TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2010


KLMNO Power failure stallsMARC, Amtrak trains


Holiday travelers can expect I-95 delays, increased rail security


BY LIZ F. KAY The holiday week got off to a


late start for some travelersMon- day morning after a power fail- ure caused delays for MARC commuters and Amtrak passen- gers. And with construction con-


tinuing along Interstate 95 in Delaware, many highway travel- ers are likely to face delays this week, too. “We’re making the same rec-


ommendations as we did for Thanksgiving: Look for alterna- tive routes, plan for non-peak times at night or early morn- ings,” said Bob King, a spokes- man for the Delaware Depart- ment of Transportation. He sug- gested that drivers consider tak- ing the Bay Bridge as an


alternative to I-95, depending on their destination. OnMonday morning, a south-


bound MARC train on the Penn Line ran into mechanical prob- lems, along with downed over- head electrical wires, said Mary- land Transit Administration spokesman Terry Owens. That caused delays to both north- and southbound trains, he said. “Somehow a train got tangled


up in the wires at a switch,” said Christina Leeds, an Amtrak spokeswoman. The 10-minute outage on two


tracks affected three Amtrak trains. Power was restored at 8:03 a.m., and “some minor re- sidual delays” were expected, Leeds said. Amtrak schedules additional


trains and adds cars to existing trains for the Thanksgiving trav- el period, but near Christmas seats are added only as needed, said spokesman Steve Kulm. So far, the heaviest dayswould seem to be Wednesday and Thursday, he said, and travel levels off after


that. He warned that passengers


might encounter increased secu- rity in stations and on trains. Anyone headed north on I-95


thisweek should expect the same construction delays seen at the Newark toll plaza in November, said King of the Delaware trans- portation department. The turnpike toll area has


been reduced temporarily from nine lanes to six as part of a project to address frequent back- ups there. After major delays were re-


ported on the day before Thanks- giving, Delaware suspended toll charges from 3 to 11 p.m. to expedite travel. But there has been no discussion of doing that again, King said. Charlie Gischlar, a spokesman


for Maryland’s State Highway Administration, said drivers should check for traffic alerts at roads.maryland.gov before they leave. “Before you go, log on,” he said. Any planned lane construc-


PETULA DVORAK


tion will be suspended through- out Maryland starting Wednes- day to give highwaysmore capac- ity, and the suspensions will resume again about Dec. 29. There hasn’t been much sched- uled, however. “We can’t domuch because it’s


cold outside,” Gischlar said. “Therewon’t be a lot of roadwork going on other than emergency roadwork in the next twoweeks.” If conditions indicate that a


white Christmas is a possibility, the SHA plans to pre-treat inter- states with either a salt brine or, in Frederick or Howard, amix of brine and sugar beet molasses. But crews can only pre-treat when the forecast calls for snow, not rain, because the liquid would just wash away, Gischlar said. The filmmust hit the roadway


and have time to dry, he said. “It buys a little time that way,” he said. “It keeps the initial bonding of snow and ice fromforming.” — Baltimore Sun


EZ SU


B5


Lunar eclipse, winter solstice set for Tuesday


BY MARTINWEIL There are not many days like


Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010. Take it from people who know —astron- omers. There was maybe one day like thisTuesday in the past 2,000 years. On Tuesday morning, astrono-


mers say, there will be — or depending on when this is read, was—a total eclipse of the moon. And on the very same day, the winter solstice arrives. The last time the two celestial


events occurred within the same calendar day was long before any of our lifetimes. The year, accord- ing to Geoff Chester, the public affairs officer at the U.S. Naval Observatory, was 1638. Although the solstice does not always occur on the same date each year, the date in 1638 will be the same as Tuesday’s—Dec. 21. Chester said he looked it up,


because as the time of the two events drewnearer, people began to make inquiries of him.He said his research took him back to the year A.D. 1. That seemed to be reasonably


far back.He consulted “a number of well-respected sources.” And his finding, essentially was this: “It’s a comparatively rare event.” Although it does not appear to have any cosmic significance. Fewalive today are likely to see


a recurrence. The next time both winter solstice and total lunar eclipse are to occur on the same calendar day will again be on Dec. 21. But the year will be 2094, Chester said. A total lunar eclipse occurs


when the Earth blocks the sun’s rays from the face of the moon. The moon is then fully in the shadow cast in space by the


