News

LINTHICUM, Md. (AP) — The number of commercial passengers flying through Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in the first quarter of this this has set a record.

More than 4.9 million flew through the airport. That's an increase of 2.6 percent over the same period in 2011, and is a new all-time record for the first quarter of any year.

Total cargo shipments for the first quarter rose 3.2 percent to 57.7 million pounds.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — An anti-gang video produced by the Virginia attorney general's office is receiving national recognition.

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said Thursday that the video has won the National Gang Crime Research Center's Frederick Milton Thrasher award.

The award recognizes scholarship, leadership, service contributions and accomplishments by individuals and by programs that deal with gangs or other public safety issues.

The video, "The Big Lie: Unmasking the Truth Behind Gangs", is targeted to teenagers and pre-teens. It features inactive gang members explaining lies that are told to recruit youths.

The 20-minute video premiered in September 2011.

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The Air Force says people who live near F-22 bases shouldn't see significant changes in how or where the aircraft are flying following new restrictions that will limit how far away from bases the stealth fighter jets can fly.

Officials at Air Combat Command at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia issued a statement to The Associated Press on Thursday saying that operational guidance on the flight restrictions will go out to F-22 units over the next several days.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered the restrictions on Tuesday as the Air Force attempts to figure out what's causing pilots in the jet to experience dizziness and other symptoms of oxygen shortages while flying.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Attorneys for the state are fighting to keep a man on Virginia's death row after a federal court said his claims of mental deficiency were enough to warrant an appeal.

The Attorney General's Office argued Tuesday before a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Leon Winston waited too late to present evidence that he met Virginia's threshold for mental retardation, which would make him ineligible for execution.

Justices said a U.S. Supreme Court opinion issued after Winston's case was ordered reviewed has made it more difficult to introduce evidence not presented earlier in such proceedings.

BALTIMORE (AP) — Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler says he is considering court action over menhaden if regulators don't cut the amount taken by a Virginia processor.

Menhaden are a key link in the Chesapeake food chain but are also harvested by industrial processors for products ranging from animal feed to dietary supplements and cosmetics. An Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission board voted late last year to cut the harvest by about a third to allow stocks to rebound. A final vote is scheduled later this year.