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tuesday, march 2, 2010 DC MD VA S
LOCAL HOME PAGE VIRGINIA THE DISTRICT
Federal Eye Shooting at day care Barry censure vote likely
Blogger Ed O’Keefe will be A man and a woman are dead after The D.C. Council is also to take up
35, 9 a.m. 41, noon 44, 5 p.m. 40, 9 p.m.
online at 11 a.m. Tuesday to gunfire erupts at a home day-care stripping Marion Barry of his
discuss the latest news out of center in Dale City. Children in the committee chairmanship and referring
Obituaries Johns Hopkins professor M.
the federal government. Go to house at the time did not witness the public corruption allegations against
Gordon Wolman, 85, provided fundamental
washingtonpost.com/local. incident. B6 him to the U.S. attorney’s office. B2
insights into the nature of rivers. B7
Guilty of
swindling
senior
citizen
EX-CON NOW FACES
40 YEARS IN PRISON
Montgomery jury also
convicts on charges of neglect
by Dan Morse
An ex-con who married an elderly wid-
ow in the front seat of his car as part of a
massive swindle was convicted by a
Montgomery County jury Monday and
faces the possibility of spending the rest
of his life in jail.
Roger Greenberg, 68, was found guilty
of theft, embezzlement, financial exploi-
tation of a vulnerable adult and neglect.
Prosecutors said he ingratiated his way
into Evelyn Zucker’s life in 2007, stole
$130,829 from her and altered her will to
position himself to get considerably
more.
Greenberg also left Zucker, 84, alone
and confused in a filthy hotel room,
where she was found in December 2008
having just suffered a heart attack. Since
MARK GAIL/THE WASHINGTON POST
then, she has given inconsistent state-
Jean Gilchrist, owner of Learning World Child Development Center in Bladensburg, plays with Giana Peterson, left, Amara Mbah and Chloe Peterson, some of the ments about whether Greenberg stole
children who attend the center. Gilchrist is struggling to make economic ends meet after recent snowstorms, which have been a “hardship” for her and parents alike. from her, underscoring a challenge for
detectives and prosecutors in such cases.
On Monday, she seemed upset about
Economics of day care
the verdict. “Did Roger get free?” she
asked when reached by telephone at her
SWINDLE continued on B4
hit an icy patch
a71 Prince George’s jury
deadlocks on fatal 2008
street racing case. B6
Snowstorm closures chip at thin margins between recession-strapped parents and children’s centers
owner, it was not so simple. If families didn’t pay for claimed jobs and worker hours, leaving many
by Donna St. George the snow days, how would the center pay its staff of families unable to afford tuition and some providers
McDonnell
20? with too many vacancies to stay in business.
here was the stress of the recession, then “It’s a hardship for all of us,” said owner Jean “It’s a trickle-down effect: The parents lose jobs;
T
the record-setting snow. Finally, as Gilchrist, who founded the center 30 years ago. She the providers lose children in day care,” said Phyllis
February gave way to March, here’s how the said this had been one of the toughest periods in the Waters, president of the Professional Child Care
lobbies for
fallout looked at a Bladensburg child-care past decade. Provider Network of Prince George’s County.
center: So go the fragile economics of child care in the Then, in one icy blast, the snows of early February
Flora Izuka wanted a break on paying tuition for Washington region and beyond, with the eternal showed anew how razor-thin the economic margins school aid
her 18-month-old because Learning World Child tension between what families can afford and what it can be. Some parents didn’t get paid during the
Development Center had closed down or opened late costs to operate a day-care center. Striking the right storms and couldn’t afford that week’s tuition.
for much of the week of Feb. 8. But for the center’s balance has been especially hard, as the recession has
day care
in stimulus
continued on B5
“It’s a trickle-down effect: The parents lose jobs;
the providers lose children in day care.”
Despite earlier criticism,
governor says ‘Virginia
— Phyllis Waters, president of the Professional Child Care Provider Network of Prince George’s County.
ought to have its share’
by Anita Kumar
Tour takes D.C. teenagers with
Md., Va. consider new tack in
richmond — For more than a year,
Robert F. McDonnell has been critical of
no house to the White House
fight against drunken driving
the federal stimulus package, arguing
that it should have been more focused on
creating jobs and spurring the economy.
