Democratic presidential hopeful and retired Gen. Wesley Clark will be signing copies of his new book, “Winning Modern Wars: Iraq, Terrorism, and the American Empire,” today in D.C.

Clark will be at Olsson’s Books & Records in the Lansburgh Building, 418 Seventh St. NW, from noon to 1 p.m. The book will be for sale at Olsson’s.

Call (202) 638-7610 for more information.

Free Rides Available for Halloween Revelers

The Washington Regional Alcohol Program will offer free rides to Halloween partygoers who need a safe way to get home.

The SoberRide program will be offered from 8 p.m. Oct. 31 to 4 a.m. Nov. 1. Residents ages 21 and older can call (800) 200-TAXI for a free (up to $50 fare) ride.

SoberRide is available in the District of Columbia; Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland; and Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon and Prince William counties in Virginia.

Congress Gets S. Capitol Overhaul Recommendation

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta this week formally submitted to Congress a report recommending a comprehensive overhaul of the South Capitol Street corridor.

The South Capitol Gateway and Corridor Improvement Study, conducted by the District of Columbia Department of Transportation in conjunction with federal and local agencies, outlines several measures for the area’s rehabilitation, including replacing the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, reconfiguring several roadways east of the Anacostia River, and constructing a tunnel under the river linking I-295 on the east to I-395 on the west, in order to eventually phase out the portions of the elevated Southeast Freeway.

“This gives us an overview of what can and should be done to convert what is now a very poor transportation corridor, a very ugly transportation corridor and a neighborhood-dividing corridor into a gateway boulevard worthy of the Capitol of the United States,” said Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who spearheaded the drive to secure the $500,000 needed for the study in fiscal 2002.

Hoyer said he and aides plan to brief Members and staff of the appropriate committees about the report’s recommendations, which will eventually require both authorizing legislation and significant appropriations — though Hoyer cautioned complete implementation was likely more than a decade away.

The improvements to South Capitol “tie in” to the broader Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, an ambitious effort to rehabilitate a 9-mile area that runs from the Tidal Basin to the Maryland state line, Hoyer added.

The House-passed fiscal 2004 Transportation bill includes $4.25 million for improvements to South Capitol Street and the rehabilitation of the Douglass bridge; and Hoyer said he expects the funding to be included in the conference report.

In related news, Hoyer and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) are also pushing for the inclusion of $61 million for the Douglass bridge’s stabilization in the surface transportation reauthorization bill, which has yet to be introduced.

The study can be viewed at www. ddot.dc.gov/information/documents/ transportation/south_capitol_study.shtm.

— Amy Carlile and Bree Hocking