Key areas of concern include “snowcrete” piles on Wisconsin Avenue and Connecticut Avenue inside the Beltway, which have gridlock and choke-points.
This page contains a video which is being blocked by your ad blocker. In order to view the video you must disable your ad blocker.
Snow, ice continue to cause major headaches for Montgomery Co. commuters
This ice is not so nice.
Cleanup efforts remain underway in Maryland’s Montgomery County after snow, ice and frigid temperatures wrapped their frozen fingers around the D.C. region.
Key areas of concern include “snowcrete” piles on Wisconsin Avenue and Connecticut Avenue inside the Beltway, which have gridlock and choke-points.
WTOP’s Neal Augenstein checked them out Thursday morning.
“Here on Connecticut Avenue, you simply don’t have the merge and turn lanes that you need for a normal commute, because they’re covered with snowcrete,” Augenstein reported.
“Getting off the Beltway onto Connecticut, there’s no merge and travel lane.”
That means that if you want to get on the Beltway, there’s bad news: some lanes are still icy. And it’s not the kind of ice that can be cleared with the pass of a snowplow.
“This is going to require crews with heavy machinery chopping and removing tons of ice. This morning, that ice is blocking travel lanes. And it’s not going to melt anytime soon,” Augenstein said.
WTOP Traffic Reporter Dave Dildine has been sounding the alarm for some time.
“Piles of ice at sensitive points on the road network that have led to major backups on Wisconsin Avenue, Rockville Pike, Connecticut Avenue, East-West Highway and Old Georgetown Road,” Dildine said.
State officials say they’re working on the issue.
Charlie Gischler with the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway told WTOP that the department will reach out to its Montgomery County division to see whether crews will be headed to Wisconsin Avenue, Connecticut Avenue and East-West Highway to clear the ice.
Gischler told WTOP on Tuesday that “this was a particularly brutal storm.”
“The big problem was two things, the sleet and freezing rain that fell on top of it, and then the bitter cold temperatures for sustained days in a row,” Gischler said. “You can’t plow some of that. You have to add literally, one scoop full at a time, physically remove it.”
Montgomery County’s Chief Administrative Officer Richard Madaleno told WTOP that it’s been challenging for crews to haul the leftover snow and ice to drop-off sites around the county.
“It became so heavy, so fast, and the type of plows we have, the height of the plows, it has been a struggle to move things,” he said.
Clearing the turn lanes takes a lot of work.
“We just have not had the equipment necessary to clear to the standard we would like to have,” Madaleno said. “This is a partnership in Maryland. About two thirds of our roads are cleared by us, and a third cleared by the state and the municipal governments, and everyone is working very hard to get it done.”
Are the roads near your home still a pain? Send us a tip on the WTOP app.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
After an inspection and the publication of leasing advertisements for the proposed detention center in Elkridge, Howard County determined that the building would be used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and revoked the building permit.
Howard County, Maryland, has revoked the building permit for a private detention center that County Executive Calvin Ball said was going to be used by U.S. Immigration and Customs. And the county council has introduced emergency legislation to stop the project.
After a recent inspection and leasing advertisements for the proposed detention center, located at 6522 Meadowridge Road in Elkridge, the county determined “this privately owned building is intended for occupancy by ICE,” said Ball in a Monday news conference.
“The retrofitting of a private office buildings for detention use without transparency, without input, without clear oversight, is deeply troubling,” Ball said. “In this case, the proposed detention center sits in an existing office park in close proximity to health care providers, schools, parks and neighborhoods.”
According to Ball, the county wasn’t aware of specific lease agreements or contracts between the building owner and any federal agency.
The county’s director of inspections, licenses and permits and permits revoked the building permit, Ball said.
Later, Monday, the Howard County Council introduced two pieces of emergency legislation aimed at preventing private entities, rather than government agencies, from operating detention centers in the county.
The council voted to hold an emergency public hearing Wednesday, which could stretch into Thursday, followed by a vote on the bills by the five-person council.
“Since there are four cosponsors on the bill, it is about 99.99% likely to pass,” Council Chair Opel Jones told the audience, which responded with a standing ovation.
Jones asked audience members to “pack the house” for the public hearing, before encouraging participants to be concise in their statements, “so we can get right to the point, and vote this bill in.”
Howard County’s actions comes several days after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security purchased a warehouse near Hagerstown, Maryland, raising concerns that it would be retrofitted as an ICE detention center.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
During the two week trial, Fairfax County prosecutors have argued that Brendan Banfield had an affair with the family’s Brazilian au pair and staged an elaborate scheme to lure Joseph Ryan to the home to get rid of his wife and blame her killing on someone else.
Jurors will resume deliberations Monday morning in the aggravated murders trial of Brendan Banfield, charged in the 2023 deaths of his wife, and another man, in his Herndon, Virginia, home.
During the two week trial, Fairfax County prosecutors have argued that Banfield had an affair with the family’s Brazilian au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes, and staged an elaborate scheme to lure Joseph Ryan to the home to get rid of his wife and blame her killing on someone else.
The former IRS law enforcement officer has pleaded not guilty and faces life in prison with no chance of parole if convicted of one of two aggravated murder charges. He’s also charged with use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and child endangerment, as his 4-year-old child was home during the killings, on Feb. 24, 2023.
Jurors began deliberating midday Friday, and will resume their closed door discussions, Monday at 10 a.m.
The panel of 12 heard drastically different stories in closing arguments of what happened before, during, and after the killings of Christine Banfield and Ryan.
Prosecutor Jenna Sands said Brendan Banfield was in love with Magalhaes, and came up with the plan to kill his wife. After initially being charged with Ryan’s murder, Magalhaes testified for the prosecution, after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter, and a promise that she would be sentenced to time served.
Prosecutors and Magalhaes told jurors Banfield created fake accounts to pose as his wife on a fetish website to lure a man to the home, for what Joseph Ryan believed would be a consensual but violent sexual encounter with Christine Banfield.
“They got Joe Ryan into the house, and then they shot him,” said Sands, in closing arguments. “Brendan stabbed Christine, let her bleed out on the floor, and then dripped, smeared and wiped her blood on Joseph Ryan’s body to make it look like he had attacked Christine. Then they called the police.”
During trial, Magalhaes testified that Banfield shot Ryan in the head, and the au pair shot Ryan in the chest.
However, defense attorney John Carroll said prosecutors failed to produce evidence that corroborated their “catfishing” theory.