Earth. The absolute midpoint of the


eclipse will be at 3:17 Tuesday morning, Chester said. Themoonthen continues mov-


ing through the Earth’s shadow, emerging completely shortly af- ter 5 a.m. A slight effect known as the penumbral phasemay be seen for as much as an hour longer. But it is generally considered too subtle for most people to notice. The winter solstice, which oc-


curs shortly afterward, is the time when the sun reaches its lowest point in the northern sky. That is the moment that many


people consider to be the start of the winter season. This year, many people will


require little convincing that win- ter has already begun. If temperature is any measure


of wintriness, it is clear that De- cember has been much colder than average inWashington. The time of the solstice this


year, for those who will not have winter without it, is, according to the Naval Observatory, at 6:38 a.m. The day of the solstice is essen-


tially the shortest of the year in theNorthernHemisphere. Although neither the eclipse


nor the solstice had occurred at the time this story was prepared, there was little doubt Monday night that both would take place on schedule. The lawsof celestial mechanics


are strict, and the heavens have conformed to them for a long time.


Should the two events fail to


meet their deadlines, it would be a great surprise. “If it doesn’t happen,” Chester


said, “we’re in big trouble.” weilm@washpost.com


At critical time for Metro, board faces a big shift


metro from B1 PHOTOS BY NIKKI KAHN/THE WASHINGTON POST MatthewThomas totes his heater to get more kerosene.Many homeless people in rural areas don’t have access to plumbing or electricity. ‘It’s not like New York. . . . Here, it’s hidden.’ dvorak from B1


decrepit camper tucked in the woods. Kerosene, propane, heating


oil, firewood. These weren’t the things Raskin necessarily thought would be part of her nonprofit life. She’s raised Asian pears and


marshaled baguettes, ground beef and sushi fromgrocery stores to give to the poor. But as shemade the rounds


when she began her organization, Community Support Systems, she found that many of the folks living on the edge didn’t have plumbing or electricity, and the only way to get heat, to cook or to get light were old camping lanterns, heaters and stoves. And so, she became the fuel


fairy. She looked into utility


subsidies. But the people living in the woods of Brandywine were so far off the grid, traditional subsidy programs like a Pepco payment plan or government fuel fund program wouldn’t work. According to the federal Low


Income Energy Assistance Program,Maryland is one of the top states receiving fuel assistance funding, 11th behind places like Alaska, North Dakota and Vermont. But that programwants to


see your canceled utility bill, and will helpmake your home more energy efficient. It’s not designed for people


likeMildred, who lives in a trailer, uses an oil heater and occasionally walks along dirt roads in high heels and full makeup, thinking she’s still downtown, heading into her old office for work. As she got to know the people


living outside, Raskin began adjusting to their needs. It began at the food pantry at


St. Philip’s Episcopal Church. There, the parking lot is full before the pantry opens. People fill the church, carrying empty bags. The group realized that lots of people simply couldn’t get to the pantry, having lost their cars not long after losing their jobs, so they organized a bus that picks themup.


JohnMills, right, a volunteer at the food pantry at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Brandywine, packs products to be delivered to the poor. The pantry provides assistance to people twice a week.


“I’ve seen it change a lot in the last few months.Alot more people coming in now. Different kinds of people.” —Irma Tayman, volunteer at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Brandywine.


There are senior citizens in


old coats, children, a youngman in a collegiate hoodie working his BlackBerry while he waits. “I’ve seen it change a lot in


the last fewmonths,” said Irma Tayman,81, who has been volunteering at the church for 12 years. “A lotmore people coming in now. Different kinds of people.” Some are homeless and living


in the woods; others are the working poor who have low- wage jobs and are having a tough timemaking endsmeet. “I went on disability, and it’s


just not enough to feed the four grandkids,” said Geraldine Oliver, 64, who wore festive, jingle bell earrings to the food pantry. She lost her job as a janitor atMontgomery College


after an injury. And after that crowd takes


the chicken breasts, birthday cakes, carrots, bread and hummus (“What do I do with this?” aman asked, turning the hummus container upside-down and all around. John, a volunteer at the pantry helps out: “Put it on bread, crackers. It’s really good.”), they create custompackages of food for those who have no stove, let alone a kitchen. And then Raskin turns to fuel


deliveries, which come froma special fund in her organization to help the people living outside. She pays $3.98 a gallon for


kerosene. Sometimes it’s a half- cord of wood or asmany propane tanks as she can carry.


