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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2010
Up next for Arenas: chores, snores
JOHN KELLY’S WASHINGTON
Wizards star will have roommate, bunk bed; no movies or Internet
by Dan Morse
When Gilbert Arenas starts
JOHN KELLY/THE WASHINGTON POST
About a dozen fake tombstones showed up on the roof of the Washington Coliseum, presumably as an antiwar statement.
Red Line’s graffiti alley sprouts a graveyard, but this too will pass
W
atch kids riding the Metro aboveground and you’ll see their eyes
widen at what they glimpse out the window, especially on the Red Line. No, not the Takoma Park campus of Montgomery College or the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, but the graffiti that adorn nearly every flat surface. The kids know it’s wrong —
they’ve been told countless times not to write on the wall — but they’re impressed nonetheless: by the color, by the design, by the naughtiness. It was an odd and annoying
sort of graffiti that Douglas Jemal noticed a couple of weeks ago as he left Union Station: odd because of its three-dimensional aspect, annoying because of its location: on a building he happens to own. Jemal is the head of the Douglas Development Corp., owner of the Washington Coliseum, the hulking structure near the New York Avenue Metro station. (Hulking and historic: The Beatles played their first U.S. concert there on Feb. 11, 1964.) The building is a canvas for a lot of graffiti. Its roof is a big concrete curve intersected by gigantic ribs. About two weeks ago something unusual sprouted between two sets of ribs: tombstones. About a dozen black rectangles stick up from the roof like stubble on a giant’s chin. It must be a bit of political installation art, as the little monoliths apparently go with the message someone spray-painted nearby: “Stop the War.” “It’s like an ecology,” is how
Jemal described it, a tiny tombstone forest. The forest shouldn’t be up there for much longer. Jemal has ordered that the tombstones be removed.
Skimming the surface
It’s funny how life always
manages to give us more to worry about. Global warming, earthquakes, terrorism, unemployment, E. coli, intersex amphibians, overworked commuter airline pilots. The latest scourge is the ATM skimmer. That’s a little device that criminals slip over the card slot on an ATM. When customers stick their cards in, it steals their account information. One was discovered over the weekend on an ATM at a Wachovia bank in Rockville. In February, a skimmer was spotted on a Wachovia ATM in
Alexandria. Police said losses there were estimated at more than $60,000. There really is no limit to the
creativity of the criminal mind. The ATM skimmer reminds me of a parasite from the animal world, like that wasp that lays its eggs in caterpillar larvae. By simply taking out 60 bucks you are unknowingly abetting your own fleecing. I guess this falls under the
general category of identity theft: stealing personal information and using it for nefarious gain. Not long ago My Lovely Wife had her identity stolen — or borrowed, anyway. Out of the blue she got a bill for a Verizon wireless account that she didn’t actually open. A few phone calls
straightened things out, with Verizon assuring her that she was not responsible for any charges. Of course, we’ll see whether that’s true. She’s already had to call a few times as more bills — and overdue notices! — have come in. I’m not sure the people in Verizon Office A talk to the people in Verizon Office B. I’m in favor of tough penalties
for convicted identify thieves. Jail time, yes. Fines, yes. But something else, too: If you steal my identity you must take all of its aspects, not just the attractive ones, such as my bank account. You have to clean my gutters. You have to worry about my cholesterol. You have to decide whether this is the year to have the house painted or to put in a new air conditioner.
Ex-skews me
I drove behind an optical illusion on North Capitol Street the other day. A maroon Toyota Corolla appeared to crab down the road, its rear wheels distinctly out of line with its front wheels. It was like being behind an Escher drawing. This was a car with a bent frame! When I was a boy my father used to talk about cars with bent frames, accident-damaged cars that looked cosmetically okay but whose geometry was so messed up that they were hopelessly catawampus. My dog sometimes looks like this — dogawampus, I guess — trotting along with his hips canted over from his shoulders. I don’t think a dog with a bent frame is as dangerous as a car with a bent frame. As I pulled even with the Corolla, I tried to get the driver’s attention, but he was too busy talking on a cellphone to notice me.
