The Washington Post - USA (2020-08-01)

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 B3

equipment needed for response and recovery efforts, the governor’s office said. The storm’s track remained uncertain, the office said in a statement, but “it appears increasingly likely” that Virginia could see impacts. That made it necessary, the statement said, to prepare for possible flooding and high winds and for a potential storm surge. — Martin Weil

Motorcyclist killed after hitting guardrail

A motorcyclist was killed in a crash in Prince William County, police said. The incident happened just before 8 a.m. Thursday near Nokesville Road and Fauquier Drive in Nokesville. Local police said an initial investigation showed that a man on a motorcycle was headed north on Nokesville Road when he lost control and hit a guardrail. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The man was later identified as Daniel Cody Starr, 32, of Catlett, Va. Prince William County police said the crash remains under investigation. — Dana Hedgpeth

VMI: Some school traditions to change

T he superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute said it will not take down its Confederate monuments, but some of its long-standing traditions will change. The Roanoke Times reports that retired Army Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III wrote about the Confederate monument issue in a letter to the VMI community on Wednesday. Peay wrote that the school’s honoring of its history does not “in any way condone racism, much less slavery.” Multiple buildings are named for Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson as well as other alumni and faculty who fought for the Confederacy. A statue of Jackson also stands in front of the barracks. Peay said changes will include reorienting flagpoles surrounding the statue and relocating an oath ceremony from a battlefield where 10 VMI cadets died fighting for the Confederacy to school grounds. VMI also will have classes in diversity training. Black graduates have been speaking out on social media about racism at VMI and the need for changes, including removing the Jackson statue. — Associated Press

MARYLAND

Head-on collision leaves woman dead

A woman died in a collision in Prince George’s County on Thursday when an SUV struck her vehicle head-on, police said. Authorities identified the victim as 23-year-old Tyra Dalton of Upper Marlboro. The crash happened around 9 p.m. Thursday in the 7400 block of Old Alexandria Ferry Road near Branch Avenue in Clinton, according to officials. An initial investigation found that an SUV and a car were headed in opposite directions when the SUV crossed the centerline and crashed into Dalton’s vehicle. Dalton was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. The driver of the SUV suffered injuries that police said were not life-threatening. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. — Dana Hedgpeth and Katie Mettler

Baltimore prosecutors reviewing viral video

Baltimore prosecutors are reviewing a viral video that shows a police officer pulling out a gun during an arrest and holding it over a man’s head as he tells people to back up. The 45-second exchange posted on Instagram shows the officer kneeling on the man, who is seen on the ground as another officer attempts to handcuff him. As people gather around the scene, the officer pulls out the gun and tells them that he “strongly suggest” they back up. He also uses an expletive. Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Zy Richardson told the Baltimore Sun on Thursday that the office has been looking into the social media post. The Baltimore Police Department, which has not publicly identified the officer, is also reviewing the incident. — Associated Press

VIRGINIA

State of emergency declared over Isaias

Gov. Ralph Northam (D) declared a state of emergency Friday in advance of Hurricane Isaias, which he said could affect coastal parts of the state as soon as this weekend. Northam said the declaration ensures that local jurisdictions would have the help needed to protect residents. A state of emergency lets Virginia mobilize resources and

LOCAL DIGEST

BY HANNAH NATANSON

Alexandria City Public Schools should start the fall with all-virtual learning, the superintendent recommended Friday, a move that would mean all major public school systems in the Washing- ton region are starting the new academic year online. Under Superintendent Grego- ry C. Hutchings J r.’s plan, all of the Northern Virginia district’s 16,000 students will receive tab- lets or Chromebooks in coming weeks. Virtual school will involve a “structured bell schedule” and daily live-video classes with teachers, according to a message sent to families Friday. A small number of vulnerable students, such as those with disabilities, will receive special academic support including one-on-one and group tutoring. This virtual program will con- tinue for at least nine weeks, at which time officials will reassess, according to the plan, which is subject to school board approval. Officials will check in every nine weeks after that and try to add in-person instruction as public

