The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
STRAIGHT-A FAKE ID MAKER INDICTED
Baltimore Sun: " While some college students consider fake IDs a rite of passage, the Maryland U.S. attorney underscored their illegality Thursday, announcing federal charges against a scholarship winner accused of making and selling phony driver's licenses from his College Park dorm for a few months in 2009. Theodore Stephen Michaels — a straight-A, triple major at the University of Maryland who goes by "Teddy" — could face decades in prison if he's convicted of the 16 counts returned against him. His attorney, Steven D. Kupferberg, said that Michaels, arrested Wednesday, will likely plead not guilty during his arraignment, which hasn't been scheduled. He said the charges seemed excessive."
PUGET IS RETIRING
Sun Gazette: "After eight and a half years of service to the Fairfax County Police Department, Puget is slated to retire from the Fairfax County Police Department’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit (EOD), and will spend his days relaxing at home with his handler, MPO Tom Eggers. As a bomb dog, Puget responded to literally hundreds of calls for suspicious packages and bomb threats. His job was to respond to schools, businesses or any public area where a general bomb threat was reported, and use his extraordinary sense of smell to search for the presence of explosive materials or devices."
HIGH GAS PRICES POLL
Washington Post: "The average pump price for regular gasoline sailed past $4 in the D.C. metropolitan area Thursday for the first time since 2008, settling just 9 cents shy of the all-time record, according to AAA. With the overall economy continuing to falter, Americans are blaming an array of culprits for the increases at the pump, according to new data from a Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll. Nearly one in three point the finger at a combination of greed, speculation and oil companies. About one in five say prices are up because of wars and the spreading unrest in the Middle East and North Africa. Around one in eight say it’s something political or policy-related that has gas prices spiking higher; a similar proportion says it’s an economic factor, like the time of year. "
