Metro Briefs

MARYLAND

ANNAPOLIS

Bill to skip primary moves forward

The Maryland Senate yesterday gave preliminary approval to a bill that would eliminate the need to hold a special primary to replace outgoing Rep. Albert R. Wynn.

Mr. Wynn, a Democrat, lost in February’s primary election and plans to resign in June. That means Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, can either leave the seat vacant for the rest of Mr. Wynn’s term, which runs through January 2009, or hold a special primary followed by a special general election.

The emergency bill would allow Mr. O’Malley to order only a special general election, in order to save the money a special primary would cost.

The bill would expire after a year.

Activist and lawyer Donna Edwards beat Mr. Wynn by 22 percentage points in the heavily Democratic district, which includes parts of Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.

BOWIE

Police shoot, kill bank robbery suspect

A suspect in a bank robbery was fatally shot yesterday after leading police on a chase in Prince George’s County.

County police and Bowie police officers fatally shot the man after he tried to rob a Chevy Chase bank and then sped off. When the man either stopped or crashed the car, he apparently got out and threatened police with a weapon. It was not clear whether he fired shots.

Authorities said at least four officers fired shots at the man at about 9:20 a.m. Police said the man was flown by helicopter to a nearby hospital where he died.

Police said the man left the Bowie bank in a stolen car, and officers saw him speed out of the bank’s parking lot.

ROSEDALE

Elderly man dies in morning fire

An elderly man died yesterday after a fire in his Rosedale home.

Baltimore County fire officials said the man’s wife escaped the blaze and tried to help her husband but was unable to do so. Firefighters found his body in the living room of his row house on Neighbors Avenue.

Officials yesterday did not release the man’s name or his age.

The fire broke out shortly after 7:30 a.m. and was put under control in about 10 minutes. It did not spread to adjacent row houses. The cause is under investigation.

ELLICOTT CITY

New state’s attorney named for county

Dario Broccolino has been named state’s attorney in Howard County.

Mr. Broccolino, 63, had been serving as interim state’s attorney since December, when Timothy McCrone resigned to accept a Circuit Court judgeship appointment.

Mr. Broccolino was appointed unanimously on Friday by a three-judge panel whose members cited his 36-year career in law enforcement. He did not apply for the permanent job until the last possible day, and Mr. McCrone and Howard County Executive Kenneth S. Ulman favored another county prosecutor, Lara Weathersbee, for the position.

VIRGINIA

NORFOLK

$1.1 million seized in investment scheme

Federal agents have seized more than $1.1 million from a self-proclaimed pastor in Norfolk who is under investigation in an international investment fraud scheme.

Benjamin Seigler has not been charged. But an affidavit filed by U.S. postal inspectors in court last week named him as the focus of an ongoing inquiry into several investment programs.

The affidavit said more than 4,000 individuals in this country and abroad placed investments with Mr. Seigler, but none had seen any returns.

The document accused the pastor of selling fraudulent insurance and securities products as part of an ongoing scheme. Postal inspectors interviewed a number of people, mainly in Arizona and Louisiana, who invested with Mr. Seigler but had not received returns.

RICHMOND

Web program offers black history lessons

A Virginia collection of black historical artifacts is gaining a larger audience.

The Virginia Historical Society is launching a Web-based educational program aimed at increasing access to its trove of African-American items. Linking to Our Past: Documenting the African American Experience in Virginia is designed as a research tool for educators and students.

The site includes a dozen items, each enabling users to access an image of the original document, a translation if necessary and sections to explain context, significance, ways the items can be incorporated into lessons, suggestions for further reading and how the item relates to the state’s Standards of Learning objectives.

From staff reports and wire dispatches