"Circumstances change. Conditions change," Williams (D) said yesterday at his weekly news conference at the John A. Wilson Building. "We ought to be able to talk about some alternatives, which include but are not limited to the options we have on the table." Williams said he is not abandoning the National Capital Medical Center, as the project is called. "I would say my position is evolving," he said.

The mayor declined to discuss his next move, promising an announcement later this week. Sources said Williams is putting together a task force to reexamine the project and proposals to build a less expensive urgent-care center or other health facility on the site of the shuttered DC General Hospital near RFK Stadium.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/12/AR2006041201980.html

Cleanup Team to Be Revived
$350,000 Program Will Focus on U Street and Shaw Areas

By Theola S. Labbe
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 13, 2006; Page DZ03

A $350,000 project approved by the DC Council last week will hire and train homeless and low-income District residents to clean the U Street corridor and Shaw neighborhoods in Northwest Washington.

The Green Team, a program that started in 2003 but ended in 2004 after funding ran out, will work from 9 am to 5 pm every day, including weekends, cleaning up trash, pulling weeds from tree boxes and painting over graffiti. Workers also will be trained in local history so they can act as ambassadors to visitors and residents wanting more information about the neighborhood.

The money is for one-time use during this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The groups involved in planning the project are the Columbia Heights/Shaw Family Support Collaborative; the Coalition for the Homeless, which manages 13 homeless programs in the District; Shaw Main Streets Inc.; and the MidCity Business Association. In the coming weeks, the planners will decide the structure and scope of the program, including how many workers to hire.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/12/AR2006041200927.html

Pannell Hopes 51 Will Be Lucky Number

By Yolanda Woodlee and Elissa Silverman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, April 13, 2006; Page DZ02

Philip E. Pannell, one of Southeast Washington's best-known political activists, promises to ignite some sparks in the typically lackluster race for the District's shadow senator.

Pannell, who is challenging incumbent Florence H. Pendleton (D) for the nonvoting seat, said he will limit the amount of money he'll accept for the campaign to $51 per contributor. And, instead of kicking off his candidacy on his home turf in Ward 8, Pannell is planning a big party at the posh Ward 3 home of school board President Peggy Cooper Cafritz.

Of course, Pannell, 55, would never do anything without a considered rationale.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/12/AR2006041200923.html

Mendelson Stalls Mayor's Proposal On Prison Terms

By Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 12, 2006; Page B04

A proposal by Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) to establish mandatory minimum prison sentences for a variety of crimes, including possession of armor-piercing bullets, is meeting resistance from a key DC Council member.

Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), chairman of the judiciary committee, is seeking to strip mandatory minimum penalties from the mayor's crime bill. He contends that the sentencing structure is ineffective.

The mayor's office and DC police union officials have criticized Mendelson's stance.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/11/AR2006041102120.html

Ward 2 Benefits From Evans's Closed PAC
Council Member Donates Balance in Fund to Local Democratic Organization

By Yolanda Woodlee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 11, 2006; Page B04

When DC Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) closed his political action committee last week, he donated all the money in its coffers -- $32, 490.16 -- to the ward's Democratic Party organization.

For the Ward 2 Democrats, it was like winning the lottery.

"We have never had this kind of money," said Linda Greenan, former chairman of the Ward 2 Democrats. "We had about $5,000 in our treasury. We felt rich."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/10/AR2006041001568.html

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REGIONAL NEWS

Protecting Its Connection to the Past

By Ann Cameron Siegal
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, April 8, 2006; Page G01

Vera Henderson's neighborhood, a small enclave of solid brick 1950s rowhouses sporting stoops, aluminum awnings and chain link fences, was once the close-knit domain of generations of black families in Alexandria.

"At one time, no one wanted to be here but us," said Henderson, acting president of the broader Southwest Quadrant Association, of which the community legally known as Jefferson Homes is a part.

