The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
MARYLAND MAY BAN PHONE USE WHILE DRIVING
The Maryland House of Delegates is expected to vote on a measure that would require drivers to use handsfree devices to talk on cell phones while behind the wheel. The House voted Thursday to give initial approval to a bill that already has been passed by the Senate. A vote is set for today. (Frederick News Post)
OBAMA SAYS "MCDONNELL MADE UNACCEPTABLE OMISSION"
President Barack Obama says Virginia’s governor made “an unacceptable omission” when he proclaimed Confederate History Month without mentioning slavery. “I don’t think you can understand the Confederacy and the Civil War unless you understand slavery,“ said Obama, the nation’s first black president. First lady Michelle Obama is descended from a South Carolina slave.
(AP/Richmond Times Dispatch)
SLEEPING GIRL PHOTO LEADS TO FELONY CHARGE
A 28-year-old man has been charged with a felony for allegedly taking pictures of a teenage girl while the girl dozed in her mother's car with her underwear showing, Fredericksburg police said. Olaide Berragan-Aviles of Manassas was arrested this week on a charge of unlawfully photographing an unconsenting person. The class 6 felony carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. (Fredericksburg.com)
MUSEUM UNLAWFULLY TOOK FOSSIL
The Chesapeake Ranch Estates Property Owners Association claimed victory Wednesday when a circuit court judge found the Calvert Marine Museum had trespassed and unlawfully removed a 10-million-year-old whale fossil from community-owned cliffs.
But the $10,001 in damages awarded by Judge Warren Krug in the civil case fell far short of the $457,000 the association was seeking in order to shore up the section of cliffs at the excavation site. (The Recorder)
RESCUED CAT GOING TO THE FARM
There’s a barn home waiting for the little orange kitten police officers saved from drowning in a Gainesville drain pipe last month. The tabby, who appears to be about six months old, is now in a foster home and is being evaluated, said Pam Draper, director of the Centreville rescue group Dewey Animals, Inc. (Insidenova.com)
