VIRGINIA

'It hurts not to have him home today'

Bennett Rill, a 14-year-old, was electrocuted and three others were injured after they climbed onto a Herndon elementary school roof Tuesday, Fairfax police say. His family and friends are trying to cope through the tragedy.

VIRGINIA

Fauquier Times-Democrat changes its name, nixes 'Democrat'

In an editorial the newspaper said it would become known as the Fauquier Times. The editorial said having the word "Democrat" in its name in such partisan political times "is no longer a very astute business decision."

NATION

Obama plans to boost renewable energy and energy efficiency

President Barack Obama is planning a major push against the pollution blamed for global warming in an effort to follow promises he made at the start of his second term.

• Bloomberg prompts global warming discussion with plans for NYC
• Global warming causing less snow, more blizzards?

Commute

Metro identifies problem with emergency intercoms

Work is underway to fix a potentially dangerous malfunction onboard some Metro trains – faulty intercoms. Lives could be put at stake if passengers and the driver can’t communicate in an emergency.

SPORTS

Woods to sit out AT&T National at Congressional

Tiger Woods' sore left elbow will keep him out of competition until the British Open, meaning he wont play next week at the AT&T National at Congressional in Maryland.

D.C.

Architect Frank Gehry to design Eisenhower memorial

Architect Frank Gehry has been approved to design a national memorial honoring President Eisenhower near the National Mall.

• Eisenhower family wants new Ike memorial design
• Eisenhower Memorial: Architects oppose bill to alter Ike's D.C. memorial

Commute

Report: Driving time holds steady as population increases

The D.C. region is growing by leaps and bounds, but when it comes to driving, it is actually holding steady with the same amount of drive time.

BUSINESS

Report: Congress spent millions to pay down staffer student loans

The House of Representatives and U.S. Senate combined to spent more than $20 million to help pay down student loans for the staffers of congressmen, Federal Times reports.

Commute

Pedestrians hurt in Mass. Ave. crash; 2 critical

Police say three pedestrians were hurt in a crash near Union Station in northwest Washington Wednesday.

BUSINESS

Delaware plans $8 million bailout for casinos

At a time when Maryland's casinos are pulling in record revenues with plans in the works to add a sixth gambling facility, Delaware is busy planning to bail out the three operating there.

HARRIS' HEROES

Mentor at Latin American Youth Center helps at-risk youths

"Promotores " helps at-risk youth ages 16 to 24. Some are single parents, some are struggling to complete high school and others are involved in the justice system.

Health

AMA qualifies obesity as a disease

One-third of adults in the United States are obese, so it is clear that the problem is an epidemic. But now, a major medical group has decided to classify obesity as a disease.

CRIME

Runaway Va. inmate found in D.C.

A Virginia inmate who walked away from a work unit in Weyers Cave Wednesday has been found.

NATION

Fed says there's moderate growth in the ecomony

In its statement, the Fed said the economy is growing moderately. And for the first time it said the "downside risks to the outlook" had diminished since fall.

MARYLAND

Silver Spring man killed in Rockville crash

A 29-year-old Silver Spring man was killed overnight in a violent crash on Veirs Mill Road in Rockville, police say.

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ENTERTAINMENT

Country singer Slim Whitman dies at age 90

Country singer Slim Whitman, the high-pitched yodeler who sold millions of records through ever-present TV ads in the 1980s and 1990s and whose song saved the world in the film comedy "Mars Attacks!," died Wednesday.

NATION

NSA surveillance saved lives, President Obama says

President Barack Obama says lives have been saved by sweeping surveillance programs run by the National Security Agency.

• NSA director says N.Y. Stock Exchange terror plot foiled
• Snowden slams Cheney, other critics in online Q&A

Commute

Department of Labor investigates Capital Bikeshare's unfair wages

Around 20 current and former workers plan to participate in a press conference Wednesday, calling on Capital BIkeshare’s parent company Alta to pay over $100,000 in back pay and benefits.

POLITICS

IRS to pay $70 million in bonuses, despite administration directive

The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year, according to a GOP senator.

D.C.

Flooded Bloomingdale neighborhood to see changes

Bloomingdale residents proactively make changes to neighborhood restrictions after flooding that has plagued the area for years threatens to eliminate their streets.  