kellyj@washpost.com
serving his 30-day sentence for a gun charge at a Montgomery County halfway house, he will walk into a 10-foot by 10-foot room with a mattress four inches shorter than he is. He’ll share bunk beds with a roommate, sub- mit to daily room inspections, three-times-daily alcohol breath tests and three-times-a-week drug tests. He will be expected to go straight to community service. No lunch with friends. No trips to the gym. Then straight back. “Until they get here, it doesn’t really set in where they are,” Ste- fan LoBuglio, chief of what’s known as the county’s Pre-Re- lease Center, said. “They think, ‘Hey, I thought this was just some place I slept at night, and come and go as I please.’ ” An opening orientation and 63-
page manual are designed, in part, to change that impression. Page 40: “A daily clean-up roster will be posted on each unit’s bul- letin board.”
Arenas could have received a tougher sentence. Prosecutors
had asked for at least three months in jail. At the Pre-Release Center, in the early evenings, Are- nas, who pleaded guilty to a felo- ny count of carrying a pistol with- out a license, will be allowed to shoot baskets and watch TV or play ping-pong. Arenas, 28, is serving his time
in Montgomery County because the county has a contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to take certain offenders. In Arenas’s case, he was put on probation by a judge in the federally supported court system of Washington,D.C. Federal officials chose the
Montgomery facility because of its reputation as a halfway house that is run with the discipline of a prison. The facility screens visi- tors and can keep Arenas safe from celebrity seekers and other convicts. "It’s to protect Gilbert. It’s a command and control op- eration where nonsense will not be permitted," said a federal source with knowledge of the de- cision, who spoke on the condi- tion of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak about the case. His sentence will begin with
two days in the Montgomery County Detention Center in Rockville. After big metal doors slide open, just as they do in movies, Arenas will be led down a long, sloping hallway to a reception
unit. He’ll provide fingerprints and a mug shot and answer a se- ries of questions as part of his placement screening. Question No. 13: “Are you a member of a gang or terrorist organization?” People charged with anything from shoplifting to murder could be on the benches next to him. Then Arenas probably will board an industrial-size elevator for a ride up to a housing area for “short-timers.” He could share a cell, but not likely with anyone who has committed a particularly violent crime. Montgomery officials have fed-
eral probationers spend the two days in traditional lockup to give them a taste of real confinement should they break rules down the road, as well as full medical and psychological screenings by the detention center’s staff. The officials are taking the same precautions as they would with any celebrity inmate. “High- profile prisoners are carefully watched so they can’t be victim- ized,” said Arthur Wallenstein, di- rector of the Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation. “Some inmates despise anyone with money.” After the detention center, Are- nas will be moved to the Pre- Release unit, a brown brick build- ing tucked amid offices near White Flint mall. The facility generally houses
up to 177 people, whom the staff call residents rather than in- mates. There is one living area for women and three for men. There are no barbed-wire fenc- es; residents can walk out the front door. The facility has re- ceived national attention in part because of its “sink or swim” ap- proach to pushing residents into jobs and community service. Most of the residents come from the Montgomery County jail. They can bring only a limited amount of clothes, which they must wash themselves. At least one of the current residents, Keith Brown, is looking forward to Arenas’s arrival. “He’s a good person who made a bad choice,” said Brown, taking a break from shooting baskets in the courtyard. Will he let Arenas play hoops with him on the facility’s court — part of which is covered by a trai- lor? “Better not, I’ll dunk on him,” the 5-foot-8, 47-year-old joked. Residents can have visitors, and they are given access to a computer room to hunt for jobs. But Internet surfing, Facebook- ing and Tweeting are forbidden. Residents cannot have cell- phones, laptops, video games or portable DVD players in their rooms. They can bring their own TV, no bigger than 13 inches, but they can’t have cable.
