TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 2010

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Va. Railway Express to hold final hearings on service changes

Chief says he will retool plan that would have inconvenienced 400

by Jennifer Buske

Virginia Railway Express will hold its final two public hearings this week on proposed service

3 accused of raping impaired woman, 71

Suspects had been

by Dan Morse

Montgomery County prosecu- tors are preparing to try three men in the daytime rape of a 71- year-old woman behind a dump- ster in a Silver Spring parking lot.

The men, ages 25 to 47, were being held Monday in the Mont- gomery jail on bonds of at least $1 million each, according to jail officials. Shortly before noon Jan. 20, a motorist called 911 to report see- ing a woman being dragged across a parking lot in the 11200 block of New Hampshire Avenue. Police found the woman partially clothed and on the ground near the dumpster, according to state- ments written by a detective to obtain charges against the men. The woman appeared intox-

icated and semiconscious, and one of the suspects said later that all four had been drinking to- gether earlier in the day, accord- ing to court records.

At the scene, the caller told po-

lice that he saw two of the men drag the woman to the dumpster and place her on the ground, with the third man following them, according to the charging documents. While two men stood watch, a third pulled a trash can in front of the group, the witness told po- lice. The witness said he got out of his vehicle and walked toward the trash cans, prompting the 25- year-old suspect who was as- saulting the woman to leave, ac- cording to charging documents. The first suspect, identified as

Jorge L. Ruiz, 47, said he knew that Cristobal A. Coreas, 25, in- tended to rape the woman, ac- cording to charging documents. Ruiz told police that the men had been drinking with the woman earlier that day at a shopping center.

Coreas admitted to police that he was “by the dumpsters with his pants down,” but the charg- ing documents do not indicate whether he said anything else. The third suspect, identified as

Jose Mauricio, 31, denied knowl- edge of the incident, according to the charging documents. The woman was taken to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville, where her blood- alcohol level registered 0.322, ac- cording to charging documents. The woman said that she did not remember the incident and that she never consented to hav- ing sex with any of the suspects. Police described the woman as a “physically helpless victim” and charged the men with conspiracy to commit first-degree rape and first-degree rape, according to court records. Attorneys for the suspects either could not be reached Monday or declined to comment. Immigration officials have placed a detainer on Mauricio, according to jail officials, mean- ing that he might be in the Unit- ed States illegally and could be deported after any legal action in the rape case.

morsed@washpost.com

Metro also has a survey to get public feedback about the options at www. wmata.com/survey.cfm. Officials said results of the survey will be included in a report to the board of directors next month.

Written comments may be sent to the Office of the Secretary, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 600 Fifth St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001; or e-mailed to public-hearing-

testimony@wmata.com.

Comments are due by 5 p.m. April 6.

PHOTOS BY GERALD MARTINEAU FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Metro and D.C. fire and rescue personnel take part in an anti-terrorism drill that simulated an explosion aboard a bus at RFK Stadium.

Metro tests anti-terrorism response

Drill goes forward as Moscow subway blasts prompt heightening of transit security

by Ann Scott Tyson

Metro stepped up security

Monday in the wake of the Mos- cow subway bombings, sending transit police and bomb-sniffing dogs on random sweeps through rail stations and yards and con- ducting “high-visibility” patrols. “When we opened the Metro system this morning, we did so with heightened security,” acting Metro Transit Police Chief Jeri Lee said in a statement. “We re- main an open system, and we do what we can to be as secure as possible.” Lee said the transit agency will maintain the heightened security “at least through the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit sched- uled in Washington in a few weeks, and we are partnering with federal and local law en- forcement for security related to that summit,” Lee said. The sum- mit is scheduled for April 12-13. The Maryland Transit Admin-

istration announced that its po- lice force will conduct random sweeps of commuter trains, sta- tions and parking lots. The federal government did not immediately make any rec- ommendations for increased se- curity in mass transit systems, but authorities were monitoring

Rescuers tend to a man pretending to have been injured in the drill.

the situation, a U.S. official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal de- liberations. In New York, caravans of po- lice vehicles were dispatched to

transit hubs, and officers as- signed to subways overnight were held in place so they over- lapped with the day tour. Special units, distinguished by their black uniforms, helmets and

PETULA DVORAK

Long lines in D.C. shouldn’t be filled with the city’s poor

dvorak from B1

GEYOU CAN’TT THE DEALSIF YOU CAN’T FIND THE SALES.