“Juliana made it up,” said Carroll, during his Friday closing argument. “She told the Commonwealth what they wanted to hear and without question they just took it as their story.”
“She was a pawn in trying to get to my client,” said Carroll. “Her entire story has been bought and paid for.”
Carroll reminded jurors that Brendan Banfield’s DNA was not discovered on the knife that was used to kill Christine Banfield. “The guy who brought the knife to the house is the stabber,” said Carroll.
Carroll pointed out that prosecutors didn’t call investigators from Fairfax County Police Department to testify about blood or digital evidence, because their findings contradicted the prosecution’s catfishing theory.
“When they lie and manipulate to get someone to make a statement, that’s not discovering the truth, that’s planting the truth,” Carroll concluded, when asking jurors to find his client not guilty of all charges.
In her rebuttal closing, Sands questioned whether Magalhaes would have pleaded guilty to manslaughter if Banfield’s version of interrupting a home invasion were truthful. “If this version is correct, coming from Mr. Banfield, then she would be set free — she would be as ‘not guilty’ as he would be.”
“Whose story is more credible here, Juliana’s or Mr. Banfield’s,” Sands asked. “Whose story does the evidence support?”
On Friday, prosecutors and the defense agreed not to offer the jury less severe homicide charges to consider against Banfield, creating an all-or-nothing decision on each aggravated murder count.
One aggravated murder count alleges that Banfield killed Ryan and Christine Banfield as part of the same act. The other aggravated murder count charges Banfield with killing two people within a three-year period.
WTOP’s Jessica Kronzer contributed to this report.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
Passengers at the D.C. region’s three airports are optimistic their flights will fly Monday, after the weekend’s snow, sleet and ongoing brutal cold temperatures.
This page contains a video which is being blocked by your ad blocker. In order to view the video you must disable your ad blocker.
Thousands of passengers stuck at airport after weekend storm
Passengers at the D.C. region’s three major airports are optimistic their flights will take off Monday, after the weekend’s snow, sleet and ongoing brutal cold temperatures.
“It’s 70 degrees in Phoenix, we’re looking forward to going home,” said one teacher at Dulles International Airport, who had stayed in the D.C. area longer than expected after a school trip.
“We had a little mishap,” said her student. “I didn’t get my ticket, and she had to stay behind.”
After rebooking their flight, “Ten minutes before we were supposed to board, all the flights in the airport got canceled,” the student said.
“We had to change flights twice or three times, and rebook a hotel on the phone apps,” the teacher said.
One business traveler heading to Los Angeles had to travel back and forth to Dulles several times since Saturday.
“There were a lot of delays and cancellations,” he said. “We didn’t really plan for the weather and we got a few days of delay.”
Another passenger, who held a ticket for a Monday morning flight to Korea, had spent the past several days holding her breath.
“I was a little bit concerned, but since my flight is this morning and the peak was yesterday, I was hopeful that it won’t be affected too much,” she said.
She said many international fliers book flights months in advance, “when they don’t have any idea what’s going to happen in terms of the weather — so a week before, you tend to check the weather app.”
What will the weather be like when she gets to Korea?
“As cold as here, but it’s not snowing right now,” she smiled.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
If you drive Interstate 95, you’ve probably seen the colorful waterslides on the Kalahari resort being built in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Kalahari is now accepting bookings for stays beginning Dec. 18, 2026,
This page contains a video which is being blocked by your ad blocker. In order to view the video you must disable your ad blocker.
Virginia’s largest indoor waterpark to open this year
If you drive Interstate 95, you’ve probably seen the colorful waterslides on the Kalahari resort being built in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
Kalahari is now accepting bookings for stays beginning Dec. 18, 2026, at the resort, which is built on 135 acres, just off I-95’s Thornburg exit 118. Kalahari Resorts & Conventions — Spotsylvania will feature 907 guest rooms, a 175,000 square-foot indoor water park and 150,000 square feet of convention center space.
“If you go down 95 you can see all the slides sticking out of the outside,” said general manager Brian Shanle in a WTOP interview. “We’re now working on the inside.”
The ongoing 36-month construction includes, “Building the waterpark, the convention center is moving rapidly forward, with dry walls going up on that portion,” Shanle said.
“Hotel rooms are moving fast forward as well,” he added.
Built on what were fields wedged between I-95 and U.S. Route 1, according to Spotsylvania County, Kalahari, will generate $7 million annually in tax revenue above the incentives offered by the county.
During a July 2025 tour of the site, Shanle detailed some of the infrastructure changes that were completed to accommodate additional cars in the area.
A drone shot of Virginia’s largest indoor water park. (Courtesy Kalahari Resorts & Conventions)
“Improvements have been made on Mudd Tavern Road, the exit 118 off 95 to allow for additional traffic for this and other business that are coming to the area,” Shanle said, stepping aside as heavy machinery traveled a service road running parallel to the interstate.
Shanle said the Virginia Department of Transportation’s project to widen the road to four lanes between I-95 and Route 1 was in the works before Kalahari purchased the land and began construction.
“We put in additional turn lanes into the resort off U.S. 1,” said Shanle, reflecting the responsibility that developers often undertake in Virginia.
Conventions booked ahead of opening
With its goal of tapping into both D.C. and Richmond markets for day visitors as well as convention business, Shanle said Kalahari has five full-time sales people tasked with encouraging money-spending visitors.
“We’ve booked over 130 conventions and meetings from the day we open through 2030,” Shanle said. “There’s 130,000 square feet of meeting space, with a 30,000 square foot ballroom where we can do a sit-down dinner for 2,000 people in one room.”
Shanle said 1,400 employees will be hired to open the doors.
“We’re going to be doing a lot of hiring from different trades, to retail guest services, housekeeping, waterpark operations, and leadership positions for several different departments,” Shanle said.
Contest underway to name waterslide
“We’re building the longest ‘Master Blaster’ water coaster in the nation,” Shanle said. “We want to have a listener name the slide and win a prize — an overnight stay for the grand prize winner, and we’ll also have two runner-up prizes.
The Master Blaster propels riders uphill, combining the thrills of a slide and roller coaster.
The winner will have the opportunity to be the first person to ride the slide when the park opens.
The number of law enforcement professionals nationwide who died in 2025 is the lowest in 80 years, according to Bill Alexander, CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
FILE – A photo of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in D.C.(WTOP/Luke Lukert)
FILE – A photo of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in D.C.(WTOP/Luke Lukert)
Fewer names will need to be engraved this year into Northwest D.C.’s National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.
