Laurel

Pluto, up close: New Horizons historic fly-by

Pluto, up close: New Horizons historic fly-by

6 Photos

Tuesday, mankind visits its first unexplored world since 1989 – and its last for a long time, if not ever.

The NASA spacecraft was scheduled to be 7,750 miles from the dwarf planet’s surface at precisely 7:49:59 a.m., the pinnacle of a 9 1/2-year, 3 billion-mile journey for the spacecraft designed, built and managed by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel.

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Jayamangala Dance Company

Jayamangala Dance Company

8 Photos, 1 Video

An anklet decorated with bells jingles as Priyanka Jayanti, a dancer with the Laurel-based Jayamangala School of Dance, stamps her bare feet. The jingling grows louder as Jayanti, 20, quickly leaps toward her fellow dancers, sweeping her arms into the air and extending her fingers toward the ceiling. Jayanti is rehearsing “Prayer to the Sun God,” one of the dances she and nine other Jayamangala dancers will perform Saturday at the Atlas Intersections Festival, an annual arts festival in Washington, D.C., with more than 100 performing groups.

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Time Lapse: Laurel synagogue replaces iconic sanctuary dome

Time Lapse: Laurel synagogue replaces iconic sanctuary dome

17 Photos, 1 Video

On an overcast, cold December morning, a group of congregation members of Oseh Shalom synagogue gathered to watch the first pieces of the temple’s sanctuary be removed as part of a replacement of its iconic translucent dome.

The original dome has outlived its useful life and will be replaced by a new dome made in the same configuration and of the same material, said Barry Nove, facility manager at Oseh Shalom. The removal began Tuesday, Dec. 17, after several delays because of wintry weather.

Watch a time lapse of the removal of the old dome below the photo gallery.

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Police enforcing new Md. cell phone driving laws

Police enforcing new Md. cell phone driving laws

1 video

Baltimore Sun community papers video intern Cara LaMaina, who is a broadcast journalism student at the University of Maryland, College Park, recently spent some time doing a ride-along with a Prince George’s County police officer to see how they are enforcing the new state laws on using cell phones while driving. Here is her report and some background on how she reported it.

Sirens are blaring and lights are flashing all over the roads in Prince George’s County. Police officers have begun fighting the spreading addiction to texting and driving. As of October 1, a new law went into effect making it illegal to use a handheld device while driving in Maryland. After talking to Officer Shawn Brome it became clear that police departments are not taking it lightly.

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Curling like a champion

Curling like a champion

11 photos

The unique sport of curling remains mostly out of the spotlight. But every four years, that changes, says brothers Hunter and Caleb Clawson, of Clarksville. After each winter Olympics, the Potomac Curling Club in Laurel sees a huge influx in interest at its meetings and open houses. For now, it’s just a core group of devotees shuffling up and down the ice.

The Clawsons, trained by their father Eric for the past eight years, are competing in the International Curling Championships this week in Vancouver. On Sunday, the Clawsons did some training exercises and competed in a friendly match with other club members.

The video below was partly shot on a GoPro camera attached to a curling stone to give a rare perspective of the sport.

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