Jim McElhatton

Metro safety officials not informed about system modifications

For as long as three years, engineering officials overseeing bus and rail vehicles at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority kept safety officials out of the loop when modifying equipment and systems — a potential violation of federal transportation rules flagged just months before the worst accident in the history of the transit agency.

March 7, 2011

Metro official in charge of technology steps down

Suzanne Peck, the assistant general manager in charge of technology at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority since 2007, has quietly resigned.

March 3, 2011

Death penalty may be sought in D.C. trial

Nearly two years after Crystal Washington was shot to death at a busy D.C. intersection, her death looms large in closed-door talks at the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, where prosecutors soon will decide whether to seek the death penalty against two men charged with killing her to keep her from testifying.

February 28, 2011

Va. nurse’s aide convicted in toe-amputation case still is certified

A nurse's aide is still certified to work in Virginia despite being convicted of negligence and jailed in a D.C. case involving the amputation of a woman's toe.

February 23, 2011

Maryland tire importer faces fraud charges

By appearances, the past decade has been good for Sanjeet "Sonny" Veen and his Rockville, Md.-based international tire business. However, his success, along with his freedom, now stand threatened by a pending federal indictment in Mississippi.

February 21, 2011

Federal suit targets firm in Medicaid overbilling

What began as an investigation into a fatal traffic accident five years ago has turned into a False Claims Act lawsuit against a company that received federal and local tax dollars to drive D.C. Medicaid patients to and from medical appointments.

February 15, 2011

D.C. children’s charity accuses brokers of swindling $8 million

When negotiating with the Hillcrest Children's Center to handle millions of dollars from the District-based nonprofit group's endowment, executives at Gibraltar Asset Management Group held themselves out to be responsible investment managers whose advisers included top faculty at Howard University, according to court records.

February 13, 2011

More D.C. officers work uncovered while undercover

"Wow, what else?" That was the question an undercover D.C. police officer posed to a masseuse during an October 2009 investigation of a now-shuttered massage parlor across the street from the U.S. Marine Corps barracks on Eighth Street Southeast.

February 10, 2011

Police barely decent in massage parlor sting

She told him to take off all his clothes and then follow her into the shower room at a downtown Washington massage parlor. He didn't say no.

February 6, 2011

D.C. children’s center sues for $8 million loss

The D.C.-based Hillcrest Children's Center, a mental health provider that began as an orphanage nearly 200 years ago and was first led by Dolly Madison, is accusing a Washington financial firm of bilking $8 million of its investments.

February 3, 2011

Ethics rules let D.C. Council members shield outside income

D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown last year reported earning $45,000 in outside income on top of his six-figure government salary for 2009, but who paid him and why is anybody's guess. City ethics rules don't require Mr. Brown to say.

February 1, 2011

Seeing red, PAC is down on Scott Brown

The National Republican Trust spent nearly $100,000 last year to help Scott Brown win the U.S. Senate seat of the late Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, but now the conservative political group wishes it had that money back to help kick Mr. Brown out of office.

January 30, 2011