THE REGION
Panel Urges Bay Pollution Remedies
A report by the Chesapeake Bay Commission suggests that cutting farm pollution may be the most cost-effective way to cut nitrogen and phosphorus runoff into the bay.
The commission, a bipartisan group of lawmakers from Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania, approved the report at a meeting Friday in Richmond.
"The commission is feeling very, very strongly that this is a bold leadership step," Executive Director Ann Swanson said. "What this report does is show the logical public investment to make now to capture the lion's share of the load."
The report names seven "best management practices" that federal environmental officials say slow runoff of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution. Six are agricultural remedies and include adjusting the diets of farm animals, planting cover crops, tilling soil less often to reduce erosion and reducing nitrogen applied to soil.
Swanson estimated that putting the recommendations into practice would cost nearly $1 billion.
2 Nonprofits, 5 'Heroes' Awarded Grants
Two suburban Maryland nonprofit groups were each awarded $200,000 last week by Bank of America as part of a nationwide program to reward nonprofits and individuals who work to strengthen neighborhoods.
Housing Initiative Partnership, which builds and rehabilitates housing in troubled Prince George's County neighborhoods, and Community Ministry of Montgomery County, a Rockville coalition of 130 faith-based organizations that works with immigrants, low-income families and the disabled, each will receive $100,000 a year for the next two years.
Bank of America's program, the Neighborhood Excellence Initiative, also recognized five "community heroes" who have contributed to neighborhood vitality. They are Breeana Bornhorst, program director of the Northern Virginia Therapeutic Riding Program; Raymond Moreno, who heads the parenting initiative at IMPACT Silver Spring; Alverta Munlyn, co-founder of the Perry School Community Services Center in Northwest Washington; Raina Rose Tagle, former board president of Miriam's Kitchen, a homeless program in Northwest Washington; and Nhan Vo, co-founder of the Vietnamese Sports Club. They were awarded $5,000 each to give to a nonprofit group.
THE DISTRICT
SW Man Dies of Gunshot Wounds
D.C. police are investigating the death of a 20-year-old man who was found shot early yesterday along a Southwest Washington street.
Officers were called to the 1400 block of First Street about 4:20 a.m. to investigate a shooting, said Sgt. Joe Gentile, a police spokesman. When police arrived, they found Colby Mercer with multiple gunshot wounds. Mercer, of the 300 block of P Street SW, died at the scene, police said. Police reported no arrests.
Georgetown Burglar Gets 12 Years
A burglar who repeatedly struck Georgetown businesses has been sentenced to spend 12 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Walter Barnes, 46, pleaded guilty in July in D.C. Superior Court to four counts of second-degree burglary. He was arrested during a police stakeout in March at the Proper Topper accessory boutique, in the 3200 block of P Street NW. Prosecutors said that Barnes broke into that store three times, including the night he was arrested, and also burglarized the nearby Jean-Luc hair salon. At the time of his arrest, business owners praised police for staging several nights of stakeouts.