The number of law enforcement professionals nationwide who died in 2025 is the lowest in 80 years, according to Bill Alexander, CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
“One death is too many, but 111 men and women died in the line of duty for calendar year 2025,” Alexander said. “The report is certainly encouraging, by virtue of the fact that it’s about a 25% drop from the deaths that we reported in 2024.”
The last time annual officer deaths were at a comparable level was in 1943, when 94 officers were killed in the line of duty.
Firearms-related deaths claimed the lives of 44 officers in 2025, a decrease of 15% from 2024: “It means some opposing party had a firearm and was using it with the intent and purpose to kill a police officer,” Alexander said. “There’s another word for that — murder.”
Alexander said improvements in technology is helping “the hundreds of men and women in uniform who are shot every single year.”
Bulletproof vests have “gotten better and lighter and more malleable, which leads to circumstances where officers are more likely to wear it because it is thinner and lighter, and has a greater stopping force.”
In addition, Alexander said more officers are receiving medical training and equipment.
“When an officer is shot, more likely than not the first person on the scene are going to be fellow officers, and they’re, in many cases, providing the first-tier first response,” Alexander said. “And I’m convinced that’s helping to save lives on that front.”
Almost a year after the midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, the congested airspace around Reagan National Airport continues to be the focus of attention.
Almost a year after the midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, the congested airspace around Reagan National Airport continues to be the focus of attention.
“This was a wake-up call for not only the folks who go in and out of Reagan National all the time, but the whole country, finding out that this airspace was so conflicted between planes and choppers,” Tom Costello, senior correspondent with NBC News, said.
A total of 67 people — all 64 passengers on the commercial flight and three soldiers in the helicopter — died in the Jan. 29 crash.
In mid-December, the federal government admitted failures by the pilots of the Army Black Hawk helicopter and a controller in the Reagan National Airport tower contributed to the deadly crash.
“The United States admits pilots flying PAT25 failed to maintain proper and safe visual separation from AE5342,” according to the court filing, which also said air traffic controllers failed to alert the jet of the approaching chopper.
While allegations of liability and damages regarding the January collision continue in the court system, safety provisions to prevent future tragedies are still evolving.
Within days of the collision, the Federal Aviation Administration banned nearly all nonessential helicopter flights near Reagan National, requiring air traffic controllers and pilots to rely on radar to ensure separation.
A plane takes off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport as Roberto Marquez of Dallas places flowers at a memorial of crosses he erected for the 67 victims of a midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines jet, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
The airport’s main runway — 01/19 — is the single busiest runway in the country, averaging 820 arrivals and departures per day, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. The next busiest airport runways are at Los Angeles International Airport, with 781 flights, Newark Liberty International, with 607 flights, and Chicago O’Hare, with 599.
The Airports Authority and local politicians have continually challenged proposals to add additional flights at Reagan.
Takeoff and landing capacity at Reagan National and other busy airports is managed with a slot-controlled system. Airports have a limited number of slots per hour or day, set by the FAA to prevent overcrowding and maintain safety.
In May 2024, five new round-trip slots were added, as part of the FAA Reauthorization Act.
Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine issued a joint statement in September: “Unfortunately, Congress added more flights into DCA’s already chaotic airspace just months before this tragic crash over the objections of the region’s Senate delegation and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, disregarding the concerns of numerous pilots, air traffic controllers, and FAA and DOT personnel.”
The airspace over D.C. is the most restricted in the country. Since World War II, during the Cold War, and after Sept. 11, 2001, security measures have continued to increase.
The 15-mile Flight Restricted Zone around D.C. allows only military and government flights, emergency flights and scheduled commercial flights.
By March, the FAA imposed permanent rules, closing helicopter Route 4 between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge and prohibiting the use of certain runways at Reagan National when helicopters are conducting urgent missions near the airport.
“I think the question is going to be, ‘Can the FAA and the military come to an agreement where they are able to keep this airspace deconflicted in the future — between the military choppers and the planes that are in and out of Reagan Airport?’” Costello said.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz denounced those provisions in the massive National Defense Authorization bill that would allow military aircraft to get a waiver to return to operating without broadcasting their precise location.
Shortly after the NDAA’s passage, the Senate passed Cruz’s bill that would require military helicopters to signal their location in the D.C. area. The House has not yet voted on the bill.
FILE – A crane offloads a piece of wreckage from a salvage vessel onto a flatbed truck, near the wreckage site in the Potomac River of a mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Feb. 5, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
The military, government and DC’s airspace
WTOP anchor and reporter Dan Ronan, a 25-year commercially-rated pilot, said the give-and-take between safety regulators and lawmakers was inevitable.
“It’s a job that is too big for 435 members of Congress to write rules about airspace in an area that’s 35 or 40 miles in circumference,” Ronan said.
In addition to the congested air space, Ronan said the military has opposed the FAA’s requirement that all aircraft use ADS-B location tracking technology, which broadcasts an aircraft’s location.
“The Pentagon doesn’t want to be tracked, because any hobbyist can go on a commercial website and track what an aircraft is, and go, ‘There’s a Blackhawk flying by Reagan National,’” Ronan said. “While we may not know who’s the cargo in the aircraft, if it’s flying over the river, one would naturally assume it’s high-value cargo.’”
At the time of the collision, the Black Hawk helicopter was on a training mission, using night goggles, “practicing for the continuity of government in the event of a national security emergency, in the event of an attack in the capital, and they needed to practice going in and out, getting people in and out of the capital,” Costello said.
Costello said the military “clearly wants to protect its interest” in D.C.’s airspace.
“It wants to protect the flexibility that it feels it needs to go in and out of the Pentagon, and to train chopper crews appropriately, up and down the Potomac,” he said.
Ronan can see the Pentagon’s point of view.
“They don’t want their aircraft showing up on FlightAware. And for issues of national security, that makes sense.”
However, the FAA and NTSB feel differently.
“The FAA is saying, ‘Wait a minute, we’re talking about one of the busiest airports, and one of the single busiest runways in the country,’” Costello said. “‘On a typical day when we’re not in a national security emergency, the priority has to be the civilian traffic going in and out of Reagan Airport.’”
According to Costello, while “nothing positive came from this terrible crash,” he believes it pointed out critical safety protocol improvements and investments were needed.
