The following stories have been hand selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
THOUSANDS HEAD BACK TO THE DMV
Fallout from the state government's massive computer failure is causing headaches for more Virginians. The Department of Motor Vehicles yesterday asked 4,240 applicants for driver's licenses and identification cards to report to a DMV office to have their photographs taken again because photos on file can't be retrieved. And the State Board of Elections, whose voter-registration files are still not operating properly, announced in a post on the social-networking site Twitter that part of its website is down. Still, said Virginia computer chief Samuel A. Nixon Jr., information-technology services for the most part have been restored to the 26 state agencies paralyzed by the outage. "The situation certainly has stabilized," said Nixon. DMV directed its request to those Virginians who had applied for new, renewed or replacement licenses and ID cards on Aug. 25, the day computers crashed at 26 agencies. "Unfortunately, all photographs taken that day for credentials could not be recovered," DMV said. "Therefore, no credentials were mailed to these customers."
(RICHMOND-TIMES DISPATCH)
VIRGINIA BOOZE TAX?
Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R), scrambling to make ends meet in his plan to privatize Virginia's 332 state-run liquor stores, is considering adding a fee on alcoholic drinks sold in restaurants or bars to help make up the $250 million in annual taxes and profits that state stores currently generate, according to Richmond sources familiar with the still-evolving plan. Under the version of the proposal discussed with industry officials Friday, the drinks surcharge, which would be imposed either as a tax on customers or on restaurants' liquor receipts, would be part of a package of new fees including a per-gallon charge to wholesalers. Democrats and restaurateurs immediately pounced on the proposal as a tax "on people drinking alcohol," as Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (Fairfax) put it. McDonnell pledged in his 2009 campaign to turn over the state's retail liquor business to private operators as a way to produce a windfall of as much as $500 million to fix roads.
(WASHINGTON POST)
CRAB BOWL TROPHY UP FOR GRABS
A group of football lovers in Annapolis figured they could add a little spice to Navy's rivalry with Maryland by giving the Midshipmen and the Terrapins a little something extra to play for. The Touchdown Club of Annapolis has announced it will present the Crab Bowl Trophy to the winner of Monday's Maryland-Navy football game - and for all subsequent meetings. The Crab Bowl is a large pewter bowl overflowing with replicas of the Chesapeake Bay blue crab. The trophy, designed by members of the club, sits atop a mahogany base that will be engraved with the results of 20 previous Maryland-Navy games.
(HOMETOWNANNAPOLIS)
DULLES PLANE PULL COMING UP
Teams will get to test their strength at the 18th annual "plane pull" contest on September 25. The yearly family festival scheduled on Saturday at Dulles International Airport features a competition with teams of 25 people who are timed on how fast they can pull a FedEx jet to 12 feet in a tug-of-war game. The event raises money for Special Olympics Virginia. Organizers say there also will be a "bus pull" contest for children, who will get to haul a yellow school bus. In addition, there will be military and World War II-era aircraft on display and other activities.
(WTOP/AP)