• Repairs to Bloomingdale flooding problems upset neighbors
• D.C. storm Wednesday: Bloomingdale residents prepare for storm

Commute

Study: Hundreds of D.C.-area bridges need major repairs

About 11 percent of bridges and overpasses nationwide are badly in need of repair or replacement, according to a new study, and several major bridges in the D.C. area are on that list.

NATION

Paula Deen: Of course I've used the N-word

Celebrity cook extraordinaire Paula Deen admitted to using the N-word while answering questions in a discrimination lawsuit, reports the Washington Post.

Commute

VIDEO: Irate Dulles passenger taken down after slapping staff

An irate passenger at Dulles who was caught on video yelling obscenities and striking another person was arrested Tuesday evening and charged with simple assault and public intoxication.

CRIME

Woman robbed of iPad in College Park

Police say Johnny Alejandro Turcios, 18, approached a woman on Guilford Road near Wake Forest Road around 11:10 a.m. and assaulted her.

D.C.

Naval academy midshipmen charged with sexual misconduct

Three midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy are facing charges of sexual misconduct and making false statements in connection with the sexual assault of a third-year midshipman who says she was passed out when the men assaulted her.

• Naval Academy football sexual assault victim speaks out
• Naval Academy sexual abuse case: Superintendent to move on case

D.C.

'Audit the IRS' rally draws thousands to Capitol grounds

Thousands of protesters staged a large rally on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Wednesday to broadcast their grievances against the Internal Revenue Service and what they described as an intrusive federal government.

Commute

Memorial honoring Red Line crash victims delayed once again

As the memorial for the victims of the 2009 Red Line Metro crash continues to be delayed, D.C. residents and the families of the nine who died are beginning to get impatient.  

• Red Line delays cause single tracking near Medical Center
• Red Line train strikes stairs at Rhode Island stop

MARYLAND

CSX sues truck driver in Baltimore-area derailment

CSX is suing a garbage truck driver and his company for negligence in the explosive derailment of a freight train near Baltimore.

• Baltimore train derailment 911 calls
• Baltimore explosion caused by train derailment
• Huge explosion after train derails near Baltimore (photos)

CRIME

Italian court convicts Dolce, Gabanna on tax evasion

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, the famed Italian fashion designers, were convicted Wednesday of withholding more than $1 billion in income tax.

D.C.

Frederick Douglass statue unveiled in Capitol

A seven-foot bronze statue of 19th-century orator and writer Frederick Douglass is unveiled Wednesday in the U.S. Capitol.

MARYLAND

AARP calls NIH tops for workers over 50 years old

Over 50? Looking for a job in the D.C. area? Perhaps take a look at the National Institutes of Health, which was named the top employer for workers over 50 in America by the AARP.

WORLD

President Obama in Germany calls for nuclear stockpile reduction

Issuing an appeal for a new citizen activism in the free world, President Barack Obama renewed his call Wednesday to reduce U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles and to confront climate change, a danger he called "the global threat of our time."

EDUCATION

MoCo schools cut positions to hire $165K chief of staff

Three full-time staff positions and nearly $70,000 in funding for part-timers have been cut to make way to hire a new chief of staff for Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr, the Gazette says.

CRIME

Two more charged in shooting death of CUA student

Two more people were arrested Monday in the March shooting death of a 31-year-old man who was about to receive his degree from Catholic University.

POLITICS

House vote puts new limits on abortions

The legislation, sparked by the murder conviction of a Philadelphia late-term abortion provider, would restrict almost all abortions to the first 20 weeks after conception.

• White House threatens veto of anti-abortion bill

VIRGINIA

Muslim group tackles discrimination against local Muslim cab driver

For the second time in as many months, a Muslim civil rights group is pursuing criminal charges on behalf of a taxicab driver who was subjected to an anti-Islamic rant caught on tape.

CRIME

Labor Department assault suspect dies in jail

Paul Mannina, the man accused of beating, macing and sexually assaulting a Department of Labor colleague inside her Northwest D.C. home, died inside a District of Columbia jail Tuesday, officials say.

• Arrested June 10 in connection with attack
• Victim groped, handcuffed, shocked during assault