“Congress needs to spend the money to upgrade air traffic control, not just at Reagan Airport, but nationwide. Already, Congress has allocated more than $12 billion to do that,” Costello said. “Our ATC system has been antiquated and in desperate need of an upgrade.”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
A popular local kabob restaurant is offering to parlay your hankering for kabobs, hummus and fresh pita into a meal to help needy families this holiday season.
This page contains a video which is being blocked by your ad blocker. In order to view the video you must disable your ad blocker.
Moby Dick House of Kabob offers ‘Catering for a Cause’ to help needy families during holidays
A popular local kabob restaurant is offering to parlay your hankering for kabobs, hummus and fresh pita into a meal to help needy families this holiday season.
“We’re doing ‘Catering for a Cause,’” said Alex Momeni, chief operating officer of Moby Dick House of Kabob, with 31 locations in the D.C. region. “For every catering order that customers place with us during the holidays, we are donating a full entree to a local shelter.”
The campaign, which runs through Jan. 1, aims to help neighbors enjoy the holiday on the basis of the company’s catering orders.
“We’re going to tally it up and we’re working with some local shelters to provide weekly deliveries,” Momeni said.
Catering for a Cause is not the first charitable initiative of Moby Dick. During the recent government shutdown, they offered Sandwiches for the Shutdown.
“Whoever was affected by the government shutdown, by just showing a government ID, they’d come in and get a free sandwich,” Momeni said. “Displaced employees were invited to swing by, grab some lunch, while trying to figure out how to get back on track with your career.”
Moby Dick also works with Too Good To Go, a service that redistributes surplus food to avoid food waste.
Moby Dick House of Kabob began with a single restaurant in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1989.
“It originated as a Persian brand, but over time it kind of morphed into more of a Persian-Mediterranean kind of concept,” Momeni said, during a visit to the brand’s Sterling, Virginia, location. “We wanted to make sure we covered a lot of flavors from back home but also brought in some influences from surrounding regions.”
“Our specialties are open-flamed grilled kabobs,” Momeni said, as employees turned large skewers of chicken breast, seasoned beef and lamb, and salmon on the charcoal grill.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
Classes are canceled Friday after a malfunctioning sprinkler caused flooding and damaged at least a dozen classrooms, according to Montgomery County Public Schools.
Classes are canceled Friday at Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring, Maryland, after a malfunctioning sprinkler caused flooding and damaged at least a dozen classrooms, according to Montgomery County Public Schools.
In a Thursday email to Sherwood students, staff and families, the school system said a sprinkler on the second floor of the building malfunctioned: “The resulting high-pressure water has caused flooding and water damage in the immediate area of the leak and then down into the first floor, affecting at least 12 classrooms.”
In the email obtained by WTOP, Adnan Mamoon, MCPS chief of operations, wrote Sherwood High School would need to be closed Friday and through the weekend to complete repairs and restoration, to allow the school to reopen Monday.
The school system’s final day of classes before the winter holiday is Tuesday.
MCPS spokesman Christopher Cram confirmed the school’s Friday closure, and that repair work will continue into the weekend.
“MCPS facilities teams and professional cleaning and restoration contractors (ServPro) are on-site and the work is underway,” Mamoon wrote Thursday. “The broken sprinkler has already been fixed, and the water has been cleaned up, but replacing ceiling tiles and removing other damaged building materials is ongoing work that will continue through the weekend.”
Claudia Delgado, PTSA president at Sherwood High School, told WTOP this is just the latest incident of water damage and maintenance problems in the school.
“Floods have been documented since 2018, because our plumbing system is really old,” Delgado told WTOP’s Kate Ryan. “The school was built in the fifties, and a lot of the plumbing is still that original plumbing, so we deal with leaks all the time.”
More alarming are concerns about mold. Delgado said some staff members have reported respiratory issues related to mold and have called for more thorough testing and remediation.
“The way they fix it is just by replacing moldy ceiling tiles, and then they just wait until it comes back, and then they do it again,” Delgado said.
Superintendent Thomas Taylor has said the cost of maintaining and replacing schools in the county is getting more expensive. Taylor requested $2.7 billion in his six-year capital budget proposal but said the school system’s “true needs” would require a $5.2 billion investment.
“We are slated to have the HVAC replaced,” Delgado said. “Phase One on the replacement is in 2027, but we are not in the queue for any type of extensive remodel or repair of the school.”
In addition to missed classes, the school closure will also affect extracurricular activities. Delgado said her daughter’s pom squad will miss three valuable days of practice, before an upcoming competition.
Located on Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Sherwood High School serves approximately 1,700 students in grades 9 through 12.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
Grieving is a painful part of life, and loss and grief often makes a surprise reappearance during the holiday season.
Grieving is a painful part of life, and loss and grief often makes a surprise reappearance during the holiday season.
“Grief is feeling the sadness, the loss, the mourning, yearning for someone who has died,” said Kim Penberthy, professor of research in psychiatric medicine at the University of Virginia. “We often think about the holidays as a time when we gather with friends and family, and reminisce and celebrate.”
Penberthy said sometimes people realize they are feeling blue, but may not be sure why.
“I have people who say to me, ‘I feel more sad, lethargic, I’m not hungry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me,’ and then it dawns on them, ‘Oh, mom’s not here,’” Penberthy said.
Even if you’re busy planning and preparing for the holidays, “There is a part of you that remembers that loss, and so it can sneak up on you.”
Penberthy said there isn’t a right or wrong way to grieve.
“We have complicated relationships with people, and that doesn’t change just because they pass away,” she said.
How to handle the holidays
For a grieving person, acknowledging the sadness can help.
“That’s the first step, saying to yourself, ‘OK, this may be hard,’” Penberthy said.
A person experiencing a recent loss may choose to avoid a particularly emotion-filled holiday event.
“If you’re going to participate, remind yourself ‘why,’ and try to keep that in mind as you move through the interactions,” Penberthy said.
“Are you going to see a particular person? Are you there to create a positive memory?” she added. “You need a proactive reason, not ‘just because that’s what I always do.’”
While acknowledging the bittersweetness of a loved one’s loss, over time a grieving person will begin to form new positive connections with the holidays, Penberthy said.
