Metro

In Brief

MARYLAND

Rockfish Called Safe in Small Doses

The Maryland Department of the Environment issued guidelines yesterday for the consumption of rockfish from the Chesapeake Bay, saying that men can eat two meals a month -- and women and children one meal a month -- without increasing their risk of cancer.

The guidelines were issued after a survey of Chesapeake rockfish that lasted nearly three years. State officials were checking the fish to see whether they had ingested high levels of PCBs -- an industrial coolant -- mercury or other chemical pollutants.

The survey ended with the conclusion that "rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay are safe and healthy to eat." But there was this caveat: If the fish were eaten more often than the guidelines suggest, over a period of 30 years they could produce a slight increase in a person's risk of cancer.

Public TV Officials Cleared on Contracts

A review by the attorney general's office found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by public television executives who evaded state controls over contracts for two projects from 2000 to 2002.

Boyd K. Rutherford, secretary of general services, said the failure to follow procurement guidelines appeared to be motivated by an effort get the work done quickly to meet funding guidelines.

Members of the Board of Public Works asked for the review after they received an audit critical of the way projects worth more than $500,000 at Maryland Public Television headquarters were broken into contracts just under $25,000 each. That allowed the contracts to be awarded without board approval.

Rutherford said the review turned up no evidence of improprieties beyond failure to comply with state purchasing regulations.

THE DISTRICT

Slots Proposal Clears Hurdle

Backers of a plan to bring slot machine gambling to the nation's capital continued their headlong dive toward the Nov. 2 ballot yesterday, as city officials agreed to publish a second special supplement of the D.C. Register to move the initiative forward.

Publication of "The District of Columbia Video Lottery Terminal Initiative of 2004" starts the clock ticking on a 10-day challenge period when opponents will have a chance to block the measure. If no challenge is filed, the Board of Elections and Ethics will issue petitions, and slots backers will have about two weeks to gather the signatures of about 17,500 registered voters.

The supplement -- which also contains the text of a second referendum that would lower the age of majority from 21 to 18 for purposes of child support -- was published by Secretary of the District Sherryl Hobbs Newman at the request of D.C. Council member Vincent B. Orange Sr. (D-Ward 5). Orange said he made the request after speaking with lawyer and former council member John Ray, who represents investors in a plan to bring 3,500 slot machines to Ward 5.

"I take no position on the merits of either proposal," Orange wrote to the register's editors, "but I believe D.C. voters -- pro and con -- should be able to cast their ballots on these measures in the November election."

Yesterday marked the second time slots backers have won a special supplement to the register, the city's official legal bulletin. Last week, register editors permitted them to spend about $2,000 to print one at Kinko's and mail it to 405 subscribers. The elections board has called for an investigation of the incident, which Newman called "a serious breach of procedure."