B6 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SATURDAy, MARCH 7 , 2020
AVERAGE RECORD ACTUAL FORECAST
PREVIOUS YEAR NORMAL LATEST
<–10–0s 0s 10 s20s 30s 40 s50s 60s 70 s80s 90s 10 0s 110+
T-storms Rain Showers Snow Flurries Ice Cold Front Warm FrontStationary Front
NATIONAL Today Tomorrow
High
Low
Normal
Record high
Record low
Reagan Dulles BWI
Reagan Dulles BWI
Today’s tides (High tides in Bold )
WORLD Today Tomorrow
Sources: AccuWeather.com ; US Army Centralized
Allergen Extract Lab (pollen data); airnow.gov (air
quality data); National Weather Service
* AccuWeather's RealFeel Temperature®
combines over a dozen factors for an accurate
measure of how the conditions really “feel.”
Key: s -sunny, pc -partly cloudy, c -cloudy, r -rain,
sh - showers, t -thunderstorms, sf -snow flurries,
sn -snow, i -ice
Moon Phases Solar system
NATION
OFFICIAL RECORD
Rise Set
REGION
Past 24 hours
Total this month
Normal
Total this year
Normal
Richmond
Norfolk
Ocean City
Annapolis
Dover
Cape May
Baltimore
Charlottesville
Lexington
Washington
Virginia Beach
Kitty Hawk
Harrisburg Philadelphia
Hagerstown
Davis
OCEAN:
OCEAN:
OCEAN:
OCEAN:
Temperatures
Precipitation
for the 48 contiguous states excludes Antarctica
Ye sterday's National
Snow, past 24 hours
Snow, season total
53° 2:23 p.m.
37° 6:30 a.m.
52°/35°
81° 1961
10° 1888
52° 1:00 p.m.
28° 6:00 a.m.
52°/30°
70 ° 2004
6° 2015
49° 3:51 p.m.
30° 6:32 a.m.
50°/31°
76 ° 1935
10° 2015
Washington 12:34 a.m. 5:45 a.m. 12:39 p.m. 6:04 p.m.
Annapolis 2:28 a.m. 8:56 a.m. 3:39 p.m. 9:50 p.m.
Ocean City 5:18 a.m. 11:43 a.m. 5:35 p.m. 11:47 p.m.
Norfolk 12:52 a.m. 7:21 a.m. 1:42 p.m. 7:44 p.m.
Point Lookout 4:48 a.m. 11:28 a.m. 6:13 p.m. 11:31 p.m.
53
°
34 ° 62
°
45 ° 72
°
54 ° 65
°
51 ° 66
°
46 ° 60
°
42 °
Sun 6:31 a.m. 6:07 p.m.
Moon 3:46 p.m. 5:25 a.m.
Venus 8:15 a.m. 9:54 p.m.
Mars 3:23 a.m. 12:48 p.m.
Jupiter 3:47 a.m. 1:23 p.m.
Saturn 4:16 a.m. 2:02 p.m.
Mar 9
Full
Mar 16
Last
Quarter
Mar 24
New
Apr 1
First
Quarter
Tr ace
0.16"
0.57"
6.16"
6.09"
0.0"
0.6"
0.06"
0.13"
0.56"
6.70"
6.07"
0.0"
2.9"
0.02"
0.15"
0.66"
6.24"
6.71"
0.0"
1.8"
Blue Ridge: Today, partly sunny, windy, cold. High 34–38.
Wind north 12–25 mph. Tonight, mostly clear, breezy, cold.
Low 22–26. Sunday, mostly sunny, milder. High 48–52.
Wind southwest 8–16 mph. Monday, increasingly cloudy.
High 53–57.
Atlantic beaches: Today, partly sunny, windy. High 46–50.
Wind northwest 15–25 mph. Tonight, mostly clear, breezy,
cold. Low 29–35. Wind northwest 7–14 mph. Sunday,
mostly sunny, milder. High 54–59. Wind southwest 6–12
mph.
