The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
MARCH TO THE MAILBOX
From Langley Park at the Prince George's-Montgomery county line to the Triangle area of Prince William County, neighborhoods with large numbers of renters and immigrants are lagging in returning their 2010 Census forms. Jurisdictions regionally and nationally are marshaling volunteers to go out Saturday into areas with low response rates and urge residents to complete their census forms, a campaign called "March to the Mailbox." In the Washington area, there will be festivals at shopping centers in Alexandria, a bus equipped with a megaphone roaming largely Hispanic neighborhoods in Prince George's County and fliers handed out at supermarkets in the District.
(WASHINGTON POST)
POLAND PRESIDENTAL JET CRASH
Polish President Lech Kaczynski and some of the country's highest military and civilian leaders died on Saturday when the presidential plane crashed as it came in for a landing in thick fog in western Russia, killing 97, officials said. Russian and Polish officials said there were no survivors on the 26-year-old Tupolev, which was taking the president, his wife and staff to events marking the 70th anniversary of the massacre in Katyn forest of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet secret police. The crash devastated the upper echelons of Poland's political and military establishments. On board were the army chief of staff, national bank president, deputy foreign minister, army chaplain, head of the National Security Office, deputy parliament speaker, civil rights commissioner and at least two presidential aides and three lawmakers, the Polish foreign ministry said.
(AP/REUTERS/MSNBC)
AGENT ZERO REPORTS FOR PRISON DUTY
Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas began serving his sentence Friday night for bringing guns into the team's locker room.
According to Arthur Wallenstein, director of Montgomery County Corrections, Arenas arrived at the Montgomery County jail at 7:40 p.m. Arenas must spend two days there for medical screening and classification before being transferred to the county's Pre-Release Center, a halfway house. Arenas was sentenced March 26 to 30 days in a halfway house for bringing weapons into the Verizon Center. Corrections officials in Montgomery County agreed to let him serve his sentence there, as part of an agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
(NBCWASHINGTON.COM)
FEES FOR FUNERAL ESCORTS?
Alexandria leaders are on the verge of charging for police escorts for funeral processions, changing the city's long-standing policy of providing the service for free. For years, Alexandria police officers have accompanied funeral processions of 10 or more vehicles at no charge. Those free escorts -- 133 last year -- accounted for about 6 percent of the police department motor unit's time, according to police records. But the City Council is considering instituting a charge for police escorts -- $655 for the first 90 minutes, $400 for each additional hour -- which normally require six officers and multiple vehicles.
(WASHINGTON EXAMINER)
PLAN ON GRIDLOCK
The Nuclear Security Summit that will be held Monday and Tuesday is expected to impact everybody -- commuters, pedestrians and businesses -- both inside and outside of the District. "We have never seen this many heads of state anywhere before in the history of the world. This is being called the largest collection of heads of state ever," says Lon Anderson, spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic.
"This could be a mega-challenge for mobility, really. "It's being talked about as the biggest security lockdown since the Inauguration. Let's remember the Inauguration is a national holiday. There we only had to focus on getting people to the (National) Mall." Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier says the impact of so many dignitaries will start to be felt Sunday afternoon as the leaders begin arriving at area airports.
(WTOP)
