Metro

Metro
In Brief

Monday, January 9, 2006

The District

Some Taxi Rides Might Cost You More Now

Taxi drivers begin charging higher fares this morning under a new rate structure approved by the D.C. Taxicab Commission.

The overall cost of most rides may actually go down, however, because the commission also dropped the $1.50 fuel surcharge it imposed four months ago following spikes in gasoline prices after Hurricane Katrina slowed oil production and refining in Gulf Coast states.

Today's fare increases are the first granted by the commission since May 2004. The increases vary from 18 percent for a one-zone trip to a little less than 10 percent for trips traversing four or more zones.

"We've got a lot of owner operators who face increased cost pressures, and they need help," Causton A. Toney, chairman of the commission, said in a statement announcing the new rates.

"This action will continue the temporary relief that operators received through the fuel surcharge without putting an unreasonable burden on passengers," Toney added.

The $1 rush-hour surcharge and a $1.50 charge for each additional passenger remain unchanged. The new fares are:

One zone -- $6.50, up from $5.50.

Two zones -- $8.80, up from $7.60.

Three zones -- $11, up from $9.50.

Four zones -- $12.60, up from $11.50.

Five zones -- $14, up from $12.80.

Six zones -- $15.50, up from $14.10.

Seven zones -- $17.80, up from $16.20.

Eight zones -- $18.90, up from $17.20.

VIRGINIA

Church Breaks Away Over Gay Marriage

The United Church of Christ's endorsement of same-sex marriage has prompted the Suffolk Christian Church in southeastern Virginia to split with the national group.

The Rev. Michael D. Halley, minister of the 145-year-old church, said more than two-thirds of his congregation supported leaving the 1.3 million-member denomination. Halley said the synod's decision led some congregants to conclude that their values diverged from the UCC's.

The action was in response to the vote by the UCC's General Synod, a biennial meeting of delegates from member churches, affirming "equal marriage rights for couples regardless of gender."

Congregations also were asked to oppose campaigns that advocate constitutional amendments to limit marriage according to sex. Virginia is among the states with such a campaign.

As many as 25 congregations within the UCC's Southern Conference, which includes eastern Virginia and all of North Carolina, have left since the vote, said the Rev. Stephen Camp, the conference's administrator. The synod's action made the church the first major Christian denomination to endorse gay marriage.

Report Criticizes Center for Retarded

The Central Virginia Training Center in Lynchburg relies too heavily on mechanical restraints and medication to manage its mentally retarded residents, a report by an oversight agency concludes.

The center, Virginia's largest and oldest institution for the mentally retarded, does not have the staff to shield patients from harm, according to the report by the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy.

"The nature and frequency of injuries sustained due to challenging behaviors supports the conclusion that behavior support services are inadequate, placing individuals at significant risk of bodily harm," V. Colleen Miller, executive director of the watchdog agency, said in a letter delivered last month to the state commissioner of mental health, mental retardation and substance abuse services. The findings were first reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

James S. Reinhard, the state commissioner responsible for the institution, and other Virginia officials said they had not seen the report on which Miller's letter was based.

MARYLAND

FBI Faulted on Luna Death Investigation

A report by the inspector general's office of the Justice Department details "credible evidence of serious misconduct" by FBI agents investigating the death of federal prosecutor Jonathan P. Luna more than two years ago.

The report does not accuse the FBI of bungling the investigation to the point that the probe into Luna's death was compromised. But it faults FBI agents for the way they questioned one of their own about rumors of an affair between the female agent and Luna.

The female agent later filed an internal complaint charging that the FBI's then-acting special agent in charge of the Baltimore field office, Jennifer Smith Love, improperly ordered two agents to interrogate her and approved an illegal search of her computer, according to the document, which was reported yesterday in the Baltimore Sun.

The female agent -- identified in the report as "Agent Smith" to protect her identity -- had been ruled out as a likely suspect, and the interview caused dissension in an office already operating under tremendous strain, the report says.

However, the report says senior FBI officials cleared Love, as well as the two agents who conducted the interrogation, of misconduct and took no disciplinary action.

Luna's body was found Dec. 4, 2003, facedown in a shallow stream in rural Lancaster County, Pa. He had suffered 36 stab wounds, most of them superficial, but an autopsy determined that he died by drowning. His blood-spattered car was idling nearby.

FBI spokeswoman Carla McIntosh said Saturday that investigators are still considering suicide, premeditated murder or a random act of violence as possible causes of Luna's death.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"We get some complaints like, 'Hey, jazz bars are supposed to be smoky.' But of course it's usually the guys who are standing outside [smoking] who are saying that."