The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
PREGNANT WOMAN ATTACKED
County police have charged a 38-year-old Monrovia woman with attempted murder in connection with the beating of a pregnant woman Saturday near Damascus, according to police communications officer Cassandra Onley. Police arrested and charged Christine Devaux of the 3800 block of Melinda Court in Monrovia with one count of attempted first-degree murder, one count of first-degree assault, one count of first-degree burglary, one count of possession of a weapon with the intent to injure, one count of second-degree assault and one count of false imprisonment. (Gazette)
CARPOOLERS DON'T WANT HOT LANES
Local carpoolers say the proposed High Occupancy Toll lane project on Interstate 95 and 395 will adversely affect their way of commuting. If built, the lanes would replace the HOV lanes that run from Dumfries to the Pentagon and would be extended to Spotsylvania County to make a 56-mile toll road. "It's a road that we've already built as taxpayers, and it's not right that they are going to take the HOV lanes away from us and make us pay for them again," said Naomi Snell of Lake Ridge. An auditor supervisor for the federal government, Snell has been actively protesting the proposed lanes since the public hearing process for the road project began. The idea to add toll lanes to I-95 was first proposed in 2002. (Insidenova.com)
GULF MARINE ANIMALS RESCUED
As the Gulf oil spill ensnares marine animals, the staff at the National Aquarium and the state's wildlife veterinarian are preparing for a life or death situation. For the aquarium, the phone may ring and someone will ask for help recovering animals or if some of its pools can be converted to intensive care units for injured sea turtles. As part of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, the aquarium is housing four healing turtles from natural mishaps here and in New England that it would like to release in June to make room for Gulf turtles. Other facilities in the network are making similar plans. (Baltimore Sun)
EXTREME MAKEOVER
For nearly a decade, city officials have been quietly planning a massive renovation of Annapolis' downtown waterfront that would change the way the scenic area looks and how local businesses would compete with major shopping centers outside the city's limits. (The Capital)
