The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
RETIRED NAVAL ACADEMY TEACHER ARRESTED
A retired Naval Academy professor has been charged with sexually abusing a female relative when she was 12 to 14 years old.
Patrick Ryan Harrison, 66, of Hot Springs Village, Ark., was charged Friday with three counts of second-degree rape, five counts of second-degree sex offenses, a third-degree sex offense and a fourth-degree sex offense. Now 27, the woman told Anne Arundel County police in December that she was sexually abused from 1994 to 1996 in Harrison's former residence in Annapolis, according to charging documents. (Baltimore Sun)
FORMER WASHINGTON SENATORS HOUSE ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK?
Four intersections near Bethesda's National Naval Medical Center could get new through- and turn lanes related to the Base Realignment and Closure project, but the improvements may also require property acquisitions, according to State Highway Administration officials. Properties that could be subject to right of way acquisitions from SHA include the Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart on Rockville Pike, the historic Walter Johnson House on Old Georgetown Road, and residential properties near Connecticut Avenue and Rockville Pike. (Gazette)
PREAKNESS FUTURE MAY BE IN JEOPARDY
The president of the Maryland Senate says he would support a special session to pass emergency legislation to keep the Preakness Stakes horse race in Maryland. Magna Entertainment Corp., the company that owns the Baltimore track that hosts the Preakness, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. The company's financial problems have raised questions about what would happen to the Preakness if Magna fails to emerge from bankruptcy and sells off its assets. Senator Thomas V. Mike Miller says the race is "not only a matter of pride, it's a matter of economic development." (wtop.com)
DOUGH ROLLER RE-OPENS
The owner of the Dough Roller, an Ocean City boardwalk icon destroyed by fire, says the pizzeria will reopen in a new building next week, The Daily Times in Salisbury reported. Bill Gibbs says they'll open March 27, pending municipal permits and inspections and hold a grand opening about a week later. (Baltimore Sun)
VULTURES IN FREDERICKSBURG
A new group of self-described "vulture" real estate investors is forming in the Fredericksburg area. The Fredericksburg Real Estate Investors Association will hold its first meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Salem Church Library. Group organizer Guy Prudhomme hopes to attract a "network of like-minded people" interested in profiting from the recent "real estate meltdown."
"If there is anyone who seriously thinks that Fredericksburg real estate is going to be worth less five years from now, they have their heads in the sand," Prudhomme wrote in a news release about the group. (Fredericksburg.com)
GREENBRIER FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY
A luxury resort that has hosted 26 presidents and once was home to a secret underground emergency bunker reserved for members of Congress filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond. The Greenbrier Hotel Corp., owner of the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, filed for bankruptcy protection and announced plans to sell the four-star resort to Marriott Hotel Services Inc. (Richmond Times Dispatch)
IS TRAFFIC BAD???
Call it healthy skepticism. The vice-chair of the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board doesn't believe a new report that says eight out of every 10 traffic signals in the region are "optimized," meaning they've been retimed to reduce delays. "As I drive around the region, I simply don't believe that we've got 80 percent of our traffic signals functioning at the best way they possibly can. I just don't find that credible," says David Snyder. (wtop.com)
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Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
FREE YARD SALE!!
The real-estate office wanted to give customers something free during these troubled times. But because 1st Choice Better Homes and Land doesn't have a product to give away, owner Ann Black had a different idea. Her office will host a "Free For All"--a type of yard sale in which everything is free. The agency, located on Bragg Road near State Route 3, will give away clothes, household goods and other items on Saturday from 8 to 10 a.m. (Fredericksburg.com)
FRANK ZAPPA COMING TO FELLS POINT
A sculpture honoring eccentric musician and Baltimore native Frank Zappa could be placed in Fells Point in the coming months, under a plan supported by Baltimore's Public Art Commission Wednesday evening. The commission endorsed a site at the foot of Broadway on the south side of Broadway Market. (Baltimore Sun)