The following stories are brought to you by the fine folks on the News4 assignment desk.
PRESERVATION GROUP BACKS GETTYSBURG CASINO
Proponents of a project to convert Gettysburg's Eisenhower Conference Center into a gambling casino received new support from a surprising corner -- the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association.
The GBPA, which calls itself the nation's oldest Civil War preservation group, said on Monday the Mason Dixon Resort & Casino project would help the local economy.
"Preservation does not exist in a vacuum. Our local preservation work cannot thrive absent a local economy that helps induce and support it," writes Brendan Synnamon, GBPA president. (WTOP)
JUNE 2011 TRIAL DATE SET IN WONE CIVIL CASE
Next summer, another trial in the August 2006 slaying of Robert Wone will unfold in D.C. Superior Court.
Judge Brook Hedge has set a trial date of June 13, 2011, for the wrongful death suit filed by Wone’s widow, Katherine, against Joseph Price, Dylan Ward and Victor Zaborsky.
Wone was found stabbed to death in the three men’s Dupont Circle townhouse. They were acquitted of covering up his killing in June after a criminal trial that lasted five weeks. (Washington Examiner)
IN SUPPORT OF PUBLIC MURALS
One of the most basic tenets of good urban design is that walkways should be lined with things to look at. Blank walls discourage walking because they make a walk seem boring and therefore longer, and because empty and lightly maintained spaces feel less safe. Detailed, colorful places are inherently more pedestrian friendly than dismal, blank spaces, and therefore urbanistically superior.
So, given that, why do we accept so many blank spaces in our cities? (Greater Greater Washington)
FAIRFAX SCHOOL BOARD SUED FOR CLIFTON CLOSURE
Clifton parents, angry about the decision to close Clifton Elementary School, are not waiting until the next school board election in 2011 to voice their displeasure.
Parents have been joined by Friends of Community Schools, a nonprofit created in the wake of Clifton's closing that advocates saving such schools, in filing a lawsuit against the Fairfax County School Board for its alleged arbitrary, capricious and quick-handed decision about the elementary school's fate. (Fairfax Times)
