Metro

In Brief

VIRGINIA

Special Session Tab Less Than $2,000

Tuesday's one-day special session to fix a legislative mistake that gave Virginia workers the right to demand a "day of rest" on weekends cost the state less than $2,000, the clerk of the House of Delegates said yesterday.

Only eight of the 116 lawmakers who showed up to the special session accepted payment for the 3 1/2-hour meeting. The Senate passed a resolution at the start of the session declining per diem payments and mileage reimbursement. All lawmakers were entitled to a $115 stipend and 32.5 cents a mile for travel.

The $1,845.51 spent also covered hourly wages for staff to open the doors to the House chamber and for the sergeant-at-arms, officials said. The delegates who received payment according to the clerk of the court were Vincent F. Callahan Jr. (R-Fairfax), Lacey E. Putney (I-Bedford), Thomas D. Gear (R-Hampton), Robert Tata (R-Virginia Beach), R. Lee Ware Jr. (R-Powhatan), John J. Welch III (R-Virginia Beach), Jeffrey M. Frederick (R-Prince William) and Leo C. Wardrup Jr. (R-Virginia Beach).

Falling Tree Kills Power Co. Contractor

A contractor for Dominion Virginia Power was killed last night in Fairfax County after a tree fell on his head, police said.

After yesterday afternoon's storms, the man was cutting a tree that was leaning on a power line in the 7200 block of Barry Road near Walter Drive in the Kingstowne area shortly after 10 p.m. when he was knocked unconscious, police said. He was taken to the Springfield Healthplex emergency center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

The man's name was not immediately released. The accident is under investigation.

U.S. Task Force on Human Trafficking

The Justice Department has formed a task force in Northern Virginia to investigate what officials call the growing problem of human trafficking.

The panel, announced this week by U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty, is part of a broader federal push to target human traffickers, who force their victims to work for little compensation as prostitutes, in sweatshops or as domestic servants, essentially making them modern-day slaves. Victims are most often new immigrants lured with promises of jobs and good pay, McNulty said in a statement.

McNulty said the task force will focus on pursuing leads of potential human trafficking activity, prosecuting offenders and making federal services available to victims.

Fairfax Grandmother Tied Up, Robbed

A 74-year-old Fairfax County woman was tied up and robbed Tuesday afternoon by two men who forced themselves into the Huntington area house where she was caring for three of her grandchildren, police said.

The men knocked on the door of the house, in the 5000 block of Chapin Avenue, about 12:45 p.m. and forced their way inside when the woman answered, police said. They threatened her with a knife, tied her up and stole cash and stereo equipment.

Police said neither the woman nor the children were injured. The men are described as Hispanic and in their thirties. One man is described as about 5-foot-2 with a stocky build; the other is about 5-foot-11 with a thin build.

VDOT Makes More Construction Deadlines

Virginia finished 36 percent of its road construction projects on time in the last fiscal year, and 64 percent were finished within 90 days of the scheduled completion date.