“There may be some attempts at first that don’t go so well,” Penberthy said. “So, be kind to yourself and others, ‘Yeah, that was a struggle, that was hard.’”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
The Washington Capitals are launching a street hockey league for kids in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
The team is launching the Capitals Street Hockey League — or CSHL — for kids between the ages of 8 and 12.(Courtesy Washington Capitals)
The team is launching the Capitals Street Hockey League — or CSHL — for kids between the ages of 8 and 12.(Courtesy Washington Capitals)
Anyone who’s ever played street hockey on a playground or empty tennis court knows the excitement that comes with passing, shooting and scoring — the Washington Capitals are offering a way to take that excitement to the next level.
The team is launching the Capitals Street Hockey League — or CSHL — for kids between the ages of 8 and 12. The inaugural season will run from March to May 2026, at three rinks: Lake Fairfax Park, in Reston, Virginia; Francis C. Hammond Middle School in Alexandria; and Ridge Road Recreational Park, in Germantown, Maryland.
Kids from Virginia, Maryland and D.C. are invited to join the coed league, which the team described as a “fun, low-stress environment.” No prior hockey experience or gear is required to participate in the coed league.
The league will be broken into three divisions, by age, with groupings of 5-6-year-olds, 7-8-year-olds, and 9-12-year-olds. All divisions will play on the same day at the selected locations, during the 8-week season, with each team playing two games per weekend.
Each team will have a minimum of six players and maximum of 10. For those not registering with or as a team, the Capitals will place individuals on one.
The price to participate varies by location from $149-179, and registration includes a t-shirt. The Capitals are also offering a 15% holiday discount for those who register during December
The team offers more than 30 ways to play hockey, including on-ice and off-ice versions. The Caps have refurbished or built 14 outdoor street or inline hockey rinks across Virginia, Maryland, D.C. and West Virginia, to encourage participation in hockey.
According to the team’s news release, the number of people playing in ice hockey leagues is way up.
“The total number of USA Hockey-registered players (youth and adult) in the Washington D.C. area climbed more than 186% from 2005-06 through 2024-25, and 70% across the region as a whole during the same time frame,” the news release stated.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
Jose Zelaya pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the July 2023 crash that killed 17-year-old Rebekah Zarco, of Burke, Virginia, according Fairfax County prosecutors.
A man has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the July 2023 crash that killed 17-year-old Rebekah Zarco, of Burke, Virginia, according to Fairfax County prosecutors.
Jose Zelaya, 44, was driving 87 mph in a 40 mph zone on July 18, 2023, in the crash that killed Zarco, who was driving her younger brother and two close friends. Zarco’s sibling and the two friends were injured, but survived.
Zelaya was traveling westbound on Burke Centre Parkway in a Cadillac XTS4 sedan when he crashed into Zarco’s Kia Forte. Zarco, a graduate of James W. Robinson, Jr. Secondary School, had been turning left from a shopping area onto Burke Centre Parkway.
In a proffer, Fairfax County prosecutors said if the case had gone to trial, witnesses would have testified Zelaya appeared to be racing the car next to him on Burke Centre Parkway. The car’s air bag crash module, akin to the black box of a plane, showed Zelaya’s car was driving 87 mph — at nearly full throttle — right before the crash.
When interviewed by police, according to the proffer, Zelaya said he was traveling approximately 50 mph, and that the victim “jumped out at me” when it was too late for him to stop.
Zelaya faces between one and six years in prison, according to Laura Birnbaum, spokeswoman for Fairfax County State’s Attorney’s Office.
His sentencing is scheduled for March 12. Birnbaum said lawyers will argue for what they believe is an appropriate sentence during the hearing.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
Two live Bad Brains performances at The Bayou are the basis of “Bad Brains: Live at the Bayou,” which is being released this week for National Record Store Day Black Friday.
This page contains a video which is being blocked by your ad blocker. In order to view the video you must disable your ad blocker.
Newly discovered early recordings capture Bad Brains, live at The Bayou
The explosive power of D.C. punk rockers Bad Brains is legendary, and newly discovered live recordings from 45 years ago are adding to the legend.
In a full-circle moment, the soon-to-be released double album has ties to Don Zientara’s Inner Ear Studio, in Arlington, Virginia, where Bad Brains did their first demo session.
Two live Bad Brains performances at The Bayou — at the now-defunct Georgetown fixture from July 14, 1980, and March 15, 1981 — are the basis of “Bad Brains: Live at the Bayou,” which is being released this week for Record Store Day on Black Friday.
In an interview with WTOP, Darryl Jenifer, bass player for Bad Brains, said while growing up “in the Alabama Avenue corridor,” he was aware of The Bayou, located at 3135 K Street NW, but had never seen a show there before the band’s first performance in 1979.
“Right before we were going on, we were looking for H.R.,” Jenifer said. “The amps are feeding back, and the energy was building, but where’s H.R.?”
Jenifer didn’t realize that singer Paul “H.R.” Hudson was on the balcony of The Bayou.
“I looked up, and he came flying down from up top,” laughed Jenifer. “And then, when he hit the stage, we took off.”
In Bad Brains’ earliest days, Hudson was a whirling dervish, with athletic, confident stage moves often punctuated by a standing backflip.
Jenifer collaborated on the new vinyl and CD with Zev Feldman for Time Traveler Recordings, the Grammy-nominated producer’s first release for the Montgomery County, Maryland-based label.
“I was absolutely blown away, because these recordings on ‘Live at the Bayou’ predate their entire full album discography,” Feldman said. “It basically rewrites history, it’s a new chapter and it all happened right here in the Washington area.”
‘H.R. was singing out on the back lawn’
The live recordings were restored and mastered for the project by Zientara with Inner Ear Studio.
After 32 years in a location just off Four Mile Run in South Arlington, Zientara closed that location, and Inner Ear has returned to its original location — his basement.
Zientara recalled the initial demo session with Bad Brains came about at the behest of Skip Groff, record store owner and part-time record producer. Groff died in 2019.
“They basically were in the other room … with the amplifiers, and the drum set,” Zientara said. “H.R. was singing outside on the back lawn — we ran a microphone and headphones out there.”
Zientara said Bad Brains were held in high regard by the younger punks in what became D.C.’s hard core scene, including Ian MacKaye, who cofounded Dischord Records.
“In 1979-80, not only did we have this great local band, we actually had the greatest band in the world playing in Washington,” MacKaye told WTOP in 2016 when Bad Brains was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They didn’t get in.
Zientara said, “Bad Brains was something else,” in terms of their songwriting and engrossing performance, which he believes inspired younger musicians.