Pollen: High
Grass Low
Tr ees High
Weeds Low
Mold Low
UV: Moderate
4 out of 11+
Air Quality: Good
Dominant cause: Particulates
53/29
50/35
47 /30
50/31
48 /28
47 /33
51/29
55/31
51/26
48 /35
47 /39
49/29^48 /30
50/30
36/20 53/34
45°
47°
47°
51°
Waterways: Upper Potomac River : Today, partly sunny, windy. Wind
northwest 15–25 knots. Waves 1–2 feet. Visibility unrestricted. •
Lower Potomac and Chesapeake Bay : Today, partly sunny, windy. Wind
northwest 15–30 knots. Waves 1–2 feet on the Potomac, 2–4 feet
on the Chesapeake. Visibility good.• River Stages : The stage at Little
Falls today will be around 3.8 feet, holding nearly steady Sunday.
Flood stage at Little Falls is 10 feet.
Albany, NY 43/24/s 55/37/s
Albuquerque 67/45/pc 56/37/t
Anchorage 24/20/sn 29/21/sn
Atlanta 57/37/s 62/42/s
Austin 65/48/c 73/62/c
Baltimore 51/29/s 62/40/s
Billings, MT 67/35/c 42/28/c
Birmingham 59/37/s 64/45/s
Bismarck, ND 54/29/pc 40/19/c
Boise 57/32/sh 55/37/c
Boston 44/30/s 53/43/s
Buffalo 35/28/s 53/44/s
Burlington, VT 30/21/s 45/35/pc
Charleston, SC 57/35/s 63/43/s
Charleston, WV 45/25/s 66/40/s
Charlotte 56/30/s 62/38/s
Cheyenne, WY 63/36/pc 56/31/pc
Chicago 53/40/s 63/49/s
Cincinnati 49/31/s 62/44/s
Cleveland 41/33/s 61/46/s
Dallas 64/47/pc 66/59/c
Denver 68/41/pc 64/37/pc
Des Moines 64/46/s 67/49/s
Detroit 45/33/s 57/45/s
El Paso 72/53/pc 60/47/r
Fairbanks, AK 13/6/pc 16/1/c
Fargo, ND 42/27/pc 37/10/c
Hartford, CT 44/26/s 56/39/s
Honolulu 81/68/c 79/67/pc
Houston 64/49/pc 72/61/c
Indianapolis 50/33/s 60/46/s
Jackson, MS 62/40/s 69/52/pc
Jacksonville, FL 61/40/s 68/49/pc
Kansas City, MO 67/46/pc 69/51/s
Las Vegas 75/54/pc 69/50/pc
Little Rock 61/39/s 68/54/pc
Los Angeles 63/51/c 65/53/pc
Louisville 53/33/s 64/47/s
Memphis 60/41/s 66/52/pc
Miami 73/62/pc 74/66/pc
Milwaukee 50/40/s 59/47/pc
Minneapolis 55/42/s 62/34/pc
Nashville 55/34/s 66/46/s
New Orleans 64/51/pc 71/59/pc
New York City 47/34/s 57/44/s
Norfolk 50/35/pc 59/43/s
Oklahoma City 65/45/s 62/56/c
Omaha 69/45/s 69/43/s
Orlando 66/50/s 72/57/pc
Philadelphia 48/30/s 59/42/s
Phoenix 84/60/pc 73/53/c
Pittsburgh 43/28/s 60/43/s
Portland, ME 41/23/pc 49/34/pc
Portland, OR 50/32/sh 53/29/c
Providence, RI 44/27/s 54/40/s
Raleigh, NC 54/30/s 62/40/s
Reno, NV 53/32/c 54/35/c
Richmond 53/29/s 61/42/s
Sacramento 60/41/sh 59/48/c
St. Louis 60/42/s 68/52/s
St. Thomas, VI 84/74/sh 84/74/pc
Salt Lake City 67/44/c 55/43/sh
San Diego 64/57/c 65/53/pc
San Francisco 58/43/c 60/49/c
San Juan, PR 85/73/sh 83/73/sh
Seattle 47/33/sh 48/31/c
Spokane, WA 45/28/r 45/26/pc
Syracuse 36/25/s 56/40/s
Tampa 68/49/s 74/57/pc
Wichita 70/45/s 66/54/pc
