March 2, 2018

'Everyone On The Plane Threw Up' On Flight Into Dulles: Report

The epic windstorm that roared into the D.C. area on Friday caused such a rough landing at Dulles Airport that "pretty much everyone on the plane threw up," according to the pilot's report.

The National Weather Service's Aviation Weather Center lists very brief summaries of turbulence and wind encountered at various airports, usually something unreadable like "BWI UA /OV BAL290003/TM 1914/FL042/TP B738/SK BASES BKN042 TOPS BKN093."

However, there was a rather interesting entry this morning.

"IAD UUA /OV KIAD/TM 1238/FL040/TP CRJ2/TB MOD-SEV/RM VERY BUMPY ON DESCENT," the report states. "PRETTY MUCH EVERY ONE ON THE PLANE THREW UP. PILOTS WERE ON THE VERGE OF THROWING UP."

Wind gusts have topped 60 and even 70 miles per hour in some places, and the high winds are expected to continue into tomorrow morning. It has resulted in delays at Dulles Airport and a suspension of Amtrak service, as well as widespread power outages.

https://patch.com/virginia/reston/everyone-plane-threw-flight-dulles-report

March 2, 2018

Weird Al Takes a Shot at 'Hamilton' With New Polka

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Weird Al Yankovic have admired and respected each other's work, so it was just a matter of time before "Hamilton's" track got a polka treatment from Yankovic.

The beloved parodist released "The Hamilton Polka," a polka-mashup of the Broadway hit musical as part of Miranda's "Hamildrops" music series.

Yankovic miraculously turned Miranda's three-hour play into a five-minute medley highlighting fan favorites like "Alexander Hamilton," "Wait for it," and "You'll Be Back."

The two songwriters will appear on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" Friday.

Read more: https://www.nbcwashington.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/Lin-Manuel-Miranda-and-Weird-Al-Yankovic--475673543.html

March 2, 2018

Former Trump Campaign Chief Faces Arraignment in Virginia

President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman is scheduled for arraignment in a northern Virginia courthouse on charges including tax evasion and bank fraud.

The grand jury indictment in the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Virginia, accuses Paul Manafort of hiding from the Internal Revenue Service tens of millions of dollars he earned representing pro-Russia politicians in Ukraine.

The charges are part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian efforts to influence U.S. elections.

Most of the charges against Manafort have been filed in the District of Columbia. Prosecutors say they were required to bring these charges in Virginia because they lacked venue in the district to charge Manafort, who lives in Virginia.

Read more: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Former-Trump-Campaign-Chief-Faces-Arraignment-in-Virginia-475644233.html

March 2, 2018

Kentucky Republicans just made it easier for parents to marry off their underage children

Just when you think the Republican Party can sink no lower, just when you assume the party that supported a child molester for Senate in Alabama and elected an admitted sexual predator to the White House they discover a whole new, hitherto unimagined, degree of depravity.

The Courier-Journal reports that Republicans in the Kentucky Senate have voted down a measure to raise the minimum age for marriage to eighteen. The GOP decided it was more important to ensure parents can easily marry off their children than it was to prevent child marriages.

The bill the Republicans rejected was called the “Child Bride Bill,” which perfectly puts into perspective how vile the opposition to it was. Supporters of the blocked legislation said that most underage marriages involved an older man and a teenage girl who most likely has been sexually exploited. It’s sadly not surprising that the party of Trump — a man accused of raping a 13-year-old girl — would support such a despicable move.

The lobbyists who worked to prevent the reasonable and morally imperative bill are conservatives who see the issue as part of the larger cultural war. That is to say, once again the relgious right has proven that unless they’re stopped they will reduce this country to a regressive, morally vacant hellscape modeled after the worst elements of ancient religious texts.

Read more: http://washingtonpress.com/2018/03/02/kentucky-republicans-just-made-easier-parents-marry-off-underage-children/

March 2, 2018

Maryland Senate passes Gov. Hogan's bill to stiffen sentences for repeat drunk drivers

The Maryland Senate unanimously passed Gov. Larry Hogan’s legislation Thursday that seeks to impose harsher sentences on drunk drivers who have been previously convicted of three or more similar offenses.

The measure now goes to the House, where an identical bill has yet to receive a committee vote.

The bill, sponsored by the Hogan administration, would increase the maximum penalty for an offender with a fourth or subsequent conviction to 10 years and a fine of $10,000. It would take into account a variety of prior offenses, including drugged driving and operating a motor vessel while intoxicated as well as drunk driving.

