Metro Briefs

DISTRICT

Two Metro bus operators dismissed

Metro officials say they have dismissed two bus operators.

The transit agency fired Michael E. Robinson, 41, of Capitol Heights, who was charged last month with kidnapping after police said he refused to allow a passenger to leave his bus after an argument.

Officials said they also have dismissed Carletta Douglas, 37, who had worked for Metro since 2000. She was arrested last month for driving with a suspended license.

A third employee who was accused of using a cell phone while operating a bus has returned to service. Officials said an investigation found that the employee stopped the bus and used her personal phone to report a mechanical problem.

Final Metro crash victim leaves hospital

The last person hospitalized with injuries from the fatal Metro train crash in June was released Friday from the Washington Hospital Center.

The person’s identity has not been released and the scope of his or her injuries has not been revealed.

The June 22 crash on the Red Line killed nine people, including the train operator. About 70 people were injured in what is the worst crash in the history of Metro, the second-largest subway system in the U.S.

The National Transportation and Safety Board is focusing on possible malfunctions in the computerized system that should have kept the one train from crashing into the rear of the other. However, the agency has yet to determine the exact cause.

Mailbox explodes in Northeast

A U.S. Postal Service mailbox exploded in Northeast, causing evacuations and street closings.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service said the explosion occurred at the corner of 49th and Meade streets late Thursday. Inspectors found a professional-grade fireworks device inside the destroyed blue collection box. They said it was not associated with any mail items.

Mailbox vandalism is a federal crime, and postal inspectors are investigating the explosion. They say such incidents often are the result of “juvenile mischief.”

Officials said crews had to close several nearby roads as they searched for any other devices. Some houses in the area were evacuated as a precaution. No one was injured.

VIRGINIA

MANASSAS

ACLU challenges loitering law

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Friday challenging a loitering ordinance that was used to arrest four Hispanic men earlier this year in Prince William County.

The ACLU said in court papers that the county’s loitering law is unconstitutionally vague. It makes loitering a crime when there is “a reasonable suspicion that such person may be … about to engage in a crime.”

The four men were arrested in May outside an apartment complex where they lived. Virginia ACLU legal director Rebecca Glenberg said she thinks the men were targeted because of their ethnicity.

The county recently enacted tough policies designed to remove illegal immigrants. Critics say the policies masked hostility toward Hispanics.

The county attorney could not be reached for comment.

ALEXANDRIA

Ex-police chief gets jail time

Former Alexandria Police Chief David P. Baker was sentenced to five days in jail on Friday after he pleaded guilty to charges of drunken driving.

Mr. Baker appeared in Arlington General District Court, where he acknowledged that his blood-alcohol level was between .15 and .20.

Mr. Baker was arrested last month after he was involved in a car accident in Arlington. His blood-alcohol level at the time was 0.19 - more than twice the legal limit. He stepped down from his post as police chief a few days later and retired from the department.

A judge sentenced Mr. Baker to 180 days in jail, but suspended all but five days. Mr. Baker also must pay fines and attend an alcohol safety program, and he will lose his driver’s license for the next year.

ROANOKE

Man pleads guilty to online threat

A Roanoke man pleaded guilty Friday to charges he threatened a San Francisco area transit policeman in an online posting.

U.S. Attorney Julia Dudley said Jeffrey Lynn Weaver, 47, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of sending a threatening communication.

Prosecutors said Weaver threatened to kill the transit policeman and his family in a blog posting on radio host Alex Jones’ Infowars.com.

The threat came in a discussion of the officer’s fatal shooting of an unarmed man in an Oakland, Calif., subway station.

A spokesman for Ms. Dudley said Weaver also was charged with copyright infringement after FBI agents found thousands of illegally downloaded movies on his computer.

Weaver faces a maximum of six years in prison. Sentencing is set for Nov. 16.

RICHMOND

1,300 workers use loan program

More than 1,300 state employees in Virginia have obtained short-term loans through a pilot program created to help them during tough economic times.

Gov. Tim Kaine said Friday the Virginia State Employee Loan Program has issued $641,657 worth of emergency loans to 1,310 employees since it was launched in mid-July.

The goal is to prevent state workers who face financial problems from turning to payday or car-title lenders.

The program offers non-probationary employees emergency loans of $100 to $500 with no credit checks and no late fees at an annual interest rate of about 25 percent.

The program is a partnership between the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign and the Virginia Credit Union.

MARYLAND

BALTIMORE

Ex-postal clerk guilty of stamp theft

A former Howard County postal clerk pleaded guilty to a stamp theft scheme that prosecutors say netted $682,000. Many of the stolen stamps were sold at a discount online.

Marvin Lamont Foster, of Rosedale, pleaded guilty in federal court in Baltimore on Thursday to stealing the stamps between June 2008 and March of this year.

Foster faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced in November. Kyle Mathias, 23, of Joppa, is awaiting trial in the case.

HAGERSTOWN

Disease could lead to killing of deer

The spread of a disease fatal to white-tailed deer has prompted the National Park Service to endorse a lethal response at two Civil War battlefields in western Maryland.

The agency is seeking public comment through Sept. 18 on its preferred option of potentially slaughtering hundreds of deer at the Antietam and Monocacy national battlefields if Chronic Wasting Disease is found within 20 miles.

Both parks are within 60 miles of confirmed cases of the brain disease in West Virginia.

The park service said killing large numbers of deer could prevent the disease from becoming established among the overpopulated herds within the parks.

The contagious illness is fatal to deer but poses no apparent risk to humans.

OCEAN CITY

Fire marshal checks for CO detectors

The Ocean City Fire Marshal’s Office conducted random inspections of properties at the resort town.

The sweep of properties Thursday came days after a carbon monoxide leak investigation found that a hotel did not have required detectors. But Fire Marshal Sam Villani said the sweep was planned months in advance. Results of that sweep won’t be available until next week.

The Americana Hotel was evacuated on Tuesday after high levels of carbon monoxide were discovered there and three people were sickened. The hotel remains closed while the cause is investigated.

The city requires carbon monoxide detectors in hotels and motels, but the fire marshal’s office said the hotel did not have any.

From wire dispatches and staff reports.