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here were people on the White But that hasn’t stopped Virginia’s new
House tour Saturday morning withholding federal highway funds. Republican governor from lobbying ag-
who were probably struck by the The breathalyzers, called ignition in- gressively for a piece of President Oba-
yellow paint on the Vermeil Room’s
States may follow lead of
terlock devices, are not new, but the tech- ma’s $4.35 billion Race to the Top educa-
wood paneling. Or impressed by the 12 others in requiring ignition nology has grown more sophisticated. tion program, which is funded by the Re-
portraits of John Adams and Thomas
breathalyzers for first offense
They won’t let the engine start until the covery Act.
Jefferson in the Blue Room. driver successfully breathes into a device, Some of the money could be spent on
The group I came with had a different
PETULA DVORAK
which looks similar to a TV remote con- new jobs, but much of it would go to de-
frame of reference to work with. by Ashley Halsey III trol. veloping curriculum, expanding a data-
“The chair is hard,” one of the House for a day-long field trip that Ignition interlocks are seen by ad- base of student records and training ex-
teenagers said after pressing down on a included bowling a few sets on the The movement to rid the roads of vocates as the most effective tool to come isting employees. Virginia applied for
cushion and comparing it with the president’s lanes and nibbling on crab drunk drivers is nearing a watershed as along since the campaign against drunk- $350 million and expects to learn this
pillows that her father had described cakes at the Occidental Grill next to the states increasingly mandate the use of ig- en driving began 30 years ago. week whether it is a finalist for a grant.
sleeping on in prison. Willard hotel. nition breathalyzers for first-time offend- “Punishment doesn’t work,” said Mary- McDonnell said during his campaign
Another teen, Kristina Richbow, 17, I thought it might be cruel, taking ers. land state Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D- that he would accept federal stimulus
was stunned by all the space the Obama kids whose families are homeless to the The political will to require their use Montgomery), lead sponsor of the bill in money if elected, but Democrats have ac-
girls must have for their things. grandest home of all. But it turned out will be tested this week in Richmond and Annapolis. “That’s why we have such a cused him of hypocrisy because he crit-
She’s about to lose most of her to be an uplifting, poignant day. in Annapolis, when lawmakers consider high recidivism rate.” icized the Recovery Act as a candidate.
possessions. Baby pictures, yearbooks, The kids gathered at the shelter in following the lead of 12 other states Federal data compiled two years ago “It’s hypocrisy. There’s nothing else to
stuffed animals — everything Kristina the morning, dressed in their best. where a first conviction results in manda- showed that 25,120 Maryland drivers had call it,’’ said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman
couldn’t fit under her cot at the Their mothers took pictures and told tory use. Ten other states are debating three or more drunken-driving convic- Schultz (D-Fla.), who serves as vice chair-
homeless shelter was placed in a them how proud they were before whether to take the same step. tions, almost 4,000 had five or more and man of the Democratic National Commit-
storage unit when her family lost its sending them down the dirty corridor The proposed laws face fierce opposi- nearly 70 had more than 10. In the Dis- tee. “Republicans like Bob McDonnell
home in a foreclosure. to visit the most important house in the tion from the American Beverage In- trict, 34 drivers had more than three con- have been particularly critical of pieces
And now, five months later, the nation. stitute. The restaurant trade association victions. No data were available from Vir- [of the Recovery Act] that wouldn’t create
family is behind on storage payments, Among them were honor students, a supports requiring the devices for repeat ginia. jobs, and now he’s asking for that money
so everything might be auctioned off. section leader of a D.C. magnet school offenders and those judged to be heavy The push to require interlocks for first- anyway. You can’t have it both ways. If
“Look at all that space,” she said band, an aspiring linguist who is drinkers but argues that a judge should time offenders is a clear-cut imperative you are against something, be against it.”
quietly to the giant windows high studying Chinese, a mother of an infant be free to decide for first-time offenders for Raskin: “If you’re opposed to this bill, McDonnell said in an interview last
above, silk curtains pulled back to let in son and a track sprinter. with readings just over the legal limit. it’s just immoral.” week that he has consistently backed
the light. Some of them, despite being raised in Congress is also considering whether it He and other advocates contend that Obama’s education reform initiatives and
She was one of 15 teens from a should push states to mandate the
District shelter who went to the White dvorak continued on B10 breathalyzers for first-time offenders by interlock continued on B10 mcdonnell continued on B5
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