DISTRICT BRIEFING
DISTRICT BRIEFING
Tuesday, October 17, 2006; Page B04
FOLGER THEATRE
Start of Next Show Delayed by Fire
The Folger Theatre is delaying the start of its newest production while workers clean up after a small fire Saturday, officials said.
  Mayor Anthony Williams wants to give Chief Charles Ramsey's police department an additional $4.2 million to pay for more overtime shifts. (By Tetona Dunlap -- The Washington Post) |
No one was hurt in the morning fire, which began when a spotlight ignited a costume. The fire was extinguished quickly but destroyed a wardrobe room in the building housing the Folger Shakespeare Library and Folger Theatre, at 201 East Capitol St. SE.
Officials said that the Folger's collection of rare books and materials was not damaged. "A Midsummer's Night's Dream," now in rehearsal, will not open as planned Thursday, officials said. The production is now expected to begin about a week later. Officials said they are contacting ticket holders for the canceled shows to give them the opportunity to attend rescheduled performances.
CITY GOVERNMENT
More Funds Sought for Police Overtime
D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) wants to spend an additional $4.2 million on overtime to increase the number of police on the streets under crime emergency legislation to go before the D.C. Council tomorrow.
The funds are included in Williams's request to extend most of the initiatives established in July to curb crime under a 90-day emergency declaration. Those initiatives expire Thursday.
In July, the council approved $8 million to fund overtime; since then, the police have spent that amount and an additional $2 million. The extra overtime would enable police to continue stepped-up patrols.
The mayor is also asking the council to approve $1.7 million for additional neighborhood surveillance cameras, $5 million for youth programs and $191,000 for fuel for police vehicles.
If approved, the new emergency crime package would also last 90 days. The mayor and council are working on permanent measures.
-- Nikita Stewart
COURTS
Teenager Gets 2 Years in Mall Robbery
The youngest person charged in connection with a string of robberies on the Mall this year was sentenced yesterday in D.C. Superior Court to two years in prison.
Michael Bright, 16, had pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and conspiracy in connection with a May 27 attack in which a teenage couple was robbed and the female was raped by another of the assailants.
Judge Hiram E. Puig-Lugo rejected a defense argument that Bright should not be sent to prison. But the judge gave Bright less than the four to eight years recommended by the sentencing guidelines.
The other four defendants are scheduled to be sentenced over the next three weeks.
-- Henri E. Cauvin
MISSING PERSON
14-Year-Old Girl Returns to NE Home
A 14-year-old Northeast Washington girl who had been reported missing returned home yesterday morning, D.C. police said.
Cherita Gladden had been missing since Oct. 4, and police appealed to the public for help last week.
