SKLYLIGHT BANDIT STRIKES AGAIN
The rooftop burglar has struck again-- and this time was seconds away from being caught.
Someone entered a residence in the 1700 block of Corcoran through a skylight Friday evening, police said.
20 burglaries have been reported in the same two-block since December; all the homes hit have been in the 1700 blocks of Corcoran and Q Streets. (NBCWashington.com)
BEWARE THE STREET SWEEPERS
There will soon be a new way to get a parking ticket in the District.
Street sweepers are being rigged with cameras to scan license plates and issue parking tickets on residential streets marked with "No Parking/Street Cleaning" signs. Parking is restricted in those areas during posted hours.
The cameras will generate $30 tickets beginning March 30. A dry run begins Monday to allow the D.C. Department of Public Works to test the system on seven street sweepers and work out any kinks. (Washington Times)
STIMULUS BILL BRINGS LOCAL WORKERS BACK TO WORK
SILVER SPRING, Md. - The first repaving project in the country -- paid for by the federal stimulus bill -- is underway in Silver Spring, and it couldn't have come soon enough for Brian White of Aberdeen.
"I was laid off in the early part of January, and because of this project, they brought me back and I'm glad to be back," White, 47, tells WTOP.
The company in charge of the project is American Infrastructure. Sixty people are working on the project -- 20 of them had previously been laid off and are now back to work. (WTOP)
BOWIE MAN GOES TO SPACE
NASA's space shuttle Discovery has been cleared for blastoff next week on a two-week mission during which a former Maryland science teacher will help to install the International Space Station's fourth and final pair of solar energy panels.
Discovery is scheduled for a nighttime liftoff at 9:20 p.m. Wednesday, carrying a crew of seven.
On board will be Mission Specialist Richard R. Arnold II, a Cheverly native. Raised in Bowie, he earned a bachelor's degree from Frostburg State University in 1985 and a master's degree in marine science from the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore in 1992.
Arnold also once worked as an oceanography technician at the U.S. Naval Academy. He has taught science at middle and high schools here and abroad for 15 years, including the John Hanson Middle School in Waldorf. Married, with two daughters, he has been an astronaut since 2004. (The Baltimore Sun)
I HART DOGS AND CATS
Saturday, March 7th, and Sunday, March 8th, there will be two HART adoption events for dogs and cats in the Northern Virginia area.
I don't want to beg or plead, but I do ask that you seriously consider giving one of these wonderful animals a home. If you're not able to adopt a pet right now, why not consider volunteering your time or making a donation to an organization like HART or PAW (Partnership for Animal Welfare)? Either gift would be appreciated by the HART and PAW staff, and would be especially appreciated by the animals currently waiting to find their forever home. (The Examiner.com)
MARYLAND, MY MARYLAND
Lawmakers deliberate changing the beloved and loathed state song
At a Senate hearing, historians, re-enators and teachers share their feelings on giving new lyrics to the state tune.
Sen. Jennie Forehand was attending a conference of Southern lawmakers some years ago when Maryland, My Maryland, the state song, began playing at a ceremony.
An impassioned Confederate-era poem set to the tune of O Tannenbaum, the song takes a particularly exclamatory turn at the end: "She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb - Huzza! She spurns the Northern scum! She breathes! She burns! She'll come! She'll come! Maryland! My Maryland!"
"People were laughing at it," said Forehand, a Montgomery County Democrat, "They were asking, 'What in the world is this all about?'" (The Baltimore Sun)