“When you see someone doing their craft well, they could point to Bad Brains and say, ‘See, this is the way to do it,’” Zientara said. “They were upping the ante.”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
Most new parents, at one time or another, seek information about how to help their newborn sleep through the night. What they see on social media could put their baby at risk.
At one time or another, most new parents seek information about how to help their newborn sleep through the night.
“Many of the questions are, ‘How do I get my baby to sleep,’” said Dr. Christina Brown, a pediatrician with Kaiser Permanente based in White Marsh, Maryland. “It’s a vulnerable time, right. You’re exhausted, you have this new baby, and you just need sleep.”
But, the answer isn’t to look for advice on Instagram or TikTok, Brown said.
A recent study from Consumer Reports shows an increase in social media posts from “sleep influencers” has coincided with a rise in sleep-related infant deaths.
“In 2022, approximately 3,700 babies died in their sleep,” according to Consumer Reports. “To put that into perspective, that’s 10 babies under 1 year old in America dying every day.”
Brown said many of the cribs pictured on social media go against all the principles of safe sleep.
“All these pictures that we see on social media with toys, the stuffed animals, the thick blankets and bumpers — no, no, no, no, no. Those are a nightmare,” Brown said. “There are many celebrities and influencers out there showing pictures and videos of their beautiful nurseries that are death traps, really.”
A crib should consist of a firm mattress and a fitted sheet. If you think your baby needs more warmth, instead of a blanket, use a sleep sack.
When it comes to positioning a newborn to sleep safely, “It’s time to go back to basics: Alone, on your back, in a crib — the ABCs of sleep,” Brown said. “They really should be alone, either in a crib or a bassinet, not in a co-sleeper, not in bed with the parent.”
In 2025, new federal safety standards took effect, imposing new safety standards for infant support cushions, including baby loungers, to reduce the risk of suffocation, entrapment, and falls.
“Many of these influencers are getting kickbacks from companies for promoting certain sleep devices, such as a lounger,” Brown said. “This is really marketing, but parents are using social media as education.”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
With Thanksgiving approaching, and Black Friday one week away, a D.C.-based consumer expert warns retailers are “just lying to you” when offering tempting sale prices.
With Thanksgiving approaching, and Black Friday one week away, a D.C.-based consumer expert warns that when retailers offer tempting sale prices, “they’re really just lying to you.”
“Our researchers spent six months tracking prices at 25 major retailers and found pretty much all the markdowns that are offered by most stores, aren’t special prices or savings at all,” said Kevin Brasler, executive editor of Washington Consumers’ Checkbook.
“What they’re doing is, they’re showing a list or regular price, then crossing that out and giving a supposed discount,” Brasler said. “But, they’re rarely, if ever, charging those list or regular prices.”
Brasler said the industry term is “anchor prices,” and that an original price “is just fabricated” before a sale price is advertised in order “to make it seem like they’re saving us a lot of money.”
At most stores, Brasler said, the products that were tracked were offered at supported discounts more than half the time.
“And, at many retailers, the fake sales never end,” Brasler said. “For 12 of the 25 companies, our shoppers found more than half the items we tracked were offered at false discounts every week or almost every week we checked.”
The lure is strong
There’s a reason retailers offer “One Day Only,” “60% Off,” and “Black Friday!” sales: They work.
“When someone says to you, ‘I’m going to offer you something for 40% off and for only a certain amount of time,’ it’s very powerful,” Brasler said. “It makes you think, ‘Oh, I’m saving a bunch of money, I better not shop around, or speak to my spouse about whether even to spend this money, or not.’”
Yet, most of the advertised sales aren’t legitimate money savers, he said.
Brasler does have some tips to actually get the best prices this holiday season.
“When you’re shopping, what you need to focus on is not what the supposed savings are, but what the actual cost of the item is,” Brasler said.
That involves shopping around and comparing prices, he said.
“Just doing a quick internet search will show you what other retailers are selling that item for,” Brasler said. “You often can find ‘Oh I can save even more by just switching my business to a different store.’”
In the report, Consumers’ Checkbook said retailers are violating clear cut laws:
The Federal Trade Commission’s rules on “former price comparisons” state that discounts are illegal if the “former price being advertised is not bona fide but fictitious — for example, where an artificial, inflated price was established for the purpose of enabling the subsequent offer of a large reduction — the ‘bargain’ being advertised is a false one; the purchaser is not receiving the unusual value he expects…”
Another way to monitor whether you are getting a good price is by using a website — CamelCamelCamel — that tracks Amazon prices on particular items, Brasler said.
“Amazon doesn’t always have the lowest price, but at least CamelCamelCamel will tell you ‘OK, this is the lowest price that Amazon offered for that item over the last six months or year,’” Brasler said. “It gives you an idea as to whether or not the price you’re being offered by a retailer is the lowest possible price.”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
DC Water has announced a second source and outlined plans to make the region’s water supply more resilient.
Nine years after WTOP reported D.C. only has a one or two-day supply of drinking water if the Potomac River became unavailable, DC Water has announced a second source and outlined plans to make the region’s water supply more resilient.
The second source is recycled water from the utility’s Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, the largest of its kind in the world.
David Gadis, CEO and general manager of DC Water, in unveiling the Pure Water DC initiative to a room full of stakeholders, said any disruption of the Potomac River would result in a national security emergency and cause a massive economic impact to the region.
“D.C.’s particular situation requires both storage and a second source,” said Rabia Chaudhry, the utility’s director of Water Supply Resilience.
Until now, the Potomac River has been the sole source for water processed at the Washington Aqueduct, which is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Over the past 9 years, the Travilah Quarry in Rockville, Maryland, which yielded crushed stone to build the Intercounty Connector and widen Interstate 270, has been considered as part of the solution.
“The quarry is a really great long-term storage solution, but it’s not in the near future,” Chaudhry said. “Right now, the understanding is it might be 30 years into the future.”
However, Gadis, Chaudhry and others said the need to harden the area’s water supply can’t wait.
“We are advancing a second source through water recycling — that’s an opportunity that can come online, maybe within the next decade or so,” Chaudhry said. “Water recycling is an opportunity that’s being used around the world, in the Western U.S. — California, Texas, Utah and Colorado — to make communities drought-resistant.”
The wastewater that will be recycled currently flows to the Blue Plains facility.
“It uses water that’s already been collected at sewage treatment plants, treats them to near-distilled-quality levels, and then allows that water to be mixed in with drinking water sources,” Chaudhry said.
