WASHINGTON, DC BRIEFING March 2005

News this month

Enemies at home

The FBI is accusing a young man from Northern Virginia of plotting with al-Qaeda to kill President George Bush. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a resident of Falls Church, Virginia, allegedly joined al-Qaeda while he was a student in Saudi Arabia. He was arrested and held in Saudi Arabia for 20 months before being shipped back to Virginia for trial. On March 14th, he pleaded not guilty in federal court. Mr Abu Ali has been indicted on six-count charges that could earn him up to 80 years in prison.

Barry Cole, an FBI agent, testified that Mr Abu Ali admitted to planning numerous attacks with other al-Qaeda members, such as hijacking aircraft to crash into east-coast targets, killing members of Congress, exploding ships and planes at American ports and military bases, and freeing terrorists held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Prosecutors also claim that Mr Abu Ali provided al-Qaeda members with a list of high-casualty American targets, such as stadiums, amusement parks and malls. But Mr Abu Ali's lawyers say that his admissions of guilt were only secured through torture. The judge has set a trial date for August 22nd.

Now fix it

After a high-profile derailing in November, outside experts have made a half-dozen recommendations to improve Metro safety. Nearly all of them aimed to correct what has been a lack of training and accountability among train operators. Suggestions for physical improvements included running fewer but larger trains; redesigning the cars to make passenger entry and exits faster; and quickly fixing faulty trains rather than immediately removing them from the line.

The American Public Transportation Association, which wrote the study, is composed of top officials from rail systems in Atlanta, Boston, London, New York, Philadelphia and Toronto. Richard White, the Metro’s chief executive, agrees with the panel's recommendations and said he hopes they will be enacted. But no one expects for change to come quickly: rail unions are likely to be vocal opponents.

Quicksilver headaches

Mercury contamination closed the District’s Cardozo High School three times in late-February and early-March. The first incident came on February 23rd, when the school was evacuated after droplets of mercury were found in several stairwells and hallways. Two students caught on camera purposefully spilling the metal were soon arrested. But the school was evacuated again for the same reason the following week, confounding Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials who said they had done a thorough clean-up. A third teenager was arrested in connection with the first spill, and more mercury was discovered, this time in the school's basement.

The second discovery provoked heavy criticism of EPA officials, especially after a video showed inspectors walking past the place where mercury was later found. But blame shifted to the school district when it was announced that six containers of mercury had been found in three laboratories, in blatant disregard of a ruling to remove mercury from schools since 2003.

Bring another quarter

Fees on the Dulles Toll Road will rise on May 22nd, to help pay for a Metrorail expansion to Dulles Airport set to begin next year. The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the hike on February 17th. Increases range from 15 cents to 25 cents, putting the total toll at between 50 cents to 75 cents, depending on the road section. This is the first time since the road opened in 1984 that the toll has been raised.

The money from toll hike will pay for part of Virginia’s share of the Metrorail project, the first phase of which will extend the line 11 miles, from East Falls Church through Tyson’s Corner and into Reston. The second phase will extend the line the remaining 12 miles to the airport.

More watchful

The District of Columbia plans to use more traffic-monitoring cameras. The 39 cameras that are already installed at traffic lights around the city photograph cars that run red lights; the owner gets a ticket in the mail. There are also 13 photo-radar devices, mobile and stationary, which photograph cars driving above the speed limit. The plan is for ten more red-light cameras, and two new mobile radars.

The cameras have been controversial. Last year they were used to issue about a half-million tickets, worth nearly $54m in fines. The money suits the city nicely, but critics, which include elected officials, note that the firm that processes the tickets gets paid by ticket-volume, creating an incentive for more citations. Some also complain that the devices are not stationed in the places with the highest accident rates.

Too successful

Pressure from federal officials will probably doom a Virginia law that allows gas-electric hybrid cars to use special traffic lanes. This was prompted by a study, published in late-February, that shows that rocketing hybrid sales in Northern Virginia are clogging High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes. Virginia transport officials, who commissioned the study, suggested several ways to fight congestion, including an early repeal of the rule. Other ideas include aggressive patrolling of HOV lanes, to crack down on cheaters, and raising the annual “clean-fuel” license fee from $10 to $500. More studies are planned. The law expires on July 1st 2006.

The measure was introduced in 2000 to encourage sales of hybrids, which use less gas and release fewer emissions. It is unusual in that it skirts a federal statute requiring cars in the HOV lane to have three or more passengers. As the Virginia legislature is not in session, any changes this year would have to come from federal authorities.

Catch if you can

March 2005

Cotton Puffs, Q-tips, Smoke and Mirrors: The Drawings of Ed Ruscha

Until May 30th 2005

Ed Ruscha’s media vary from simple pen sketches to more elaborate uses of organic materials, such as vegetable stains and gunpowder. His stint as a commercial artist, before he switched to fine arts, is visible in his work, which often features single words or phrases over varied backgrounds. Early drawings have potent single words (such as “quit” or “worm”), rendered in different styles against simple backgrounds. His later efforts involve phrases or single words with the letters in different shapes, sizes, colours and shadows in the background. The effect is often comic, though it can seem a bit repetitive.

The show features 90 drawings ranging over the past four decades. Some of Mr Ruscha’s works are genuinely lovely, especially his later pictures and silhouettes. But others seem to merely fill wall space, such as a doodle on a piece of hotel stationery. On their own, many of these drawings can be powerful, but all together one begins to pine for more of an aesthetic evolution.

The National Gallery, on the National Mall, West building, Ground Floor, East Outer Tier. Entry: Free. Open: Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 11am-6pm. For more information, visit the museum’s website.

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