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Metro pulls buses after Beltway fire
by Ann Scott Tyson A Metro bus burst into flames
Thursday on the Capital Beltway near Springfield, and the transit agency said it would immediately remove 99 buses of the same type because of a problematic part that could have contributed to the combustion.
All 100 buses belonging to the
10-year-old, diesel-powered Ori- on VI series would not return to service Friday so they could un- dergo repairs to hydraulic pumps, official said. Metro said in a statement that it was testing a “possible repair to the problem” on one bus and would repair and test each bus before returning it to service. It was unclear how long the process could take. Metro has 1,500 buses in its
fleet, and officials said riders should expect “minimal impact,” although waits for buses may “in- crease by a few minutes.” James M. Dougherty, Metro’s
chief safety officer, said the move was precautionary. "We don’t want to risk other buses catching on fire,” he said. Dougherty said that there was
a fire about two weeks ago on a newer type of bus and that the in- cident is under investigation. Buses of that type, part of the hy- brid electric New Flyer series, were being examined by a con- tractor but remain in service, he said. The New Flyer buses had been rehabbed recently. Officials could not immediate- ly provide more information about the incident.
tysona@washpost.com
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2010 Avoiding a stand on sacred ground
Saqib Ali sidesteps ‘Muslim candidate’ label in race for Md. Senate
by Michael Laris
The Labor Day parade was over and the flag-waving candidate was famished. “I got two slices, but I’m starv-
ing,” said a distracted Saqib Ali, slumped into his grungy subur- ban basement headquarters in Montgomery County. “We really don’t have any pizza left?” Ali is running for the Maryland
Senate in the Summer of the Mosque, a season of political agi- tation and international media ferment when even a provocateur at a tiny Florida church can spark protests in Kabul and an appeal from President Obama just by threatening to burn a pile Ko- rans.
Ali, a 35-year-old software en-
Capitol Heights teen dies after shooting
Family thinks boy, 15, was killed after fight; bike and iPod taken
by Matt Zapotosky
A Capitol Heights teenager who was shot Tuesday night died Wednesday, authorities said. Justin Pannell, 15, was shot in the 6800 block of Central Avenue, authorities said. Cpl. Erica John- son, a Prince George’s County po- lice spokeswoman, said Thursday that the case was open and that police were looking for a motive and suspects. Pannell was a ninth-grader at
Central High School, a Prince George’s schools spokesman said. Helena Pannell, 20, Justin’s older sister, said that family members think the teenager was “gunned down for his bike and his iPod.” Pannell said that, based on accounts from Justin’s ac-
quaintances, he had apparently been involved in a fight with an- other boy, who shot Justin in re- taliation and took his bike and iPod. Pannell said her brother had
attended William Hall Elemen- tary School and Walker Mill Mid- dle School and was in his first year at Central High. She said he loved building and fixing bikes and playing basketball. “He was loved by many,” she said as she fielded phone calls from relatives and friends. Pannell said she last talked to her brother about 8:30 the night he was shot, when she told him she would go by the house to pick him up so they could get some- thing to eat. She said that some- time later, police came to her door to say that her brother, one of seven siblings, was in the hos- pital.
zapotoskym@washpost.com
Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.
gineer, has tried not to be sub- sumed by what’s happening else- where, or reduced to being the “Muslim candidate.” And he says he’s been aided in that by geogra- phy and philosophy. He’s served as state delegate in a diverse and liberal swath of a blue state that he says is unswayed by intolerant rhetoric. And his religion has come up in only a tiny number of interactions, he said. “You have to understand, I’ve represented these people for four years. Many of them already know me, and the novelty is gone,” Ali said. “My wife is a Cau- casian Protestant, so we’re not so hung up on it at all.” There are many reasons Ali does not want to be defined by his religion, not least of which is the fact that he simply does not de- fine himself that way. Another is political. “Muslim candidates lose when
they try to run as a Muslim, which, of course, is fair,” said Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, a Democrat who is one of two Mus- lims in Congress. “Christians don’t vote for people just because they’re Christian. Jews don’t vote for people just because they’re Jews. They want to know: ‘What are you going to do for me and my family?’ ” In this year’s charged environ- ment, questions about Ali’s heri- tage have arisen, at times blur- ring identity and politics in the hand-to-hand advocacy of the lo- cal campaign.