One challenge of the project is demonstrating to the public that recycled water is safe to drink.
“There’s a name for the idea — it’s called ‘the yuck factor,’” Chaudhry said, citing a common initial response to the idea of purifying wastewater for drinking. “There’s a known process, on how you engage with the public to overcome the ‘yuck factor.’”
With $21 million of seed-funding approved by DC Water’s Board of Directors, ground is expected to be broken early next year for the Pure Water DC Discovery Center on the grounds of Blue Plains.
The facility will be used to pilot technologies to create purified drinking water, conduct research and communicate with regulators, and provide a chance for the public to see and learn about the process up close.
Even without taking the purification to the next level, Chaudhry said many would be surprised by the quality of wastewater that is currently processed at Blue Plains.
“Blue Plains water, when it’s discharged into the Potomac River, is cleaner than the receiving water,” she said. “You can see it in the satellite imagery.”
The receiving water is processed upriver at the Aqueduct located on MacArthur Boulevard.
In fact, Chaudhry said about 5% of the Potomac River water which reaches the Aqueduct’s intakes to begin the purification process for customers in the District and Arlington, comes from upstream wastewater facilities.
“We’re all downstream of somebody,” she said.
DC Water plans to provide its water reuse feasibility findings to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is in the midst of a three-year study funded through Congress to bolster the region’s water supply.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
New artificial intelligence technology is helping diagnose the U.S.’s most deadly cancer sooner, greatly improving the chances of lung cancer patients’ survival.
New artificial intelligence technology is helping diagnose the U.S.’s most deadly cancer sooner, greatly improving the chances of patients’ survival.
The key? Detecting tiny lung nodules when doctors aren’t screening for cancer, and automating and streamlining follow-up care. While most incidentally-discovered lung nodules turn out to be noncancerous, some become malignant over time.
The importance of catching lung cancer early is clear: The five-year survival rate for non-small cell lung cancer when detected in localized Stage 1 is 67%. However, most lung cancer is diagnosed after it has spread to other organs, when the five-year rate is 12%, according to the American Cancer Society.
Inova Schar Cancer Institute, based in Fairfax, Virginia, is one forward-thinking cancer center harnessing the power of AI to flag incidental lung nodules that often go unnoticed, during an emergency room CT scan or MRI for pneumonia or a broken bone. The Eon Lung Cancer Screening system uses computational linguistics and natural language processing to scan radiology reports.
The company says it identifies high-risk patients with 98.3% accuracy by analyzing imaging data and integrating with electronic health records in real time.
‘The patient is still in the ER, we call and tell them to come right to the clinic’
Amit “Bobby” Mahajan is the medical director of interventional pulmonology in the Inova Health System. (Disclosure: He is also the doctor who did my bronchoscopy in November 2022 and told me I had lung cancer. After four months of one-pill-a-day targeted therapy and a robotic-assisted lobectomy, I was declared cancer-free in May 2023 and have remained that way while continuing my daily pill.)
AI-powered technology is enabling Schar’s interventional pulmonologists and surgeons to get patients with found-by-accident nodules into cancer care months or years earlier. Mahajan heads the Incidental Pulmonary Nodule Clinic, as part of the Inova Saville Cancer Screening and Prevention Center.
“Whether it be an MRI, a chest CT, or abdominal CT, it takes that data, comprises it into a finding, and then makes a risk score of that being cancer,” said Mahajan, during a recent WTOP visit and demonstration of the Eon technology.
With the AI system scanning electronic health records as data is entered, “We’re able to call the patient and say, ‘Look, I know you just had a CT scan in the ER for your abdominal pain, but we also caught a lung nodule in the bottom of your lung that is suspicious,’” Mahajan said.
“For better or worse, we’ve had more than a handful of people who we’ve said, ‘We need to send you over to the clinic right now, because you came in for something that’s nothing to worry about, but we did find something that needs to be addressed today,’” he added.
Traditionally, reaching a cancer diagnosis for a patient with a persistent cough or other symptoms can take weeks and requires patients and doctors to coordinate follow-up scans and labs.
“From an AI perspective, the system will learn more from our CT scans and image reports every time it sees one, and starts picking out the word ‘spiculated,’ the word ‘nodule,’ and where it’s located,”‘ Mahajan said.
While benign nodules usually have smooth borders, a spiculated nodule’s edges appear irregular, or spiky, which often suggests the lesion is malignant.
“It takes that data to the very well known Brock Model for risk of lung cancer, and it will actually calculate the risk of cancer in those patients, and give us a percentage,” Mahajan said. “Anyone over 5%, we call, and get them into the clinic right away, most of the time in the same week.”
After being notified of an incidental nodule found in ER imaging, some patients prefer to check with their primary care physician.
“Totally reasonable,” Mahajan said.
Streamlining the follow-up process helps reduce the risk of patients “falling through the cracks.”
“We’ve biopsied them two days later, and gotten a diagnosis of cancer,” Mahajan said. “Luckily, most have been early stage disease and they’ve been resected afterward.”
With lung cancer, resection is a surgical procedure to remove lung tissue affected by cancer and is regarded as the most effective treatment for cancer that hasn’t spread to other organs.
“Our goal is to get a patient with a newly-diagnosed lung cancer evaluated as soon as possible, to get them into surgery,” Schar thoracic surgeon Melanie Subramanian said. “It’s not only better for treating the disease, but it also gives patients a peace of mind too, knowing that they have a treatment plan and a treatment team.”
The AI system creates guideline-based care plans, and sends alerts to doctors and nurse navigators, helping patients stay on schedule for future screenings.
‘It’s as close to an Xbox controller as you get’
Artificial intelligence is also enabling robotic bronchoscopy procedures.
“Previously, when we had to biopsy these small nodules in the lung, we had to use a handheld camera, to drive down as far as we could, but the lungs and airways get smaller and smaller the further out you go,” Mahajan said.
“Now, we have robotic platforms,” Mahajan added. “The patient is completely asleep, and we drive about a four millimeter camera down to these nodules, using a handheld controller that’s as close to an Xbox controller as you can get.”
And AI helps navigate through the airways: “There’s advanced imaging associated as well, and with the robotic platform, we can pretty much reach anything in the lung nowadays,” he said.
