The Night Note: 1/14/11

News you need to know.

The following stories are brought to you by the fine folks on the News4 assignment desk.

MD TO CONSIDER BANNING INTERSTATE ABORTIONS
WTOP: "Maryland lawmakers will consider legislation to ban the sort of interstate abortions performed last year by a New Jersey doctor.

Delegate Michael Smigiel has introduced three bills in response to revelations about Dr. Steven Brigham, who operated an abortion clinic in Elkton. His license to practice medicine has been suspended after regulators found that he was starting late-term abortions in New Jersey, then ferrying patients to Maryland to complete the procedures."
 

COMMISSION WANTS TO FINE PEPCO
Washington Post: "The Maryland Public Service Commission is seeking authority to impose fines on Pepco and other power companies if they fail to meet tough new standards for reliability and customer service.

The commission this week published proposed rules that would establish how quickly the companies must get the lights back on after an outage. The rules also would mandate how rigorously companies must inspect their lines, how vigorously they must trim trees and how quickly they must answer phone calls from customers."
 

THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION TURNS 90
DCist: "In 1921, Duncan Phillips opened America's first museum of modern art in his home, inviting visitors to become acquainted with the art and artists of his day. Founded in 1918, the museum officially opened to the public three years later, eight years before the Museum of Modern Art and two decades before the National Gallery of Art.

The Phillips Collection is home to the beloved Luncheon of the Boating Party by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, which Phillips purchased in 1923, and has housed works by Mark Rothko, Pierre Bonnard, Georgia O'Keeffe, Vincent van Gogh and Richard Diebenkorn, just to name a few. The collection quickly outgrew the Phillips family, who opted to move out of the residence in 1930, to fully give over the house to the ever expanding collection of contemporary and modern art."
 

AN ARENA FOR MONTGOMERY FAIRGROUNDS?
Gazette.net: "Officials with the Montgomery County Agricultural Center are exploring the possibility of building an arena on the Chestnut Street fairgrounds in Gaithersburg.

Representatives from the Maryland Stadium Authority toured the grounds last week, hosted by Martin Svrcek, executive director of the nonprofit Agricultural Center, and the center's strategic planning committee."

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