The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
Jobless Rate Jumps in December
The U.S. economy shed 524,000 jobs in December, completing a year of declining employment and labor market weakness that is beginning to rival some of the country's steepest recessions. The unemployment rate jumped to 7.2 percent, from 6.8 percent. New data from the Labor Department showed that during the past year U.S. employers have eliminated 2.6 million jobs, swelling the ranks of the jobless to more than 11 million people. (Washington Post)
Final Cost for Nationals Ballpark
The final cost of the Washington Nationals ballpark is expected to be $693 million, or $62 million more than the price tag anticipated when the city agreed to use public money to build the stadium.The final tally was over budget because the costs of securing the property and the environmental cleanup work were greater than expected. Those were two items exempt from the spending cap created by the District of Columbia Council. (AP/WTOP)
Mom Gets DUI Charge With Toddler in Car
A Culpeper woman has been charged with driving under the influence while her toddler was in the car. Teri Marie Taylor, 22, was stopped on King Street about 2:40 a.m. Wednesday after Culpeper town police Officer Jeff Dodson spotted her 1993 Lexus moving erratically on James Madison Highway and North Main Street, police said. Dodson also noticed that two of the car's lights were out, according to a police report. (Free Lance-Star)
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Inaugural Traffic Backups Likely to Extend South to Richmond
Washington’s solution to traffic on Inauguration Day is likely to mean major highway backups and scrambling for parking as far south as Richmond. The decision to close the bridges from Virginia into the District of Columbia and two critical stretches of interstate highway caused some localities and mass-transit providers to brace yesterday for heavy traffic and possible problems at key rail stations. “It’s going to be a mess,“ said John M. Lewis Jr., president and chief executive officer of GRTC Transit System. “[Interstate] 95 will be backed up to Richmond. (InsideNoVa.com)
"Mantyhose": Not Your Mom's Pantyhose
European men have been sporting hose for several years, but the trend has been slow to catch on in the U.S. The "mantyhose" is also part of a larger trend of untraditional men's underwear designed to lift, sculpt and suck in that beer belly — from the "mirdle" (man-girdle) to Australian designer Equmen's Core Precision Undershirt, touted as the "Spanx for men." (Today)
