The following stories are brought to you by the fine folks on the News4 assignment desk.
MUTILATED BEAR CUB FOUND AT PRINCE WILLIAM FOREST PARK
Inside NoVA: "A road crew on Thursday discovered the remains of a bear cub with its gallbladder removed on the border of Prince William Forest Park in Triangle.
Park rangers don’t know if the bear was "poached" at the park or killed elsewhere and dumped there, but they want to find out who is behind the crime.
"It's a shame," said Laura Cohen, chief of visitor services. "It's the first case we've had of it in the park.""
MORE DIM SUM COMING TO DC
Washington Business Journal: "Prince of Petworth recently heard the news that Ping Pong Dim Sum will be opening a second D.C. location at One Dupont Circle, according to an employee of the building. I checked in with Ping Pong's corporate offices to find out some more details.
According to a spokeswoman, the second location will seat 223 within its 6,500 square foot space (an outdoor space will seat an additional 104). The restaurant group felt a Dupont location would draw an eclectic crowd for the its key demographic."
HIT AND RUN VICTIM'S MOTHER CAMPAIGNS FOR BIKER SAFETY
Gazette.net: "When Natasha Pettigrew, a U.S. Senate candidate for the Green Party, was killed while riding her bicycle two months ago, her mother, Kenniss Henry, filled in, campaigning throughout Maryland.
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"I pretty much was my own campaign team," said Henry, who switched her party from Democratic to Green to take her daughter's place in the race to unseat incumbent Barbara Mikulski.
On Election Day, Henry, of Cheverly, finished in third place with 1.13 percent of the vote. Mikulski (D), of Baltimore, won re-election with 62 percent of the vote, while Eric Wargotz, a Republican, garnered 36 percent."
METRO ASKS RIDERS TO HELP IT LOBBY CONGRESS
Washington Examiner: "Metro is asking its riders to lobby Congress to extend a federal tax benefit scheduled to roll back on Jan. 1 that will increase the commuting cost for the transit system's SmartBenefits users.
The agency released an "urgent update" this week on its home page and sent to some commuters' e-mail inboxes, calling on SmartBenefits users to write their congressional representative to extend their tax break or face losing nearly half their monthly rail and bus allowance."