Addis Ababa 79/55/pc 80/55/pc
Amsterdam 50/45/pc 53/42/r
Athens 65/58/pc 66/53/sh
Auckland 74/61/pc 75/63/pc
Baghdad 74/52/s 79/54/s
Bangkok 96/80/pc 100/79/pc
Beijing 60/35/pc 53/44/c
Berlin 44/33/sh 51/40/c
Bogota 71/47/sh 70/47/c
Brussels 50/44/pc 51/41/r
Buenos Aires 84/72/s 87/73/pc
Cairo 72/55/s 80/60/pc
Caracas 75/64/pc 73/65/pc
Copenhagen 44/35/sh 45/41/sh
Dakar 82/71/pc 82/71/pc
Dublin 55/42/r 49/39/sh
Edinburgh 53/42/r 49/39/sh
Frankfurt 48/36/sh 52/41/sh
Geneva 49/30/sh 54/41/sh
Ham., Bermuda 66/55/sh 59/56/sh
Helsinki 39/27/pc 40/31/c
Ho Chi Minh City 97/75/c 97/77/pc
Hong Kong 75/69/pc 77/70/pc
Islamabad 57/50/r 63/48/sh
Istanbul 63/52/s 66/50/pc
Jerusalem 57/42/pc 67/52/s
Johannesburg 78/54/s 80/56/pc
Kabul 52/24/pc 50/27/pc
Kingston, Jam. 85/75/sh 81/73/sh
Kolkata 82/70/pc 87/65/pc
Lagos 89/80/t 91/81/t
Lima 78/71/pc 79/71/pc
Lisbon 64/47/s 63/49/pc
London 54/45/pc 53/41/sh
Madrid 61/33/pc 65/41/pc
Manila 91/77/pc 93/77/s
Mexico City 77/46/pc 77/50/pc
Montreal 30/24/s 41/33/c
Moscow 53/44/r 48/35/sh
Mumbai 84/69/pc 83/72/pc
Nairobi 84/61/pc 80/63/pc
New Delhi 72/55/pc 77/57/c
Oslo 37/31/pc 42/36/sh
Ottawa 31/23/s 43/34/pc
Paris 52/45/pc 54/42/r
Prague 43/31/sh 47/37/c
Rio de Janeiro 80/67/s 81/71/pc
Riyadh 88/56/s 78/54/s
Rome 58/42/t 60/38/s
San Salvador 88/67/pc 90/68/pc
Santiago 88/58/pc 88/58/s
Sarajevo 45/35/r 43/28/sh
Seoul 52/32/c 59/35/s
Shanghai 64/49/pc 60/54/c
Singapore 88/76/t 89/77/sh
Stockholm 41/30/pc 43/38/c
Sydney 72/65/pc 72/64/pc
Taipei City 79/67/pc 81/67/r
Tehran 62/45/pc 61/41/pc
Tokyo 51/46/sh 54/49/sh
Toronto 38/29/s 52/41/s
Vienna 50/35/sh 49/32/pc
Warsaw 48/37/sh 44/32/pc
Today
Partly sunny,
breezy
Sunday
Mostly sunny,
warmer
Monday
Mostly sunny,
warm
Tuesday
Afternoon
showers
Wednesday
Partly sunny
Thursday
Rain possible
M Tu W Th F Sa Su M Tu W Th F Sa Su M
through 5 p.m.yesterday
Difference from 30–yr. avg. (Reagan): this month: +6.2° yr. to date: +5.7°
High: Thermal, CA 87°
Low: Embarrass, MN –16°
World
High: Diourbel, Senegal 111°
Low: Summit Station, Greenland –53°
Weather map features for noon today.
WIND: NNW 12–25 mph
HUMIDITY: Low
CHNCE PRECIP: 5%
FEELS*: 47°
W:
H:
P:
FEELS: 61°
SW 7–14 mph
Low
0%
W:
H:
P:
FEELS: 72°
SSW 7–14 mph
Low
5%
W:
H:
P:
FEELS: 63°
SSW 10–20 mph
Moderate
60%
W:
H:
P:
FEELS: 64°
NW 6–12 mph
Moderate
15%
W:
H:
P:
FEELS: 59°
E 7–14 mph
Moderate
30%
Sunny and blustery
Northwest winds gusting around
25 mph settle down after midday. In
the afternoon, high temperatures
top out in the upper 40s to mid-50s,
under sunny skies. To night, things
should be calm and clear, with lows in the 20s.
