Week in Review: Jack Johnson, Stephan Weaver and More from the Roving Cyclist

Happy Sunday, College Park! Here's a summary of the big news that happened in the past week.

On Monday, we posted the of our three-part interview with County Executive Rushern Baker. 

We also have the lowdown on the State Highway Administration's that will be impacting your commute this summer. Read the full list here. 

On Tuesday, former County Executive Jack Johnson paid another visit to the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt to  to charges of conspiracy, extortion and witness evidence tampering.

From 2003 to Nov. 12, 2010, Johnson conspired with James Johnson, the director of the county's Department of Housing and Community Development at the time; Amrik Singh Melhi, who owns several liquor stores in the state; and Mirza H. Baig, a commercial and residential developer in the county to extort money, trip expenses and campaign contributions.

In exchange for the favors, Johnson used his influence to acquire land for certain developers, obtain the necessary state and local approvals for the developments, and secure county funding for certain businesses. 

On Wednesday, levied against Stephan Weaver, one of  allegedly involved in the murder of University of Maryland student, were lowered. Weaver's original charge of first degree assault was lowered to second degree assault, reducing the charge from a felony to a misdemeanor.

The state also moved to lower the charge of armed robbery to theft of less than $1000, also lowering it from a felony to a misdemeanor. 

On Thursday, our About Town columnist Rich Abdill wrote his . Rich is heading of to Florida this summer to blog for the Miami New Times. We wish him well. 

In preparation for Bike to Work Day on Friday, we posted in collaboration with Jeff Lemieux, the roving cyclist. Using a video camera strapped to his bike, Jeff showed viewers every bump and turn from his ride from College Park to downtown D.C. We mapped the route using Google Earth and voila! Check it out.