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A University Police Department officer suffered minor injuries after colliding with a car last night near the intersection of 22nd and G streets.

The officer, who was on bike patrol at the time, was hit by a grey Honda sedan with two women inside at about 8:30 p.m. Metropolitan Police Department and UPD officers responded to the scene, along with EMeRG who took the officer to the hospital.

UPD Chief Dolores Stafford said that officer was treated and released from the hospital.

-Eric Roper contributed to this report

The D.C. Fire Department responded to Francis Scott Key Hall for a fire alarm shortly after 8 p.m.  Students were allowed back into the building after a few minutes.

A D.C.F.D. spokesperson has not returned a message for comment.

8:13 p.m. MPD officers said the package has been cleared. Emergency officals have begun to leave the scene and re-open streets to traffic.

7:52 p.m. A suspicious package at the intersection of 24th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue has closed off Washington Circle and the surrounding blocks, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

MPD Officer Quentin Peterson said the suspicious package is a gray suitcase.

An outbreak of a highly contagious virus on Georgetown University’s campus has affected more than 170 students with symptoms of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Since Tuesday, students have been checking into the Georgetown University hospital with apparent symptoms of food poisoning. The school’s dining hall was subsequently closed, The Hoya reported, though it has not been determined that food from the dining hall was to blame for the virus. The D.C. Department of Health ruled today that it was a result of norovirus, a virus that can be spread through contimnated food and human contact.

The Hoya reported that the initial contagion of the virus has not yet been determined. The dining hall has been reopened and the health department plans to complete its testing on-campus within the next 24 hours.

Look for a full story on this issue in Monday’s edition of The Hatchet

After the debacle in the D.C. primary race more than two weeks ago resulting from a voting machine malfunction, the city’s Board of Elections and Ethics was slated to release the official results on Wednesday, but delayed to conduct a manual recount of paper ballots for 18 races that were affected by the malfunction.

This recount includes several races within Foggy Bottom’s Ward 2, including the hotly contested race between long-time incumbent Jack Evans and GW alumnus Cary Silverman. Silverman has since conceded to his loss to Evans, who won with more than 60 percent of the vote. Though officials say the recount will not change the outcomes of any of the races, they believe the measure necessary for the board to confidently certify the results.

The D.C. City Council has also launched an investigation into the primary mess to correct and prevent any problems before November’s general election.

University Police Department received a tip that several females, who drank punch served at a fraternity party at the Tau Kappa Epsilon house on 22nd Street Thursday night, became ill as a result, according to an e-mail sent out by UPD.

One of the females claimed she got sick and experienced memory loss from a pill she may have swallowed in the punch, according to the e-mail.

TKE president Benton Brown said he and the fraternity are shocked by the allegation. He said the Crime Alert sent out to the entire GW community at 11 p.m. last night was the first he heard of the incident.

Brown said the chapter is conducting an internal investigation and is willing to cooperate with any police investigation and has decided to suspend any social activities that would include alcohol until an investigation is completed.

Look for a full story in Monday’s issue of The Hatchet

The city government sent out an emergency alert this afternoon warning residents of the potentially severe weather that could hit the District this weekend. Hurricane Hanna is expected to move up the East Coast and reach the D.C. area on Saturday.

The alert, which is part of a service by the D.C. Emergency Management Agency, warns of possible heavy rains and high winds. It advises residents to prepare emergency kits with non-perishable food and water. More information on this alert can be found here.

Political journalist Bill O’Reilly, host of Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor, will be the first guest on the 15th season of The Kalb Report with moderator Marvin Kalb on Sept. 27. O’Reilly, who was a student of Kalb’s at Harvard, will be discussing the theme of “opinion journalism.”

The taping will take place at 1 p.m. in the National Press Building at 14th and F Streets. Tickets are free and available at Ticketmaster in the Marvin Center or online at kalb.gwu.edu. The Kalb Report is produced jointly by GW’s Institute of Global Media, Harvard’s Joan Shorenstein Center and the National Press Club.

Escalator outages persisted at the Foggy Bottom Metro station today, forming a line to enter the station that snaked around the neighboring hospital during this afternoon’s rush hour. The station has been experiencing escalator outages for the past few weeks, caused by intermittent repairs, unexpected outages and even a passenger’s shoelace getting caught.

Two of the station’s escalators are currently under repairs scheduled to continue into September and the third unexpectedly stopped working earlier today. For the second time in three weeks, all three escalators were out of service with only one to serve as a stairway for the station’s commuters, causing the backup.

Foggy Bottom is not the only station with escalator problems, Metro’s web site shows that 38 stations are currently experiencing outages.

This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Amy Rhodin.

Freshman Brianne Hiltz, who was named Miss Connecticut Teen 2008, did not make it into the Top 15 of the Miss Teen USA competition on Aug. 16 at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort in the Bahamas. The winner of the competition was Stevi Lauren Perry from Arkansas.

Freshman Brianne Hiltz did not make it into the Top 15 of the Miss Teen USA competition

Hiltz, who admits she is unique from the typical pageant participant, believes it was her strong opinion in the interview portion that set her back in the competition.

“I think what killed me was that in the interview portion they asked me why I wasn’t here for an acting or modeling opportunity,” explained Hiltz. “I simply responded (that) the entertainment business is cutthroat and you always need an education to fall back on…I was just being honest!”

Despite not winning, the blond beauty queen cherished her first national pageant experience.

“I got to swim with dolphins and meet some pretty cool girls,” she said. “So I did walk away with a smile and a great experience.”