Graham Seeks $1.5 Billion For Metro

The area's aging Metro system needs a tune-up, says D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who introduced a bill this week to secure $1.5 billion in federal funding over 10 years for Metro to buy rail cars and buses.

"This is about maintenance, so it is critically important that this money come forward," Graham said. "It is very clear that we couldn't hold this inauguration in Washington but for Metro, and particularly the subway. It is absolutely critical to transporting people into the center city."

In October, President Bush signed a rail-safety improvement bill that includes funding authorization for Metro. The federal legislation requires the District, Maryland and Virginia to each dedicate $50 million a year for 10 years. Congress has to approve federal funds each year.

The three jurisdictions have to amend the governance agreement on Metro to reflect the new local commitment, changes that must also be approved by Congress. The federal legislation also added two federal members to the Metro board, which has six voting members, two each from the District, Maryland and Virginia.

The D.C. Council bill introduced Monday by Graham, who is expected to become chairman of the Metro board of directors this month, adds a provision. It requires the federal government to contribute funds every year to maintain federal membership on the Metro board.

"The system is beginning to wear out," said Chris Zimmerman, Metro board chairman. "For instance, we have rail cars that have been in the system since they were first deployed in the 1970s. That is about a third of the fleet that will need to be replaced, about 300 rail cars, at about $3 million a car."

Musical Tribute to King

The concert hall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was filled with the music, images and icons from the civil rights movement Sunday night, as the Choral Arts Society of Washington presented its 21st annual "Choral Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."

The event featured singers from the Choral Arts Society, conducted by Norman Scribner; the Heritage Singers, conducted by Stanley J. Thurston; and the Performing Arts Under the Lord, conducted by Linda Edge Gatling. Jermaine Crawford, a 16-year-old actor who appeared on the HBO series "The Wire," hosted the event. The show also featured violinist Marina Aikawa, soloists Marymal Holmes and Theresa Severin and pianist Ralph Alan Herndon.

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) presented a special humanitarian award to John M. Doar, who was assistant attorney general in the Justice Department in the 1960s, during one of the bloodiest periods in the civil rights movement.

"Nobody knew that when John Doar risked his life in the American South, that 40 years later, this nation would overcome enough to elect the first African American president of the United States," Lewis said in introducing Doar.

Doar prosecuted the case involving the deaths of Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Mickey Schwerner, three civil rights activists who were slain in Mississippi in 1964. Doar "was a representative of a higher law and a higher power, who risked his life for the cause of civil rights and social justice in America," Lewis said.

Lewis also asked other Justice Department officials from the era to stand. Doar said he is glad he lived to see this historic time in the country. "It is the fulfillment of the work that we have done," he said. "This is a wonderful present for an 87-year-old man."

Needed 10,000, Had 100

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) used two members of the D.C. National Guard to handle the lottery to distribute 100 tickets to President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony to D.C. residents. Her office received 10,000 requests for tickets.

Maj. Millard Pooran of the Air National Guard and Sgt. Edward Weldon III of the Army National Guard selected the names. Pooran is a flight surgeon in the 121st Fighter Squadron and a surgical critical-care physician at Washington Hospital Center. Weldon, of the 275th Military Police Company, is also a physical security specialist in the National Guard bureau. Pooran was deployed to Iraq in 2006, Weldon in 2007.

More From Barry

D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) was not happy that The Washington Post did not publish more of his comments during the Jan. 2 swearing-in of the D.C. Council.

Here is a little more: "I remember being shot at by the white sheriffs and deputies, and out of that movement came Dr. King and others. Now we stand on the verge of January 20th. This is a historic moment, in a historic city, in a historic time."

Correction

It has been several weeks, but the Notebook must set the record straight. The Dec. 18 Notebook incorrectly reported the final vote on D.C. gun legislation, the Fire Arms Registration Amendment Act of 2008. The council vote at its Dec. 16 meeting was unanimous. Also, the name of the Paramedic and Emergency Medical Technician Transition Amendment Act of 2008 was reported incorrectly. Finally, comments by D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) were reported in such a way as to suggest that he supported abolishing the EMS workers union.