IF THERE’S A SALE OUT THERE, IT’S IN HERE.

If you don’t get it, you don’t get it.

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hurricane for these folks, and it exacerbates long-standing problems in the District. A coalition of social justice organizations launched a campaign last week, Defeat Poverty DC, to turn the focus of this year’s city elections to poverty. Members are folks who know the staggering statistics and are familiar with the tragic stories that lead up to or are the result of poverty. They work with teen moms, unemployed dads, foster children and homeless grandmothers.

Each of these groups can help an individual, but they are banding together to find a more sweeping solution and put greater focus on the issue. At the forum last week that launched their campaign, members of the coalition talked about government-funded job training programs that churn graduates out into a world with no jobs. They spoke of large-scale development that looks good on paper but does little to hire local residents. And they talked about

the frustration of a poverty mind-set in some parts of society that cannot seem to be broken, despite the best government programs. The roughly 100 people in the room cheered when someone also spoke of unseating Mayor

was about $39,000, according to the Census Bureau. Fenty has been praised for the

city’s economic vitality during the national recession. Incomes are up, folks are still moving into the District and, on many streets west of the Anacostia River, new

What we see here are families that are vulnerable to any gust of wind — an illness, a slow week at work, a missed paycheck, a lost job.

Adrian M. Fenty (D). Fenty has not been particularly

good at making people feel that poverty is his top priority, and the widening gap between rich and poor in the District is not helping that image. Statistically and anecdotally, the issue is also about the chasm between black and white D.C.

Although white households had a median income of about $101,000 in 2008, the median income among black households

businesses are opening every day. But it turns out you don’t have

to go across a bridge to see a different version of that divide. A more nuanced and realistic tale can be seen right across the street from that public assistance office on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Anacostia. Big Chair Coffee and Grill, thought to be the first stand-alone coffee shop to come to the area in decades, opened last month.

The owners had a vision and

struggled to pay rent for two years before they could open. It’s not a smashing success story yet, but little by little, they worked to make their dream a reality. “We’re very, very proud of ourselves that we could make it happen,” said Bantamlak Yimenu, who opened the shop with his sister and other family members. They’ve created jobs and brought some vitality to the area. But even with the Italian espresso machine humming in the background and seasoned fries hot on the burger plates, they’re skating a razor’s edge. Business has been slow, and they’ve lowered their prices to try to get people in the door. “We’re struggling,” Yimenu said. “I know when you open a business, the first six months to a year are tough. But we are struggling right now. It’s not the way we expected it to be.” All he has to do is look out the door and see the long line of folks who could be his customers, if the wind just blew the other way.

dvorakp@washpost.com

body armor, also were assigned to transit facilities. Atlanta’s public transit system said its police department was increasing the number of officers and patrols throughout the sys- tem. In Chicago, the city police de-

partment’s public transportation section and Chicago Transit Au- thority personnel were watching closely for any suspicious activity or behavior, CTA spokeswoman Kim Myles said. Representatives of transit agencies in Boston and Philadelphia said they thought that their normal security prac- tices were vigilant enough to pro- tect the public. On Monday, Metro conducted

a long-planned simulation: of an explosion aboard a bus in the parking lot of RFK Stadium, the discovery of a second explosive device in a bus garage and re- ports of additional devices on other buses. The transit agency is conduct- ing a series of anti-terrorism drills to test regional response to emergencies in the transit sys- tem. Last weekend, another drill simulated an explosion in an underground subway.

tysona@washpost.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

D.C., Md. struggle to boost shares of Metro aid

metro from B1

26.2 percent since 2007, Henson said. Maryland officials are await- ing the outcome of public hear- ings over how Metro should fill the budget gap before deciding on any additional increases, Henson said. Maryland’s General Assembly is expected to vote on the budget before April 12, she said. D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) is set to release his budget Thursday, but officials said that providing a big increase for Met- ro would necessitate trade-offs. “At a time when our revenues are falling off, it’s going to be a question of priority-setting,” said Metro Board member Jim Gra-

“It’s going to be a question of priority-

setting.”

