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14th Street NW reopens after collapse

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 18:20:22 GMT

UPDATED: The District Department of Transportation has reopened 14th Street Northwest in both directions between F and G streetsThe road had been closed on Saturday while workers investigated what caused an entire lane to collapse. DDOT tweeted just before 10 a.m. Saturday that the southbound lanes of 14th Street were closing while officials investigated what caused the collapse. A little before 11 a.m., spokesman John Lisle said all lanes were being closed, and motorists were being urged to seek alternate routes. He said one lane of the roadway had sunk. Lisle said workers could "hear water underneath, so they are guessing that it is most likely a leak or a break of some sort." D.C. Water tweeted that the incident was a suspected break, and customers could find information here: http://www.dcwater.com/workzones/listings/workzone2495.cfm. The site of the collapse. (Courtesy of DDOT)

Man wounded in gunfire with police

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 03:55:44 GMT

Updated, 10:55 p.m. A man was shot and critically wounded by Prince George's County police Saturday night after he fired at officers, the county police said. An officer was struck by a shot but uninjured, police said. The gunfire broke out about 8 p.m. at Chillum and Queens Chapel Roads in the West Hyattsville/Mount Rainier areas. Police went there after a man was reported to be throwing bottles at cars and banging on store windows. When police arrived the man fired at police and officers returned fire, police said. The man was taken to a hospital and a gun was found at the scene, police said.

N.Y. murder suspect arrested in Md.

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 19:26:22 GMT

A man who reportedly stabbed his estranged wife to death in a New York City hair salon was arrested in Anne Arundel County Friday after a slow speed police chase, authorities said. Michael Kenny, 42, of Queens, N.Y., was wanted in connection with a March 10 murder in New York City, Anne Arundel County police said in a news release. News reports indicate he stabbed his estranged wife to death in a hair salon. New York City Police homicide detectives contacted their Anne Arundel counterparts at about noon Friday, saying they had received word Kenny would be traveling to Millersville to reach family members there, Anne Arundel County police said in a news release. The detectives said Kenny would likely be driving in a white work van that had been stolen in New York, Anne Arundel police said. Anne Arundel detectives moved Miller’s family to Queen Anne’s County, then saturated

4 sickened at post office

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 18:36:19 GMT

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service Hazmat teams found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction or hazardous materials at a Montgomery County post office facility where an unknown substance sent four people to the hospital Saturday for "irritation to their skin," authorities said. Assistant Chief Scott Graham said the people transported, three women and one man, had what are believed non-life threatening injuries, and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service Hazmat teams were turning the incident over to post office investigators. He said investigators had examined several packages and other equipment in the post office but still had not determined what the substance was. Firefighters were first called to the scene at 10421 Motor City Drive just before 10:30 a.m., Graham said.

Body found in Bethesda

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 17:03:45 GMT

Montgomery County homicide detectives are investigating a homicide after a body was found Saturday morning inside a yoga retail store in downtown Bethesda. Capt. Paul Starks, a police spokesman, said the body of a female employee was found inside Lululemon Athletica, 4856 Bethesda Avenue. Another female employee was taken to a hospital for treatment, he said. Starks did not specify her injuries. “It’s very early in this investigation,” Starks said. No more details were immediately available from police. There was a small line of customers near the store waiting to get into an Apple retail store to buy the new version of the iPad. People in line were talking about the incident. Police tape marks off crime scene. (Dan Morse/Post)

Man in wheelchair struck by car

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 15:52:11 GMT

A man in a wheelchair was struck by a car and killed early Saturday morning in a hit-and-run crash in Southeast D.C., authorities said. The crash occurred just before 4 a.m. in the 5000 block of Benning Road SE, near the intersection with H Street SE, said Officer Hugh Carew, a D.C. police spokesman. He said a man in a wheelchair was struck by a car, and that car fled the scene. The man was transported to a hospital, where he later died, Carew said. Police are looking for the car involved in the crash -- which Carew described as an older model gray or silver Honda. He said the car was thought to be missing a driver's side headlight and leaking fluids. Investigators are still working to identify the man who was killed and piece together the exact circumstances of the crash, Carew said. Those with information are asked

Woman killed by her own car

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 05:37:36 GMT

A 48-year-old Germantown woman was fatally injured Friday when she was struck by her own car, which she had apparently been backing down her driveway, Montgomery County police said. They said Gloria Maria Vergara Mansilla was leaving her home on Cog Wheel Way about 5:30 p.m. when stopped the vehicle on a steep part of her driveway and went around to its rear cargo area. Police said preliminary investigation indicated that the vehicle remained in drive, moved backward and struck her. It appeared that she may have been trapped underneath, according to the account from police. They said the vehicle kept going until coming to rest against a fence. She was taken to Shady Grove Hospital then to the Washington Hospital Center, where she died.

