VIRGINIA BRIEFING

Friday, August 22, 2008

FAIRFAX PARKS

2 Accused of Embezzlement

Two employees of the Water Mine Family Swimmin' Hole in Reston were arrested yesterday by Fairfax County police for allegedly embezzling money from the pool office.

Police said an anonymous tip to the county park authority last month led detectives to start investigating missing funds at the water park, which is part of Lake Fairfax Park, just off Leesburg Pike. Police obtained warrants charging Michael A. Golino, 23, of the 47500 block of Griffith Place and Justin T. Hogan, 21, of the 20800 block of Butterwood Falls Terrace, both in Sterling, with one count of embezzlement, and both men turned themselves in yesterday at the Reston station.

Officer Don Gotthardt, a police spokesman, said he did not know how much money was believed to be stolen or how long the suspected embezzlement has been going on. Both men worked in the park's cashier's office, Golino as a supervisor, Gotthardt said. The investigation is continuing.

-- Tom Jackman

FAIRFAX SCHOOLS

Online Breach Grows Wider

Fairfax County school officials said yesterday that about 75,000 of their students were affected by a technological breach this summer in which the test-preparation company Princeton Review accidentally published online names, dates of birth and other personal information.

Late Wednesday, school officials had said the glitch affected a much smaller number of students -- about 300. But they corrected their estimate yesterday, saying there were about 250 files published online containing information on approximately 75,000 students.

Also, the names of about 3,000 teachers, and their schools, were published online, they said. Students' names, identification numbers assigned by the school system and dates of birth were inadvertently stored on a publicly accessible Web site for about six weeks beginning in June. The information, dating from 2006, also included the students' sexes and schools.

-- Michael Alison Chandler

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY

Charge Filed in Teenager's Death

A 61-year-old Manassas area woman has been charged with reckless driving in connection with a crash that killed a 13-year-old bicyclist last month.

Marilyn J. Freeman was driving a 2003 BMW on July 29 when the car hit Prabhdeep Randhawa of Dale City, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Freeman was charged after an investigation revealed that she had failed to stay in her lane leading up to the accident, police said. She was released on an unsecured bond yesterday and is due in court Oct. 16.

-- Jonathan Mummolo

LOUDOUN COUNTY

Power Line Project Dealt Setback

Pennsylvania officials have recommended that authorities in that state reject a proposal by Dominion Virginia Power and another company to build a 240-mile transmission line that begins there and cuts through Northern Virginia.

The recommendation deals a blow to proponents of the 500-kilovolt line, which would end in Loudoun County. A Virginia agency is expected to rule this year on whether the local portion can be built, but the project may not go forward if West Virginia and Pennsylvania reject their portions.

Dominion and Allegheny Energy say their $1.3 billion project is needed for a reliable flow of electricity to Northern Virginia and elsewhere.

-- Sandhya Somashekhar