The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
SHOP AND SLOTS?
State officials have granted a long-awaited license for a proposed 4,750-machine slots casino at Arundel Mills mall, but Maryland's premier gambling project still needs local approval that was delayed again on Monday. The Anne Arundel County Council deferred a decision on a critical step for the initiative - zoning approval - just hours after it cleared an important hurdle. After impassioned testimony Monday night, the council chose unanimously to postpone voting on zoning measures because one member was absent with heart palpitations, another recused himself and a third resigned for a new position. (Baltimore Sun)
INAPPROPRIATE PHOTOS?
The owner and operator of the website Frederick .com is under scrutiny from Frederick County Public Schools for posting photographs of cheerleaders on what school officials described as "inappropriate" websites. Marita Loose, spokeswoman for the school system, said each high school principal in the county has been notified that Craig Shipp, domain owner of Frederick.com, AreaGuides.com, fredericknewsblog.blogspot.com, among other sites -- none of which are associated with The Frederick News-Post -- has been posting photographs of cheerleaders and female students on websites "in questionable taste." (Frederick News Post)
RAPE FUGITIVE NABBED AT DULLES
An 18-year-old man wanted on charges of strong armed rape in Pittsburgh, PA, was arrested Dec. 4 after he landed at Dulles Airport aboard a flight from Frankfurt, Germany, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. (Leesburg Today)
ARTERY LIKE CLOGGING SETTLEMENT
Krispy Kreme and Fairfax County have settled a years-long dispute over whether grease flowing from the doughnut maker's Lorton factory clogged the county's artery-like sewage system. Seven months after Fairfax sued the North Carolina-based Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, saying that county-owned sewer lines had been damaged by corrosive grease from the company's production plant, the two parties settled out of court for $750,000, officials said. (Washington Post)
HOT COCOA HOTCAKES, YUM
Katie-Lynn Brown wasn’t satisfied with IHOP’s pancake selection and decided to tell her family about it during a visit last month to the Smoketown location. “They have all these Christmas specials, like pecan pie [pancakes] and pumpkin pancakes, eggnog and gingerbread pancakes,” said the 12-year-old Dumfries resident. “I said, ‘well, they’re missing hot cocoa.’ What do you [think you] drink after you shovel the sidewalk or play in the snow?” (Insidenova.com)
