'The emergence of smaller, more agile criminal groups' - Thursday, March 7, 2024 - Top News from WTOP

TOP NEWS | March 07, 2024 [Web version](   [Organized crime ain't what it used to be. Md. lawmakers say it's time to update the law]( For a lot of people, the term "organized crime" conjures up images of backroom mafia deals or highly structured street gangs dealing drugs and getting engaged in turf wars. But like everything else in the world, things are changing. [READ MORE](   [Founder of LGBTQ nonprofit Casa Ruby in DC charged with fraud, money laundering]( The founder of a D.C. organization that provided services to the LGBTQ+ community, who prosecutors say fled to El Salvador after she was accused of fraud, has been arrested after "unexpectedly returning" to the U.S. [READ MORE](   SPONSORED CONTENT [Get on Top of Your Health: Why doing good is good for your employees, business and community]( Employees want to give back to and feel as if they are part of the communities where they live and work, explains Kaiser Permanente's Cynthia Cifuentes. To that end, she shares easy ways businesses can jumpstart corporate citizenship initiatives.   [Virginia judge sets aside guilty verdict against former school superintendent]( A judge on Wednesday set aside a guilty verdict against a former Virginia school system superintendent who was convicted of a retaliatory firing of a teacher who reported that an elementary school student inappropriately touched her. [READ MORE](   [Citing declining enrollment, Prince William Co. slated to delay new high school opening]( The new school, which is planned to be built in the Lake Ridge neighborhood, had already been delayed one year while the county changed the building model it planned to use for the construction. [READ MORE](   Sponsored Event [Make 2024 your healthiest year yet]( WTOP talked with health and wellness experts from across the DMV to gain tips both personal and professional for our 2024 Get on Top of Your Health series. Check out the interviews now!   [How George Mason professors are challenging students to find new ways to predict peak bloom dates]( Professors have turned what started as a way to make statistics exciting for students into a competition to determine who can develop a model to accurately predict when cherry blossoms around the world will reach peak bloom. [READ MORE](   [How AI can help detect domestic violence victims in the future]( Researchers at George Mason University in Virginia received a $4.85 million gift to help continue their research in detecting injuries caused by domestic violence, which will now include the use of artificial intelligence. [READ MORE](   SPONSORED CONTENT [AI & Data Exchange: Here's a 3-step approach for ethical AI use]( “To really have trust, you have to have transparency - you have to have explainability,” shares Guidehouse's Tracy Jones. She offers three steps that agencies can take to roll out AI effectively, while preparing for the technology's continued evolution.   [This Maryland clinic is helping Ukrainian veterans who lost limbs during the war]( “This is overwhelming their system. Many of the soldiers that are coming to us haven't had care in six months, nine months, sometimes up to a year,” said James Vandersea, a doctor fitting two veterans with prosthetic arms. [READ MORE](   [IBM opens cyber attack response training facility in DC - a block from the White House]( IBM will help train federal agencies and their suppliers to respond to artificial cyber attacks and other data breach threats at a new training facility called the IBM X-Force Cyber Range in D.C. [READ MORE](   Sponsored by Palo Alto Networks [AI & Data Exchange: Empowering SOCs to move at ‘machine speed' through AI use]( Although cybersecurity has been adopting and using artificial intelligence for a while, SOCs need to expand their adoption of AI use and automation to stay ahead of threats and manage potential risks in real time, explains Palo Alto's Jim Smid.   [How Virginia voters helped set stage for the coming 2024 presidential election campaign]( “We do have this reputation as a purple state. But if you look at the general election results over the past few years, Virginia hasn't voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 2004," said Caitlin Jewitt, associate professor of political science at Virginia Tech. [READ MORE](   [What does Biden need to do in his State of the Union? Show energy and admit the 'border's a mess,' senator says]( Members of both parties are gearing up for Thursday night's State of the Union address, which will likely be the largest television audience President Joe Biden will attract before the November election. [READ MORE](   SPONSORED CONTENT [Improving endometrial cancer treatments through clinical trials]( Dr. Ebony Hoskins, a board-certified gynecologic oncologist at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, said patients with access to clinical trials can have better chances of survival of endometrial cancer.   [Things to do in the DC area: Artomatic, music and culture festivals … and more!]( There's so much to do in the D.C. area in the coming days, and WTOP has you covered with our weekly roundup of area events worth anticipating. [READ MORE](   [From Silver Spring to Sundance - Md. native premieres her new movie at famed festival]( A Montgomery County native recently premiered her new movie that narrates the story of a young Black girl in the 1950s at the famed Sundance Film Festival. [READ MORE](   [Oscar Series: Which movies should have won Best Picture every year of the past century?]( In today's installment of Oscar Week, WTOP's Jason Fraley gives his opinion on which movies should have won Best Picture every year since 1923. [READ MORE](   Sponsored by Whitman-Walker Health [Get on Top of Your Health: Bringing expanded health care to medically underserved DC wards]( With its new Max Robinson Center, Whitman-Walker Health aims to provide expansive health care to all in need across the city's Southeast wards. We talk with the center's medical site director and an adolescent care doctor about the services available.   PARTNERSHIP [Listen live for news, traffic and weather from WTOP News on our FREE App!]( Download the app today - sponsored by Navy Federal Credit Union - to stay up to date on all the latest news in the DMV.   [Check out the latest weather forecast]( [Click here for the latest traffic updates]( [Visit WTOP's Podcast Center]( Download and listen to podcasts created by WTOP and our partners CONNECT WITH WTOP [facebook]( [twitter]( [linkedin]( [instagram]( EVERYTHING YOU NEED EVERY TIME YOU LISTEN [DOWNLOAD THE WTOP APP]( [Click here to manage your newsletter preferences.]( This email and the accompanying website are not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. [Unsubscribe](  | [Contact us.](