But that's changed because the neighborhood has been "discovered." With discovery comes the fear among old-timers that what was once a stable, comfortable community is being renovated and bulldozed out of existence.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/07/AR2006040700875.html

Old Look, Modern Living
Architects Take a Page From the Past For Inspiration in Designing New Houses That Have A Touch of Nostalgia.

By Scott Sowers
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, April 8, 2006; Page F01

Customers routinely stumble into architects' offices carrying pictures of houses cut out of magazines and catalogues. The designers find themselves staring into the images of homes built before their parents were born while trying to figure how they would work a Sub-Zero refrigerator into a 19th-century kitchen.

There's a reason people are drawn to old houses. The new ones just don't have the character, the lines or the look that says they have been there for 100 years or so. Logic says that if you could find the right set of plans and stay true to them, you could build a house that looks the way they used to -- a house that fits in the neighborhood and appears as if it has always been there.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/07/AR2006040700807.html

All eyes on Ehrlich to settle rate mess

Friday, April 14, 2006

ANNAPOLIS -- Lawmakers and BGE ratepayers are playing a waiting game wondering if Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. will call a special session for legislators to approve a plan to mitigate a 72 percent increase in electricity bills.

"That's probably the million-dollar question," said Del. James E. Malone Jr. (D-Dist. 12A) of Arbutus, whose district faces the huge rate increase July 1 when state-imposed rate caps expire.

If he can ease the rate increases on his own, Ehrlich (R) is sure to win political points using the legislature's failure in his re-election campaign.

http://www.gazette.net/stories/041406/polia%20s195108_31952.shtml

Session's End Ignites Race For Governor
Md. Candidates Shift Themes Toward Election

By Matthew Mosk and John Wagner
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, April 12, 2006; Page B01

Shortly before 6 am yesterday, as the last of the partygoers were stumbling home from the celebrations that followed the end of the 2006 Maryland General Assembly session, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s campaign team let fly an e-mail requesting cash.

The 90-day ban on political fundraising had ended at midnight Monday, a session of partisan division was behind him and Ehrlich made clear in a video message sent via e-mail that his eyes are focused on the campaign trail that lies ahead.

"This is going to be a real contrast election," Ehrlich mused during a freewheeling, 40-minute press briefing yesterday. "The people of Maryland deserve this."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/11/AR2006041101477.html

Legislators In Md. Stay Partisan to Session's End

By Matthew Mosk and John Wagner
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 11, 2006; Page A01

The Maryland General Assembly and Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. struggled to broker a late-hour agreement to slow the pace of electricity rate increases across the state, but negotiations fell apart yesterday as the legislature adjourned for the year with partisan tensions raging.

The governor called the dramatic midnight collapse "intolerable" and said he was prepared to hold the legislature in the capital for an extended session which could begin as early as tomorrow. It was a caustic conclusion to the final session of Ehrlich's term.

The Democrats who control the General Assembly overrode a series of Ehrlich's vetoes, muscling into law initiatives that had rankled the Republican governor, and continued to chip at the powers that have long made Maryland's governorship one of the most powerful in the nation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/10/AR2006041000601.html

Plan for Metro to BWI Gaining Momentum
Dulles Rail Extension Spurs Md. to Action

By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 10, 2006; Page B01

As Virginia moves closer to extending Metrorail to Dulles International Airport, Maryland officials are ramping up plans and support for their own multibillion-dollar extension to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

The General Assembly late last month approved a $1 million study of the proposed 20-mile extension of the Green Line, the latest sign that the project -- long considered a pie-in-the-sky transit wish -- has increasingly become a top priority for key transportation planners in Annapolis.

"Clearly, we're racing the clock, because they are going to start building that rail up to Dulles," said Sen. John A. Giannetti Jr. (D-Prince George's), a strong proponent of the project. "If we don't connect Metro to BWI, we're not going to remain competitive."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/09/AR2006040901162.html

Pr. George's Reports First-Quarter Crime Drop

By Allison Klein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 13, 2006; Page B10

Prince George's County, which has experienced a sharp jump in violent crime over the past five years, recorded a significant drop during the first quarter of this year, police officials said yesterday.

