The Night Note: 12/28/09

News you need to know.

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

MAN ALLEGEDLY STEALS PLANE, CRASHES
Stealing cars is one thing.  But stealing planes?  That's a new one.

A homeless man was arrested early Monday morning after police in Frederick, Md., said he stole a plane from an airport hangar and later crashed it.

Witnesses said the single-engine Piper Super Club plane crashed into a grassy area near one of the runways at Frederick Airport just after 2 a.m. Monday. They said the pilot lost control of the craft and then ran from the area after the accident. (NBC Washington)

MORE TOLLS IN FUTURE?
Get ready to cough up an extra quarter on the Dulles Toll Road starting on Friday.

Rates at the main toll plaza will go up to a dollar on Jan. 1 and up to 75 cents on the ramps.

It's the first of three rate hikes that will help pay for the 23-mile extension of Metrorail to Dulles International Airport. The line is already under construction.

The use of tolls to finance transportation could be on the upswing. (WTOP)

DORITO TAX?
Even though advocates are pushing for a snack tax to fight obesity, Maryland lawmakers say the idea is so unpopular they do not expect it to be introduced in 2010 — an election year.

The state had a tax on snack foods from 1992 to 1997, and since its repeal several lawmakers have tried to reinstate it — one as recently as this past session.

If lawmakers approve a snack tax, Maryland would be the only state to impose such a levy, said Jim McCarthy, president of the Snack Food Association, based in Arlington, Va. (Gazette)

GOVERNOR, 86, RESIGNS OVER 3-WOMAN SEX TAPE
The 86-year-old governor of a southern Indian state resigned, a day after a television news channel broadcast a tape allegedly showing him in bed with three women.

Pressure mounted on Gov. Narain Dutt Tiwari to quit after the tape allegedly showing him in bed with three women was broadcast Friday, prompting the opposition and women's right groups to hold street protests in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh's state capital, demanding his resignation. (MSNBC)

Contact Us