— Jim Graham, a member

of the D.C. Council (Ward 1) and Metro’s board.

ham (D.C.). “The challenge that we face is, assuming the mayor does not come up with the mon- ey, what do we forgo?” Graham said that the District’s contribution to Metro has grown since 2007, from $247 million to $352million this fiscal year. “I am not in favor of fare hikes or service cuts,” he said. “We are very much hard at work on this.” Transit advocates from an um- brella group called Fair Share for Metro planned to hand out fliers at several Metrorail stations Tuesday asking riders to lobby their local representatives for more money for Metro to pre- vent service cuts. “We need people to contact their elected officials, because the governor of Maryland and Mayor Fenty have the next key decisions to make,” said Cheryl Cort of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, which is participating in the Fair Share campaign. Cort and others said that fare increases are nearly inevitable, given Metro’s budget gap, so the coalition is focused on prevent- ing a loss of service.

She said the commuters she

spoke with Monday are “shocked and in disbelief” about the scope of possible service cuts, which in- clude eliminating eight-car trains, increasing the wait be- tween trains to 30 minutes in the evening and discontinuing serv- ice on portions of the Yellow Line during certain times of the week.

tysona@washpost.com

changes that would accommodate new and longer trains on the Fredericksburg line. The hearings, both beginning

at noon, will be held Tuesday at 1500 King St., Suite 202, in Alex- andria and Wednesday at 525 New Jersey Ave. NW in the Dis- trict. Officials from the commuter-

rail service proposed last month having a handful of trains termi-

nate and originate at L’Enfant in- stead of at Union Station to utilize L’Enfant’s storage space and lengthen several trains. They also proposed an express train that would leave at 5:05 a.m. and stop only at Leeland Road, Brooke, Al- exandria, Crystal City, L’Enfant and Union Station. VRE officials said the express could trim 20 minutes from a rider’s commute into Washington.

After receiving more than 3,000 comments, VRE Chief Exec- utive Dale Zehner said he needed to retool the proposal, which would have inconvenienced about 400 of the roughly 9,000 daily rid- ers. The new proposal has all trains

except the express going to Union Station in the morning and adds two cars to Fredericksburg line trains 300 and 307, which VRE of-

ficials said often are standing- room only. It also adds Wood- bridge to the list of stops the ex- press will make. Zehner said he is working with CSX, which owns the tracks, to try to get all evening trains to depart from Union Station. To do so, however, VRE would need CSX’s approval to bring the express train from L’Enfant to Union Sta- tion during the afternoon. If

Zehner cannot reach a deal, one evening train will have to leave from L’Enfant.

Once the public comment pe- riod is closed, Zehner will bring his final proposal to the VRE Op- erations Board in April. If ap- proved, the express would begin in July, while the new cars will be added to the two trains in Decem- ber,when new locomotives arrive.

buskej@washpost.com

Metro public hearings

drinking with victim, court records say

Metro has scheduled hearings to get public input on options for closing a $189 million budget deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1. All hearings are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.; a 6:30 p.m. open house precedes each session.  Wednesday: Arlington County Board Room, Third Floor, 2100 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington.  Thursday: All Souls Unitarian Church, Pierce Hall, 1500 Harvard St. NW,Washington.  Thursday: Montgomery County Executive Office Building, cafeteria, 101 Monroe St. (entrance on Jefferson Street), Rockville. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58