The Night Note: 01/22/09

 

A Senate committee has passed legislation that would ban using a hand-held cell phone while driving. Sen. Patricia Ticer's bill would allow drivers to use the cell phone if it was equipped with a hands-free device. Drivers would be allowed to use a hand-held cell phone in an emergency. Law enforcement and emergency personnel would not be included in the ban. (AP/WTOP)

 

Crime in Loudoun County increased in most major categories last year, according to preliminary statistics, and a Loudoun County Sheriff's Office spokesman said population growth and the deepening recession were probably factors in the trend. The number of violent crimes was 27.5 percent higher than in 2007. Most of that increase was due to a sharp rise in aggravated assaults, from 92 in 2007 to 137 in 2008. The number of homicides went up from one to three, the number of rapes from 51 to 53, and the number of robberies from 38 to 39. (Loudoun Extra)

Immigrant Advocates Call for End to Raids

Several hundred immigrant supporters and religious leaders from across the country marched to the Southwest Washington headquarters of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency yesterday, strumming guitars, beating drums and waving colorful homemade banners exhorting President Obama to halt immigration raids and promote legislation offering illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. (Washington Post)

Horse Trainer Found Guilty, To Serve 56 Days

The man charged with 42 counts of animal cruelty stemming from the discovery of 48 horses on a farm near Middleburg will serve less than two months in jail after being found guilty on all 42 charges. Just before the end of business Wednesday, the seven-person jury announced they have found horse trainer Dennis Danley guilty of all charges, after less than a half day of deliberation. (Leesburg Today)

Lottery Winner Nearly Threw Away $30K Ticket

Jamie Davis will think twice before throwing away any scratch-off tickets before checking them. After scratching eight Maryland Lottery Blackout Bingo tickets Wednesday, the Hagerstown man didn’t think he had any winners and proceeded to throw them in the trash at the store. Luckily, the clerk at Myersville Exxon in Myersville, Md., told him that he should check them first, so Davis took them out of the trash to have them scanned. One turned out to be a $30,000 winner. (Herald Mail)