THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010


KLMNO McDonnell faces skeptics over taxes in liquor plan liquor from B1


tion. Thirty-two states that al- ready have a private-sector sys- tem obviously have to collect tax- es and fees at nongovernmental stores because there are no gov- ernment stores.” The plan also includes a $17.50- per-gallon excise tax — which would be well above the national average for privatized systems — and a 1 percent tax on gross re- ceipts, both charged to wholesal- ers, to help partially replace the $260 million the state would lose in taxes and profit if Virginia pri- vatizes its liquor system. “There’s three things that are called taxes in the plan, but they’re going to say it doesn’t raise taxes?” said Del. Brenda L. Pogge (R-York), who opposes the plan. “That’s going to be a hard sell to the public. We recognize taxes when we see them.” McDonnell’s staff unveiled his plan — one of his notable cam- paign promises — Wednesday af- ternoon at a packed committee meeting of his government re- form commission.


If the plan succeeds, Virginia would be the first state since Pro- hibition to privatize the whole- sale, distribution and retail sale of liquor. McDonnell expects to make a minimum of $458 million up- front that would be deposited in a new “transportation infrastruc- ture bank,” available for grants and loans for transportation proj- ects, with priority given to work that would relieve congestion. He also expects to collect $229 mil- lion annually to be spent on core services such as education, though some money will be ear- marked for substance abuse pre- vention and 22 new Alcoholic Beverage Control enforcement of- ficers. He announced that he will al- low the number of stores selling liquor to almost triple — to 1,000 — although a majority of new li- censes would be auctioned to the more than 6,600 stores where Virginians can already buy beer and wine, such as grocery and convenience stores. Currently, the state has 332 stores that sell liquor.


Licenses would be sold to the highest bidders: 600 big-box stores, such as grocery stores and Wal-Mart; 250 convenience stores and drug stores; and 150 package stores. McDonnell expects Virginia to


collect a one-time windfall from a variety of sources after privatiza- tion: $33 million from selling off properties; $160 million from wholesale license fees; and a min- imum of $265 million from auc- tioning retail licenses. Businesses would have to renew licenses an- nually at a cost of $500 to $2,000, depending on the size of the store. Minimum bids for retail licens- es would be based on a formula that takes into account the size of the proposed store and the cur- rent profitability of ABC stores in different geographic regions. A company would be limited to holding 25 percent of the licenses in any one tier. Some licenses would be set aside for small, women-owned or minority- owned businesses. At $17.50 a gallon, Virginia’s ex-


LOTTERIES September 8


DISTRICT Mid-Day Lucky Numbers:


Mid-Day D.C. 4: Mid-Day DC-5:


Lucky Numbers (Tue.): Lucky Numbers (Wed.): D.C. 4 (Tue.): D.C. 4 (Wed.): DC-5 (Tue.): DC-5 (Wed.): Daily 6 (Tue.): Daily 6 (Wed.):


MARYLAND Day/Pick-3:


Pick-4:


Night/Pick-3 (Tue.): Pick-3 (Wed.): Pick-4 (Tue.): Pick-4 (Wed.): Match 5 (Tue.): Match 5 (Wed.):


VIRGINIA Day/Pick-3:


Pick-4: Cash-5 (Wed.):


Night/Pick-3 (Tue.): Pick-3 (Wed.): Pick-4 (Tue.): Pick-4 (Wed.): Cash-5 (Tues.): Cash-5 (Wed.): Win for Life:


MULTI-STATE GAMES Mega Millions:


Powerball: Hot Lotto:


*Bonus Ball


Megaplier: Power Play:


3-5-6 6-8-7-4


4-5-1-3-9 2-5-4 2-1-3


6-6-2-6 4-4-1-5


8-4-7-7-7 0-7-3-4-0


2-10-12-24-26-29 *33 8-14-16-20-33-36 *31


9-7-6


4-6-8-3 3-4-5 5-9-3


6-5-0-9 3-8-5-0


3-14-22-32-39 *24 5-9-14-17-37 *8


5-2-9 3-4-4-0


4-11-17-20-22 3-5-9 N/A


0-7-7-4 N/A


2-17-18-31-32 N/A N/A


8-18-22-24-38 **23 4


N/A N/A N/A


**Mega Ball


All winning lottery numbers are official only when validated at a lottery ticket location or a lottery claims office. Because of late drawings, some results do not appear in early editions. For late lottery results, check www.washingtonpost.com/lottery.