Civil War-era cannonball discovered in Va.

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:50:21 GMT

A suspected Civil War-era cannonball has been uncovered at Fort Lee in Petersburg, and explosives experts have been called in to detonate it.Fort Lee spokesman Stephen J. Baker said the unexploded ordnance was uncovered around 11 a.m. Friday during a metal detector survey of an area in the southwest portion of the 5,900-acre base 25 miles south of Richmond.Baker said an explosives ordnance team from Fort Belvoir is en route from northern Virginia.The cannonball was buried about 6 inches deep. An area around the discovery has been cordoned off.

Three-day salute to last WWI veteran

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:33:41 GMT

People who want to pay their respects to the last American veteran of World War I will be able to do so over three days in Washington, D.C., and at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.Visitation hours for the late Frank Buckles are scheduled from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday at Joseph Gawler's Sons Chapel in Washington and again from noon to 9 p.m. Monday.Buckles will then lie in repose from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday in the chapel beneath the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington, cemetery spokesman Jennifer Lynch said Friday.He will be buried with full military honors in a public ceremony at 4 p.m. The cemetery is arranging a live video feed of the service to its visitors center, Lynch said.Buckles's daughter, Susannah Flanagan, had wanted her father to lie in repose in the U.S. Capitol, but Congress failed to approve that plan as politicians clashed over how best

Md. House kills same-sex marriage bill

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:17:11 GMT

The Maryland House of Delegates has voted to effectively kill for this year a bill that would have allowed same-sex marriage in Maryland. The House approved on voice vote a motion to send the bill back to the Judiciary Committee, an acknowledgment by supporters that it did not have sufficient votes to pass on the floor. The bill cleared the Senate two weeks ago on a 25-to-21 vote, and Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) had pledged to sign it. Advocates for the bill had hoped Maryland would join five other states and the District in allowing same-sex marriages. The bill had significant momentum coming out of the Senate but ran into resistance in the Democatic-led House from African American lawmakers from Prince George's County, who cited religious opposition in their districts, and conservative Democrats in Southern Maryland and the Baltimore suburbs.

Fairfax rescue team to deploy to Japan

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:04:17 GMT

Fairfax County's elite Urban Search and Rescue team is going to Japan to help with earthquake relief efforts.Spokesman Dan Schmidt said the group is preparing to send a 72-member team, in conjunction with efforts coordinated by the U.S. Agency for International Development.Exact details on when the team will deploy have not been determined.The department is frequently called on to assist after international disasters. Last year, Fairfax team members conducted 16 successful rescues in Haiti after an earthquake devastated that nation in January 2010.

Lab accident at Leesburg middle school

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:50:13 GMT

Five eighth-grade students in a science class at Harper Park Middle School in Leesburg received minor burns when a beaker of boiling water overflowed about 11 a.m. Friday, according to Loudoun County Fire and Rescue officials.The students received “possibly first-degree burns” to areas on their hands, necks and faces as a result of exposure to the hot steam, spokesperson Laura Rinehart said. No chemicals were involved, she added.As a precaution, students were transported to Inova Loudoun Hospital in Lansdowne, Rinehart said.

Small fire at the Library of Congress

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 16:25:16 GMT

A building at the Library of Congress in Washington has reopened after being briefly evacuated because of a small electrical fire in the basement.The fire broke out Friday morning at the Madison Building and was contained to a basement. D.C. fire department spokesman Pete Piringer says the fire stemmed from an electrical problem involving a generator, but the exact cause has yet to be determined.U.S. Capitol Police say there were no injuries and no immediate reports of damages.The building on Independence Avenue was evacuated and neighboring streets were shut down.

UDC president: special travel needs

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 16:13:09 GMT

UDC President Allen Sessoms, under fire for a series of expensive business trips, said he requires special accommodations when he travels, NBC 4 reports. Sessoms, who has drawn criticism from students and D.C. council members, said he is under doctor’s orders to keep his legs elevated when he travels. The full interview with Sessoms is scheduled to air Sunday on NBC 4.