Homicides, the most visible of the crimes, have decreased from 40 this time last year to 25 this year. The decline is notable, especially because the number of homicides increased 140 percent from 2000 to 2005, with an all-time high of 173 killings last year.

Rapes, robberies, carjackings and property crime are also down in the first quarter of the year, which ended April 3, police said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/12/AR2006041201948.html

Upscale Shopping Center Sought for Bowie

By Krissah Williams
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 13, 2006; Page T02

Longtime Prince George's real estate developer Bill Chesley has designs on building a large shopping center on Route 301 in Bowie, across from Wal-Mart.

"We want nice, upscale stores," Chesley said. "We are in competition for these stores with Anne Arundel County."

The development is being reviewed by county planning officials and is awaiting zoning and engineering approvals. Chesley said it would be about 800,000 square feet and include office, retail and hotel space.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/12/AR2006041201154.html

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Metro Funding Advocates Hold Rally

By Steven Ginsberg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 12, 2006; Page B05

Members of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission joined other regional leaders yesterday morning at a rally in Prince William County to support new financing for the Metro transit system, despite earlier criticism from two Virginia legislators that it was an improper use of taxpayer money.

The event, at a commuter park-and-ride lot, was sponsored by the commission, which owns Virginia Railway Express and allocates more than $100 million in state and federal transit money. Although members maintained their right to use the commission's public funds to hold the event, leaders said the rally was paid for by the Greater Washington Board of Trade to avoid concerns raised by Dels. L. Scott Lingamfelter and Jeffrey M. Frederick, both Prince William Republicans.

"We didn't want to play into the hands of those who wanted to deflect attention from the transportation crisis that is being caused by the House leadership," said David F. Snyder, the commission's vice chairman and a Falls Church City Council member. The expenses included coffee, doughnuts and copies of a brochure.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/11/AR2006041101118.html

Campaign Is a Yawner No Longer
2 Democratic Novices Are Suddenly Shaking Up Allen's Reelection Bid

By Robert Barnes and Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, April 9, 2006; Page C05

Donald S. Beyer Jr., the longtime Virginia Democratic pol and virtuoso salesman, said he has learned an important rule about filling key jobs in the family auto business: "Don't hire from the outside. You don't know what you're getting."

But the crowd of Democratic activists, middle-aged bottoms balanced on seats made for seventh-graders in a Fairfax County school cafeteria, knew that Beyer was not just talking about cars. The former lieutenant governor and unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate was talking about how Democrats should view the two Northern Virginia political newbies -- the insider and the outsider -- who have taken on the task that Beyer himself was reluctant to embrace: running for the Senate against the gregarious and conservative Republican incumbent, George Allen, who is seeking his second term.

Democrats once would have been happy to find even one person willing to run against Allen, one of the state's most popular politicians and the odds-on favorite for reelection.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/08/AR2006040801005.html

UPDATE: Mills Gets Default on Credit Line

By Ian Ritter
Last updated: April 12, 2006  02:43pm

(Ian Ritter is national online editor for GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.)

ARLINGTON, VA-Troubled retail-REIT the Mills Corp. received waivers of default from its lenders through Dec. 31, which also permit new borrowings, under certain conditions, of up to $341 million. Mills is also in the process of obtaining waivers on the construction loans of four of its completed projects.

The company is currently exploring a sale and is under investigation by the SEC for accounting flaws. Mills is restating its financials from 2000 through last year after its third-quarter NOI and FFO dropped due to the failure to collect rents, charges on projects under construction and other factors. For previous coverage, click here.