Under current law, the maximum penalty is three years and a $3,000 fine, with the possibility of another year and $1,000 if a minor is present in the vehicle during the offense.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-drunk-driver-penalties-20180301-story.html#nt=oft02a-1li3

March 2, 2018

Maryland may require future presidential candidates to make their tax returns public to appear on

Maryland may require future presidential candidates to make their tax returns public to appear on state ballot

A proposed law requiring presidential candidates to make their tax returns public in order to appear on Maryland's ballot has advanced in the state Senate.

Senators gave the measure preliminary approval Thursday. The bill could receive final Senate approval next week, after which it would go to the House.

The bill requires presidential and vice presidential candidates to release their tax returns for the preceding five years. It was introduced after President Donald Trump bucked tradition and did not release his tax returns during his 2016 campaign.

Maryland could be the first state to enact such a requirement.

California and New Jersey passed similar bills, but they were vetoed.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-taxes-president-ballot-20180301-story.html

March 2, 2018

Former Maryland lawmaker convicted in liquor bill bribery case

A federal jury convicted former Del. Michael Vaughn, a Prince George’s County Democrat, of bribery and conspiracy on Thursday over a scheme to help some liquor store owners in the county.

Vaughn took $15,000 in bribes as he worked with liquor board officials and a pair of store owners to pass legislation create Sunday liquor sale permits in 2015, according to a summary of evidence introduced at his trial released by federal prosecutors. The next year he helped pass another piece of legislation to aid the stores.

Vaughn resigned from the General Assembly in January 2017, shortly before he was charged in the case. He had been in the legislature since 2003 and was a member of the Democratic leadership team in the House.

A date for Vaughn’s sentencing has not yet been set.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-michael-vaughn-conviction-20180301-story.html

March 2, 2018

Lawyers for Sen. Nathaniel Oaks say FBI used 'professional set-up artist' to target him

Lawyers for state Sen. Nathaniel Oaks say federal authorities deployed an informant who collects a six-figure annual paycheck from the FBI to entrap the Baltimore Democrat.

In court papers filed Thursday, Oaks’ defense team identified the informant as William Myles. But to Oaks, he was Mike Henley, a Texas businessman wanting to do property deals in Baltimore.

The attorneys said Myles has been paid $1.1 million over a decade’s work on sting cases against public officials around the country — even meeting targets at the same chain of steakhouses where he first encountered Oaks.

“Mr. Myles is nothing more than a professional set-up artist whose livelihood is dependent on inducing public officials into corrupt activity,” Oaks’ attorneys wrote in the documents filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-oaks-informant-20180301-story.html

March 2, 2018

Johns Hopkins plans $469 million expansion and modernization of its Bayview Medical Center

Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center would get a modern hospital facility and renovations to two existing buildings in a $469 million plan to upgrade the Southeast Baltimore campus that serves both the local community and more far-flung patients seeking specialty care.

The long-planned overhaul would mean private patient rooms and state-of-the-art operating rooms, as well as other many other infrastructure upgrades, according to a plan presented by the hospital to state regulators.

Hospital officials say this would allow the hospital to better meet patient expectations, as well as increase privacy and safety. It’s also in keeping with services offered at other hospitals in the region that have modernized with renovation and construction projects, including the $1.1 billion Johns Hopkins complex that opened in 2012.

“Getting our patients into private rooms, that’s the fundamental thing,” said Charles Reuland, Bayview’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “More than half the patients are in semi-private rooms and you can imagine it’s a patient safety and infection control and privacy issue.”

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-hs-hopkins-bayview-expansion-20180301-story.html

March 2, 2018

Annapolis High teacher seeks $250,000 in lawsuit against union

An Annapolis High School teacher is seeking $250,000 from the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County for a series of causes, including defamation, infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract, according to a lawsuit filed in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Jan. 27.

In the suit, Annapolis High School science teacher Sharon Moesel says TAAAC and its leaders made false statements about her in two letters — a censure letter sent to her in August of 2016 and a letter expelling her from the union sent in May of 2017.

The suit claims the statements were meant to ostracize Moesel from her colleagues, cause injury to Moesel and were part of an improper effort to remove Moesel from the union. The letters were sent to her Anne Arundel County Public Schools email address, making them part of the public record, the suit mentions.

The suit also says the union and its leaders engaged in conduct meant to silence Moesel from speaking publicly about issues of concern to her and her fellow teachers. It also alleges that TAAAC breached its contract with Moesel, who pays membership dues to be a part of the bargaining unit, when it canceled her membership. It also alleges interference in contractual business and civil conspiracy.

Read more: http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/schools/ac-cn-taaac-sued-0302-story.html