WEEK IN REVIEW

Sept. 9-15

Hundreds Mourn Effi BarryCity's Onetime First Lady Died of Leukemia

Hundreds of people paid final respects to former District first lady Effi Barry, filing past her coffin as she lay in repose at the John A. Wilson Building and attending a funeral at Washington National Cathedral.

Barry, 63, who had leukemia, died Sept. 6. She divorced former mayor and current D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) in the early 1990s after 14 years of marriage, but their friendship and her support for his political career endured. She also kept her ties with the city, working most recently as a program director for its HIV/AIDS Administration.

Oily Substance Mars Vietnam MemorialPark Service Says Source Remains Unclear

The National Park Service is attempting to identify the origin of an oily substance found on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The material was noticed along the paving stones and the bottom of some of the memorial's panels and reported to U.S. Park Police. Authorities are trying to determine if it was the result of vandalism or an accident. Cleaning crews worked to remove the substance.

The black granite wall, dedicated in 1982, bears the names of more than 58,000 men and women who were killed or declared missing during the Vietnam War.

No Decision on Taxi Zones vs. MetersCommission Doesn't Indicate Preference to Mayor

The D.C. Taxicab Commission could not agree on what guidance to give Mayor Adrian M. Fenty on a historically thorny issue in the city: whether to stick with the current zone system or switch to meters.

After six deadlocked votes, the commission suggested that existing regulations allow the use of a device called a zone meter, which maintains zones but shows fares on a meter tied to a Global Positioning System. But they gave Fenty (D) no consensus.

The commission released a survey of passengers showing widespread dissatisfaction with service but ambivalence over zones vs. meters, and a survey of cabdrivers showing them in favor of the zone-meter.

A bill passed by Congress requires Fenty to decide by mid-October which system to use.

City Seeks Developer for Poplar PointProspects Tour Area by Boat With Fenty

The District government rolled out the red carpet to woo high-powered developers to Poplar Point, a 110-acre swath of neglected parkland across the Anacostia River from the Nationals' baseball stadium.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) hosted a cruise on the Odyssey tour boat to promote his vision of houses, offices, shops and jobs -- and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue. As the boat traveled the Anacostia, officials provided information to more than 130 developers, builders, urban planners, architects and financiers. The mayor has opened a competition to find a "master developer."

Cemetery Reviews Its Dog-Walking PolicyArrangement Funds Upkeep, but Concerns Arise

A legion of dog walkers who use a historic Capitol Hill cemetery are worried they'll be kicked out.

The 450 registered dog walkers at Congressional Cemetery contribute $75,000 a year to its upkeep and operations, which include a docent program, guided tours and a garden corps that planted 8,000 flowering bulbs. But lately, cemetery visitors have complained about people who don't leash their dogs or clean up after them.

"The dog walkers have been such a good friend to the community for so many years. We don't want to turn our backs on them," said Patrick Crowley, a cemetery preservation official. "But we are a cemetery first and foremost . . . and the dog-walking program has to be in the service to the cemetery's mission, not the other way around."

Across the RegionSAT Differences; Area Drought

? SAT scores at the Washington region's top high schools show an achievement gap between blacks and the rest of the student population -- a gap often masked by the overall performance of the schools.

? The nation's hot, dry summer is being felt by farmers and others across the Washington region. All of Maryland and parts of Virginia have been declared federal drought disaster areas.