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saturday , december 17, 2011
MARYLAND VIRGINIA
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Still growing
An organic farmer in Potomac reaches a settlement with Montgomery officials that will allow him to stay on leased land at least until August. B3
Life in prison
A 35-year-old man is sentenced in federal court for participating in a 2008 home invasion robbery in Fairfax County that resulted in the deaths of three men. B4
Congress has moved to limit parking at the controversial Mark Center office complex in Alexandria, forcing the Army to reevaluate the traffic impact as it transfers 6,400 workers to the regions most congested corridor. The parking cap was included in a defense appropriations bill moving toward final passage Friday. It would limit the Army to the use of 2,000 parking spaces until the Pentagon can prove that gridlock has not occurred at intersections surrounding the complex, which sits just off Interstate 395 at the Seminary Road exit. The I-395 corridor recently was singled out in a study that said it was the most congested place in what already had been established as the nations most congested region. There is no public transportation to the Mark Center, and cars trying to exit at Seminary Road began backing up onto the interstate not long after the transfers began this summer.
This is progress, but I dont want to leave anybody with the false impression, said Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.). Theres still going to be congestion around I-395 and the Mark Center. Warner said the parking cap would force the Army to encourage people to work from home and to stagger work hours. Warner said he would ask Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta to take a closer look once the transfers are complete in March. I will invite Secretary Panetta to drive with me to the Mark Center during morning rush hour, Warner said. I will pick him up personally, and Ill bring the coffee. The Northern Virginia delegation in Congress has been at the forefront in challenging the Armys transfer plan as ill- conceived and based on questionable traffic data compiled by a Pentagon consultant. The situation threatened over relocation continued on B5
A hug from a customer is a bright spot in the day for Jeannine Mizell, who co-owns Mizell Lumber & Hardware in Kensington.
E RICA W . M ORRISON
eannine Mizell is looking for a new job. After working full-time at Mizell Lumber & Hardware since 1981, she and her brother Don will close the doors to the family business in Kensington, which opened 90 years ago. There is just something special about walking into a business and your name is over the front door, said Mizell, 55. There is a sense of pride in that. Mizells has been at 10500 St. Paul St. since 1931, when Jeannines grandfather bought the property. The store left its first site, on Knowles Avenue, after 10 years because of flooding. Our building has been here ever since Granddaddy bought it in 1931, Don Mizell said as he flipped through a family photo album.
On Friday, town officials took a cake and other items to the store to say farewell. The closing was postponed from Friday until Wednesday because stock remains.
The two siblings inherited the business in 1984 after their father died of a heart attack. A couple of months ago, they started telling contractors that they were going to close the store. A downturn in sales amid
the recession and its lingering effects proved too much. Its been at least three years now, and store continued on B8
District affairs emerged relatively unscathed in the federal spending deal expected to be passed as early as Saturday by Congress. But a restriction on the funding of abortions for low-income D.C. residents will remain, which prompted a noontime Capitol Hill protest. About two dozen protesters stood in the eastbound lanes of Independence Avenue in front of the Longworth House Office Building, blocking traffic and forcing motorists to veer into the westbound lanes. U.S. Capitol Police officers arrested four protesters who remained in the road after repeated warnings. The group chanted, among
other things, These D.C. riders have got to go. Still, the bills riders, or mandated spending restrictions, did not include any significant provisions that had not previously existed. The ban on local abortion funding was reimposed as part of an April budget deal; it had previously been attached to budgets from 1996 to 2009. Restrictions also remain on using federal money to implement the Districts medical marijuana and needle-exchange program, but the city is free to use its $6 billion in locally raised revenue to do so. The Districts nonvoting delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), said in a speech on the House floor that D.C. residents have much to be grateful for. She said congressional Republicans had proposed provisions that would end gay marriages in the District and eliminate most of its gun laws, but they were not included in the final deal. protest continued on B5
J OHN W AGNER
