvania High School student Zachary Yorio already runs a small business.
It's a nonprofit enterprise, and it's dedicated to drilling and building a freshwater well in Africa. Its first major public event is set for Sunday: a 5K walk at the Spotsylvania Ron Rosner Family YMCA.
Building a well costs about $5,000, Yorio learned, which is why he founded his nonprofit, Fredericksburg Rallies Efforts to Share H2O, or FRESH2O, as a ninth-grader in the Commonwealth Governor's School program. (Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star)
PAY TO DRIVE ON I-95?
Interstate 95 commuters could pay between 10 cents and $1 per mile to travel the north-south route between Fredericksburg and
Washington if toll road recommendations heard Wednesday by National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board members are ever implemented.
Bus riders, meanwhile, could see “a significant increase in I-95” travel costs, too, said Ron Kirby, director of transportation planning at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, about the long-range regional plans that were discussed at the monthly meeting. The NCRTPB is made up of local, state and federal transportation and government officials. (Inside NoVA)
FBI AGENTS CHARGED WITH UNREPORTED STEROID USE
Three Washington area FBI agents and an analyst were charged Wednesday with covering up their use of steroids and human growth hormone, officials said Wednesday. The unusual federal investigation comes as U.S. authorities are bringing high-profile prosecutions against baseball stars Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.
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Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
The three special agents and one investigative analyst, all living in Northern Virginia, made false statements by omitting their use of the performance-enhancing drugs as part of required disclosures in annual fitness reports to the bureau, the FBI alleged. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. (Washington Post)
DEBATE ON PROPOSED ALCOHOL TAX INCREASE TURNS PERSONAL
A Frederick County restaurateur said he is learning the hard way that engaging in a war of words with county Commissioner John L. Thompson Jr. can lead battle scars.
Gary Brooks, who criticized Thompson (R) for supporting a proposed alcohol tax increase in The Gazette on Sept. 2, was stunned when an e-mail exchange he had with Thompson last week deteriorated into what he called a "personal attack" involving a failed business endeavor.
The e-mail recipients included members of the media and a number of Frederick County residents. (Gazette.net)
