The following stories are brought to you by the fine folks on the News4 assignment desk.
CORONER: MJ'S DEATH A HOMICIDE
The Los Angeles County coroner's office ruled Michael Jackson's death a homicide Monday, a law enforcement official said after an unsealed warrant showed Jackson's death was caused by lethal amounts of the drug propofol. Court documents confirmed Monday long-speculated reports that pop superstar Michael Jackson's death was caused by the drug, initially prescribed to Jackson as a sleep medication. A search warrant affidavit unsealed in Houston today confirmed that the L.A. County coroner's office found lethal levels of propofol during their autopsy of Jackson's body, the Los Angeles Times reported. (NBC Washington)
BLOGGER TO MORAN: LEAVE OUR STREETS ALONE
Virginia Congressman Jim Moran thinks the DC government should alter more of its policies to serve the interests of his constituents rather than the interests of the people who live here. And he has some specific ideas of how we can help out: As Virginia works to add hot lanes to I-95 and 395, Virginia Congressman Jim Moran says HOT lanes wont end the rush hour congestion if the District doesn’t do its part. “Once they get to D.C. it stops, so what D.C. should do is widen 14th Street Bridge, widen 14th Street and get some of the revenue that’s coming from these HOT lanes,” he said. “We’ve suggested it time and time again and they just won’t listen, let alone act on it.” Maybe DC doesn’t want to widen 14th Street because it’s an urban street with buildings on both sides[...] (Matt Yglesias)
STIMULUS SPENT ON SEXY PROJECTS
The stimulus package is living up to its provocative name by funding a bacchanalia of behavioral sex research, a Post analysis reveals. The next fiscal year is set to be one of the friskiest ever in the nation's science labs, as researchers probe the ins and outs of sex patterns among humans and even some of our four-legged friends. Among the most titillating grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health are studies that would: * Examine "barriers to correct condom use" at Indiana University, at a cost of $221,000. * Study "hookups" among adolescents at Syracuse University. Study's cost: $219,000. (NY Post)
WOMAN WANTED TO BUTCHER BRETT THE VIKING GOAT
A woman on her way to St. Paul really got the goat of auto repairman James Prusci. She went to Tires Plus in Winona Friday, wanting a belt replaced on her Chevy Malibu. While he was doing paperwork, she said she had a goat in her trunk. "A what?" he asked. She told him she planned to butcher it. It was painted Minnesota Viking colors — purple and gold — with Brett Favre's No. 4 shaved on its side. Favre made his Vikings debut Friday in a preseason game. (MSNBC)
