Local Leads: 3/12/09

News you need to know

The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:

FORECLOSURE NUMBERS UP...
The number of households threatened with losing their homes rose 30 percent in February from last year's levels, RealtyTrac reported Thursday. Nationwide, almost 291,000 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice last month, up 6 percent from January. The number of foreclosures completed in February grew 67 percent during the prior month, according to a report from Foreclosures.com, hitting a new monthly high. The company said 121,756 foreclosures were completed nationwide in February, up from 72,694 in January and the previous high of 104,243 in September. Pre-foreclosure filings hit a new high as well, to 207,703, a 24 percent increase from January.  (Washington Business Journal

MARYLAND REVENUES   
The state treasury can expect to receive $1.2 billion less over the next 15 months. The Bureau of Revenue Estimates released estimates Wednesday that predict substantial reductions in income, sales and tobacco taxes of $445.5 million in the current budget year and $716.5 million in fiscal 2010, which begins July 1. (Gazette)

METRO FUNDING
Metro board members are likely to vote today to use one-time federal stimulus money to close the agency's $29 million budget gap, even though many directors say doing so is irresponsible and could lead to bigger fare hikes and service cuts next year.  The board has spent the past two months trying to find ways to plug the deficit in next year's $1.3 billion operating budget. Metro has begun eliminating positions and has made administrative cuts. Revenue estimates were revised upward. The original $154 million gap has been whittled to $29 million. (Washington Post)

DISTRICT GETS FED STIMULUS MONEY
The giant 2009 spending bill signed by President Obama yesterday contains increased funds for D.C. students, millions of dollars to revive the Chesapeake Bay's dwindling oyster population and money for Metro cars, buses and bike lockers. D.C. officials welcomed the legislation's $35 million boost over last year for the city's struggling education system. The measure provides $54 million for the city's public schools, public charter schools and voucher program; $35 million for college tuition aid; and what was described as a one-time $20 million payment to recruit and train principals and create better school programs.  (Washington Post)

DC POLICE WRECKING FEWER CRUISERS
DC police are crashing, nicking and scraping their vehicles less than in years past thanks in part to a new safe driving campaign and the threat of lost driving privileges in the case of multiple accidents, Chief Cathy Lanier told the D.C. Council this week.  MPD staff were involved in 824 crashes in fiscal 2008, or one for every two vehicles in the fleet, according to written responses provided by Lanier to Mendelson's panel. Of those, nearly 600 were deemed "non-preventable," while 143 were considered preventable and worthy of discipline or training. Roughly 80 crashes remain under investigation by the crash review board. (The Examiner)

LOUDOUN SCHOOL GRADING
Loudoun County Public Schools will change to a 10-point grading scale starting next school year, and Superintendent of Schools Edgar Hatrick has asked the School Board to approve the new scale at its next meeting on March 24. "We've spent time carefully considering a number of variations on the 10-point scale," Hatrick said. "Ultimately what we tried to do was develop a 10-point scale that reflected the culture we had on previous scales." Under the new scale, a score of 98 to 100 is an A+ worth 4.3 grade points, a 93 to 97 is an A worth 4 points, a 90 to 92 is an A- worth 3.7 points and so on. Any score below 60 points is an F worth no points.  (Loudoun Times)

Local

Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information

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LOCAL GETS A HYDROGEN CAR
It's hard to describe Mark Moody without using the word "environmentalist." The Reston resident is the president of the Clean Fairfax Council, which promotes litter reduction and recycling through education. Moody founded the Reston Association's Adopt-a-Spot program, in which citizens volunteer to care for stretches of the community's vast pathway network. And he works with engineers and industry professionals to develop energy-efficient buildings through his work as a regional sales manager for Critical Power Group. (The Observer Newspaper)

TOYOTA'S FULL OF AIR BAGS
You've got an airbag that pops out of the steering wheel, and another that pops out of the dash. You have airbags that pop out of the sides of the seats, and others that pop out from the roof. Some cars even have airbags that deploy from under the steering wheel to protect the driver's legs. Is there any space left for more airbags? Toyota thinks so.  The automaker has developed an airbag that pops down from a console mounted on the center of the roof above the rear seat to keep the passengers from bouncing off one another in an accident. (The Examiner

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