<sh>Two Drivers Charged in School Bus Crash
<bt>A grand jury in Arlington found both drivers to blame for the cause of the school bus crash that killed two local elementary school students in April.
Truck driver James Wallace, 42, was charged with a misdemeanor count of reckless driving. Pamela Sims, 37, the bus driver, was charged with "failure to pay full time and attention" in the accident. The ruling comes after a lengthy investigation by county and state police along with federal investigators. Although it found both drivers at fault, the ruling fell short of explaining just how the crash occurred.
The collision took place April 18 on the corner of Columbia Pike and South Courthouse Road. Hoffman-Boston student Lilibeth Gomez, 9, died that day, and fellow student Harrison Orosco, 7, died two days later of a head injury.
<sh>South Carolina Man Charged with Murder
<bt>Arlington County Police have charged a 21-year-old man with murder. Michael Pahno was arrested Friday after detectives found him in a house along with an unidentified woman who was dead. Police are releasing little about the case until the woman's relatives, who are traveling abroad, can be contacted. She was discovered around 1:50 p.m. on July 15 in the 3600 block of Vacation Lane in the Cherrydale area. According to police spokesman Matt Martin, detectives have yet to confirm a motive for the killing. Pahno is from South Carolina.
<sh>HOT Lanes Meeting
<bt>The second advisory panel meeting concerning the two private-sector proposals will be held Tuesday, July 26. Panel members will further discuss the proposals to build high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on the I-95/395 corridor from the Northern Virginia and Fredericksburg regions. Transportation experts and policy-makers serving on the panel will go over the Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA) process, under which the proposals were submitted, and gives the Virginia Department of Transportation an opportunity to work with private sectors to build roads more efficiently. Also on the agenda is the traditional versus negotiated procurement, overviews of the proposals, and a panel discussion. The meeting is open to the public; however comments from the public will not be taken throughout the duration of the meeting. The advisory panel meeting will be held at the Arlington County Board Meeting Room, 2100 Clarendon Blvd., at 7 p.m.
<sh>School Supply Drive
<bt>The Arlington League of Women Voters is collecting school supplies for needy children at Barrett and Randolph Elementary Schools. Collection boxes are at the seven libraries in Arlington, the lobby of Courthouse Plaza and at the Virginia Commerce Bank branches on Wilson and Williamsburg Blvd. Supplies will be collected until September 11.