Meanwhile, JP Morgan provided the company with a $625-million mortgage on Sawgrass Mills, a center in Sunrise, FL, to replace a $268-million mortgage and $74 million in mezzanine financing. Executives expect to generate about $246 million in proceeds from the deal.

http://www.globest.com/news/515_515/washington/144741-1.html

145,000-SF Lockheed Building Gets Under Way

By Barbra Murray
Last updated: April 11, 2006  07:27am

CHANTILLY, VA-Work has begun on Stonegate II, Lockheed Martin Corp.'s new build-to-suit office structure at Westfields Corporate Center. The 145,000-sf structure will be Bethesda, MD-headquartered advanced technology company's second building of a planned three-building, 435,000-sf campus in the 1,100-acre office park. Aegis Property Group is providing project management services for the development.

Located in Fairfax County, the center sits off Interstate 66 and Route 28, within close proximity to Washington Dulles International Airport. Stonegate II will be a six-story building with an address on Conference Center Drive, and will be home to the government contractor's Integrated Systems & Solutions division. Lockheed broke ground on the six-story Stonegate I, an approximately 142,000-sf structure, in 1999 and wrapped up construction of the office facility in 2000.

http://www.globest.com/news/514_514/washington/144679-1.html

Board Taps Hess to Build 350,000-SF School

By Barbra Murray
Last updated: April 10, 2006  09:01am

ARLINGTON, VA-The Arlington County Bounty School Board has taken a step in realizing the development of the new Washington-Lee High School with the selection of a general contractor to head up the construction of the 350,000-sf facility. Hess Construction Co. was awarded the $85-million contract, which also calls for the company to oversee the multi-phased demolition of the existing 225,000-sf school that has housed students since 1976.

School board officials expect to spend approximately $99 million to complete the entire project. According to minutes from the closed meeting during which board members voted in favor of awarding the contract to Hess, six firms had received pre-approval to bid on the project, and Hess was one of two that submitted final bids.

Located at 1300 N. Quincy St., Washington-Lee occupies a nearly 20-acre site just a couple of blocks from Interstate 66 in Arlington's Ballston submarket. The new high school will feature a four-story classroom building, a gym, an 800-seat theater, an indoor community swimming pool and two new athletic fields.

http://www.globest.com/news/513_513/washington/144622-1.html

Office Owner Refinances Following $117M Purchase

By Barbra Murray
Last updated: April 7, 2006  08:38am

(To read more on the debt and equity markets, click here.)

RESTON, VA-Lake Fairfax Business Center 5 & 7, two fully occupied office buildings totaling 406,500 sf of class A space, have just been refinanced. Developed in 1987 and 1988, respectively, Lake Fairfax 5 & 7 are located within the Lake Fairfax Business Center corporate campus.

The transaction was orchestrated by Bill Asbill and Bob Donhauser of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP. Bear Stearns Commercial Mortgage Inc. provided the loan for borrower Polinger and a GE Asset Management-advised investor not long after Polinger acquired the structures for $117 million.

http://www.globest.com/news/512_512/washington/144586-1.html

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MONTGOMERY COUNTY NEWS

Impact Statement Prompts Threat Of Renewed Environmental Fight

By Elizabeth Williamson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 11, 2006; Page B02

A coalition of environmental and civic groups blasted Maryland's 10,000-page environmental impact statement for the intercounty connector, threatening more legal challenges to a highway project that has been on the drawing board for 50 years.

Michael Replogle, transportation director for Environmental Defense, called the study "a massive papering-over" of what he called the project's failure to relieve traffic congestion and its potential harm to air, wetlands and wildlife. "It simply falls far short of what the law requires this project to pay attention to."

Replogle said the groups were waiting to see how federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, respond to the study, which is required for federal approval, before announcing their next move. However, he said, "You need only look at [opponents'] comments to get the hint there are some serious legal issues here. This project is not a done deal."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/10/AR2006041001641.html

Silver Spring Group Has Plan For Birchmere
Sister Venue Would Open In Old JC Penney Store

By Aruna Jain
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 13, 2006; Page T03

What if country singer Rosanne Cash, folk rocker Billy Bragg or a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock regularly performed not only at the nationally known Birchmere Music Hall in Alexandria, but also at a sister venue in Maryland?

