ABCDE METRO saturday, july 24, 2010 LOCAL HOME PAGE 88, 9 a.m. 98, noon 102, 5 p.m. 92, 9 p.m.


Obituaries Harry T. Alexander, a D.C. judge and defense lawyer, had a style so outspoken that he was often considered a folk hero. B5


Peeved? What does it take to get a streetlight fixed? Report an issue in your neighborhood on the Daily Gripe. Go to PostLocal.com.


ON FAITH


Hitting a nerve in New York A plan to build a Muslim center near the World Trade Center is meeting with significant opposition. The panel takes up the question: Should there be a mosque near Ground Zero? B2


VIRGINIA


A controversial op-ed Sen. James Webb (D) reiterates his opposition to diversity programs, writing that they have expanded so much that they “now favor anyone who does not happen to be white.” B3


Clashing on casino ballot measure ARUNDEL MILLS


SLOTS UP IN AIR


Ehrlich, O’Malley take opposing sides


by John Wagner Maryland’s two leading candi- PHOTOS BY BILL O’LEARY/THE WASHINGTON POST Peter and Victoria Brown began the Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation after their son died of cancer last year. “It’s a bridge, a connection to Mattie,” his mother said. In memory of Mattie Brown


After a D.C. couple lost their son to cancer, they somehow found the strength to help others by Rick Rojas


Mark Warner (D-Va.). Then it was on to a meeting with an aide to Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and a sit- down with Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). In more than six hours of meetings with nearly a dozen people, the Browns repeated the same talking points they now know by heart: Cancer is the leading cause of death in children; cancer is diagnosed in al- most 13,500 children and adolescents each year; one of five will die of it. And Congress should appropriate $30 million in research money, they would say, to save


P


eter and Victoria Brown stood across from the Capitol building getting ready, looking over the list of members of Congress they planned to visit that day. First, they would meet with an aide to Sen.


these children. As Peter Brown told Van Hollen, “In a different world, maybe my son could have survived.” Peter and Victoria Brown of the District were among about 100 parents from across the country who visited the Capitol on June 22 as a part of the CureSearch can- cer foundation’s Reach the Day event, in which parents and families of children with cancer lobbied for sup- port. This is the Browns’ new reality, one without the little brown-haired boy they call Mattie. Matthew Brown was 7 when he died in September,


after a nearly two-year battle with bone cancer. His par- ents have created a foundation, the Mattie Miracle Can- cer Foundation, in the hope that in providing help to other families dealing with childhood cancer, they can find answers, and maybe even solace.


Promotional materials advertise the foundation that the Browns have created to honor their son’s memory.


mattie continued on B8


dates for governor are taking op- posite sides in a pitched battle over one of the state’s most divi- sive issues: slot machine gam- bling. Thanks to a court ruling this week, voters in Anne Arundel County will get a say in the fall over the future of Maryland’s largest planned casino, a 4,750- machine facility outside the food court at Arundel Mills mall. Former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), whose law firm did communications work last year for the casino’s developer, said in an interview that he plans to support a November ballot measure to incorporate high-end dining and live entertainment, as well as gambling, at the site. Ehrlich, who fought unsuccess- fully as governor to bring slots to Maryland, said Baltimore-based developer Cordish Cos. has made “a good case” for the merits of its project. As an Anne Arundel resi- dent he will have the opportunity to vote on the ballot measure, which seeks to repeal a county zoning law needed for the casino to move forward. Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) said his sympathies lie with home- owners near the mall, who have argued that the casino will bring more traffic and crime to the area.


“I can certainly understand


why the people of northern Anne Arundel County would prefer not to have a slots emporium at a mall in a residential area,” O’Mal- ley said in an interview. “If I lived there, I’d rather see it at a race- track.” He said the state is prepared to move forward with its fledgling slots program whichever way Anne Arundel voters go.


slots continued on B4 B DC MD VA S


Hot and about to


get hotter Weekend scorcher helps establish July as one for the record books


by Carol Morello


Pity poor Chris Brown, like a lot of people did Friday.


With his walkie-talkie and


badge identifying him as a bicycle messenger, almost every elevator he walked into had someone who remarked, unbidden, “I’m glad I don’t do what you’re doing.” “I’ve got the air conditioner


cranked at home, so when I walk in, the sweat will solidify, and I can wash it off,” Brown, 29, said longingly, facing a workday in which his coping strategy for the heat boiled down to two steps: Keep drinking water and sweat- ing.


With another oppressively hot


weekend ahead, July has estab- lished itself as one of the hottest


RICKY CARIOTI/THE WASHINGTON POST David Floyd, left, and neighbor Jackie Goe sit under the shade on their front porches in Frederick.


on record. According to Jason Sa- menow of the Capital Weather Gang, Friday was the 10th day in a row, and the 17th this month, during which temperatures topped 90 degrees. The National Weather Service had a heat ad- visory in effect until after night-


fall, with the high of 97 degrees reported at Reagan National Air- port about 5 p.m., shy of a record 101 degrees for the date set in 1991. Meteorologists predicted that Saturday would be even warmer and more humid than Friday, with temperatures reach-


ing 101 degrees but feeling more like 110.


Systems were strained across the region. AAA warned motor- ists to beware of roads suddenly buckling. Commuter trains were


heat wave continued on B4


Who created the jobs: Obama or McDonnell?


Overlapping stimulus aid, pro-business model fueled big bump in Va.


by Anita Kumar


richmond — First, President Obama credited his federal stim- ulus package with producing 73,000 jobs in Virginia. Then, one day later, Gov. Rob-


ert F. McDonnell announced that he had helped create 71,500 jobs in Virginia since taking office — in part because of the strong eco- nomic climate he had fostered. Although Obama and McDon-


nell referred to different num- bers, experts agree that there must be overlap. “It’s really impossible to allo-


cate jobs to this policy or that pol- icy,” said William M. Shobe, direc- tor of the Center for Economic and Policy Studies at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia. “Everyone is taking credit, and nobody can prove that it’s not true.”


As the economy gradually be- gins to turn around, politicians everywhere are clamoring to show that they are responsible for whatever gains have been made.


Obama (D) has made turning the economy around a top priori- ty, and his reelection will hinge largely on his success or failure. McDonnell (R), barred from run- ning for a second consecutive term, has dubbed himself a jobs governor as he hopes to solidify his legacy as a leader who re- turned jobs to the state. Obama announced July 14 that the stimulus has saved or created 73,000 jobs in Virginia, calculat- ed using a Council of Economic Advisers formula based on histor- ical estimates and state data, such as population and stimulus dollars received. The council did not determine which industry most benefited from the jobs, but the head of the council, Christina Romer, esti- mated that some would probably be in the areas of manufacturing,


jobs continued on B3


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