In response to concerns raised by a high-profile applicant for a downtown Baltimore slots casino, Maryland officials have relaxed a rule designed to keep people with past gambling transgressions from winning licenses
to operate such facilities. The action, taken the day before bids were due this fall, appears to have removed a significant hurdle for Dan Gilbert, the majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team and chairman of Rock Gaming, to participate in the project. Gilbert part of a group vying to win state approval to build and operate a Harrahs-brand casino was arrested in 1981, while a student at Michigan State University, in connection with an alleged sports bookmaking oper-
ation that reportedly threatened violence against some who had gambling debts. Gilbert was not convicted and his record was expunged, but according to published reports, he was fined, put on probation and given community service. Even though Gilbert does not have a conviction, the incident could have disqualified his group from obtaining a license under regulations that took effect in 2009, when Maryland launched its slots program. In late September, the State
Lottery Commission voted to change those rules. Now, a gambling-related offense that took place out of state and did not result in a conviction is only disqualifying if it occurred in the past 10 years. Gilberts group, which includes Caesars Entertainment, was the only qualified applicant for the project after bids closed. The license could be awarded early next year if a separate state panel determines the bid is in casinos continued on B4
L AURA V OZZELLA
A Richmond judge on Friday ruled against a Democratic state senator in a lawsuit seeking to block Republicans from taking control of the evenly divided Virginia Senate. Richmond Circuit Court Judge Beverly W. Snukals declined to issue the temporary injunction but did not rule on the underlying lawsuit, which seeks a declaratory judgment that the lieutenant governor is not entitled to vote on
certain matters. The lieutenant governor has the power to cast tiebreaking votes in the Senate, which split evenly between Republicans and Democrats after the November elections. But Democrats contend that his voting authority does not extend to constitutional amendments, the budget, appointments or organizational matters. If Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling has a say in how the Senate organizes, the GOP will have power over committee assignments.
With the start of the General Assembly session less than a month away, the ruling did little to settle the question of which party will control the upper chamber in Richmond. Democratic Caucus Chairman A. Donald McEachin (Richmond), who brought the suit, said Friday he had not decided on whether to appeal. In a statement, he encouraged Republicans to enter into a power-sharing agreement that would be similar to the one crafted in the 1990s, when the Senate
was evenly divided and the lieutenant governor was a Democrat. I call on the Republicans to respect the will of the voters and past history, McEachin said. The senate is evenly divided, 2020 so committees and responsibilities and power should be divided to reflect that even split, just as the Republicans said in 1996. Even then Governor [George] Allen spoke to the need for parity under these same cirvirginia continued on B8
KLMNO
JOSEPH FARRELL, 76
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R EBECCA K EEGAN
Unless they are the Golden Gate, the Brooklyn or span the River Seine, bridges dont get a whole lot of attention, and the bridges that got their 15 minutes of fame Friday figure to be absorbed into the urban landscape pretty quickly. That said, the 11th Street freeway bridges over the Anacostia are a big deal. At a cost of $300 million, they are the biggest project ever undertaken by the District Department of Transportation. Also a big deal: They were finished ahead of schedule. Just two years after construction began, we have already arrived at this important juncture, Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) said at Fridays ribbon-cutting. This $300 million project the largest DDOT has ever undertaken is ahead of schedule and represents a giant step forward for our
transportation system. Critical for connecting one city across the Anacostia River, these new spans will serve our residents, workers and visitors for decades to come. The two bridges connect Interstate 295 with the Anacostia Freeway. A third bridge that will carry cars, bikes and pedestrians between Anacostia and Capitol Hill is to be completed by next summer. Construction of the threebridge cluster began in December 2009. The bridges are projected to carry 180,000 vehicles a day within 20 years. They replace a pair of bridges that were judged functionally deficient and structurally obsolete. This weekend, inbound traffic will be shifted to the new freeway bridge, with work expected to be finished by the time rush hour begins Monday. The outbound freeway bridge is tentatively scheduled to open next week.
