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<p>The leading contender for the site of the new Homeland Security Department is a building in a business park in western Fairfax County, which would strengthen demand for a rail line along the Dulles Corridor but would worry those concerned with urban sprawl.</p>

<p>In last year's mega-hit movie "Minority Report," starring Tom Cruise in a mid-21st-century sci-fi thriller, D.C. police identify persons who have not yet committed a crime, but who, based on premonition evidence are going to commit a crime, and then swoop in and arrest these pre-criminals before they can carry out their dastardly deeds.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Bush administration is leaning toward northern Virginia as the home of the new Department of Homeland Security, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., and a congressional source said Wednesday.</p> <p>"The administration has decided to lease space and is focusing on underutilized space in Virginia," said Norton, who sits on two committees that worked to create the department.</p>

<p>Lawmakers and business leaders responded yesterday with a mix of skepticism and outrage to a Fairfax County police initiative to take trouble-making drinkers out of bars, then arrest them.</p> <p>Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Kate Hanley called for a review of the monthlong police sting, telling The Washington Times that she supports "aggressive enforcement" of drunken-driving laws but that the program needs to be re-evaluated.</p>

Home -> News -> Content Thursday 2 January, 2003 NEWS SEARCH   Advanced search      News     Top Stories   Government   Police/Courts   Youth/Schools   Obituaries   Columnists   Editorial   Letters to the Editor   Weather   Regional News      Community News      Sports      Entertainment      Real Estate      Classifieds      Links      Business Directory      Society Page Photo Galleries             SECTION LINKS Movie Showtimes TV Listings Top Stories Police enforcing public drunkenness laws at local bars By Michelle Zimmermann December...

POLICE STATE, USA Cops go to bars to arrest drunks Gestapo-like tactics prompt outrage, complaints among owners, citizenry Posted: January 6, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com In the ongoing effort to keep public places clear of intoxicated citizens and drunk drivers, some police agencies are using a controversial tactic – going directly into bars and restaurants in order to make arrests. Such is the situation in northern Virginia, where Fairfax County Police are targeting patrons suspected of having one too many. "They were talking to one of the guests, then physically pulled him off the barstool," Richie Prisco,...

Police enforcing public drunkenness laws at local bars By Michelle Zimmermann December 31, 2002 Fairfax County Police are targeting Reston and Herndon area bar-restaurant patrons suspected of having one too many drinks. Police have been taking them outside for sobriety tests and, if they fail, arresting them for public drunkenness. The owners of local bar-restaurants are complaining that these tactics are too aggressive. But a county police spokesman says the practice is nothing new and, besides, helps prevent worse abuse that can lead to alcohol-related driving accidents. According to Virginia statutes and the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC),...

Talk about shooting fish in a barrel! Officers in “SWAT-like garb” are now bursting into Northern Virginia bars in search of intoxicated patrons. Anyone registering over 0.08 percent Blood Alcohol Concentration -- the legal limit for driving -- is subject to arrest. Anyone who looks drunk can be written up. Police justify the arrests by saying that they want to ensure customers aren’t being “overserved.” Bar-goers with that unlucky fate “would be transported to an adult detention center until they sobered up.” Perhaps the police haven’t heard of getting a ride from a friend and sobering up at home. A...

<p>FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) - A man accused of falsely telling police that he witnessed one of the sniper shootings last October pleaded no contest Tuesday to an obstruction of justice charge.</p> <p>Matthew Dowdy, 37, was sentenced to six months in jail and fined $1,000 on the misdemeanor count. He has been jailed since Oct. 18 on $75,000 bond.</p>

Police Arrest Witness Accused Of Lying To Sniper Investigators Falls Church Man Faces 6-Month Jail TermFairfax County Police have arrested and charged Matthew Dowdy, 37, of Falls Church, Va., for allegedly making false statements to police.Dowdy was arrested Friday afternoon, one day after police said his account of Monday night's sniper shooting outside the Home Depot store had been discredited.He is charged with "knowingly and willfully make(ing) a materially false statement or representation to a law enforcement officer who is in the course of conducting an investigation of a crime by another". He faces up to six months in jail.Dowdy's...

CNSNews.com) - A proposal to add "sexual orientation" to anti-discrimination statutes in local schools is causing dissension in Fairfax County, Va., where some parents claim the measure is unnecessary and could be used to undermine the religious convictions of students who believe that homosexual behavior is wrong. Parents and pro-family groups also complain that Fairfax school libraries contain books that depict homosexuality only in a non-critical light and that the testimony of people who left the homosexual lifestyle is not allowed in school board debates on anti-discrimination. "This is the work of gay activists in the school system," said Peter...