morsed@washpost.com
Loudoun property tax rises, school funds take hit
by Sholnn Freeman
Loudoun County officials ap- proved a $1.4 billion annual budg- et Tuesday that includes a proper- ty tax increase and a 2.5 percent cut in school system funding. The county Board of Supervi- sors adopted a tax rate of $1.30 per $100 of assessed value, a 4.4 percent increase over this year’s rate. Ben Mays, deputy chief financial officer for the county, said the average tax bill for home- owners should go up only about 2.5 percent because of declining property values. The average com- mercial tax bill could fall by that amount because property values in that category have dropped
even more, he said. Earlier in the year, the county had proposed a tax rate of $1.40 per $100 of assessed value but scaled back after an outpouring of e-mails from taxpayers who cited economic distress brought on by the recession. Under the ap- proved fiscal 2011 budget plan, the county will cut about 75 full- time positions, 50 of which are currently unfilled, Mays said. The county’s public schools, which take up 70 percent of the county budget, will absorb almost $20 million in cuts under the plan. In budget discussions, su- pervisors targeted millions in un- spent school system funds and $5.5 million set aside for school employee raises. The moves
opened up a deep rift with par- ents, administrators and teachers. Scott K. York, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, called the back-and-forth “emotional” and said both sides needed to “cool it.” “People are not getting raises from their employers, not getting [cost-of-living adjustments] and in some cases are being laid off,” York said. “It is a very difficult situation.
I’m not going to apologize for my vote. I understand how you feel,” York added, in comments that ap- peared to be directed at school de- fenders. The school system had request- ed a budget increase of $25 mil- lion. School officials said they need the money to cope with
LOCAL DIGEST
MARYLAND
O’Malley wants to debate Ehrlich
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Mal-
ley issued a surprise debate chal- lenge to Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. on Tuesday, just as the former gover- nor was preparing to formally announce his plans for a rematch Wednesday morning. O’Malley (D) proposed an hour-long Saturday debate on Baltimore’s WBAL radio, the sta- tion that airs a weekly talk show co-hosted by Ehrlich (R) and his wife, Kendel. “There are so many important issues facing our state right now,” O’Malley said in a statement is- sued by his campaign. “I think the Maryland public deserves to hear about our plans and ideas as soon as possible.”
Ehrlich countered by offering to host O’Malley on his show — which O’Malley’s campaign man- ager says doesn’t qualify as a de- bate. “We proposed a very simple and standard debate at a time we knew would work for Mr. Ehr- lich,” said Tom Russell, O’Malley’s campaign manager. “We regret that he did not take our offer in the spirit it was intended.”
—John Wagner
Another arrest made in Charles gang rape
Home delivery makes good sense.
1-800-753-POST
Charles County authorities
SF
THE DAILY QUIZ
According to the Beer column
in today’s Food section, what is the name of the remaining U.S. lager?
EARN 5 POINTS: Find the answer, then go to washingtonpost.com/postpoints and click on “Quizzes” to enter the correct response.
have arrested a suspect and iden- tified three others in a March 16 sexual assault on a woman in Waldorf. Last week, in Newark, N.J., po- lice arrested Jose Maria Echebar- ria, 30, of Waldorf in the assault. Police have also identified three other suspects: Jose Santos Por- tillo, 25, Balmoris Argueta, 26, and Lionicio Argueta, 29. Police said 10 men were in- volved in the attack, seven of whom have been arrested and charged. Police are working with
POINTS EVENTS
Take Care of Your Community!
Join EarthShare and the Anacostia Watershed Society to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on Saturday, April 24, 2010! Our annual event brings together hundreds of volunteers to participate in a massive cleanup along the shores of the Anacostia River in D.C. and tributaries in Maryland. EarthShare is sponsoring the cleanup at Kingman Island in the Anacostia River, NE. All volunteers are invited to our post-clean up celebration at Anacostia Park, featuring a free picnic lunch, music, and presentations by community groups and government officials. All volunteers will receive a free, reusable totebag and the satisfaction that comes with taking care of the community we share! We need you – please come out and get your hands dirty and make a difference!
To learn more about this day of service, please visit earthshare.org. And, don’t forget: PostPoints members can earn 25 points for volunteering at this event!