health circumstances allow. H utchings will present the plan — dubbed “Virtual PLUS+” — to the school board for a formal vote Aug. 7. “After much careful consider- ation of the facts as they stand today, we feel confident that Virtual PLUS+ will provide a quality educational experience worthy of our children,” Hutch- ings said in a statement. The plan promises to offer child-care options for “those families who need it,” according to the email to parents. Alexan- dria City schools will rely on “community partners” to provide that service, the email said, but administrators provided few de- tails. More information will come during the presentation Aug. 7 and in later weeks, officials said. Alexandria’s is one of the last public school systems in the Washington region to s hare its reopening plans. Some school districts — notably, nearby Fair- fax County Public Schools, whose 189,000 students make it one of the largest systems in the nation — had initially declared that they would offer a hybrid program of mixed in-person and distance learning. But as coronavirus cases continued to climb nationwide and held stubbornly steady in the region — then began to tick upward toward the end of July —

school district after school district opted for a virtual fall, resisting pressure from Presi- dent Trump to reopen. Fairfax County and Loudoun County Public Schools were forced to backtrack, abandoning hybrid programs in favor of the all-re- mote option. In contrast to his peers in neighboring districts, H utchings bided his time. In July, he formed a team of more than 100 staffers, students and parents that met twice each week on Zoom to debate when and how to reopen. The superintendent also held regular public, virtual question- and-answer sessions to discuss reopening. And he consulted with other superintendents both locally and across the country. The planning team considered hybrid, 100 percent in-person and fully online learning models. It developed and tested scenarios for each. But in the end, Hutch- ings said, online-only emerged as the only feasible path forward. The finalized plan calls for enhanced social and emotional learning, as well as continued meal distribution. Alexandria is asking parents, students and staff to complete an online sur- vey so they can share their thoughts on other initiatives they’d like to see this fall. The first day of online learning is slated for Sept. 8. [email protected]

VIRGINIA

Alexandria City schools should begin

remotely in fall, superintendent says

Students would have live-video classes, special support for disabled

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LOTTERIES

eral years. “If there wasn’t any capacity to build rail cars in the United States, perhaps they have an argument,” Paul said. “That’s simply not the case. There are plenty of qualified rail-car manufacturers in the United States who can meet or exceed Metro’s needs, who can deliver a great product. And those dollars will be supporting American jobs, as well as an investment in the future of transit in the D.C. area.” The possibility that fewer jobs could go to American workers did not sit well with D el. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), who chairs the House highways and transit subcommittee. She wrote Metro a letter on April 7 saying Metro’s decision to not use Buy America requirements for the 8000-series project undermines her lobbying efforts on the agency’s behalf. “This decision sets a danger- ous precedent for similar pro- curements throughout the country could send valuable work opportunities abroad, endanger- ing American companies, workers and communities,” Norton wrote. “Metro has long benefit- ted from special congressional funding in support of its capital costs, and I have supported this funding throughout my tenure in Congress.” In a reply to the letter, Metro General Manager Paul J. Wie- defeld wrote in June that Metro is using local dollars because it was “a predictable source” of funding for a lengthy “critical” investment. Maryland, Virginia and the District dedicate money annually for Metro’s capital needs, while federal funding can be more vulnerable to politics. He said he was limited in his response because Metro contin- ues to try to secure a contract for the rail cars. Stessel, the Metro spokesman, said Thursday that the agency has not yet picked a builder. [email protected]

theoretically use parts from any- where. Stessel said Metro’s require- ment that 8 percent of the 8000- series contract be manufactured regionally belies the national impact the total contract will have. L ocal companies will be rely- ing on domestic parts and services to do their work, he said. But Paul said it’s paltry com- pared to what Buy America would require. “What Metro is doing that concerns us is that it looks like it’s trying to evade Buy America rules,” he said in an interview. “Yes, it is using local dollars, but it’s able to use local dollars because in part it gets federal dollars for other needs, other capital and operating needs. And so it strikes us as a pretty devious attempt to evade the federal procurement rules.” Paul said Metro is capable of devoting much more of its contract to domestic companies. He also said a lack of U.S.-based rail-car builders is just an excuse, saying there is no shortage of manufacturers that would start or move operations within the United States to acquire a $1 bil- lion project that would last sev-

