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Sniper's Shadow Casts a Chill
Friday, October 18, 2002
(4:00 AM ET) (18:03 GMT)
By David Dishneau
Associated Press Writer

Events affected include the 27th annual Country Market Day, which was planned for Saturday on the five-acre campus of the Georgetown Day School in Washington. The private school postponed the festival, which features games, crafts and a bake sale, until Nov. 2. "We just felt that, given the fact the kids haven't been able to go outside, that perhaps it was wiser to postpone," said Florri Decell, publications director. Other schools in the area have kept students indoors for as much as two weeks.

BETHESDA, Md. -- AP
From restaurant rows and city parks to pumpkin patches and outdoor arts festivals, the sniper's shadow has cast a chill on weekend activities in the Washington area, with dozens of events canceled or postponed.

Fear of the roaming sharpshooter has dampened traditionally joyous autumn traditions in the nation's capital and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs.

Some Virginia high school football teams are traveling up to 150 miles to play in locations deemed safer, despite exhortations from Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose "to carry on with life."

In Rockville, antique vendors won't be setting up tables beneath the turning leaves at Chestnut Lodge. The event was canceled.

"The best brains in public safety say they can't guarantee our safety and I don't want to be wrong," said Eileen McGuckian, executive director of the group Peerless Rockville.
(More: Miami.com News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

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