Inova Schar says 69% of lung cancers are now being detected at Stage 1 or 2, compared to only 34% without low-dose CT screening and proactive follow-up of incidental nodules.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
Clift Seferlis, 55, of Garrett Park, entered guilty pleas for 17 counts of mailing threatening communications and eight counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs.
A Montgomery County, Maryland, man has pleaded guilty in federal court to mailing threatening letters and postcards to more than a dozen Jewish institutions in Maryland, Virginia, D.C. and elsewhere over the past 18 months, suggesting that buildings would be destroyed and people killed.
Clift Seferlis, 55, of Garrett Park, entered guilty pleas Monday in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for 17 counts of mailing threatening communications and eight counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs. While most of the threats involved Jewish institutions in the D.C. area, some were mailed from Pennsylvania, where Seferlis visited often.
According to Seferlis’s plea memorandum, between March 2024 and June 2025, he used the U.S. mail system to send at least 40 letters and two postcards to more than 25 Jewish organizations and entities, including synagogues, Jewish museums, community centers, schools, nonprofit organizations and a delicatessen.
Federal prosecutors determined all of the letters were composed on the same typewriter, and many included news articles about the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The threatening postcards were handwritten, in block letters.
A letter to a synagogue in Gaithersburg invoked the German word “Kristallnacht,” which refers to the “Night of Broken Glass,” when anti-Jewish attacks took place in Germany and Austria, on Nov. 9, 1938.
In a footnote in the plea document, prosecutors explained: “Nazis and other Germans burned more than 1,400 synagogues, vandalized thousands of Jewish businesses, imprisoned more than 20,000 Jewish men, and assaulted and killed hundreds of Jewish people.”
In the letter to one of the houses of worship, Seferlis typed: “You do know Kristallnacht is very strong and sooner than later there is going to be PLENTY of broken glass at your synagogue.”
A letter to another institution asked rhetorically, “And you wonder why that nice young couple were gunned down in front of the museum in DC,” suggesting it could happen again. Prosecutors said Seferlis was referring to the killing of two staff members at the Israel Embassy, who were shot near the Capital Jewish Museum in Northwest, D.C. in May 2025.
Another letter, addressed to a Jewish school in Rockville included an article about an Israeli attack in Lebanon. Seferlis wrote: “Does the image mean anything to you? Are you proud to be part of without doubt the most hated diaspora on earth, one with no end to their cruelty? Of course you are not moved by this. You are a jew. Perhaps it might be more effective when the school is in ruins.”
A letter to a rabbi at a synagogue in D.C. included, “Are you concerned for the well being of your congregants?… you might want to be.”
A postcard mailed from Philadelphia included: “Gaza is in ruins. Countless dead. And you want to tell your story. Your story soon will be trying to rebuild your building when we are done playing IDF on it. You ready?” IDF stands for Israel Defense Forces, the national military of Israel.
According to the plea agreement, when Seferlis is sentenced on March 16, 2026, prosecutors and the defense will each argue for what they believe is an appropriate sentence.
In a news release, the U.S. Department of Justice said when Seferlis is sentenced in March, he faces a maximum penalty of 169 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $5,650,000 fine.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
Over the course of several hours, Fairfax County, Virginia, police say a group stole $175,000 from a credit union last month, using a scheme called ATM jackpotting.
Police say surveillance photos show suspects in an ATM theft that took place at an Apple Federal Credit Union branch in Fairfax.
Police say surveillance photos show suspects in an ATM theft that took place at an Apple Federal Credit Union branch in Fairfax.
(Courtesy Fairfax County Police Department)
Courtesy Fairfax County Police Department
Over the course of several hours, Fairfax County, Virginia, police say a group stole $175,000 from a credit union last month, using a scheme called ATM jackpotting.
It happened in early October at the Apple Federal Credit Union on Members Way in Fairfax, according to police.
In a news release, police said ATM jackpotting is a cyber-physical crime, in which suspects compromise an ATM to force it to dispense large sums of money. It can be accomplished by installing malware, or a “black box” device, to override the machine’s security. That installation can either happen through physical access, such as a USB drive, or by intercepting communications between the ATM and its network.
In this particular case, police said on Oct. 3, at 10:18 p.m., a man approached the drive-up ATM at the credit union and used a key to open the machine. It’s not clear what other actions the man took while the machine was open, according to police.
Hours later, the same man again opened the ATM just after midnight, at 12:28 a.m.
About 45 minutes later, he returned with another person, and they accessed the machine for about 15 minutes, while seemingly recording the machine with their phones.
The driver began withdrawing cash, without inserting a card or touching the ATM, at around 2 a.m. He held a phone toward the machine as money continued flowing from it, left briefly, and returned, with money pouring out of the machine until 2:44 a.m.
Police hope members of the public can identify the two suspects pictured in surveillance photos. They ask if you have information about the incident or believe you have been a victim, call the financial crimes unit at 703-246-3533. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through crime solvers by phone at 1-866-411-8477, and by web.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
AAA said a record 82 million Americans are projected to hit the roads, skies or rails this Thanksgiving, which is the single busiest holiday for travelers.
Now that the Federal Aviation Administration has lifted all restrictions on commercial flights imposed at 40 airports during the government shutdown, a record number of Thanksgiving travelers will have some clarity.
AAA said a record 82 million Americans are projected to hit the roads, skies or rails this Thanksgiving, which is the single busiest holiday for travelers.
Nearly 90% of Thanksgiving travelers — at least 73 million — will do it by car, according to AAA. The number could end up being higher if some air travelers decide to drive instead of fly, following the recent flight cancellations and uncertainty.
With the lifting of all air traffic restrictions, AAA projects 6 million U.S. travelers are expected to take domestic flights over the Thanksgiving holiday period, a 2% increase over 2024.
According to AAA data, the average cost of a roundtrip domestic flight is $700, which is about same as last year.
For air travelers renting cars at their destination, AAA said domestic car rentals are 15% cheaper than last Thanksgiving season.
Thanksgiving travelers who are driving will pay about the same at the pump as last year, when the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.06 on Thanksgiving Day.
If you’ll be traveling by car, AAA said the best time to hit the highways during the long holiday is in the morning.
The worst days for car travel will be Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, as well as the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
The absolute worst in the D.C. region, according to AAA, citing transportation data and insights provider INRIX: Traveling on Tuesday, at 4:30 in the afternoon, between D.C. and Baltimore on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway could take 1 hour and 50 minutes, two-and-a-half times as long as it usually takes.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