halseya@washpost.com
Joseph Farrell, 76, who introduced the concept of market testing to Hollywood, originating now-standard industry practices such as audience tracking surveys, focus-group preview screenings and demographic analysis of moviegoers, died Dec. 7 in Los Angeles. The family confirmed the death but did not provide a cause. Mr. Farrell was chairman and chief executive of National Research Group from 1978 to 2003. Over the decades, NRGs confidential research reports were used by all of the major Hollywood studios to make decisions about release dates, tweak marketing campaigns and sometimes to the unease of filmmakers tinker with movies. Not only did he really invent the research business for motion pictures, but its the standard everybody still uses today, Dick Cook, former chairman of Walt
Disney Studios. I dont recall a and actually having some hard movie we were ever involved in numbers to go by. that Joe didnt play an integral In NRGs early years, Mr. Farrell part in helping us shape both the and his longtime business partner, movie and also the campaign. Catherine Paura, conducted their A noteworthy example of NRGs own research interviews in parkimpact was on the 1987 thriller ing lots, sometimes bribing chilFatal Attraction, which dren with ice cream cones got a new ending when to participate. An initial test screenings revealed champion of the compathat audiences wanted ny was director Francis Glenn Closes character to Ford Coppola, whose be punished for torment1979 movie Apocalypse ing Michael Douglass Now was one of NRGs adulterous character and test cases. By 1996, shorthis wife, played by Anne ly before it was bought by Archer. Mr. Farrell Dutch media conglomerIts not just that you ate VNU, NRG was worth get the information, said Michael $44 million. Rosenberg, president of the proIn 2003, Mr. Farrell and Paura duction company Imagine Enterleft NRG and formed the productainment, whose movies Apollo tion company FP Productions, 13, A Beautiful Mind and Nutty which has just completed Joyful Professor reflected Mr. Farrells Noise, a musical film set for recontributions. Its how you interlease in January by Warner Bros. pret it and how you use it. UltiBorn Sept. 11, 1935, in New York, mately, the industry benefited in Mr. Farrell attended St. Johns Uninot going by the seat of our pants versity, studied sculpture at the
Notre Dame and graduated with a law degree from Harvard. He practiced law and held a variety of positions in the arts. In 1977, political pollster Lewis Harris hired Mr. Farrell to open a West Coast office, where Mr. Farrell began to apply the research practices increasingly common in other industries to Hollywood. Mr. Farrell cultivated his artistic side after founding NRG: He served as an executive and consultant to the Carnegie Corp. of New York, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, developed the U.S. Arts and Cultural Trend Data System for Congress and wrote books including The Cultural Consumer. He even designed furniture under the name Giuseppe Farbino, once telling the Los Angeles Times, Who would buy furniture made by an Irishman? Survivors include his wife, actress Jo Champa; and a son.
Los Angeles Times
Lee E. Preston
U-MD. BUSINESS PROFESSOR Lee E. Preston, 81, a retired University of Maryland business professor and administrator who developed a specialty in corporate governance, died Nov. 22 at his home in College Park. He had prostate cancer. The death was confirmed by his daughter Katherine Simpson. Early in his career, Dr. Preston taught at the business schools of the University of California at Berkeley and the State University of New York at Buffalo. He joined the Maryland business school faculty in 1980 as a professor and became the first director of the Center of Business and Public Policy. He subsequently directed the business schools doctoral program and its Center for International Business Education and Research. During the 1990s, he created a joint MBA program with the University of Lodz in Poland. He helped manage that program for many years. Dr. Preston retired in 1998. He then spent six years with the title of ombuds officer, making him a liaison between faculty and the administration. He published extensively in the field of corporate governance. He edited 10 volumes of Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy from 1978 to 1988. His books included Private Management and Public Policy: The Principle of Public Responsibility (1975), written with James E. Post. Lee Egan Preston was a native of Denton, Tex., and a 1951 graduate of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He received a doctorate in economics from Harvard University in 1958. He served in the Army from 1954 to 1956. He was elected a fellow of the Academy of Management in 1982 and received top awards for teaching and service to U-Md. In retirement, he was a volunteer at the National Archives. His memberships included St. Andrews Episcopal Church in College Park. Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Patricia Leahy Preston of College Park; three children, Katherine Simpson of Winchester, Va., James Preston of Silver Spring and Mary Preston of Salmon Arm, B.C.; and 10 grandchildren.