S


B5


Students form group to fight peer pressure Churchill seniors


were implicated in grade-tampering case


by Michael Birnbaum


Two Potomac high school stu- dents who were implicated last winter in a scheme to change grades by hacking into school computers have started a student group devoted to combating the ill effects of peer pressure. The two students, who are sen-


iors at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, unveiled the group during the school’s morning announcements last week, accord- ing to several students and par- ents at the school. In the an- nouncement, the two students ex- pressed sorrow for their actions, although they did not go into spe- cifics. The school system discovered in


PHOTOS BY STEVE HELBER/ASSOCIATED PRESS


Above, McDonnell advisers Melissa Luchau, left, and Erik Finkbeiner, right, present the privatization plan to the governor’s reform commission. At left, Virginia Finance Secretary Ric Brown peruses a briefing book outlining the plan.


cise tax would exceed both the na- tional average and the tax im- posed in neighboring states. In the District and Maryland, wholesalers pay the government $1.50 a gallon, building the tax into the price they charge retail- ers to buy liquor for their shelves. According to a liquor trade group, states with private liquor markets, on average, impose $5 a gallon in excise taxes on distilled spirits. States that control liquor sales, on average, impose $10. After spending months in close


negotiations with industry offi- cials, McDonnell’s staff members think that their proposal sets tax rates at a level at which liquor in- terests will still profit, even with- out raising prices for consumers.


McDonnell said the tax on res-


taurants would be optional be- cause those that choose to contin- ue paying retail prices for liquor — as they do under the state-run system — could avoid the levy. He also said that his plan would not short the state’s general fund, a leading concern of privatization skeptics in recent months. Multiple sources, including


state Sen. Mary Margaret Whip- ple (D-Arlington) said they were briefed late Tuesday on an addi- tional 1.5 percent fee that the gov- ernor was going to propose for restaurants and retail establish- ments — for a 4 percent total on restaurants. However, the final proposal unveiled Wednesday did not include the 1.5 percent fee.


GOP delegates briefed on the plan in a conference call Tuesday night expressed strong concerns about anything that might even look like a tax, according to a source familiar with the call. “That’ll be an almost impos- sible sell,” Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William) said. “Espe- cially if you’re a Republican and you say you don’t like taxes. But then you’re toying with taxes.” Representatives of the alcohol,


retail and restaurant industries who packed the meeting said they are looking over the propos- al. But the Virginia Wine Whole- salers Association came out against the plan, in part, because small businesses would not be able to afford the licenses,


LOCAL DIGEST MARYLAND


Police investigate death of 3-month-old Greenbelt police were investi-


gating what they termed the “suspicious death” of a 3-month- old girl, officers said Wednesday. The death was reported Friday in the 6000 block of Springhill Drive, said Officer Kelly Lawson, a spokeswoman for the depart- ment. She declined to provide de- tails, except to identify the child as Zariyah Jacobs of Upper Marl- boro.


—Matt Zapotosky THE DISTRICT


Two women hit by car in Adams Morgan


Two female pedestrians were seriously injured Wednesday night in the Adams Morgan area of the District when a vehicle struck them and then crashed into a restaurant, authorities said.


One of the women was in po- tentially life-threatening condi- tion after the 8:45 p.m. incident, said Pete Piringer, a spokesman for the D.C. fire and EMS depart- ment. Both were taken to hospi- tals; the second woman was in serious condition. After striking the women, the vehicle, a four-door sedan, struck


the Keren Coffee Shop at 1780 Florida Ave., near 18th and U streets NW. The restaurant’s front window was destroyed, and part of the vehicle appeared to be in the building. Obispo Gonzales, a worker at a nearby restaurant, said the driv- er was heading south on 18th Street and was trying to turn left onto U Street. He said the two pedestrians apparently were on a traffic is- land, waiting for the light to change, when the vehicle struck them, knocking them at least 30 feet, Gonzales said. —Ruben Castaneda


Man killed in apartment fire


A Northeast Washington man who barricaded himself in his apartment and set it in on fire Tuesday has died, authorities said Wednesday. Officers who were called to the 300 block of 56th Street NE about 10 p.m. Tuesday discov- ered smoke coming from a first- floor apartment, said a spokes- man with the District’s Fire and Emergency Medical Services. About midnight, police were able to remove the apartment’s occupant and determine that no one else was in the apartment. The occupant, a 50-year-old man, was treated at the scene for


significant burns and taken to Washington Hospital Center, where he died early Wednesday. The name of the victim had not been released. —Keith L. Alexander


VIRGINIA


Woman to die by lethal injection The Virginia Department of


Corrections says the only woman on the state’s death row has de- clined to choose the method for her scheduled Sept. 23 execution. That means lethal injection will used when 40-year-old Tere- sa Lewis of Pittsylvania County is put to death for plotting to have her husband and stepson killed in 2002 so she could collect a $250,000 life insurance policy. State law allows a condemned


inmate to select electrocution or lethal injection. The latter pro- cedure is used if the inmate de- clines to choose. Lewis would be the first wom-


an executed in Virginia in almost 100 years and the first in the United States since 2005. —Associated Press


