DNA found on a weapon links a 41-year-old yoga instructor currently in Mexico to the killing of an American University professor, The Washington Post reports. The story also quotes an FBI affidavit that says Sue Ann Marcum and Jorge Landeros had a joint financial investment. “It is the first time authorities have linked a possible dispute over money to Marcum’s death,” The Post reports.
Maryland’s leading gay-rights organization is fighting to rebound from reported infighting and financial woes after the failure in this year’s General Assembly of a much-publicized bill to legalize same-sex marriage, David Hill reports in The Washington Times. The board of directors of Equality Maryland fired its executive director, whom one board member publicly accused of mismanaging the nonprofit’s finances to the point that officials announced in late May the group could fold if it didn’t it didn’t receive $2,000 in new donations by the end of June. Officials said last week they have fulfilled the June fundraising goal but are still planning “month to month” as they try to boost fundraising and overcome criticism of their efforts during the legislative session.
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The Justice Department will not seek the death penalty against three men accused of multiple murders and running a violent drug gang in the Barry Farms neighborhood of Southeast Washington, Jim McElhatton reports in The Washington Times. Death penalty cases are rare, but not unheard of, in the nations capital, where residents have voted against capital punishment in local prosecutions. But federal authorities are not bound by the referendum, and they occasional bring death penalty cases in federal court.
P.G. County Executive Rushern Baker’s first major initiative has stalled, County executive, as Baker and the county council clash over whether a multimillion-dollar economic initiative fund the county may shell out to developers needs more oversight or more flexibility, the D.C. Examiner reports. “Council members want a more powerful compliance board, the ability to review grants and loans in excess of $250,000, and a 60-day review process to consider financial assistance for businesses Prince George’s officials are courting,” the paper reports. Baker calls the demands “cumbersome.”
Laws in Maryland aimed at curbing crashes among young drivers appear to be working, the Annapolis Capital reports. “According to preliminary state data obtained by The Capital last week, teen fatalities dropped 25 percent, from 48 deaths in 2009 to 36 in 2010. And teen injuries fell by 17 percent, from 5,479 in 2009 to 4,543 in 2010.”
Republicans are mounting a bid to take control of the Virginia Senate and appear poised to retain their majority in the House of Delegates in November’s elections, the Roanoke Times reports. Democrats hold a fragile 22-18 majority. “Despite controlling the recent Senate redistricting process, Democrats so far have candidates in just 24 of 40 Senate districts and have no challengers for any Republican incumbents.”