As we get to a trailer along


that bumpy road, amanmeets us outside, carrying the heating lamp he uses tomake it through the cold nights. This is a tough delivery for


Raskin.Matthew Thomas is 72, living in the woods and obviously cold. But word at the corner store where he hangs out during the day was that he sold the last batch of kerosene that she brought him. “There’s no liquor in there.


What are you looking for?” he hollers atme, when I try to take a peek inside the camper he calls home. “Come on,Matthew, letme


see you put that kerosene in there,” Raskin urges. Thomas grumbles and curses


under his breath as he sploshes some kerosene on his shoes. “There. You happy now?” he


challenges Raskin. “Thank youMatthew,” she


tells him. Back in the pickup, she sighs. “You can’t turn your back on


him. You know he needs it.” dvorakp@washpost.com


chairman’s role to Virginia board member Catherine Hudgins when his term expires in Janu- ary. However, he plans to remain on the board. “To an extent, it’s thankless


and it’s very time-consuming,” said Maryland board member Elizabeth Hewlett, one of those who wants to step down. “Obvi- ously no one likes to be criti- cized, especially when you are working so very hard.” Board member Jeff McKay


and other members faulted the reports — one by a task force organized by the Greater Wash- ington Board of Trade and the Metropolitan Washington Coun- cil of Governments and the other by Metro’s Riders’ Advisory Council — for making recom- mendations that were unrealis- tic, detrimental or reflected a lack of understanding of howthe board works. “It’s terribly frustrating if you


devote half of your life to this, and all they do is malign you,” saidMcKay, of Fairfax. The Board of Trade report


said that theMetro board should serve mainly as a policy-making body with a regional focus. It called for allowing the mayor of the District and governors of Virginia and Maryland to each appoint members to the board, institute termlimits, and consid- er eliminating the veto power of individualmembers. “Some of the comments were


not well-received,” said Mary- land member Gordon Linton, who decided to leave before the reports came out but officially announced his departure Thurs- day. “It was wondered whether they understand how the board actually functions.” The expected departures cov-


er all three jurisdictions. Chris Zimmerman of Arlington County stepped down abruptly Thursday after more than 10 years on the board.Mary Hynes, amember of the Arlington County Board and the Northern Virginia Transpor- tation Commission, will take his place, Zimmerman said. Linton will depart as soon as


he is replaced by former Takoma Park mayor Kathy Porter. Hewl- ett said she intends to leave. “My desire is not to be reappointed,” she said. All four members from the


District could be replaced soon, withMayor-elect Vincent C.Gray (D) expected to name two new members and D.C. Council Chairman-elect Kwame R. Brown (D- At Large) considering a move to replace two others,


including veteran boardmember JimGraham(D-Ward -1). Graham, who has served for


12 years, declined to comment on reports that Brown would not reappoint him. “I recognize that there is a lot


of pressure for new approaches. There is away to do that and still amalgamate the experience we have on the board,” he said. Brown spokeswoman Traci


Hughes said that “no final deci- sions have been made” on ap- pointments “and that includes the transportation committee.” She said an announcement is expected Tuesday. Benjamin said he has dis-


cussed the dilemma of voting on a new general manager with


“They need someone willing to be heavily scrutinized, work for free, not have a conflict of interest.” —Jeff McKay, Metro board member.


board members and job candi- dates, and the plan is to move forward. “You proceed with the people who are currently board members,” he said. Members say it may not be


easy to find replacements. “This is a very difficult board,


just by nature of the multiple jurisdictions across state lines,” said Linton, who has been in- volved in transportation policy at the local, state and national level, and grew familiar with several different structures as administrator of the Federal Transit Administration from 1993 to 1999. Indeed, the federal govern-


ment has not appointed all four of its members as specified in a lawpassed byCongress two years ago. The law mandates that the General Services Administration appoint two voting directors and two non-voting directors repre- senting the federal government. Only the two voting directors have been named. “They need someonewilling to


be heavily scrutinized, work for free, not have a conflict of inter- est, and have a schedule to devote two days of your week to this,”McKay said. tysona@washpost.com


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