The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
UMD FURLOUGHS COMING
The campus will close for four days this academic year and even the lowest-paid university employees will be forced to take two unpaid days off under a furlough plan released this weekend. The plan, which was released by university President Dan Mote and Director of Human Resources Dale Anderson, is necessary to save a state-mandated $10.2 million in employee salary costs. The university and state have been battered by a declining economy and shrinking budgets. The number of days employees will be furloughed is based on a sliding scale, with the highest-salaried employees -- those making $200,000 or more -- forced to take 10 days off. (The Diamondback)
FUNERAL HOME SHUT DOWN
In business since 1954, Bailey’s Funeral Services’ license has been suspended by the Virginia Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers as of Sept. 9. "Based upon the evidence considered," reads a letter from the board, "having determined that the operations of Bailey Funeral Service pose a substantial danger to the public health and safety, the Board voted summarily to suspend the facility’s license to operate as a funeral service establishment pending a hearing." (Stafford County Sun)
CARETAKER ARRESTED
Frederick police arrested a man on suspicion of leaving three blind and deaf adults locked in a car while he ate at the Mountain View Diner on Sunday. Officers arrested Brian T. Fleming, 47, of Fairfield, Pa., after they arrived at the diner on West Patrick Street. Patrons at the diner called police to report three mentally challenged people were left locked in a parked vehicle with the windows almost rolled up and in direct sunlight, police said. (Frederick News Post)
ICC ALMOST HERE
In just over a year, when the first section of the Intercounty Connector is scheduled to open, thousands of motorists will leave behind central Montgomery County's jam-packed side roads for 7.2 miles of highway. Six lanes of pavement might sound like open-road nirvana to drivers, but the prospect of a partially open ICC has some Montgomery residents bracing for traffic mayhem. That's because the highway's first segment will end just east of Georgia Avenue and Norbeck Road (Route 28), one of Montgomery's most congested intersections. Drivers there experience such lengthy delays that traffic engineers have given the intersection a "failing" grade. (Washington Post)
I-95 CLOSING
Interstate 95 will be completely closed early tomorrow and Wednesday mornings between Exits 161 and 163 in Fairfax County. All traffic, in both directions, will be halted for up to 30 minutes at a time after midnight, and again between 1 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. Traffic may be slow on I-95 before the full closure, as two lanes in both directions will be shut down at 10:30 p.m. today and tomorrow as workers prepare. (Free Lance-Star)
SIN TAXES
Legislators are not ruling out increases in so-called sin taxes on alcohol and tobacco to prop up programs that have suffered during the state's ongoing budget crunch. Such taxes have been at the heart of attempts in recent years to fund services for the developmentally disabled and to expand health care coverage for the needy. Now, with services for the disabled sustaining $24 million in cuts, as part of the $735 million in budget reductions by the state Board of Public Works this summer, and with health care advocates looking to restart a stymied expansion of Medicaid, legislators say they are not ruling out raising taxes on alcohol and tobacco. (Gazette)
