REGIONAL BRIEFING

Saturday, November 24, 2007

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY

Man Killed, Three Injured in Auto Accident

Prince George's County police are investigating an automobile accident in Clinton that killed a man from Manassas yesterday morning, a spokesman said.

David Odger, 47, the driver of a Dodge van used by a landscaping company, apparently crossed the double lines in the 8300 block of Old Branch Avenue near Barnwood Drive at 6:45 a.m. and struck a Chevrolet sport-utility vehicle, police said.

Odger was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital, police said. A passenger in the van is in critical condition, and the driver and a passenger in the SUV are in serious condition, said Cpl. Clinton Copeland, a spokesman for the Prince George's police.

Copeland said neither speeding nor alcohol appeared to be a factor in the accident.

-- Nelson Hernandez

THE DISTRICT

Some Public Libraries to Be Closed on Sundays

More than half of the District's 27 public libraries will be closed Sundays through January because of staffing shortages, city officials have announced. The shortages stem from employee vacations, holiday leave and some retirements, library system spokeswoman Kandace Foreman said.

Remaining open Sundays through Jan. 30 will be the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library downtown and the following branches: Anacostia, Benning, Cleveland Park, Lamond-Riggs, Mount Pleasant, Southeast, Takoma Park, Tenley-Friendship, Washington Highlands, Watha T. Daniel/Shaw and West End.

-- Sylvia Moreno

EARLYSVILLE

Party Host Parents Freed on Parole

A formerly married Virginia couple who were jailed for serving alcohol to teenagers at their son's 16th birthday party has been given a reprieve.

An attorney for Elisa Kelly said she and George Robinson were freed on parole Monday after five months behind bars.

They originally were sentenced to eight years after police broke up a party in 2002 at their Earlysville home near Charlottesville. The sentence was later reduced to 27 months.

Defense attorney Francis Lawrence says the two were eligible for parole after five months because each was charged with misdemeanors.

Both pleaded guilty to 16 counts each of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

-- Associated Press

CHARLES COUNTY

Reward Offered in 3-Year-Old Murder Probe

Charles County authorities are offering what they are calling their largest reward ever of its kind -- $60,000 -- in hopes of cracking a three-year-old murder investigation.

Christopher Mader was shot early on Nov. 25, 2004, while driving on Smallwood Drive near the entrance to the Hampshire neighborhood where he lived in Waldorf.

Charles investigators have posted part of a 911 call on their Web site, http://www.ccso.us. In the 2004 call, a voice says: "I was traveling down [Route] 301 earlier tonight, and I believe there were shots fired."

Maj. Joseph C. Montminy, the assistant sheriff of operations for Charles, said detectives do not think anyone could have heard the shots that killed Mader from Route 301.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Charles County Crime Solvers at 866-411-TIPS (8477). Callers may remain anonymous and are eligible for the reward, the sheriff's office said. People can also call Detective K. Keelan at 301-609-6509.

-- Dan Morse