Local Leads: 8/11/09

News you need to know

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

MARYLAND QUIDDITCH TEAM
Harry Potter fans at the University of Maryland, College Park have taken their devotion to the J.K. Rowling fantasy series to another level, starting up a Quidditch team at the local campus. Quidditch, a game in the wizarding world played on flying broomsticks, has become a popular sport to play at many colleges across the nation. Now, UMD students will get their chance to play the sport so many have dreamed of playing. The sport is for “every level of Harry Potter fans,” Rachael Lavin, the UMD student who decided to start the school’s very own Quidditch team, said.  (The Sentinel)

MAN KILLED BY PITBULLS ID'ED
Autopsy results are expected Tuesday on Carter Patrick Ridge Delaney, 19. He's the man who died after a dog attack.
Police are erring on the side of caution in discussing what may have happened at the home in the 100 block of Plaza Street Monday.  (WTOP.COM)

230 MPG!!
General Motors announced today that its forthcoming electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt, will achieve city fuel economy of 230 miles per gallon, under testing that used draft federal fuel economy methodology standards for plug-in cars. (Washington Post)

REALTORS FOR SALE SIGN SNAG
Mary Jean Thomasson says she has never hit or punctured a utility line putting up a “for sale” sign in a yard during her 19 years in the real estate business. “I’ve never had a problem; I’ve never heard of a problem,“ said Thomasson, owner of Prince George Realty. Now, she and all agents in Virginia need to call the Virginia Utility Protection Service—aka “Miss Utility”—before they put up a “for sale” sign. (Insidenova.com)

LITTLE BROTHER LEFT BEHIND
Police say two siblings left something important behind when they fled the scene of a crime Sunday--their little brother.
The 6-year-old boy was eventually turned over to his parents and his adult siblings went to jail, Stafford Sheriff's spokesman Bill Kennedy said. (Free Lance Star)

NEW CARS ON EBAY
General Motors and eBay are starting a car-shopping website to rev up sales.The test program, which makes its debut Tuesday in California and lets consumers negotiate with dealers, represents a major change in how new cars are sold online. (USAToday
 
HOME BREWED BEVERAGES, IN JAIL
The majority of inmates at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center have a history of drug addiction and violence, Corrections Bureau Chief Lt. Col. Steven Rau said.  Locking them up doesn't suddenly make them quit using drugs and become pacifists, staff members and a former inmate said. (Frederick News Post) 

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