At a recent stop to meet voters
Arts & Style Fall arts preview
The big shows not to miss. The little shows not to miss. Our critics preview the best of an exciting season in art, theater, music, film, dance, fashion and more.
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Outlook Did the terrorists win? Newsman Ted Koppel makes the case that America’s continued attention to 9/11 is an overreaction that makes the attacks successful beyond Osama bin Laden’s dreams.
Business Team McNabb: Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb’s off-the-field team is reaching out to Washington’s powerful, building relationships in the community. The goal: reinforcing his name and brand as an activist that transcends football.
Travel
You call this camping? The newest trend in camping seems to be roughing it without really roughing it. Our outdoorswomen hit the ground in comfort at spots in North Carolina and outside New York City.
Some stories may not run due to breaking news.
at a Metro station, a man ap- proached Ali. “He said, ‘Why should I vote for you, because you’ve only been in the House for one term?’ ” Ali re- called. When Ali turned the ques- tion around, asking how many years of preparation would suf- fice, the man had a comeback. “He quickly changed the subject: ‘Do you want to build a mosque or not? What do you think about them building the mosque in New York?’ ” Ali’s answer: “I really don’t
have a problem with it.” And with that, the potential Metro voter was gone. (As he expounded later, “It’s
just like if somebody wants to put Chuck E. Cheese in a strip mall. If they want to and they meet their local zoning ordinance, then it’s
PHOTOS BY NIKKI KAHN/THE WASHINGTON POST Democrat Saqib Ali, campaigning in North Potomac, hopes to unseat incumbent Nancy King.
ton, an associate pastor who used to work in constituent services for a local congressman. “I think I might have gotten a
little assistance by being Chris- tian. They wanted someone with the same worldview,” Melton said of voters in the Selma district. Still, his opponent was not voted out because he’s Muslim, he said. “I think our campaign just out- worked him.” Sentiments vary regionally, emphasized Ellison, whose Min- nesota district is as liberal as Maryland tends to be. And reli- gion doesn’t necessarily explain defeat. “People lose. That’s what we call democracy,” Ellison said. “Sometimes it’s because people like the other guy.”
“You have to understand, I’ve represented these people for four years,” says Ali, who serves in the Maryland House of Delegates. “Many of them already know me, and the novelty is gone.”
their business.”) But politics can cut many ways.
Indeed, Ali has faced criticism from a significant number of Muslim supporters for stances he’s taken as a self-described pro- gressive, namely his support of gay marriage. One Muslim friend who was hosting Ali’s campaign Web site told Ali he’d have to take the site elsewhere. “I moved it,” Ali said. “It’s hard
to say, ‘I stand up for civil rights when they’re convenient for me.’ . . . I sleep well.” He’s been conflicted about an- other aspect of campaign life. At an early voting center, he was em- barrassed to tell a Muslim poll worker that he had not been fast- ing for Ramadan. It’s the first time in 35 years he hasn’t done so, but 4 a.m.-to-midnight days made it too difficult. “I’ll make it up,” he told the worker. The campaign has been
marked by tough mutual cri- tiques over job performance and a burst of charges and count- ercharges between Ali and in- cumbent Nancy King regarding political donations. Ali has raised questions about one King mailer, which uses con- trasting images in accusing him
of taking money from special in- terests. One of Ali’s photos was darkened, evoking for some the dust-up after Time Magazine’s darkening of O.J. Simpson’s face on a 1994 cover. It also lists sever- al contributions from Muslim- run companies or organizations, along with other corporate dona- tions. “They’ve darkened the photo-
graph. I don’t understand why. And I think Nancy should explain why,” Ali said.
