The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
VIRTUAL DONATIONS
This holiday season, some of Maryland's oldest charities are reaching out to donors and volunteers, not only with the usual "snail-mail" appeals and kettles on the corner, but with tweets on the Internet and clicks of the mouse. Organizations such as the United Way, Salvation Army and the American Red Cross are using Facebook pages and Twitter accounts to reach younger volunteers and donors. (Baltimore Sun)
PRE-TEEN TEXTS PARENTS WHILE HOME BURGALRIZED
As two burglars bagged her family's Christmas gifts, 12-year-old Morgan Kush hid in a crawl space of her Ferndale home, text-messaging her mother what was happening. Morgan Kush, 12, was at home Monday when two burglars broke into her house. She hid and called her mother on her cell phone. At about noon Monday, a man and a woman clipped the screens off the windows of Morgan's house on Gordon Lane and crawled inside. Recovering at home from a tonsillectomy, Morgan was eating ice cream and watching television. (The Capital)
N. VA LOST 12K JOBS
Northern Virginia's total non-farm employment in October was 1.3 million, down by 12,400 jobs or 0.9 percent from October 2008, according to the Virginia Employment Commission. (Washington Business Journal)
SMART METERS
All Pepco customers would get "smart meters" at their homes within two years under a proposal that the Maryland Public Service Commission is considering. Installation of the meters would be mandatory and begin in 2010, said Stephen Sunderhauf, manager of program design and evaluation for Pepco. (Gazette)
CULINARY CLASSES KEEPING KITCHENS BUSY
Chef Margie Liddick knows that TV celebrity chefs and cooking reality shows like "Top Chef" are helping keep her kitchen hot and full of students. So Liddick, who teaches culinary arts classes at the Frederick County Career and Technology Center, is not surprised when students want to use fancy ingredients and work on complex dishes with beets and rutabaga into their classes. (Gazette)
