DISTRICT BRIEFING

Friday, January 19, 2007

D.C. COUNCIL

Fenty Announces Ward 4 Endorsement

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said yesterday that he would officially endorse Muriel Bowser as his successor for the Ward 4 seat on the D.C. Council.

The special election to fill Fenty's seat, as well as the Ward 7 seat vacated by Vincent C. Gray after he ascended to council chairman and the District II school board seat given up by Victor Reinoso after he was named deputy mayor for education, will take place May 1.

Seventeen people have picked up nominating petitions to run in Ward 4, 21 have picked them up in Ward 7 and three have picked them up for the school board. The filing deadline is Feb. 21.

Fenty (D) scheduled his endorsement at a kickoff fundraiser for Bowser last night at the home of Bill Lightfoot, who served as chairman of Fenty's mayoral campaign and co-chairman of his mayoral transition. Several other key political operatives from Fenty's campaign, including fundraiser John Falcicchio, have signed up to help Bowser.

-- Elissa Silverman

POLICE DEPARTMENT

Acting Chief Is Buying a House in D.C.

Acting Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier, a resident of Anne Arundel County, is buying a house in Northeast Washington and plans to move in by February, she said yesterday. The house is in Ward 5, in the 5th Police District.

Lanier, 39, said she likes the residence in part because it is close to where she grew up in Prince George's County. If confirmed by the D.C. Council, Lanier would have to live in the city. Her confirmation hearing is scheduled for March 16 before the Judiciary Committee.

-- Allison Klein

SOUTHEAST CRIME

Man, 36, Is Found Fatally Shot

A 36-year-old man was killed early yesterday in Southeast Washington, police said. Police were called about 1 a.m. to the 4600 block of Hillside Road and found Franklin E. Moyler, who lived on that block. He had been shot several times in the head, authorities said.

-- Allison Klein

PEDESTRIAN DEATH

Police Correct Identification of Bus Victim

D.C. police identified a woman killed by a Metro bus Tuesday night in Mount Pleasant as 24-year-old Carla Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, of the 1400 block of Spring Road NW, was hit by the bus at 10:30 p.m. as it was making a left turn onto Park Road NW from 16th Street. A D.C. official misidentified the woman Wednesday, and police released the correct name yesterday.

-- Allison Klein

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY

Student Workshop on Low-Frequency Radio

High school and college students interested in low-frequency radio technology are invited to attend a workshop tomorrow to learn about the subject and about how they can win scholarships for related radio-wave projects they create.

The event is sponsored by the group INSPIRE, which is a joint project of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the District of Columbia Space Grant Consortium and co-founder Bill Taylor. The workshop will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Cosmos Club, 2121 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The event is open to all, but organizers request a prior call to 202-547-1364.

INSPIRE also organizes a scholarship program for high school and college students interested in very-low-frequency radio experiments, with winners eligible for grants from $2,000 to $5,000. Proposals for the contest are due by Feb. 28.

-- Marc Kaufman

SMITHSONIAN

Flooding Prompts Closure of Postal Museum

Plumbing problems forced the Smithsonian National Postal Museum to close yesterday, and officials were not sure whether it would reopen today, spokeswoman Allison Gallaway said.

Gallaway said there had been flooding in the public spaces of the museum, at 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE. The museum receives about 550,000 visitors a year.

-- Sue Anne Pressley Montes

GOVERNMENT

Five City Workers Are Honored

Five D.C. government employees were honored for their work last night at George Washington University by the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation.

The honorees were Anthony Pompa, deputy chief financial officer; John Joseph Brooks, recreation specialist; Sandy Farber, extension agent for the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources; Joy Phillips, associate director in the Office of Planning; and Darryl Webster, a public school social worker. Each received $7,500 and a trophy.

-- David Nakamura