The Region
Senators Oppose Bush on Inaugural Funds
Maryland Democratic Sens. Paul S. Sarbanes and Barbara A. Mikulski have joined area Democratic House members in urging President Bush to reverse a White House Office of Management and Budget decision to require the District to pay $17.3 million in inauguration-related costs from federal homeland security grants to the region.
"Providing manpower and security for a quadrennial event such as the Presidential Inauguration clearly does not fall under any of the [Department of Homeland Security's] own specific guidelines," the two senators wrote in a letter Friday, saying the homeland security money should go to prepare the region against future threats.
They called on Bush to "not reprogram these vital funds in an effort to avoid fulfillment of the Federal government's historical commitment to funding security" for the event. Along with D.C. officials, they are pushing for direct reimbursement of the costs.
MARYLAND
Probe of Shady Grove Shooting Continues
Montgomery County police said yesterday that their investigation was continuing into a shooting at the Shady Grove Metro station Saturday night in which a 19-year-old man was wounded in the shoulder.
The victim and his friends were walking away from a Metrobus when four men in a red Honda pulled up and, after a verbal confrontation, one of the men from the car showed a handgun, police said.
After firing several shots, the men drove away toward Rockville Pike (Route 355).
Woman Held in Capitol Heights Slaying
Prince George's County police arrested a 28-year-old woman yesterday in connection with the shooting death of a man in Capitol Heights on Saturday night.
The victim, Ohiri William Okechukwu, 27, was found shortly after 7:30 p.m. at his home on Heath Street with a gunshot wound to the upper body. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Abere Biobele Karibi-Ikiriko was inside the home when police arrived, a police spokeswoman said. She is being held without bond, and the investigation is continuing.
Body in Coal Train Is Missing Bowie Man
Montgomery County police have identified a body found Tuesday in a coal train car in Dickerson as a 22-year-old Bowie man reported missing from a Prince George's County hospital Jan. 3.
Police said they don't know when or where Jonathan Schuppe of the 16400 block of Banbury Drive got into the CSX coal car that arrived in Montgomery County on Jan. 10. The train spent a brief time in the Washington area before going to Pennsylvania, where it was loaded with coal Jan. 6 before heading back to Maryland, police said.
Schuppe checked himself into a hospital in Prince George's on Jan. 2 and walked out the next day.