The Weather
WASHINGTONPOST.COM/WEATHER. TWITTER: @CAPITALWEATHER. FACEbOOK.COM/CAPITALWEATHER
A Washington Post analysis
one year after the 66 Express
Lanes opened found the new toll-
ing system shifted the times when
some motorists traveled. That
analysis showed that as drivers
avoided peak hours and the ac-
companying tolls, it created traf-
fic backups at times when the
lanes were free.
outside the Beltway, crews are
adding 22.5 miles of toll lanes
starting in Gainesville, in Prince
William County. motorists will be
able to choose between the gener-
al lanes, which will remain free,
or the new high-occupancy toll
(HoT) lanes, which buses, car-
poolers and motorcyclists can use
free.
State officials say the project,
expected to be completed in 2022,
will relieve congestion along the
entire I-66 corridor near Wash-
ington.
[email protected]
“We’re trying to grow our econ-
omy and improve people’s quality
of life,” he said. “You’re raising
their cost of living with tolls, and
that’s overall not a net improve-
ment to folks in the corridor.”
Virginia Del. Danica A. roem
(D-Prince William) said although
she opposes the tolls, new com-
muter lots in western Prince Wil-
liam County have helped to en-
courage people to take commuter
buses into the District. She said
commuters need improved infra-
structure and alternatives to pay-
ing tolls.
“Tolls should never have been
put in place,” she said. “I’m not
happy that any one of my constit-
uents are priced out because they
live in, say, manassas Park and
not mcLean.”
The study did not look at the
effect tolling has had on adjacent
roadways that offer toll-free alter-
natives for motorists.
fairfax Connector, have recorded
a 26 percent jump in ridership
since 2015, the report said.
“We’re seeing more people on
buses, so they’re off I-66,” mattice
said. “That frees up the road so
those who do need to drive have a
less crowded roadway, and they
have a chance for less expensive
rides.”
Critics of the I-66 tolls say they
are not convinced the tolls are
worth it.
ron meyer, a former Loudoun
County supervisor, said the re-
port’s findings show only slight
changes in commuter behavior
when considering the costs
passed along to drivers. meyer,
who now advises businesses on
public-private partnerships in
transportation, said the study
shows tolling “isn’t a great way to
incentivize people into transit.”
meyer served on NVTC’s board
from 2016 to 2019.
The tolls are in effect on week-
days from 5:30 to 9:30 a.m. in the
eastbound lanes and from 3 to
7 p.m. westbound. There is no cap
on the price, which increases as
congestion rises. Drivers must
pay if they are alone, but usage is
free with two or more people in a
vehicle equipped with an E-ZPass
flex transponder.
When the tolls inside the Belt-
way were approved, Virginia
transportation planners said they
hoped the cost would encourage
commuters to carpool or use pub-
lic transportation during peak
travel times. mattice said the re-
port shows some motorists have
changed how they commute
through the region.
officials have also added more
than 50 commuter bus routes in
the region since tolling began in
December 2017. Commuter bus
lines in the region, including om-
niride, Loudoun Transit and the
700 people, when compared with
2015.
The corridor had a slight in-
crease in the number of people
using mass transit and riding
with other commuters, the report
showed.
Car pools and van pools consti-
tuted 23.7 percent of vehicles
moving through the corridor dur-
ing the morning rush last year, up
from 22.5 percent in 2015. The
percentage of vehicles occupied
by motorists driving alone fell
from 36.4 percent in 2015 to
34.7 percent last year.
To ll rates have been sharply
criticized by some state and local
politicians, as well as commuters,
who say tolls that occasionally
surpass $45 during the peak of
the morning commute are exces-
sive. State transportation officials
counter that such high tolls are
not the norm and are paid by
relatively few drivers.
which coordinates transit and
other transportation projects in
Northern Virginia. “This data
represents two years of funding,
and we can see that we were able
to grow the commuter bus usage
to move people through the corri-
dor.”
The analysis looked at traffic
counts and bus ridership from
Northern Virginia commuter bus
services. researchers looked at
data from 2015 — two years be-
fore tolls were put in place —
through last year.
According to the report, about
60,000 people and 27,000 vehi-
cles travel inbound each weekday
along the I-66 corridor between
6:30 and 9:30 a.m. The study
found an average of 750 fewer
vehicles traveled through the I-66
corridor each weekday morning,
alongside an increase of about
TOLL from B1
Critics of I-66 tolls say slight shifts in commuter behavior aren’t worth the cost
legal driving limit.
