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Citing concerns about increased traffic in the metropolitan Washington area, MONTGOMERY COUNTY has plans to buy its own radio station to keep residents and those driving through the county posted on traffic tie-ups, etc.
The area is expected to see a 75 percent jump in traffic over the next 25 years, and that has officials at the county's transportation department worried, according to The Washington Post.
County officials hope to purchase WINX-AM for $450,000 and spend about $150,000 for upgrades and relocation of towers and transmitters to county land to avoid paying lease fees.
MONTGOMERY and PRINCE GEORGE'S counties recently got together to unveil legislation that would require gun stores to sell child safety locks in conjunction with all handgun sales in those counties.
Sarah Brady, chairperson of Handgun Control Inc., joined Prince George's County Executive Wayne Curry and Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan to announce the proposed legislation. Brady is the wife of James Brady, the White House press secretary who was shot during an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
(For more information on the legislation, contact Reginald Parks at 301/952-4136.)
UNION COUNTY cosponsored a forum on ecomic development Feb. 19. The conference was designed specifically for small to medium-sized businesses, connecting them with county, municipal, state and utility-sponsored business development programs.
"We all share the same goal of ensuring that Union County's economy continues to grow, that the county not only retains its status as 'The Gateway' to the New Jersey/New York metropolitan area, but that it remains economically vibrant in and of itself," said Linda Stender, Union County freeholder chairman, who addressed participants.
(For more information about how to set up such a conference, contact Steve Kukan, executive director of Prosperity New Jersey, at 609/984-4914.)
WESTCHESTER COUNTY recently received $50,000 in state funding for a new program to help rape victims. The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program or SANE is hospital-based and is an effort to ensure that victims receive compassionate medical treatment immediately following an assault and throughout the evidence collection process.
"This program will take advantage of a large number of volunteer nurses who have indicated their interest in being trained and to be on call so that they could respond to any hospital in the county within 30 minutes of being alerted," said Westchester County Legislator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who chairs a health and medical center committee.
(For more information on the program, contact George Gretsas, Westchester County public affairs director, at 914/285-2808.)
HENRICO COUNTY is taking steps to put a map of its roads online so that all departments will be able - by computer - to collect, analyze and manage information about the roads.
"We're beginning the project from scratch and will be using state-of-the-art computers and software, along with existing surveyors' maps, to tie the coordinates to actual ground units," said Alfredo Frauenfelder, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) coordinator.
"From crisis management to routine analysis of problematic patterns detected through the data we gather, all departments in the county will benefit," he said. The system will come in handy during such emergency situations as hurricanes and fires, when knowing the exact location of gas lines and electrical wiring are crucial.
"It's been said a picture is worth a thousand words, but a GIS map is worth a thousand pictures," Frauenfelder said.
(For more information about the system, contact Frauenfelder at 804/672-5769.)
Could two new counties be in Washington's future? A bill to create new counties was recently introduduced by a state representative, a SNOHOMISH COUNTY Republican, who wants to create new counties from rural portions of rapidly growing counties, according to the Washington State Association of Counties.
The first county the representative wants to start with: He'd break off part of Snohomish County to make "Freedom County."
Others have taken legal action in an attempt to create "Cedar County" from a part of KING COUNTY.
(News From the Nation's Counties is compiled by Mary Ann Barton, senior staff writer.)
Does your county have news it would like to share? Mail it to County
News, 440 First St., NW, Washington, DC 20001 or contact Barton at 202/942-4210
or mbarton@naco.org.