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The outlook for colorful fall foliage in the DC area? Not spectacular — and short-lived

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

We’ve gotten a little taste of fall around the D.C. area lately, meaning leaf peeping season is near. But the area’s drought may have a big impact on how colorful the view will be.“We’ll definitely see some color. I don’t think it’s going to be a spectacular year, ” said Melissa Nash, a forester in Garrett County, Maryland.“When we have a dry year, we just don’t see those spectacular bold bright colors.”Nash explained that a lack of rain stresses the trees, and they don’t hold onto their leaves quite as long, which reduces the chances of bold golden yellow, orange and cranberry hues across the mountains of Maryland.Nash said we will be able to enjoy some color change this fall, but it won’t come close to normal years, and nowhere near the spectacular show mother nature put on in 2022.According to Nash, “instead of seeing those colors last, we’re going to see an abrupt change and the leaves are going ...

Arlington Co. police warn residents about scam calls

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

Police in Arlington County, Virginia, are dealing with scammers targeting residents.It starts with a phone call from someone who claims to be with law enforcement.“They’ll tell the individual that they’ve missed jury duty and, as a result, a warrant will be issued for their arrest unless they pay a fine,” said Ashley Savage, a public information specialist at the county’s police department.And that’s how they try to get you. Savage said scammers aim to catch you off-guard.“I think what really the scammers are looking to do is to play on the fears of individuals,” Savage said. By posing as an authority figure, “that really puts fear in the individual that they need to move quickly.”With scams like this, police often see perpetrators asking victims to pay with gift cards or Bitcoin over the phone, Savage told WTOP. She said this is one indication of a scam.“We want you to also be mindful that individuals, unfortunately,...

Federal investigators subpoena Pennsylvania agency for records related to chocolate plant explosion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

Federal safety investigators issued a subpoena to Pennsylvania’s public utility regulator on Monday for documents related to a fatal explosion at a chocolate factory, escalating a months-long legal dispute over the state agency’s authority to share the sensitive information.The National Transportation Safety Board said the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has refused to provide unredacted inspection and investigation reports for UGI Utilities Inc., the natural gas utility at the center of the probe into the March 24 blast at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in West Reading. The powerful natural gas explosion leveled one building, heavily damaged another and killed seven people. Investigators have previously said they are looking at a pair of gas leaks as a possible cause of or contributor to the blast.The interagency dispute over five years’ worth of UGI records involved a conflict between state and federal law. The Public Utility Commission said it could not provide the ...

Family says 14-year-old daughter discovered phone taped to back of toilet seat on flight to Boston

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The family of a 14-year-old girl who allegedly discovered a phone taped to the back of a toilet seat on a recent flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston said they believe she was targeted by a member of the crew.During the Sept. 2 American Airlines flight 1441, the girl was told by a male member of the crew to use the first-class bathroom. The crew member entered just before 14-year-old, told her the seat was broken but not to worry about it and then re-entered the bathroom after she left, her family said in a written statement.After using the toilet, the girl realized that a largely obscured iPhone had been affixed to the back of the toilet seat, apparently to record her. She took a picture of this with her own phone before leaving the bathroom.“These events have left our daughter — and entire family — shocked and profoundly disturbed,” the family wrote in a statement.Paul Llewellyn, a lawyer representing the family, said they have not yet filed a lawsuit.Law...

Cardinals, Gannon try to move past the sting of a 21-point collapse in loss to the Giants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — The first gut punch of the Jonathan Gannon era has arrived for the Arizona Cardinals.The Cardinals (0-2) blew a 21-point, third-quarter lead in a 31-28 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday, which was the biggest collapse for the franchise since 2011 and the biggest comeback for the Giants since 1949.For a team looking to outperform low expectations this season, it was a brutal afternoon.“I am really sick to my stomach,” Cardinals running back James Conner said Sunday. “I am hurt. I am not discouraged, but I am hurt, for sure. We are in this thing together. Our offense put a couple more points up than we did last week. Still wasn’t enough. “We didn’t complete the mission.”New York’s comeback denied quarterback Joshua Dobbs his first NFL win as a starter and Gannon’s first NFL win as a head coach. To his credit, Gannon didn’t blame his players for the loss, instead putting the onus squarely on the coaching staff.“We got outplayed in t...

Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills return to the basics in rebounding from season-opening dud

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Every so often, the head-strong Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills need a reminder that each player needs to stick to their individual role, or as coach Sean McDermott often preaches — their one-eleventh.It’s a lesson that appeared to be reinforced over the past week in which Allen and the Bills finally began resembling the efficient well-oiled machine that’s won three straight AFC East titles in a 38-10 rout of the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. It was a much-needed showing, especially, following a season-opening dud at the New York Jets.And maybe this time, the lesson will stick for a team that continues having Super Bowl aspirations despite no longer being the chic pick to win it all as Buffalo was a year ago.A little humility helps, McDermott said.“I know I keep talking about humble and hungry, I just believe in that,” McDermott said, following the win. “The minute you get over your skis in this league is the minute you get bit. And today’s a great teacher....

African-born vintner ready to bring her vino to the drinking masses in Maryland

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

Maryland wine aficionados will get a taste of a new vintage next month from an African-born vintner. Ifeoma Clyopatra Onyia is opening Clyopatra Winery and Vineyard in Laurel, Maryland, next month, and according to the winery’s website, she will be the first African winery owner in the U.S.Onyia told WTOP that her dream is coming true as she sat in front of her very own vineyard on Brooklyn Bridge Road.“Being the first person doing a lot of things, you get a lot of pushback. You get a lot of, ‘Are you sure you know what you’re doing? Do you think you can succeed?'” Onyia said. “I had somebody asked me a question saying, ‘So who are you going to sell your wine to?’ I looked at him and I said the same people you sell your wine to.”She grew up in Udi, Nigeria, with seven siblings and eventually went to school in England before settling in Maryland, where she began a nursing home care company. But wine was always on her mind.“I...

Leaders see hope in tackling deadly climate change and public health problems together

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Trying to lessen climate change’s sweeping impact, experts are hoping that attempts to improve the sputtering global public health system and sometimes-stalled efforts to curb global warming through collaboration can combine — and create a better system for handling the problem along the way.Leaders of both the World Health Organization and the upcoming climate negotiations said Monday that for the first time, they are going to devote a day during December climate talks to public health issues. By concentrating on how climate change is causing death and disease, they hope, nations may act more on the root cause: carbon pollution.“Climate change is killing us, and climate change is a health crisis,” said Vanessa Kerry, the World Health Organization’s special envoy for health and climate change, CEO of Seed Global Health and the daughter of U.S. climate envoy John Kerry. “We shouldn’t be measuring our failures in degrees Celsius but in lives lost.”As Climat...

Lamar Jackson and the Ravens made a big improvement offensively from Week 1 to Week 2

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson throws during the first half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)(AP/Darron Cummings) Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson throws during the first half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)(AP/Darron Cummings) OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Lamar Jackson certainly shook off the rust quickly.If last weekend’s game is any indication of his comfort level in Baltimore’s new offense, the Ravens could be on their way to quite a season.Jackson went 24 of 33 for 237 yards and two touchdowns and also ran ...

2 families grieving loved ones after violent crash in Commerce City

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:11 GMT

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (KDVR) -- Two people were killed and two are still in the hospital after a violent crash in Commerce City.The crash happened Friday night around 11:30 at the intersection of Highway 2 and 72nd Avenue.Commerce City police say a 17-year-old boy was driving south on Highway 2, likely at a high rate of speed, and crashed into a vehicle turning left onto 72nd Avenue.Anthony Apodaca says his sister, Shantel Apodaca, was driving that vehicle. He says the mother of four was driving to the store with her 8-year-old son, Joseph, and her friend Monica Rios when their vehicle was hit.  CSU coach: D-back who hit CU receiver has gotten death threats Shantel died at the scene and Joseph is still in critical condition."It's hard. Going to the store for food to eat and not coming home, leaving four babies behind, one that's struggling," Anthony said.Family members say Monica Rios died later at the hospital."Our lives are never going to be the same," said her bro...