Has the Washington Post been cooking its circulation figures? Lawsuit settlement questions real numbers

In the suit, Clinton, Md., resident Ricardo Smith says that the Post also reneged on this assurance to approximately 60 other independent contractors just like him. A federal judge had given Smith the green light to pursue a class action lawsuit on their behalf. But the settlement pre-empts that claim.
Terms of the settlement, filed April 24 with United States District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit, are confidential. In a brief telephone conversation Smith confirmed there was a settlement but declined to elaborate. “I can’t talk about that, man.”

In spite of many benefits of exporting LNG gas from Cove Point, nay-sayers say nay to making hay

Cove Point facility in Lusby has been importing liquefied natural gas for more than 30 years. Dominion acquired the facility in 2003 and plans to build a facility to export LNG. Capital News Service photo by Amanda Salvucci.

But others see the conversion as an environmental hazard that exposes all of Maryland to the potential risks of gas obtained through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and fear it could lead to use of the controversial gas-extraction method within the state.

Calvert Wrong-way race on Rt. 4 ended life of fleeing dare-devil; crash ends his racing career

The preliminary investigation indicates the Mitsubishi initially pulled to the shoulder, but when the trooper’s car pulled behind, the driver accelerated and fled north on Rt. 4. The trooper notified the barrack and pursued as the Mitsubishi turned onto a side road, then onto Main Street in Prince Frederick. When the driver of the Mitsubishi came to the intersection of Main Street and Rt. 4, he turned left and proceeded southbound in the northbound lanes of the highway, swerving back and forth across traffic.
The barrack duty officer was monitoring the pursuit. When the driver of the Mitsubishi began driving south in the northbound lanes, the duty officer ordered the pursuit ended out of a concern for public safety. Moments later, the Mitsubishi struck the northbound Ford Escape driven by Fisher on Rt. 4 south of Sixes Road.

District: snitty Post manager chastises staff for leaking news about health closure of newspaper’s cafeteria with rodent infestation

After the employee cafeteria at the Washington Post’s office downtown was closed by health inspectors yesterday, Washington City Paper and Jim Romenesko reported on a memo that Jeff Cox, the paper’s director of operations and administrative services, sent the staff. That didn’t sit so well with Post editorial writer Charles Lane, who just sent an email to newsroom staffers about the publication of Cox’s memo:

Oyster sanctuaries working; oyster populations largest since 1985

Governor Martin O’Malley today announced good news regarding the State’s ongoing work to restore the Chesapeake Bay’s native oyster population. Results of Maryland’s 2013 Fall Oyster Survey indicate populations are continuing to increase: The oyster population has more than doubled since 2010, reaching its highest point since this type of monitoring began in 1985.

Natural Resources Police hook up spawning rockfish poachers with big fines, confiscate gear

An investigation by the Maryland Natural Resources Police and allied State and local agencies resulted in the charging of five anglers in Charles County last Friday for illegally fishing for Striped Bass in a spawning area and catching other protected fish.
Acting on information gathered during surveillance, NRP officers and members of the Southern Maryland Information Center watched as a group of people caught and kept Striped Bass from an area of the Potomac River that is closed to allow spawning. As the anglers left at 1:50 a.m., NRP officers and units from the Charles County Sheriff’s Office stopped them.