Newseum doing well in new home

In its first year, the sprawling Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue firmly established its presence among Washington’s many museums with 714,000 paid visitors and hundreds of guests at 450 private events.

The attendance figure is a significant increase over the 480,000 visitors who came to the museum’s final year in its old location in Arlington, Va.

“The museum has exceeded my expectations in so many ways,” said Charles Overby, chairman and chief executive. “I always said I wanted the first year to surpass our best year in Arlington.”

The Newseum, which opened a year ago today, has experienced some bumps. Its endowment declined by one-third, and Overby said that forced them to cut the budget from $40 million to $33 million and to reduce the staff.

The Newseum moved to Washington to increase its foot traffic, with the goal of educating visitors to the history of the news and the value of the First Amendment. Its exhibits range from the serious milestones of newsgathering to stations where people can do their own broadcast stand-ups. There are interactive features and big screens that show past news events – and current news as it unfolds.

Forest Hills, Pa.

Priest drives into crowd, killing one

Authorities and witnesses say a priest drove into a group of churchgoers after a Good Friday service near Pittsburgh, killing an 89-year-old woman and wounding four other people.

Madeline Romell’s leg had to be amputated shortly after the Friday afternoon crash in the parking lot of St. Maurice Catholic Church in Forest Hills. She was pronounced dead about five hours later.

Four others were hurt, but Forest Hills Mayor Ray Heller Jr. said their injuries weren’t life-threatening. He said the injuries included a broken leg and a broken arm.

Parishioner Angela Thomas tended to the wounded, including a man pinned under the car. She said the priest told her the accelerator just went.

Witnesses said the priest served at St. Maurice’s.

From wire reports