Metro Briefs

DISTRICT

City audit ’clean’ for 11th year in row

An independent audit released yesterday gives the District’s finances an unqualified “clean” opinion for the 11th consecutive year, showing that the city finished the last fiscal year with a general fund balance of $1.5 million amid increases in major tax revenues.

The release of the long-awaited Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for fiscal 2007 follows last year’s discovery of the largest corruption scandal in city government history.

A manager in the Office of Tax and Revenue is accused of approving faulty tax-refund checks, which authorities say were later deposited and distributed by family and friends in a scam that cost the city at least $20 million.

The scandal also caused the city’s independent auditors — BDO Seidman LLP — to request an extension past the usual February deadline to deliver the report, and the D.C. Council last week approved paying the company extra to finish its work.

The auditors found that the city’s general fund balance had increased by nearly $60,000 compared with in fiscal 2006, and that property, income and franchise tax revenues all had increased.

However, Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi warned in the report of projected increases in the tax-supported debt-service ratio, and the audit did not include a section pointing out possible weaknesses in the city’s finances. Officials expect that section to be released today.

MARYLAND

BALTIMORE

Man in gunfight with police dies

A man wounded during a gunfight that involved police Sunday night died hours later, police said.

The man was wounded when police witnessed a gunfight between two men near McElderry Street and North Ellwood Avenue about 10:15 p.m. Sunday. The officers said that they identified themselves and that one of the suspects opened fire on them. Police returned fire, and the men fled with officers in pursuit.

One of the men escaped, but the other fell to the ground blocks away, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead about 1:45 a.m. Police say it is not clear whether the man was struck by police gunfire.

The man’s name was not released.

The two officers have been put on administrative duties pending an investigation.

JESSUP

Officer’s gun goes off, wounds two teens

Two teenagers were shot, apparently accidentally, when an officer’s gun discharged when the officer got out of a car.

Howard County police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said the incident occurred about 5:15 p.m. yesterday in the 8300 block of Pleasant Chase Road. Undercover officers saw what appeared to be drug activity and tried to stop the two youths for questioning. As the officers got out of their car, one officer’s weapon went off.

Miss Llewellyn said one shot struck both teenagers — one in the torso and one in the arm. The youths, ages 14 and 15, were taken to local hospitals; neither injury appears to be life-threatening, she said.

MARDELA SPRINGS

Rosenwald School gets restoration grant

Lowe’s and the National Trust for Historic Preservation will give $50,000 to help pay for restoration work at the San Domingo Community and Cultural Center, a historic Rosenwald School.

The project is one of 17 Rosenwald School restoration projects across the Southern United States that are getting similar grants. This is the third year that Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation has donated $1 million to the trust for the program.

The Rosenwald schools were built between 1918 and 1932 for blacks in the rural South. Many of the remaining buildings are in disrepair.

The Mardela building was built in 1919 and now serves as a meeting place for local organizations. The grant will be used to restore the windows and exterior siding.

VIRGINIA

STAFFORD

Pregnant women attacked in home

Two pregnant women were attacked during a home invasion just before midnight Friday, authorities said.

Police said three people knocked on the door at a home in the 1000 block of Providence Street and forced their way inside when someone opened the door. Two of the intruders brandished guns and the third carried a machete.

The intruders used pepper spray on a pregnant woman and punched her, then locked the woman, a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old in a bathroom.

In the back of the house, police say the intruders found two more residents and one, another pregnant woman, was assaulted.

The intruders took money and electronic equipment from the residence.

HAMPTON

13 injured in wreck with SUV, three cars

Thirteen people were injured when a large sport utility vehicle hit three vehicles at a busy intersection yesterday afternoon.

Hampton police spokeswoman Paula Ensley said a female passenger in a Ford sedan was in critical condition. Injuries to the 12 others were not life-threatening, but all were taken to hospitals after the crash.

Miss Ensley said the driver of a Chevy Suburban lost control on Mercury Boulevard and hit a Scion, a Honda and the Ford. The Suburban ended up on top of the Ford, which had three passengers in the back seat, including the woman who was critically injured.

Miss Ensley said last night that it was too early to know whether charges would be brought.

From wire dispatches and staff reports