The Night Note: 3/4/09

News you need to know

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

THAT AIN'T SOUP
Another man has been caught trying to smuggle cocaine camouflaged as soup into the Washington area from El Salvador.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested Jorge Luis Posada Guevara Saturday at Dulles after Customs and Border Protection K-9 Milo sniffed out about 16 pounds of coke stuffed in six boxes of dried chicken noodle soup. (NBCWashington.com)

MARYLAND MAKES CUTS
The state Board of Public Works officially slashed $82 million in Maryland's current fiscal-year budget Wednesday, including roughly 892 vacant positions and two filled jobs. The board's three members _ Gov. Martin O'Malley, Comptroller Peter Franchot and Treasurer Nancy Kopp _ also completed the sale of nearly $500 million in state bonds, including the first direct retail sale of bonds to individuals in Maryland's modern history, according to state officials. (WTOP)

THOU SHALL NOT TEXT
Roman Catholic bishops in Italy are urging the faithful to go on a high-tech fast for Lent, switching off modern appliances from cars to iPods and abstaining from surfing the Web or text messaging until Easter. The suggestion goes far beyond no-meat Fridays, giving a modern twist to traditional forms of abstinence in the five-week period Christians set aside for fasting and prayer ahead of Easter. (USA Today)

OK, THAT'S JUST WEIRD
An arsonist is apparently on the prowl for green Ford Escorts from the 1990s. Three of them have been burned in recent weeks, a series of acts that Medford police Sgt. Mike Budreau described as "pretty bizarre." A 1995 green Ford Escort was destroyed by flames early Sunday morning after someone broke a window and poured flammable liquid into it. A similar fire was set in a 1993 green Ford Escort parked in a driveway on Feb. 22. (MSNBC

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