The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
How Much to Raise a Child?
A new government report finds that a middle-income family with a child born last year will spend about $221,000 raising that child through age 17. The USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion says housing is the largest single expense, followed by food and child care/education costs. That $221,000 figure rises to about $292,000 when adjusted for inflation. (USAToday)
Fenty Frat Party
The District has been reimbursed for $37,000 in taxpayer money used to throw a posh welcome reception Monday night for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's fraternity, after the attorney general determined that it was "not a proper use of government funds." Fenty (D) and the D.C. Council wrestled last week with closing a potential $666 million budget shortfall over the next three years. But the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development provided a $37,000 grant to the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., for Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity's open-bar affair. The fraternity is in town this week for a conference. (Washington Post)
Record Number of Residents Seek Energy Help
A record number of Montgomery County residents have applied for help in paying their energy bills through the county's Office of Home Energy Programs. The 3,095 who sought aid from the county's energy assistance program in June and July set a record for the period, county spokeswoman Esther Bowring said. That number was almost 23 percent more than the 2,523 residents who sought the county's help paying energy bills in June and July 2008. (Gazette.net)
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
DC to Close Visitor Center
The D.C. Chamber of Commerce is closing its visitor center in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. The D.C. Chamber had had been in negotiations with the Washington Convention Center Authority to continue serving tourists through its Visitor Information Center, but those talks have broken off. (Washington Business Journal)
Drunk Man Falls Off Boat, Nobody Notices
Heading out on a boat at Deep Creek Lake is supposed to be a pleasant experience, right? But what if you fall off of the boat and nobody notices? It happened to Michael Patrick McCarthy, 23, of Kensington. Before you feel too sorry for McCarthy, realize he was "highly intoxicated, disoriented, swimming away from shore and not wearing a life jacket at the time he was rescued," according to a news release from Maryland Natural Resources Police. (WTOP)