Ta ylor also told investigators
that she had been hit by another
car, rush said, but there was no
evidence of such a collision.
Several people spoke on Ta y-
lor’s behalf, saying she is kind-
hearted and asking the judge to
show leniency.
A brother said, “Dominique
loves everyone.” A friend said,
“Dominique has taken her own
money and fed the homeless.” H er
father said, “She’s given her life to
Christ.” Another friend said,
“There’s not one day that she
doesn’t wish it was her that died.”
But Woodard had the final
word.
“They trusted you to be the
adult in this situation,” the judge
said of the five children. “A nd you
failed them. You failed them.”
[email protected]
is, excoriated Ta ylor in her victim
impact statement to the judge,
doubling over as she screamed
that Ta ylor has shown insuffi-
cient remorse for the deaths.
Some of the dozen deputies pro-
viding extra security helped her
keep her feet.
The girls’ father, Christopher
Dixon, said, “I am forced to be-
lieve she is more concerned with
herself today than the role she
played in this tragedy.”
rush, the prosecutor, said Ta y-
lor’s explanation for the crash
shifted during the initial investi-
gation.
At one point, she told authori-
ties that she was not drunk but
had taken cold medicine before
the crash. To xicologists said she
would have had to consume two
bottles of NyQuil for her blood
alcohol level to reach twice the
loud sobs in the courtroom.
rush recalled speaking with
the first responders as she pre-
pared for friday’s hearing.
“They all, even the 20-year
veterans, described this as the
worst scene of their careers,” she
told the judge. “When we were
talking with them, we could see
them replaying it in their minds.”
She said some are suffering from
post-traumatic stress disorder.
Before the sentencing, a noisy
scuffle broke out in a hallway
among members of Ta ylor’s ex-
tended family, now deeply divid-
ed, as they waited for the hearing
to begin. Sheriff’s deputies and
calmer relatives quickly restored
order, but the rage and grief
carried over into Woodard’s
courtroom.
Theresa Simpson, the paternal
grandmother of London and Par-
The crash killed Taylor’s
daughters — Paris Dixon, 5, and
London Dixon, 8 — along with
rickelle ricks, 6; Zion Beard, 14;
and Damari Herald, 15, all chil-
dren of one of Ta ylor’s cousins. A
front-seat passenger, Cornell D.
Simon, 23, of oxon Hill, md., died
in a hospital about two weeks
later.
When first responders arrived
at the scene, a prosecutor said,
they initially saw only Ta ylor and
Simon, still in the SUV, one of
whom began screaming: “Where
are the kids? Where are the kids?”
Prince George’s County Assis-
tant State’s Attorney Jennifer
rush told the judge that the first
child was found in the field by an
emergency worker who inadver-
tently stepped on the dead young-
ster’s head in the darkness — a
revelation that elicited gasps and
0.169 when her 2005 Chrysler
Pacifica veered off route 301 and
plowed through a stand of trees,
investigators said. The children
were thrown from the moving
vehicle, their bodies scattered on
a snowy field, before the SUV
stopped 313 feet from where it
had left the road.
“I understand that ms. Ta ylor
loved her children, and I believe
those children loved her deeply,”
Circuit Court Judge Beverly J.
Woodard said before imposing
the sentence. But on the night of
the crash, “you had choices to
make, and every choice you made
was a bad one,” she said.
The judge added: “I can’t even
fathom, even though you were
under the influence of alcohol,
you never strapped them in....
Those children never had a
chance.”
daughters, ages 5 and 8, plus
three other children and an adult
friend. Authorities said Ta ylor’s
blood alcohol level was twice the
legal limit for driving in mary-
land.
She had been drinking and
smoking marijuana at a house
party in Southeast Washington
early on feb. 2, 2019, accompa-
nied by the children, and she left
about 4 a.m. to head home to
Bowie, authorities said. The chil-
dren, none older than 15, were
seated side by side in the SUV and
not wearing seat belts.
“Sometimes I look in the mir-
ror and see this gash on my h ead,”
said Ta ylor, who was seriously
injured, “and I say ‘I don’t even
deserve’ ” to be alive.
Her blood alcohol level was
TAYLOR from B1
Md. mother sentenced to 18 years in drunken-driving crash that killed 6, including 2 of her children
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