Regional Briefing

Friday, October 23, 2009

HIGHER EDUCATION

Virginia Tech looks into YouTube threat

Virginia Tech officials said Thursday that they are investigating a YouTube posting that might have threatened another massacre at the university.

University police were alerted Wednesday night to "what was essentially a posting of cyber-graffiti," the school said in a statement. "We have received no direct threats."

In 2007, Virginia Tech student Seung Hui Cho killed 32 students and teachers before committing suicide in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

According to Virginia Tech spokesman Mark Owzcarski, a YouTube user created a Web page under the name "nextvirgtechkiller" that included the statements "the massacre is incoming" and "next massacre is incoming." The page has been taken down.

The university said in its statement that, "While there were no postings or direct contacts with the university, we felt it important to apprise the university community because of the nature of the comment."

Virginia State Police and the FBI are assisting in the investigation.

-- Daniel de Vise

REGIONAL TRANSIT

Small fire reported on empty Metro train

An unoccupied Metro train's braking system caught fire Thursday night on the Red Line in Rockville, authorities said.

No injuries were reported in the 8:15 incident at the Rockville station, said Lisa Farbstein, Metro spokeswoman. The northbound train had been offloaded minutes before at the Twinbrook station after a problem with the brakes was reported.

The train then headed to the Shady Grove rail yard for repairs, but smoke appeared along the way, and the empty train was stopped at the Rockville station, Farbstein said. Firefighters responded and determined that a small fire in the braking system burned itself out but produced a lot of smoke.

Metro officials diverted other trains to a single track around the incident, and service was not stopped, Farbstein said. Officials think that the malfunctioning brakes caused the small fire.

The incident was not expected to affect the morning commute.

-- Clarence Williams

Metro to carry out bus emission tests

The Metro board authorized a $184,528 contract Thursday for West Virginia University Research Corp. and the transit agency to conduct bus emissions testing to help the agency determine which bus type is the cleanest option.

They will perform emissions testing, collect operations data and gather vehicle performance and operating cost information for a comparison among buses operating with diesel fuel, hybrid-electric propulsion systems, compressed natural gas and clean-diesel biofuels.

The contract is for one year, with four one-year options contingent upon funding. Metro has about 1,500 buses; 460 are compressed natural gas, 117 are clean diesel and 50 are diesel-electric hybrids. The rest run on standard diesel.

-- Lena H. Sun

HYATTSVILLE CRIME

1 stabbed, 1 beaten in strip mall lot

One man was stabbed and another was beaten severely in a strip mall parking lot in the Hyattsville area Thursday evening, Prince George's County police said.

Police were called to the Cutting Edge barber shop in the 6500 block of Ager Road about 6:10 p.m. Someone inside the shop called 911 after a man entered and then collapsed, police said. The second man was outside, authorities said.

The man who was stabbed was listed in critical condition at a hospital. The second man was hospitalized with serious injuries.

Police said it was not clear last night whether the two men had fought with each other or were attacked by others. The men were not immediately identified and were described only as Hispanic males between 20 and 30.

-- Clarence Williams

D.C. DEVELOPMENT

City wants to build on Walter Reed site

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said Thursday that he expects a mixed-use development to be built on 62 1/2 acres that the city is trying to take control of at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

"We have an incredible opportunity to reintegrate a major portion of this federal campus back into the Brightwood neighborhood and create a new sense of vitality along Georgia Avenue," Fenty (D) said.

The District is targeting property in the southern half of the campus for development. The rest of the campus will be used by the General Services Administration and the State Department.

Residents can follow the District's plans for Walter Reed on a dedicated Web page: http://walterreedlra.dc.gov.

The medical center is scheduled to close in 2011 as part of the Base Realignment and Closure process.

Fenty also announced Thursday that the District is soliciting bids to redevelop two empty lots the city owns across from Walter Reed. The 15,000-square-foot site could accommodate as many as 35 housing units, said Sean Madigan, a spokesman for the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. Bids are due in January.

-- Ovetta Wiggins