In Brief
Sunday, May 8, 2005
MARYLAND
Fire Damages Home Near U-Md.
Fire caused heavy damage last night to a house near the University of Maryland campus in College Park.
The blaze was reported just before 11 p.m. in the 8900 block of Azalea Lane, just north of the campus boundary, said Capt. Mark Brady, a Prince George's County fire department spokesman. No one in the house at the time. Two men who live at the house are not affiliated with the university, he said.
Brady said the fire apparently started on the porch but that the cause was under investigation.
The fire came nearly a week after a blaze at a house off campus killed one student and severely injured another. That fire was set, and authorities said they found spots where a flammable liquid was spilled on a porch.
Man Killed in Laurel Car CrashOne man was killed and another was seriously injured in a car accident in Laurel early yesterday morning.
Brandon Hall, 24, of the 16100 block of Jerald Road in Laurel, was a passenger in a car that swerved off of Van Dusen Road and struck several trees. He was taken to Laurel Regional Hospital and later was pronounced dead.
Hall was one of two passengers in a 2004 BMW that was southbound on Van Dusen Road about 2 a.m. yesterday, Prince George's County police said.
Cpl. Kim Brown, a police spokeswoman, said a preliminary investigation indicated that alcohol might have been a factor.
The names of the driver and the second passenger, who was seriously injured, were not released.
Pipe Bomb at Bethesda SchoolA pipe bomb exploded about 4 a.m. yesterday outside Kensington Parkwood Elementary School in Bethesda, causing minor damage to the school but no injuries.
Investigators from the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service recovered fragments of the device. Authorities ask anyone with information about the incident to call the fire service's tip line at 240-777-2263.
Equal Funds for Charter SchoolsThe Maryland State Board of Education ruled Friday that school systems must provide as much money to charter operators for youths enrolled in charter schools as they spend on regular public school students.
The board's three nearly identical rulings on appeals by Baltimore and Prince George's County charter schools could force school systems to spend more than they had anticipated on charter schools.
The decisions also could give charter schools much more control over their programs and free them from dependence on fundraising or on such deep-pocketed partners as foundations. Charter schools are funded publicly but operate independently under contracts with school boards or regulating agencies.
VIRGINIAGunman Caught After Chase
A man fleeing Fairfax County police yesterday ran into a Shoppers Food Warehouse on Route 1 in the Hybla Valley area and took several employees hostage for a brief time before being apprehended, police said.
The man was first spotted shortly after 3 p.m. in a Home Depot on Route 1, said Shelley Broderick, a Fairfax officer. Employees at the store, which was robbed last weekend, grew suspicious of the man and called police, Broderick said. As officers arrived, the man ran through the parking lot and waved a handgun, police said.
The man darted briefly into a Ruby Tuesday restaurant where, unknown to police, he dropped his gun, Broderick said. He then ran into the Shoppers Food Warehouse in the 7600 block of Richmond Highway (Route 1) and, with something white wrapped around his arm, went to an employee area behind the bakery and took four hostages, police said.
Officers moved into the area near the bakery and eventually fired one beanbag round from a shotgun, knocking the man down, Broderick said. The man's name was not released, pending charges being filed.
THE REGIONZoo Tigers' Birthday Celebrated
National Zoo officials yesterday celebrated the first birthday of three male Sumatran tigers -- Besar, Jalan and Marah -- that were conceived through a breeding program aimed at saving the species from extinction.
The species has become endangered largely because of poaching on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Seidensticker said.
The zoo offered cake and ice cream to the public yesterday, he said.
QUOTE OF THE DAY"Why would I cry? I was absorbed in how beautiful this child was. Here was a baby who smiled incessantly. I was completely taken with her."
-- Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), discussing her reaction when her daughter, Katherine, was born 35 years ago with Down syndrome. -- C1
Compiled from reports by staff writers V. Dion Haynes, Ovetta Wiggins, Tom Jackman, Martin Weil, Amit R. Paley and Elizabeth Williamson and the Associated Press.