The Night Note: 1/19/11

News you need to know.

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

CITY RELEASES DETAILS OF SEX ABUSE AT MANASSAS PARK DAY CARE
Inside NoVA: "It’s a parent’s worst nightmare – discovering a trusted caregiver has abused their child.

But in September 2010, the mother of an 8-year-old girl who attended a child care facility operated by Manassas Park City officials – the city’s extended care program, Costello Park Preschool – learned just that. That’s when the girl, according to a press release from Manassas Park City Manager James Zumwalt, notified her mother of incidents she said took place at the day care facility over the previous two months."

FUTURE OF KINGSTOWNE PONDS REMAINS UP IN THE AIR
Fairfax Times: "Restoration of the Kingstowne ponds seem to be a shared goal of residents and Fairfax County officials, but a decision on the scope of the project has yet to be determined.

The Fairfax County Department of Public Works staff has been working to stabilize and evaluate the site since the Kingstowne dam failed because of heavy rains on Sept. 30. To date, the county has allocated $600,000 to $800,000 in emergency stormwater funding to install a fence, clean up decaying plants and fish and conduct a condition assessment of the entire site, according to a Jan. 4 staff memo."

PANEL TO REVIEW HEALTH FINDINGS AT FORT DETRICK
WTOP: "The Army says the National Academy of Sciences will review several studies of possible public health effects from toxins used at Fort Detrick in Frederick.

Garrison commander Col. Judith Robinson said Wednesday that the peer review will help determine whether the research is scientifically sound. A report is expected by September.

"I think it's great that Fort Detrick would reach out to a committee of scientists that are nationally known that can review this data," says Rachel Pasini, spokesperson for the Kristin Renee Foundation."

PANDAS TO REMAIN IN DC FOR 5 MORE YEARS
Washington Post: "The National Zoo has reached an agreement with China to extend for five years the stay of Washington’s beloved black and white bears at a dramatically reduced cost.

For the last six weeks the two giant pandas, Tian Tian, a male, and Mei Xiang, a female, have been on a temporary lease extension while Chinese and American officials fine-tuned a new deal.

Zoo director Dennis W. Kelly traveled to China Dec. 12 to present to Chinese experts a new scientific plan to study panda cub behavior, and to work on the new agreement."

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