Man indicted in DUI crash that killed nun


A man accused of driving drunk and causing a collision


that killed a nun last month was indicted by a Prince William County grand jury Tuesday on charges of felony murder, driving on a suspended license and maiming resulting from driving while intoxicated. Carlos Martinelly-Montano, 23, was awaiting a deportation hearing after two previous drunken driving convictions in 2007 and 2008 when the acci- dent occurred. His car swerved last month into the path of an oncoming ve- hicle carrying three nuns on their way to a retreat at the Ben- edictine Sisters Monastery in Bristow. Sister Denise Mosier, 66, was killed in the crash. Martinelly-Montano entered


the United States illegally when he was 8. Immigration and Cus- toms Enforcement officials have said that Martinelly-Montano’s deportation hearing was delayed because of a backlog at ICE. Prince William Police Chief


Charlie T. Deane said Martinelly- Montano used an Employment Authorization Card to get his driver’s license. On Tuesday, Vir- ginia officials said federal work permit cards can no longer be used to prove someone’s legal status when obtaining driver’s li- censes or identification cards in the Commonwealth. —Jennifer Buske


spokesman Jim Babb said. The Virginia Privatization Coa- lition, a consortium of major re- tailers including Wal-Mart and Costco, called the plan a “respon- sible and balanced approach” that would bring new conven- ience for customers. And the Dis- tilled Spirits Council of the Unit- ed States said that while its mem- bers would remain neutral on McDonnell’s proposal, they be- lieved there was “a significant op- portunity to modernize the sys- tem,” including by increasing the number of outlets. Former governor L. Douglas Wilder (D), a strong proponent of privatizing state-run liquor stores and an ally of McDonnell, said the governor faces a tough task in remaking a state system that resi- dents have had 76 years to get used to. “He’s in a difficult situation,” Wilder said. “Can it be done? Yes. Will it be done tomorrow? No.” McDonnell’s staff proposes a quick transition to a private sys- tem. They say licenses could be auctioned in a year and new stores could start to stock their shelves in September 2011. McDonnell’s hand-picked gov- ernment reform commission is scheduled to vote on the proposal Oct. 4. McDonnell plans to call legislators back for a special ses- sion in November to address pri- vatization of liquor stores and other government reform meas- ures.


kumaranita@washpost.com heldermanr@washpost.com


January that at least eight Church- ill students improperly accessed an online grading system and tam- pered with their own grades. Those of at least 46 others were also changed by some of the eight. Montgomery County police alarmed by the incident opened a criminal investigation, which is ongoing and nearing its end, po- lice spokeswoman Lucille Baur said. The hacking shocked the


Churchill community, which is more accustomed to accumulating accolades than combating cheat- ing allegations. “It’s not fun to see your school


that you hold in very high regard dragged through the mud like it was,” said Susi Eslami, vice presi- dent of the school’s parent associa- tion and the mother of a Churchill junior.


She said she was happy with the


school’s response and trusted that if the county had determined that some of the students should be back in school, that was fine with her. “They’re kids, they do things, and I think the school did the best they could under the circumstanc- es,” she said. The 2,100-student school serves


an affluent swath of Montgomery and routinely ranks among the elite schools in the region and the country. In the 2008-09 school year, it had a 98 percent gradua- tion rate, 11 percentage points higher than the county’s, and just 1 percent of its students didn’t go on to college. Churchill Principal Joan C. Benz told parents in March that none of the students accused of leading the scheme were attending classes and that three had left the school system entirely. With the return to school of at least two of the stu- dents who took part in the scheme, that situation has changed, but school officials de- clined to comment Wednesday about the enrollment status of any of the students, citing confidenti- ality rules about discipline issues, and refused to say what punish- ment, if any, had been adminis- tered. Montgomery students who have


been expelled can appeal their ex- pulsion to a review board com- posed of school officials, said school system spokesman Dana Tofig. The parents of one of the stu- dents declined to comment or make their son available to discuss his student group, called Teen Talks. The parents of the other stu- dent did not return phone calls. In the video announcement of


the new group, the two students said they had made mistakes and hoped to use their experiences to help other students avoid getting into trouble, said students who watched the video and parents who had been briefed on it. Experts said the group might be


a good way to take something pos- itive from the experience, provid- ed it is being done in earnest. “There may be a tendency to try to minimize, rationalize, spin, get through it quickly, and that’s a missed opportunity,” said Peter A. Sturtevant Jr., director of the D.C.- based School Counseling Group. Sturtevant helps troubled stu- dents find college placement, among other services. He said that there was no one way to recover from problematic behavior but that the Churchill group had po- tential. “If they’re really willing to grap- ple in a meaningful process with what they can learn from this . . . I think they can express it and hope there’s a receptive audience on the other side,” he said.


birnbaumm@washpost.com


Staff researcher Meg Smith and staff writer Donna St. George contributed to this report.


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