Adam Bernstein
I will invite Secretary Panetta to drive with me to the Mark Center during . . . rush hour.
Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.)
said, Sandy, Lake Barcroft feels very bitter about this, Mrs. Augliere said in 1974. And I said, You dont speak for Lake Barcroft. Mary Margaret Giles was born in Raleigh, N.C., and raised in Marion, N.C. She graduated from Peace College in Raleigh and settled in the Washington area in 1947. She was a past president of the Lake Barcroft Association, a homeowners group. An aficionado of ragtime music, she organized a ragtime ensemble with friends that played at local functions. Her first marriage, to Jack Biggs, ended in divorce. Her second husband, Vincent Augliere, died in 2005 after 47 years of marriage. A daughter from her first marriage, Carol Sprott, died in 2007. Survivors include three children from her second marriage, Noel Marts of Atlanta, Reed Augliere of Littleton, Mass., and Thomas Augliere of Alexandria; and seven grandchildren.
Adam Bernstein
Irving W. Lindenblad
ASTRONOMER, MINISTER Irving W. Lindenblad, 82, an astronomer who retired from the U.S. Naval Observatory and who also served as a clergyman, died Nov. 11 at Sibley Memorial Hospital in the District. He was a Washington resident. He had metastasized kidney cancer, said his son Nils Lindenblad. Rev. Lindenblad worked at the U.S. Naval Observatory from 1957 to 1989. He managed the observation program for sunspots dark spots on the surface of the sun caused by intense magnetic activity. He also observed and published research on double stars two stars either orbiting around a common center of mass or two stars appearing close together in the sky as seen from Earth. This research included photographic observations of the Sirius Star System, which resulted in his election to the Royal Astronomical Society. Irving Werner Lindenblad was a native of Port Jefferson, N.Y., and served in the Army during the Korean War. He was a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. He received a masters degree in religion at George Washington University and a masters degree in divinity at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in Rochester, N.Y. He did post-graduate study in theology at Harvard University. He was ordained to the American Baptist ministry and served American Baptist ministries and congregational pastorates in New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. After retiring as an astronomer, Rev. Lindenblad took clinical pastoral training in the shock trauma unit of the Washington Hospital Center. He did chaplaincy work there and at Inova Alexandria Hospital. He was also associate pastor at Palisades Community Church in Washington, assisting with preaching and pastoral care. In February, Palisades Church gave him the title of pastor emeritus. His first wife, Ann Terry Lindenblad, died in 1993 after 34 years of marriage. His second wife, Jo Nichols Waters, died in 2010 after 16 years of marriage. Survivors include two sons from his first marriage, Irving Lindenblad Jr. of Arlington County and Nils Lindenblad of Springfield; two stepsons, William Waters of Hayesville, N.C., and Richard Waters of Boise, Idaho; six grandchildren; and four greatgrandchildren.
Bart Barnes
dra McDonough and Rudy Larreur, both of Cornelius; a brother; a sister; and 10 grandchildren.
T. Rees Shapiro
Carl Morano
LAWYER Carl J. Morano, 87, a Washington lawyer who specialized in criminal cases and traffic cases, died Nov. 20 at Avalon House, an assisted-living facility in McLean. He had Parkinsons disease, his son Thomas J. Morano said. Mr. Morano had a solo law practice in Washington for 50 years before retiring in 2004. Carl Joseph Morano was born in Scranton, Pa. He served in the Army during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge in Europe. He received the Purple Heart. He graduated in 1951 from Catholic University law school. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus and the American Legion. He was a McLean resident until moving to Avalon House two months before his death. Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Leonore Leone Morano of McLean; six children, Carl Morano of Belleville, N.J., Thomas J. Morano of McLean, Laura Jones of Vienna, William Morano of Sterling, Lisa Weber of Harpers Ferry, W.Va., and Marc P. Morano of Manassas; and nine grandchildren.
