In the news

President Barack Obama greets patrons after having lunch during an unannounced visit to FireFlies restaurant in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Va. ,Tuesday, June 10, 2014. President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, went on a lunch outing to an Alexandria, Virginia, neighborhood known for its good restaurants. The White House said Obama went to FireFlies Restaurant on Tuesday because the owner wrote him earlier this year and asked him to come try the best burger around.

President Barack Obama greets patrons after having lunch during an unannounced visit to FireFlies restaurant in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Va. ,Tuesday, June 10, 2014. President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, went on a lunch outing to an Alexandria, Virginia, neighborhood known for its good restaurants. The White House said Obama went to FireFlies Restaurant on Tuesday because the owner wrote him earlier this year and asked him to come try the best burger around.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan headed out for a burger lunch at FireFlies Restaurant in Alexandria, Va., the second surprise outing in as many days for the president, who a day earlier had walked down Pennsylvania Avenue to Starbucks with Denis McDonough, his chief of staff.

George H.W. Bush, the former president, is not expected to be in attendance when his presidential library in College Station, Texas, marks his 90th birthday Thursday with a crazy-socks party that will include free cake and ice cream.

Dennis Kneier, the mayor of San Marino, Calif., admitted tossing a bag of dog waste onto a yard while walking with his wife and apologized, saying he should have disposed of it properly.

Robert Cook, South Carolina's solicitor general, said a Confederate flag hanging in a chapel at The Citadel school is protected by the state's Heritage Act, which covers monuments and memorials on public property that are dedicated to wars in which the state fought, or to black or American Indian history.

Mike Christian, a Republican state representative in Oklahoma, said he wants to explore giving condemned prisoners the option of death by firing squad, hanging or the electric chair after a recent botched lethal injection.

Lisa Flores of Juneau, Alaska, is seeking court approval to legally change her 2½-year-old daughter Viviana's middle name to Awesome.

Rep. Alan Nunnelee, a Republican who represents Mississippi's 1st Congressional District, underwent surgery for a brain tumor, said Rep. Hal Rogers of Kentucky.

The Rev. Ken Gehling, the chaplain at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa in Mason City, sacrificed his long, white beard of 32 years after hospital employees surpassed their food-drive goal.

Jo Lynn Haussmann, a Keller Independent School District trustee in North Texas, was censured by the School Board for her Facebook comments about Southlake City Council member Shahid Shafi in which she criticized the low election turnout and said: "YOU NOW HAVE A 'MUSLIM' on the City Council!!! What A SHAME!!!!!"

Steven Jordan, a cast member on VH1's Love & Hip Hop Atlanta known as Stevie J, was arrested on accusations of failing to pay more than $1 million in child support.

A Section on 06/11/2014