VIRGINIA BRIEFING

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

LOUDOUN COUNTY

Jury Selected in Fatal Road Rage Incident

A jury was selected yesterday in the trial of a Gaithersburg man who was charged with murder after he ran over a 50-year-old man during a road rage incident in Loudoun County last year.

Indeshaw Adenaw, 32, was charged Aug. 5, 2006, with striking and killing Charles Vo of Sterling with his pickup on the Dulles Access Road. Adenaw ran over Vo, who was traveling with his wife and two children, when Vo stopped his van in the left lane and approached Adenaw's car on foot, authorities said.

Adenaw, a British national, is being held without bond at the Loudoun jail. A verdict in his trial is expected Friday.

-- Candace Rondeaux

ALEXANDRIA

City Fire Chief Takes Airports Authority Post

Alexandria Fire Chief Gary A. Mesaris said he is leaving the city to become fire chief for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

Mesaris became the fire chief in Alexandria in 2003 after serving 13 years as fire chief in Fairfax City. He was previously a deputy fire chief with the Fairfax County Fire Department.

Mesaris will stay until the end of February. After his departure, Deputy Chief Russell Middleton will be the acting chief until a replacement is named.

-- Annie Gowen

DRUG SETTLEMENT

Bayer to Pay $8 Million to Va., Other States

Virginia and 29 other states have reached an $8 million settlement with Bayer Corp. over allegations that the drugmaker did not adequately warn consumers about risks associated with the cholesterol-reducing drug Baycol.

The Pennsylvania attorney general's office says that after introducing Baycol in the United States in 1998, the company learned that the drug posed much greater health risks than similar drugs, particularly when taken in higher doses or in combination with another cholesterol-lowering drug.

Bayer informed the Food and Drug Administration about the higher risks, but it allegedly failed to warn doctors and consumers about potential problems, such as a severe muscle reaction that could cause kidney failure.

Bayer voluntarily withdrew Baycol from the market in 2001.

-- Associated Press