REGIONAL BRIEFING

Sunday, March 2, 2008

FAIRFAX COUNTY

Man Severely Burned in McLean

A man who appeared to be in his 60s was severely burned last night in a fire in a garden apartment in the McLean section of Fairfax County, a county fire department spokeswoman said.

Renee Stilwell said the fire apparently began in the kitchen of the second-floor apartment in the 7600 block of Tremayne Place.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known, and the man was not identified.

-- Clarence Williams

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY

Man Shot to Death in Hyattsville

Prince George's County police were investigating the fatal shooting of a man found Friday afternoon in a Hyattsville apartment near the University of Maryland.

Officer Henry Tippett said Hyattsville police responded to a call at the Towers at University Town Center at 6500 Belcrest Rd. about 2 p.m. Friday. They found a man with a gunshot wound to his lower body.

The man was taken to a hospital, where he died several hours later.

Tippett said the man was not a college student. Police were trying to determine a motive and were investigating whether the man was visiting someone at the apartment building, which houses students from universities in Maryland and the District.

-- Ovetta Wiggins

ARLINGTON COUNTY

Crackdown on Car Registration

Arlington County is cracking down on thousands of residents with out-of-state license plates on their vehicles for failing to register their cars in Virginia.

Beginning next month, the county will issue $100 annual fees for failing to register cars properly. State law requires that residents title and register their cars within 30 days of moving to Virginia.

Arlington requires cars to be registered with the county within 60 days and levies a tax based on 5 percent of the car's value.

Commissioner of Revenue Ingrid Morroy said about 4,000 people have vehicles with out-of-state tags that are registered with the county but not the state. She estimates that 3,000 more car owners need to register with the county.

-- Associated Press

RACING INDUSTRY

De Francis Quitting Board

Racing executive Joseph De Francis said he will resign tomorrow from the board of Magna Entertainment, which owns Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore and Laurel Park in Anne Arundel County.

The announcement came hours after Magna Chairman Frank Stronach told investors in a conference call that De Francis would not remain as a director this year.

Stronach was responding to a question about the need for the struggling company to renegotiate a slots profit-sharing agreement with De Francis. Stronach says De Francis's board role raises conflict-of-interest concerns.

Magna Entertainment bought out the remaining shares of longtime track owners Joseph and Karin De Francis last year. At the time of the buyout, Joe De Francis and Magna had a deal that entitled him and several partners to 18 percent of future profits Magna receives from slot machines.

Maryland voters will decide in November whether the state should legalize as many as 15,000 slot machines at five locations in Baltimore and in Allegany, Anne Arundel, Cecil and Worcester counties. Laurel Park would be eligible but would not be guaranteed a license.

-- Associated Press

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY

Army Officials Protest EPA Order

Officials at Fort Meade last week protested an order from the Environmental Protection Agency that sets a procedure for cleaning up hazardous waste sites that have polluted groundwater on the base.

The base, contaminated by an old landfill, unexploded ordnance and other buried waste, was listed as a Superfund site in 1998. The EPA set out procedures for the cleanup in an order in August. The Army says the order would create more paperwork and delays and is seeking to negotiate an alternative arrangement, officials said.

An EPA official said Friday that the dispute is mainly about administrative matters. He said there does not appear to be any danger to public health. Although waste has contaminated an aquifer under the Anne Arundel County base, the aquifer is not used for drinking water.

"Nobody's drinking this groundwater," said Robert Stroud, an official with the agency's mid-Atlantic region.

The Army is moving to clean up the sites, and Stroud said the EPA was satisfied with its progress.

-- David A. Fahrenthold

ANIMAL RESCUE

14 Seized Horses Transferred

Fourteen of the 48 malnourished and diseased horses seized by Loudoun County officials in January have been transferred to a rescue group in southern Virginia, authorities said yesterday.

The thoroughbreds were seized from a Middleburg area farm after they were found severely underweight and without drinking water. The Loudoun Department of Animal Care and Control has been caring for the horses with help from other county agencies and dozens of volunteers.

The 14 horses were transferred yesterday and Friday to Roanoke Valley Horse Rescue, a nonprofit group based in Hardy, Va., authorities said. Loudoun officials had earlier found homes for several other horses, leaving fewer than 30 at the county shelter in Waterford, spokeswoman Laura Rizer said.

A Loudoun grand jury recently charged Dennis B. Danley, a horse trainer who worked on the Middleburg property, with 48 counts of animal cruelty. Danley has said the horses were in good condition, with plenty of food, the last time he saw them.

-- Bill Brubaker