Gutierrez Arrested in Immigration Protest; DC Murder Rate Plummets in Heat Wave: Morning Links

Congressman Arrested in Immigration Protest: Democratic Representative Luis Gutierrez of Illinois was arrested yesterday in front of the White House in a protest against the Obama Administration's undocumented immigrant deportation policy. Gutierrez submitted a proposal to Obama last week requesting his administration halt all deportations of undocumented students without criminal records. Obama rejected the proposal, which Gutierrez told the New York Times "didn't disappoint me so much as I was saddened." Gutierrez was arrested in a similar protest last year.

DC Murder Rate Plummets in Heat: The number of homicides in the two months since Memorial Day weekend has dropped by 44 percent when compared with the same period last year. Before the holiday weekend, Scott McCabe at the Washington Examiner reports, the number of homicides was up 16 percent for the year, but now, homicides are down 12 percent overall and violent crime is down 7 percent.

Ashley's Law Signed: Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell signed a bill into law yesterday that requires emergency response vehicles to flash lights and sirens when they go through intersections with a red light. "Ashley's Law" is named after Ashley McIntosh, who died after she was hit by a police car going through a red-lighted intersection in 2008.

PG County Home Liquor Delivery Faces Regulation: Maryland law recently changed to allow for home wine delivery, adding to the already legal delivery of beer and liquor. Now, PG County's liquor board wants to tighten regulation, proposing that the deliverer be over 18, record the names of those receiving deliveries, and require a close review of the receivers' IDs. They also plan to prevent deliveries to colleges, fraternities, and sororities but will vote on the final regulations on August 3. Others hope to ban the deliveries altogether.

MontCo Faces Opposition to Curfew: Montgomery County has proposed a curfew of 11 PM on weeknights and midnight on weekends for children under 18, but at a public hearing yesterday residents opposed the measure. Opponents say that similar curfews in nearby counties haven't reduced crime, as Montgomery County officials say this one will, NBC4 reports.

Briefly Noted: Police are looking for a serial slasher in Fairfax County. . . . DC's housing market saw prices increase by 1.3 percent as prices slumped across the country. . . . Maryland faces as much as a $1.1 billion gap in the budget next year.

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