What if that venue were located across from the Round House Theatre and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, creating a "Broadway effect" along Colesville Road at the northern edge of downtown Silver Spring?

If they get their way, a few Silver Spring activists hope to use election-year momentum to carry forward a plan for renovating the site of an old JCPenney store to make way for a second Birchmere.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/12/AR2006041201166.html

Schools Hit 'Jackpot,' but Lawmakers Come Up Empty on Some Key Issues

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 13, 2006; Page GZ17

Montgomery County's delegation to the Maryland General Assembly secured tens of millions of additional dollars in state aid for county schools, but failed to win passage of a bill to stiffen penalties on sloppy developers.

The 2006 session of the Maryland legislature ended Monday, and Montgomery legislators say they won their fair share of state funds for education, land preservation, transportation and the arts.

"We certainly hit the jackpot on school construction," said Del. Charles E. Barkley (D), the chair of the Montgomery County House Delegation, noting that the county will get $40 million in fiscal 2007 to help repair and modernize schools, about $10 million more than it got this year.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/12/AR2006041201132.html

Development on Old Farm by Gaithersburg Opposed

By Nancy Trejos
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 13, 2006; Page B09

Just outside Gaithersburg, off Interstate 270, is a 182-acre parcel filled with grass, broken-limbed trees and a few paint-chipped houses and barns. Crown Farm, as it is known, is one of the last large pieces of undeveloped land in central Montgomery County.

That could all change under a plan by Gaithersburg businessman Aris Mardirossian to turn it into a bustling residential and commercial center with up to 2,250 homes and 320,000 square feet for shops and office buildings.

But with the County Council scheduled to begin considering the proposal Tuesday, some residents and civic groups are gearing up for a fight. They said the development -- east of Sam Eig Highway, south of Fields Road and west of Omega Drive -- would cause school overcrowding and too much traffic.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/12/AR2006041201870.html

Deal Won't Stop Probe Of Clarksburg Zoning

By Miranda S. Spivack
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 9, 2006; Page C04

An agreement reached last week among the developer, builders and residents of Clarksburg Town Center could settle their year-long feud, but is unlikely to stop investigations into why Montgomery County allowed houses to be built in violation of zoning laws.

Montgomery Inspector General Thomas J. Dagley said he is continuing to examine issues linked to Clarksburg, where a group of residents unearthed building irregularities in the development of 1,300 homes near Germantown.

"Clarksburg remains a very active investigation for us, and rightfully so," Dagley said. "We are committed for the long haul . . . and our timetable is very different than others', such as those who have a goal for the mediation process."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/08/AR2006040801004.html

Montgomery exec candidates bristle at housing forum exclusion
Independent, Republican charge organizers with favoritism toward Democrats

Friday, April 14, 2006

Two candidates for Montgomery county executive are accusing a nonprofit affordable housing advocate with giving preferential treatment to the two Democrats in the race.

Independent Robin Ficker and Republican Charles R. "Chuck" Floyd said the nonprofit Affordable Housing Conference has relegated them to second-class status by not allowing them to debate the Democrats at a May 3 affordable housing summit in Bethesda.

But the AHC said Ficker and Floyd were not included on the 1 pm county executive candidates panel because neither man responded to a March 8 invitation before the group's plans were made.

http://www.gazette.net/stories/041406/polia%20s191803_31943.shtml

Developers give $48K to Montgomery council
Activists say money taints Crown Farm annexation request and five of the lawmakers should not vote

Friday, April 14, 2006

Aris Mardirossian, the developer of Crown Farm, and associates have given $48,000 to Montgomery County Council members in the past four years, citizen watchdog groups say, tainting his request to allow the city of Gaithersburg to annex the property.

The five council members receiving the largest donations should not vote on the annexation, according to the groups.

Allowing the annexation would permit denser development on the 183-acre tract than under county zoning rules.

http://www.gazette.net/stories/041406/polia%20s191804_31946.shtml

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