District Briefing
District Briefing
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
DISTRICT COURT
Ex-Detective Sentenced in Tax Case
A former D.C. police detective was sentenced to 14 months in prison yesterday for failing to pay more than $130,000 in federal and D.C. taxes.
Michael C. Irving, 44, a longtime homicide detective and 18-year member of the department, was convicted in May in federal court of two counts of tax evasion. The former detective did not pay taxes from 2002 through 2005 and did not file tax returns from 2003 through 2005, Justice Department prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Irving used that money to buy tailored suits, Redskins tickets and jewelry. Irving's attorney, David Schertler, said the former detective "accepted full responsibility and now hopes to get this behind him and move ahead with his life." U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman allowed Irving to remain free on personal recognizance until he is told to report to prison in coming weeks.
-- Del Quentin Wilber
BAMBOO NEEDED
Zoo Asks for Help Feeding Its Pandas
The National Zoo issued a public appeal yesterday for bamboo to feed its famous giant pandas. For a combination of reasons, the zoo's supply of the crunchy green stalks is critically low, and zoo officials said they might not have enough to last the winter.
The zoo said in a statement that it normally harvests about 75,000 pounds of bamboo a year from its grounds in Washington, its Conservation Research Center in Front Royal, Va., and private residences in Virginia, Maryland and the District.
The bamboo on the zoo grounds is annually cut back and usually regrows, the zoo said. This year, for reasons unknown, the normally tenacious species did not grow back.
The zoo is looking for bamboo stands that are a minimum of an acre, lie within a 25- to 30-mile driving distance of the zoo, are at least 100 feet from a roadway and have not been treated with herbicides or pesticides.
Don Moore, the zoo's associate director for animal care, said bamboo grown near roads often is contaminated by pollutants. "We need clean stuff," he said.
Any species will be okay, the zoo said, but the best kind is that of the Phyllostachys genus, identified by a prominent vertical stem groove and a white ring underneath the stem's nodes.
Anyone with bamboo in these quantities can contact the zoo's Department of Animal Nutrition at NZPBamboo@si.edu or at 202-633-4098.
-- Michael E. Ruane