Bart Barnes
hammering home the gross negligence that went into all aspects of this flawed decision. The report by the Pentagons inspector general found that the Army had relied on badly flawed data in compiling traffic impact projections that it used to defend the planned transfers, most of them involving people already living in the region who would be more prone to drive to work rather than relocate close to their new jobs. They cooked the books, Warner said. The inspector general recommended that the Army do a new traffic study. The Army responded with a point-by-point rebuttal of the inspector generals findings. It said that conducting a new traffic study would be a pointless exercise that would not provide additional solutions to past or existing traffic issues.
Helen Wade
SCHOOL CAFETERIA WORKER Helen Wade, 87, a former grocery store employee and school cafeteria worker in the Fairfax County school system, died Nov. 29 at the Spring Hills Mount Vernon assisted-living facility near Alexandria. She had dementia, said her daughter, Debbie Bayliss. Helen Christine Blackwell was born in Roanoke and came to the Washington area in 1953. She was a longtime Alexandria resident. In the 1960s, she worked at the Fort Belvoir post exchange. She was a meat wrapper at the A&P store in Alexandria in the 1970s and 1980s. She worked in school cafeterias in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her husband of 60 years, John H. Wade, died in 2005. Survivors include two children, Gary Wade of Orlando and Debbie Bayliss of Alexandria; four grandchildren; and four greatgrandchildren.
Bart Barnes
Vernalee Stevenson
ARMY WIFE Vernalee Stevenson, 74, an Army wife who settled in the Washington area in 1968 and was a member of the Woodbridge Homeowners Association, died Nov. 26 at her home in Woodbridge. She had non-Hodgkins lymphoma, her husband, retired Army Lt. Col. Hugh T. Stevenson, said. Verna Lee Johnson was a native of Kane, Pa., and a 1966 graduate of Pennsylvania State University. She was a co-chairwoman of Officers Wives Clubs and a volunteer at hospitals at military posts where her husband was stationed. Since settling in the Washington area, she had worked for brief periods as a cashier at McDonalds, a deliverer of telephone directories, a saleswoman for Sears catalogues and a teller at Dominion Bank. Besides her husband of 51 years, of Woodbridge, survivors include three children, Kimberly S. Zeller of Atlanta, Wayne T. Stevenson of Centennial, Colo., and Shirlyn S. Barger of Alexandria; a sister; nine grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Bart Barnes
Russell G. Turner
POLICE OFFICER Russell G. Turner, 75, a retired Fairfax County police officer, died Dec. 2 at the Gainesville Health and Rehab Center in Prince William County. He was a resident of Nokesville, also in Prince William. He had multiple myeloma, his daughter Rozella Turner-Burns said. Russell Grafton Turner was born in Gainesville and began working for Fairfax County in 1970 after serving in the Army. He worked as a dispatcher in the countys emergency operations center before he became a Fairfax County Park Police officer. He joined the county police in 1988 and retired in 1998. Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Edith Davis Turner of Nokesville; seven children, Rozella Turner-Burns of Alexandria, Regina Morris of Culpeper, Va., Renae Siradje of Hyattsville, Renaldo Turner and Rhonda King, both of Manassas, Rolanda Jackson of Sterling and Raphaela Turner of Ashburn; and seven grandchildren.
T. Rees Shapiro
Maria Larreur
ITALIAN EMBASSY OFFICIAL Maria Larreur, 75, who retired in 2000 as educational officer at the Embassy of Italy in Washington, died Dec. 3 at her home in Cornelius, N.C. She had metastatic cancer, her daughter Sandra McDonough said. Mrs. Larreur moved to Washington in 1965 and began working at the Italian embassy in 1970. She first worked as the Italian ambassadors secretary before moving up the ranks to educational officer. She retired after 30 years of service. Cosima Maria Negro was born in Veglie, Italy, and was an education graduate of the University of Bari in Italy. She lived in Haiti for several years before moving to the Washington area. She was a resident of Columbia and Silver Spring before she moved to Cornelius in 2007. Survivors include her husband of 52 years, Claude Larreur of Cornelius; three children, Roger Larreur of Fishers, Ind., and San-