Congressional kidnapper gets 20 years
A man who kidnapped two Congressional staffers from their homes on Capitol Hill last fall was sentenced to 20 years in jail Friday.

Johnny Littlejohn was sentenced after pleading guilty in December to charges of armed kidnapping, WJLA reported.

Prosecutors said Littlejohn and a second defendant kidnapped Jerry Clarke and Eric Woehmann from their front yard last September, forced them into a stolen car and demanded the victims withdraw money from an ATM.

When Littlejohn failed to get money from the ATM, they drove to the Longworth House Office Building. When Clarke and Littlejohn went inside,
guards arrested Littlejohn, WJLA reported.

While the two went inside the Congressional office building, Caldwell and Woehrmann fought for control of a gun in the waiting car. When the gun went off in the struggle, police responded and arrested Caldwell.

Caldwell, who has also plead guilty, faces 30 years in jail, WJLA reported.

Pandas attempt to make babies
Two endangered giant pandas at the National Zoo are receiving lots of attention after mating for the first time Friday.

The reproductive attempt in the early afternoon only lasted about 15 seconds, assistant curator Lisa Stevens told the Washington Post. Zooofficials said they had to use videotape to confirm the copulation.

The male panda at the zoo “gets an ‘A’ for technical merit and an ‘A’ for effort,” Stevens told the Post. The pandas have been under intense scrutiny in the past weeks, as pandas can only mate within a limited period of fertility lasting only two or three days, the Post reported.

Only about 1,000 pandas exist in the rural mountains of western China, and about 150 in worldwide captivity.