Friday, March 3, 2006; B03

THE REGION

The system that heats the main terminal of Dulles International Airport will be repaired as early as Monday, airport officials said as a temporary system went online yesterday.

An expansion joint in the hot water line that heats the main terminal broke Tuesday. Tara Hamilton, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said a replacement part was expected to arrive today and could possibly be installed and tested by Monday.

An advisory neighborhood commissioner was beaten unconscious and robbed last night as he walked to a community meeting in Southwest Washington, authorities said.

David Sobelsohn, a commissioner from Ward 6, was attacked by five men and punched in the face, a police official said. He was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening. The assault, during which Sobelsohn's wallet was also taken, occurred just before 8 p.m. in the 1300 block of Half Street SW. Sobelsohn later regained consciousness.

A husband and wife were seriously injured yesterday morning in a car crash that police blamed on two drag racers.

Police said the accident occurred about 6 a.m. as two men were racing Chevrolets north on New Jersey Avenue in Northwest Washington. The cars ran a red light at P Street NW, and one struck a Ford 500 SE that was in the intersection, police said.

Carl and Shirley Hunter of the 100 block of P Street NW were in the Ford. Carl Hunter, 58, was taken to Howard University Hospital, where he was in critical condition last night. His wife, also 58, was taken to Washington Hospital Center. She was in serious condition.

Police charged Jamaal Andre Richardson, 20, of Upper Marlboro, the driver of the car that hit the Hunters' Ford, with aggravated assault. The driver of the other Chevrolet, identified as Kenneth E. Willis, 26, of Southeast Washington, was charged with reckless driving, police said.

Frederick police yesterday identified the city man fatally shot by a police officer after the man stabbed another officer during an undercover drug operation as Bruce R. Day Jr.

Day, who police said was wanted for a burglary in December, allegedly had conducted a drug deal with an undercover officer Wednesday evening at an apartment on Columbine Drive.

Cpl. Ronald Figgers, a nine-year veteran of the force, shot Day as he approached officers with the knife after stabbing Officer Steven Brown, Lt. Thomas Chase said. Day was hit by three bullets, including one in the chest.

Anne Arundel teachers would see 6 percent pay raises in each of the next three years under a tentative agreement with the school system, a deal hailed by labor leaders as one of the best in the state.

The agreement, which awaits action by the Board of Education and the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County, would boost starting pay from $36,300 to $43,800 within three years for a teacher with a bachelor's degree, said Oscar Davis, director of employee relations for the school system. If finalized in May, the agreement would yield pay increases every July 1 for three years.

Arlington officials yesterday announced the appointment of a Library of Congress veteran to head the county's public library system.

Starting next month, Diane Kresh, 51, will take over as director of libraries, filling a position vacated by Ann Friedman, who is retiring.

For 11 years, Kresh was a senior-level administrator at the Library of Congress.

A construction worker was critically injured yesterday in Springfield when he was hit by a piece of concrete that flew into the cab of the machine he was operating, Fairfax County authorities said.

The worker, who was described only as a man in his mid-twenties, was hit in the upper body by the debris, about the size of a football, as he apparently was digging on a site on Commerce Drive near Franconia Road about 6 p.m. He was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital with life-threatening injuries, said Lt. Jeff Trice, a fire department spokesman.

"It sounds good, and politicians love it because it makes it sound like they're doing something. But hands free is not risk free."

-- AAA spokesman Mantill Williams on laws that require drivers using cell phones to use hands-free devices. -- A1

Compiled from reports by staff writers Steven Ginsberg, Fredrick Kunkle, Daniel de Vise, Leef Smith, Clarence Williams and Del Quentin Wilber.