ries cars could arrive in 2024, Metro has said. The 8000-series cars will be Metro’s eighth model since the rail system opened four decades ago. Currently, there are no U.S.-based manufacturers of sub- way cars, but Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Co. of Japan built Metro’s most recent model at a plant in Lincoln, Neb. Each of the cars is valued at $2 million, and the 8000-series is expected to cost as much if not more. Late last year, after represen- tatives from the China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. (CRRC) began pitching their services to Metro, Congress — led by the senators representing Maryland and Virginia — passed a law banning any transit agency from contracting with a company that is not sanctioned under U.S. trade requirements. While Metro cannot directly contract with Chinese companies, the Alliance for American Manufacturing claims that parts from CRRC or companies from other unsanctioned countries could end up in Metro rail cars without guard rails such as the Buy America clause, because a contracted foreign builder could

infrastructure in our nation’s
capital and reissue the pending
request for bids with the inclu-
sion of the federal Buy American
laws.”
Metro said it is not violating
the Buy America provision be-
cause it is not using federal
money to build the 8000-series
cars. Instead it is using funding
from Maryland, Virginia and the
District that is dedicated for
capital projects.
Federal funding the transit
agency receives annually for cap-
ital expenses is being earmarked
for other uses.
Metro said that it was still
early in its process to secure a
contract to build the 8000 series,
which is expected to look similar
to the current 7000-series rail
cars but with technological ad-
vancements including phone
chargers, digital maps and ad-
vertising.
But the agency said it has its
own contract clause requiring a
builder to create an assembly
plant and keep a percentage of
the total contract’s value, not just
in-country but inside of the Mid-
Atlantic region.
“Metro is committed to ensur-
ing that our local region sees
direct economic benefits from
the dedicated funding estab-
lished to support the system’s
infrastructure needs,” Metro
spokesman Dan Stessel said.
The Metro contract would re-
quire 8 percent of the project to
be manufactured in the Mid-
Atlantic region. By contrast, the
federal “Buy America” provision
requires that 70 percent remain
domestic.
Metro is ordering more than
250 rail cars for its 8000 series
and has options to buy up to 800
as it phases out older-model cars
and modernizes its fleet. The
8000 series will replace its 2000-
series cars, which were built in
1982, as well as the 3000-series
cars built in 1987.
The first shipment of 8000-se-

METRO FROM B1

Trade group, Metro a t odds over rail-car funding

MICHAEL ROBINSON CHAVEZ/THE WASHINGTON POST Metro, which is seeking a builder for 8000-series rail cars, said it is not violating the “Buy America” rule because it is using funding from Maryland, Virginia and D.C. rather than the federal government.

BY MARTIN WEIL

Do not be deceived. It may have
seemed so, but it has not been 90
degrees here each day this July. In
fact, on Friday it was only 80.
Friday, July 31, was only the
month’s third day with a high less
than 90, and in a sign of its break
with other members of Washing-
ton’s July family, it was 14 degrees
cooler than Thursday’s 94.
Even so, it was not a day crisp
with the promise of some far-off
autumn. It did not depart c om-
pletely from the often-uncomfort-
able ways of its July forebears.
It was a damp, humid, moist
day, a gray day that frequently in
summer suggests dampness, hu-
midity, moisture and mugginess.
Nevertheless, July’s last day was
by the thermometer its coolest.
July’s other two non-90 days
reached 87 and 86.
At 80, Friday was our coolest
since the summer solstice and
since it was 80 degrees on June 13.
When the day’s high tempera-
ture is 80 degrees, it’s a good bet
that much of the day was even
cooler. It was so on Friday, with
hours of Washington’s afternoon
characterized by readings in the
unlikely 70s.
Just before 1 p.m. as light rain
fell at the official measuring sta-
tion at Reagan National Airport,
Washington registered a most un-
July-like 74 degrees.
[email protected]

THE DISTRICT

A rare July

day with an

8 0-degree high

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