REGIONAL BRIEFING

Monday, September 18, 2006

EISENHOWER MEMORIAL

Approval of Site Near Mall Likely

The site chosen for a memorial to President Dwight D. Eisenhower has cleared a hurdle, with final approval expected this week.

The National Capital Planning Commission unanimously approved this month the memorial location across the street from the Mall, near the National Air and Space Museum.

Another congressionally created body -- the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts -- is expected to endorse the site Thursday.

There is no design yet, but the Eisenhower Memorial Commission is committed to a landscaped, plaza-style memorial, given its urban setting, executive architect Dan Feil said.

Once the predesign process is completed early next year, there will be a design competition to choose an architect for the project.

A dedication ceremony is scheduled for early next year. Completion is expected within about five years.

-- Associated Press

ALEXANDRIA

Cooking Fire Destroys Apartment

An apartment in an Alexandria building caught fire Saturday night after food was left cooking on an untended stove, fire officials said.

The fire broke out in the Seminary Towers building at 4801 Kenmore Ave. about 10:30 p.m. It took firefighters about a half-hour to extinguish it. No one was injured, but fire officials said the apartment was destroyed.

Damage was estimated at $300,000.

-- Lyndsey Layton

FORT DETRICK

About $400,000 of Items Missing

About $400,000 worth of equipment has been reported lost or stolen from Fort Detrick during the past three years, according to post records obtained by the Frederick News-Post.

About one-quarter of items reported lost or stolen within the Fort Detrick garrison were computers and monitors.

Many items reported as lost could be on the post but unaccounted for because of administrative errors, Fort Detrick spokesman Scott Woosley said.

"The fact is, we should have kept better track of what we had," he said. "Taxpayers are paying, and we have a responsibility to them."

Fort Detrick officials say they have no reason to suspect any data were compromised because of the missing computers and laptops, based on investigations completed after each item was reported lost or stolen.

-- Associated Press

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

Group Seeks to Bolster Travel

After a record three-year drop in visitors to the Blue Ridge Parkway, a business group is planning a promotional campaign to get motorists back on the scenic mountain drive.

The campaign is funded by a $438,000 federal grant.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Association, which includes more than 600 businesses and travel groups in Virginia and North Carolina, will use the money to buy ads, upgrade its Web site and promote the parkway at trade shows.

The number of people driving the 217-mile road dropped to 18.67 million last year from a record 23.48 million in 2002.

It was the first time in the parkway's history that visitation dropped three consecutive years.

Parkway officials are uncertain whether visitation has dropped because of high gas prices or because a slow drive through the mountains is no longer a top choice for tourists.

-- Associated Press