District Briefing

Thursday, March 5, 2009

D.C. COUNCIL

Transplant Complications Put Barry Back in Hospital

D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) is expected to be at Howard University Hospital through at least tomorrow after complications related to his recent kidney transplant, his spokeswoman said yesterday.

Natalie Williams said at a news conference that Barry was readmitted Monday night after experiencing discomfort in his abdomen, which doctors told him was the result of gas in his intestine and not a rejection of the kidney.

Barry, who will turn 73 tomorrow, underwent transplant surgery Feb. 20. He had been scheduled to return to his council duties this week.

-- Hamil R. Harris

TRAFFIC

Lanes to Close for Inspection of 14th Street Bridge

Delays are expected with the closure of the northbound far right lane and right shoulder on the 14th Street bridge today and Monday, the D.C. Department of Transportation said.

The closures are to allow a bridge inspection from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days, according to DDOT. Three travel lanes will be open for inbound travel.

NORTHWEST

Shoe Store Robbery in Georgetown Sets Off Search

Two men robbed a designer shoe store in Georgetown last night, prompting an extensive search, D.C. police said.

The men, one with a gun, robbed the Steve Madden store in the 3100 block of M Street NW at 8:30, police said. No one was injured in the robbery.

Police closed a parking garage near the store and searched the area with dogs and a helicopter. One man was taken into custody after he ran into the nearby Barnes & Noble, police said, but it was not clear whether he was involved in the robbery.

Police continued to search for the gunman, who was described as a 6-foot-1, light-skinned black man wearing a blue North Face jacket and who was last seen running east on M Street.

-- Clarence Williams

3 Teams Bid to Redevelop Petworth Housing

Three development teams have submitted bids to redevelop a Petworth public housing complex, the Fenty administration announced yesterday.

The District wants to turn the Park Morton housing complex, just off Georgia Avenue NW, into a mixed-income community. It would have 477 units of housing and a 10,000-square-foot park.

One development team includes Pennrose Properties, a Philadelphia-based builder. Another bidder is the Neighborhood Development Co., the president of which is Adrian Washington, the former head of the Anacostia Waterfront Corp. The third development team includes the Landex Corp.

-- Paul Schwartzman

Woman, 64, Is Killed in Rowhouse Fire

A 64-year-old woman died Tuesday night in a rowhouse fire in Northwest Washington, officials said.

The woman, whose name was not released pending notification of her family, was pulled from a bedroom on the second floor of a rowhouse in the 400 block of Emerson Street NW and pronounced dead at a hospital. The cause of the fire, which was reported around midnight, was not immediately known.

The fire appeared accidental, according to Alan Etter, spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department. A second person in the house suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, Etter said.

-- Petula Dvorak and Theola Labbé-DeBose

STIMULUS FUNDS

Federal Money Is Sought to Refurbish Firehouses

D.C. Fire Chief Dennis L. Rubin is requesting $41 million in federal stimulus money to renovate seven aging city firehouses and replace 14 roofs, he told a D.C. Council committee yesterday. The renovations would include environmentally friendly construction such as "green roofs."

Rubin is also asking for $8 million of the stimulus money for paramedic training for 50 employees.

Rubin said he submitted the request to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), who is preparing requests to turn in to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

-- Theola Labbé-DeBose