Blossom Watch: Best Bets
Blooming period
SM T W T F S
MARCH
21 22 23 24 29
28 4
11 30
25 26
APRIL
31
1 5 67 8 9
Wednesday’s scheduled events:
• Target stage at Sylvan Theatre
Performances include Port
Angeles High School Band and Embassy Day, featuring the embassies of Paraguay, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Kenya and Russia.
Time: Noon Cost: Free
= peak
27 2 3 10
Cherry Blossom Festival
March 27–April 11
• Washington Nationals: Blossoms & Baseball
The Washington Nationals take on the Philadelphia Phillies. Festival-related programming includes a featured performance in the Center Field Plaza before the game. A percentage of ticket sales will benefit the festival.
Location: Nationals Park; Metro: Navy Yard (Green Line) Time: 7:05 p.m. Cost: Start at $10
• Cherry Blossom Lantern Walks
A Ranger-led five-mile tour around
the Tidal Basin at night.
Location: Tidal Basin Welcome Area (near paddle boats, 1500 Maine Ave. SW) and Washington Monument Stone Lodge. Time: 8 p.m.–10 p.m. Cost: Free
For a guide to events throughout the festival, as well as a downloadable audio tour of the Tidal Basin, go to washingtonpost.com/cherryblossoms.
officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the case. “This was a brutal attack and we are absolutely committed to bringing justice to the victim,” Sheriff Rex W. Coffey said in a statement.
—Keith L. Alexander
VIRGINIA
Man robs clerk while impersonating officer
Prince William County police are looking for a man who they say robbed a check-cashing busi- ness in Manassas after identi- fying himself as a police officer and threatening the clerk with a Taser. The robbery occurred about 8:30 a.m. Saturday in the 10500 block of Lomond Drive. Police said the clerk was opening the store when the man approached and demanded to see some docu- ments. When the clerk declined,
the man fired the Taser and missed, then threatened the clerk with a gun and demanded mon- ey.
Police said the man wore gloves and a badge around his neck, was armed with a taser and a handgun, and carried hand- cuffs. He fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of money in a gray van driven by another man, police said.
—Keith L. Alexander
Homeless numbers decline in Fairfax
The number of homeless peo- ple in Fairfax County has fallen by almost 11 percent since last year, according to a one-day sur- vey made public Tuesday. A point-of-time survey, con-
ducted by homeless shelter oper- ators in the Northern Virginia lo- cality on Jan. 27, counted 1,544 people as homeless. In 2009, 1,730 people were counted as
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homeless during a similar Janu- ary survey. The biggest drop was seen in the number of homeless families, which decreased by more than 16 percent. More than a third of those counted were children, officials said, and more than 60 percent of adults in homeless families were employed. About 60 percent of the single individuals identified suffered from serious mental ill- ness or substance abuse prob- lems.
—Derek Kravitz
THE DISTRICT
City’s food stamp program expanded
District officials announced
Tuesday that they greatly expan- ded the city’s food stamp pro- gram recently, allowing up to 5,000 residents to be added to the rolls to help fight poverty and boost the local economy. At a news conference Tuesday
afternoon, D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown (I-At Large) and Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) said officials are now implement- ing the Food Stamp Expansion Act, which the council approved last year. Under the program, residents will no longer have to earn 130 percent of the poverty level or less to qualify for food stamps. Instead, residents who partici- pate in other low-income assis- tance programs will automatical- ly qualify for food stamps. Some of those programs allow those who make up to 200 percent of the poverty limit, currently $22,050 for a family of four in the District. Cheh noted that the changes will not cost District taxpayers much because the federal govern- ment will reimburse the city for the changes. According to esti- mates from city officials, about 4,800 previously ineligible resi- dents will now be able to join.
—Tim Craig
3,500 new students in the fall. Priscilla B. Godfrey, the School Board vice chairwoman, said members of the board will decide on specific school cuts at a meet- ing Tuesday. “It’s going to be a delicate bal- ancing act,” Godfrey said. “It could go real quickly, or it could take all night.”
Without the increases, school administrators have outlined a long list of possible cuts, includ- ing the elimination of as many as 300 jobs. Among other targeted items are elementary school for- eign language programs, buses for after-school activities and field trips, and assistant athletic directors and trainers.
freemans@washpost.com
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