Inner Harbor's Seaport Taxi Closes
The operator of the water taxi that flipped over in the Inner Harbor during a storm in March, killing five passengers, will cease operation immediately under an agreement announced by its owner.
Seaport Taxi's five full-time employees have been let go, and as many as 32 part-timers will no longer work as captains and mates for the company, which had served the Inner Harbor for five years, said officials for the nonprofit Living Classrooms Foundation.
Living Classrooms described Seaport's closure as part of an alliance with its closest competitor, Ed Kane's Water Taxi, known officially as Harbor Boating Inc. The partnership agreement makes Harbor Boating the sole provider of water transportation for thousands of residents and visitors in and around the bustling harbor.
VIRGINIA
Extra Security Ends for Alexandria Mayor
Alexandria police have discontinued personal security for Mayor William D. Euille (D), who received a potential threat this week, police said yesterday.
Amy Bertsch, a spokeswoman for the Alexandria police department, said that police ordered personal security at his public appearances as well as police presence at his home starting Sunday, after they received information about a threat against the mayor. The extra police detail ended yesterday, but the investigation is continuing, Bertsch said.
Euille said police had informed him of the death threat, which was made in a phone call to another part of the state. Officials would not say where the call originated and did not specify what was said.
"It was at a higher level," Euille said of the threat. "They probably wouldn't have gone to this extreme if they didn't believe that it warranted it."
Marathoners Raise $300,000 to Fight MS
Destination Cure, an Alexandria-based nonprofit group that raises money for multiple sclerosis research, said yesterday that seven participants in the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday raised about $300,000 for MS research.
The runners were all from the Washington area. Steve Grass, a Marine major stationed at Quantico Marine Corps Base, finished first among the group, in just under four hours, despite the fact that he sprained his ankle in the first mile, the organization said.
The nonprofit was founded by one of the participants, Vienna federal worker John Guandolo, 38, in 1998. Guandolo's mother, Helen, died in 2000 after having MS for 30 years.
OmniRide Announces Service Expansion
A new OmniRide commuter bus route will run between Gainesville and the West Falls Church Metro station starting Monday, officials said.
The Metro Direct Line will pick up and drop off passengers starting at the Virginia Gateway Shopping Center, near Linton Hall Road and Route 29, zigzag north to Interstate 66 and proceed to the West Falls Church Station. Commuters can board in Gainesville from 5 to 7:30 a.m. and from 4:10 to 6:40 p.m. at West Falls Church for a one-way cost of $2.50, officials said.
OmniRide's Lake Ridge commuter routes will also be extended along Prince William Parkway and Ridgefield Road starting Monday. Those lines end at the Pentagon, Crystal City and in the District and cost $5.50 one-way. For more information, call 703-730-6664 or visit www.prtctransit.org.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I just told everyone to get off the train, and I got off the train myself. There was no reaction time. When it's right there, at the spur of the moment, you just don't know what's going on. You just get yourself together and get out of there."
-- Metro operator Calvert Sawyers, who warned passengers to get off the train at Woodley Park Station just seconds before it was smashed by a runaway Wednesday afternoon. -- Page A12
Compiled from reports by staff writers Michele Clock, Spencer Hsu, Matthew Mosk, Elaine Rivera and Jamie Stockwell.
