The following stories have been hand-selected by the Assignment Desk at News4:
FENTY TALKS BUDGET CUTS
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's administration will lay off hundreds of employees over the next several months to balance a budget that will shrink for the first time in more than a decade, city officials said yesterday. Fenty (D) will propose a fiscal 2010 spending plan of $5.3 billion in local funds, a 5 percent decrease from this year's $5.6 billion, said government sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because the budget had not been delivered to the D.C. Council. The decline comes after a shortfall in projected revenue caused by the housing and stock market collapse and marks the first time since 1997 and 1998 that the city's spending will decrease, officials said. (Washington Post)
WHAT HAPPENED TO ANNIE MCCANN??
A private investigation has been launched in the bizarre case of a Fairfax County high school honor student found dead Nov. 2 behind a Baltimore public housing trash bin, after she apparently ran away from her Groveton home on Halloween. Annie McCann, 16, was a junior at West Potomac High School. According to her 18-year-old brother Sam, she was a jovial, happy-go-lucky teen with no apparent boy troubles or any problems that would warrant running away from home. (Fairfax Times)
GOOGLE METRO
Metro plans to post all its bus and rail schedules and routes on the transit agency's Web site starting Monday, a long-awaited move that will allow third parties such as Google Transit to use the data to offer online tools to help riders navigate the system. (Washington Post)
FREDERICK WANTS TO BUY AMERICAN
The Frederick Board of Aldermen will continue to weigh a "Buy American" and local preference for the city's purchasing policy. The change to the policy was prompted by a resolution to encourage the use of federal stimulus funds on American goods and services when possible, which was revisited and approved by the board at its Thursday meeting. (Frederick News Post)
SHARE THAT CAR IN SILVER SPRING
Silver Spring residents looking to gradually lose their addiction to automobiles should get help soon as the county looks to establish its own shared-car service in several urban areas, specifically downtown. The Montgomery County Department of Transportation will soon accept bids from private companies to establish a "carshare," a short-term car rental service commonly designed to complement public transportation. The carshare could be available at county-owned parking facilities and streets by the end of the year. (Gazette)
DOGS LIKE MARIJUANA
Pets eat some odd stuff and plants are among the most commonly injested items. According to a recent study, claims were higher for pets that ate marijuana than walnuts. Does that indicate more marijuana laying around or just less alarm for a dog that eats a nut? (DC Examiner)
SCAMS IN BOWIE, BEWARE
Bowie Police are warning residents to be on the lookout for financial scams sent via mail that claim residents have won a large sum of money but request a small payment before the money can be claimed. In the scam, rumored to be coming out of Ontario, Canada, a letter is sent to a resident alerting them they have won $250,000, said Bowie Police Chief Katherine Perez. An official-looking check supposedly drawn from a Bank of America in Houston, Texas is included and said to pay for "non-resident government tax." A phone number for a claims agent is included and the resident is asked to send money to claim their prize. (Gazette)
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
CHERRY BLOSSOMS PEAK!
Washington's famous cherry blossoms will peak a couple of days earlier than first predicted. The peak bloom for the blossoms will be April 1 and April 4. (wtop.com)
