News

Man Busted for Meth Lab Worked for USA Today — One of the men arrested in connection with a suspected meth lab in a Virginia Square apartment building used to be a journalist who was regularly published in USA Today. Leonard Fischer, 44, was formerly a technology reporter for Gannett News Service. [Jim Romenesko, Kenneth in the 212]

Arlington Unemployment Rate Declines — Arlington still has the lowest unemployment rate in Virginia. Arlington’s jobless rate dipped from 3.7 percent in June to 3.5 percent in July, according to newly-released data. The average in Virginia is 6 percent, and the national unemployment rate is 8.6 percent. [Sun Gazette]


News

That news comes as Washington Post employees reported on Twitter that the Post is shuttering all of its Virginia and Maryland local bureaus, with the exception of Richmond and Annapolis. The Post currently has local bureaus in Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun County, Prince William County and elsewhere.

The Poynter Institute’s Jim Romenesko has a memo from the Washington Post Guild’s Facebook page confirming the closures. “The closure of the physical buildings does not mean that the Post will reduce its local coverage,” according to the memo.


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Crystal City Recycles Tons of Electronics — About 33.5 tons of electronics and four tons of paper were recycled at yesterday’s “Power Shred and Purge” in Crystal City. Hundreds of people and businesses dropped off hundreds of computer monitors, printers, CPUs and servers, along with 5,000 pounds of cables and batteries. The annual event also featured free paper shredding.

Kiddie Rapist Going Away for Very Long Time — Benjamin Ramirez-Segovia, 43, who pled guilty to the 1993 rape of a 9-year-old girl in Arlington, has been given four consecutive life sentences. He was arrested in March 2008 after the Arlington County Police Department’s Special Victims Unit re-examined the DNA evidence in the case.