The following stories are brought to you by the fine folks on the News4 assignment desk.
DRIVERS TO BE PENALIZED FOR NO E-ZPASS ON ICC
WTOP: "Before you take a ride on the soon-to-open Intercounty Connector in Maryland, you'll have to get yourself an E-ZPass. That is unless you want to pay a $3 service fee every time you are on the road.
So, is it fair to require drivers to take the extra step of getting an E-ZPass to drive on a publicly funded road -- or else face a penalty?
"I think it is fair," Lon Anderson, spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic, tells WTOP. "While it is an inconvenience upfront, it is really the wave of the future. It's what motorists are going to have to do in the future if they want to use toll roads, and the ICC is our future right now.""
FOJOL SCORES BIG IN NATIONAL FOOD TRUCK RANKINGS
DCist: "Eater announced QSR Magazine's list of the 20 best food trucks in America today, and whaddya know: Washington's own Fojol Brothers of Merlindia was named a "First Team All-American," an honor which no food truck based in New York City could garner. L.A. trucks still reign supreme, with four trucks from the City of Angels making the list (five, if you count a truck which has split residency between Austin and L.A.; six, if you include a truck based in Orange County). But we'll take it as yet another sign that our food truck scene is still in the ascendancy."
POLICE: MAN STUN GUNS WOMAN, RAPES HER
Washington Post: "A 73-year-old man was arrested for using a stun gun to incapacitate a woman and then raping her, Prince William County police said.
The woman, 52, told police that she and the man, whom she knew, got into an argument that escalated. He then used a stun gun on her and sexually assaulted her, police said."
MORE BEER FOR NATS OPENING DAY
JDLand: "The Bullpen, the outdoor bar and festivities spot that has operated just across the street from Nationals Park during stadium events since 2009, is making plans to open a "Beer Garden" at the northern end of their current block, at Half and M streets, SE, facing the western entrance to the Navy Yard Metro station. (See my high-quality graphic at right.) With 79 picnic tables holding eight people each, it would have a seating capacity of 632 people, and would offer draft German beers (and perhaps other European beers) along with German sausages, kielbasa, and other light (ahem) fare.
"Das Bullpen" [copyright JD] is being envisioned as having a very different atmosphere from the current Bullpen, with the beer garden not having game areas with lots of kids running around. There would be no amplified music, and it would operate during the same hours as Bullpen 1.0 (which will be remaining open this year as well). It would have its own entrance, right across from the Metro station's entrance, and would be fenced in and partially covered/tented in the same way as the existing Bullpen."