King said there was “absolutely
no offense meant by it.” “I’m not sure what happened with it. It could have been an er- ror in our proofing. It could have been a printing error,” King said. “He infers that I did that to make his skin look dark. That’s not what this campaign has been about from the get-go. We live in a very diverse district and we don’t even need to go in that di- rection.” Not all Muslim elected officials
have emerged unscathed this year. “There’s nothing to explain my
defeat other than religion,” said Alabama state Rep. Yusuf Abdus- Salaam, who lost his Democratic primary in June to Darrio Mel-
LOCAL DIGEST MARYLAND
Man charged with murder in stabbing A Hyattsville man who pros-
ecutors said sold drugs in the mid- to late-1980s with the D.C. drug kingpin Rayful Edmond and his crew was charged with first- degree murder in the stabbing of a man in Northeast Washington in June. Prosecutors charged Christo-
pher L. Johnson, 42, with killing Jermaine Jones, 36, during a fight in the 1200 block of Simms Place NE on June 7. A medical examin- er’s report said Jones died of multiple stab wounds. Four witnesses said they saw
Johnson and Jones together be- fore Jones was killed. At his hearing Thursday, Mag-
istrate Judge Diana Harris Epps ordered Johnson held in the D.C. jail until a hearing Sept. 22 before Judge Gerald Fisher. — Keith L. Alexander
Race offers sneak peek of new roadway
Motorists who want a sneak
peek at the new Intercounty Con- nector can get a glimpse of the six-lane highway before the first segment opens, but they won’t need their cars. The Maryland Transportation Authority, which will own the toll road, is holding a 5-kilometer
walk/run Oct. 17 on part of the highway that has been paved. En- try fees — $25 beforehand and $30 on race day — will benefit Special Olympics Maryland, au- thority officials said. The $2.5-billion highway proj-
ect caused controversy for dec- ades. Supporters said the high- way was needed to speed travel between the Interstate 270 and Interstate 95 corridors outside the Capital Beltway, while oppo- nents said it was too expensive and would cause too much envi- ronmental destruction. The first 7.2-mile segment be-
tween Interstate 370 and Georgia Avenue is scheduled to open late this year or early next year. — Katherine Shaver
VIRGINIA
Restaurateur faces immigration charges The owner of three Vietnamese
restaurants in the Fairfax County area was arrested Wednesday on charges of knowingly employing and harboring illegal immi- grants. Kiet Quoc Bui, 50, who lives in
Centreville, owns the Viet House restaurants on Main Street and Lee Highway in Fairfax City, and on Richmond Highway in the Al- exandria area of Fairfax. Court records show that Ar-
lington County police began in- vestigating him last year on sus- picion of money laundering, and
DISTRICT Mid-Day Lucky Numbers:
Mid-Day D.C. 4: Mid-Day DC-5:
Lucky Numbers (Wed.): Lucky Numbers (Thu.): D.C. 4 (Wed.): D.C. 4 (Thu.): DC-5 (Wed.): DC-5 (Thu.):
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Match 5 (Wed.): Match 5 (Thu.):
they determined that he and his wife, My Tran, were hiring illegal immigrants as employees. Bui was arrested Wednesday and re- leased on his own recognizance. — Tom Jackman
Leesburg Pike ramp to close for rail work
On Friday night, the Dulles
Metrorail Project plans to close the ramp from westbound Lees- burg Pike (Route 7) to south-
bound Chain Bridge Road (Route 123) in Tysons Corner for about four months. The closing is scheduled to begin at 11 p.m. Detour: Traffic will continue on westbound Route 7, turn right on Westpark Drive, right on Interna- tional Drive and right again onto southbound Route 123. During the closing, workers will build the western end of the 2,400-foot tunnel that will carry the new Metrorail line from Route 123 to Route 7.
— Robert Thomson
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Ali is counting on a young crew of campaign workers to help get him across the line in Maryland’s 39th Legislative District. On a re- cent afternoon, what Ali called his “United Nations” of staff packed into their basement head- quarters, among them a Jew, a Hindu, a Catholic and a Greek Or- thodox field director. “There’s a fair amount of peo-
ple, myself included, who are do- ing this in part because it’s an op- portunity to give another com- munity a bigger seat at the table,” said campaign manager Ben Shnider. But then people “get wrapped up in the beast that’s the grass-roots campaign. You just forget about it.” The two of them jumped in the
“Alicopter,” a head-turning Hon- da Civic wallpapered with blue Ali bumper stickers, and — with the campaign’s unofficial theme song (Journey’s “Don’t Stop Belie- vin’ ”) blaring — headed toward a prime neighborhood of potential voters, Ali firing off a bunch of texts from the shotgun seat. Ali knocked on the door of Jac- queline Russell, a Jamaican im- migrant on disability who wasn’t planning to vote until President Obama’s next campaign. He changed her mind by showing up. Shnider and Ali drove her in the Alicopter to cast her ballot.
larism@washpost.com
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