The Night Note: 06/09/2010

News you need to know

The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:

Study: Immigrants Living in Fear
A new study from the George Mason University's Project on Immigration finds many immigrants have lived in fear since the passage of Prince William's 2007 resolution that requires police to check legal status of those who are arrested. The study was conducted by Debra Lattanzi Shutika, an English professor and folklorist, and Carol Cleaveland, a professional social worker. Lattanzi Shutika also said they were both “ethnographers,” which she defined as a research methodology that focuses on in-depth interviews with people. (InsideNoVa.com)

Their Dangerous Swagger
A group of soon-to-be freshmen boys at Landon, an elite private grade school and high school for boys in the wealthy Washington suburb of Montgomery County, Md., was drafting local girls. One team was called “The Southside Slampigs,” and one boy dubbed his team with crude street slang for drug-addicted prostitutes. The young woman who was the “top pick” was described by one of the boys in a team profile he put up online as “sweet, outgoing, friendly, willing to get down and dirty and [expletive] party. Coming in at 90 pounds, 5’2 and a bra size 34d.” She would be a special asset to the team, he noted, because her mother “is quite the cougar herself.” (New York Times)
 
Sound Walls
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is proposing a new system for evaluating whether it needs to add additional noise reduction walls along the Dulles Toll Road. This month, the airports authority began evaluating current noise levels in communities along the toll road to update an existing noise model from the Virginia Department of Transportation, completed before the airports authority took control of the highway in 2008. Starting this winter, the authority will begin evaluating the existing 7.5 miles of sound walls to determine if any need to be repaired. The authority then will consider new areas that might qualify for sound walls. (Fairfax Times)

First Maryland Slots
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and State Treasurer Nancy Kopp (D) on Wednesday approved contracts valued at almost $50 million over the objections of Comptroller Peter Franchot (D) to purchase and lease more than 1,000 video slot machines. The 2-1 vote marked Maryland's first foray into purchasing and leasing slot machines to fulfill a 2008 voter-approved ballot measure authorizing Maryland to place up to 15,000 slots at five sites across the state. A series of problems have led to delays at all five proposed locations, but Hollywood Casino Perryville is now in position to become the state's first operating casino by late October. (Washington Post)

McGruff Punching Bus Driver Rehired
A Metrobus driver involved in a fatal accident and another driver who punched a police officer dressed as McGruff the Crime Dog have been rehired. Arbitrators between Metro and the bus drivers union granted both men their jobs plus months of back pay. One bus driver was fired after he pulled over his bus in February 2009 and punched an off-duty officer dressed as McGruff. He was convicted of simple assault and is expected to be driving a Metrobus later this month.
(WTOP)

Contact Us