Metro
In Brief

Thursday, March 2, 2006

THE REGION

Fire Alarm Stops MetroAccess

A call center for the MetroAccess paratransit service was briefly evacuated yesterday, leaving telephone lines unstaffed for about 15 minutes, after a fire alarm was pulled in the Silver Spring office building in the 8400 block of Colesville Road, Metro and Montgomery County fire officials said.

The false alarm went off about 1:45 p.m., according to a Metro spokesman. Most of the employees working for MV Transportation, the company that runs the call center that dispatches vehicles and takes reservations from disabled riders, remained at their posts until county firefighters ordered them to evacuate about 2 p.m., according to Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein. The employees returned about 15 minutes later, after firefighters determined it was a false alarm.

MARYLAND

Toddler Killed, Father Hurt by Car

A 2-year-old boy died last night after he darted into the street near his Upper Marlboro home and was hit by a car, Maryland State Police said. His father, who ran after him, was also struck by the car, but his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

The incident happened on northbound Route 202 at Crescent Drive shortly after 7 p.m. , police said. The driver of the 2001 Acura Integra remained at the scene and was not ticketed. The boy, Justin Padilla, was pronounced dead at Children's Hospital. His father, Jaime Padilla, 26, was treated at Washington Hospital Center.

The incident is under investigation, police said.

Suit Fights Funeral Home Law

A Maryland law that limits funeral home ownership to licensed funeral directors hurts consumers and would-be entrepreneurs by restricting competition, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday in federal court in Baltimore.

The suit filed by the Arlington-based Institute for Justice on behalf of five entrepreneurs, four from Maryland and one from Florida, claims the lack of competition adds $800 to the average cost of a funeral yet does little to protect consumers against fraud, incompetence or abuse.

"All that we want to accomplish is to bring Maryland in line with what . . . other states do," said Institute for Justice attorney Jeff Rowes. "Only Pennsylvania and New Hampshire have restrictive, anti-competitive laws like Maryland."

Maryland's law allows only licensed funeral directors, one of 58 designated corporations or the holder of a corporate license that has been handed down or sold to operate a funeral home.

$30 Million Awarded in Murder

A Frederick County judge has awarded more than $30 million in damages to the family of a 9-year-old boy murdered by a sex offender who is serving two life sentences for the crime.

The civil judgment entered Tuesday against Elmer Spencer Jr. is largely symbolic, because Spencer is believed to have little money. But attorneys for victim Christopher Ausherman's parents said the award could help their case against the state when it goes to trial in June.

The award "sent a message as to the degree of harm and damage that was caused by this horrible tragedy," Paul V. Jorgensen said. He and Jack E. Blomquist represent the boy's parents, Mary Voit and Christopher Ausherman Sr., and the boy's estate.

The District

School Board Outlines Budget

The D.C. Board of Education agreed last night to send Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) a $1.05 billion operating budget for fiscal 2007 that still lacks details showing how the funds would be spent. The board said it would provide those details in a few weeks.

District revenue would account for $791 million.

The board, which normally sends the budget to Williams in December, was given more time so it could include proposals from a master plan that Superintendent Clifford B. Janey released Monday.

Board members last night said they needed to delay submission of the full budget even longer so they could determine the financial impact of that plan and of collective bargaining agreements that the school system is negotiating with teachers and principals.

VIRGINIA

Students Get Emergency Tips

Officials from the American Red Cross and the Emergency Preparedness Council of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments will share emergency preparedness tips with schoolchildren today and distribute "Be Ready, Make a Plan" guides for the students to bring home.

The 1 p.m. event is scheduled at Hybla Valley Elementary School, 3415 Lockheed Blvd. in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"That's something I thought was really unattainable, a private school. . . . I was excited, just crazy excited."

-- Karen Wright, on her admission into Trinity (Washington) University's program east of the Anacostia River. -- A1

Compiled from reports by staff writers Allan Lengel, Lena H. Sun, V. Dion Haynes and Lisa Rein and the Associated Press.