Reading archive 2023-02-28

How a disputed $55M loan plays into feds' probe of Commanders

Daniel Snyder’s demands anger NFL owners, renew talk of voting him out

How does the brain age across the lifespan? New studies offer clues.: Our brains are built to change over our lifetime, meeting the challenges set by every life stage.

Opinion  The House was supposed to grow with population. It didn’t. Let’s fix that. - "For starters, with today’s high ratio of lawmakers to residents, representatives are too removed from their constituents. Constituent services are strained. Smaller districts would mean better responsiveness, which would align with the principle of popular sovereignty. 

"Relatedly, Congress has a much larger budget to track and manage, and many more agencies to review, than it did a century ago. More House members would make for more effective legislative oversight of the executive branch. That aligns with the principle of republican safety. 

"Third, the smaller the district, the less expensive the campaign, and the less politicians will be dependent on donors, instead of the people, as the principle of due dependence requires. 

"Fourth, a bigger House with smaller districts would enhance equal protection and inclusivity. More seats would mean more shots; smaller districts would give candidates from minority groups and nontraditional backgrounds a more feasible path to electoral victory."

Artificial sweetener linked to higher heart attack risk, study says

Poor U.S. planning in Afghanistan helped Taliban take over, watchdog says - "According to the latest SIGAR report, an agreement signed with the Taliban by the Trump administration in 2020 facilitated the unraveling, 'resulting in a sense of abandonment' in Afghan government forces and the population. 'The agreement set in motion a series of events crucial to understanding the [Afghan security forces’] collapse,' it said."

Column: Contrary to latest claims, there’s still not a speck of evidence that COVID escaped from a Chinese lab - "One question prompted by the Journal’s report concerns its timing. It comes just as the Republican majority in the House is gearing up to promote the lab leak theory. The onslaught is likely to start Tuesday, when a committee on China-U.S. relations headed by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) holds its first hearing."

Reading archive 2023-02-27

Grieving families trusted an Army financial adviser. They lost fortunes.

Fox News media analyst says network won’t let him cover Dominion lawsuit: Howard Kurtz told his ‘MediaBuzz’ viewers he ‘strongly’ disagrees with the network’s decision

Emboldened by its majority, House GOP turns up heat on federal workers

Opinion  5 good points the right is making about the Ohio train disaster - "The answer is competent government bureaucracy. Conservatives often cynically prey on public suspicion of bureaucracy to advance a pro-corporate deregulatory agenda, one that operates from the assumption that regulations are inherently bad and we should always seek to eliminate them. But these right-wing figures are preaching the virtues of expert regulators attuned to the complexities of getting regulation right — and declaring this a public good."

Reading archive 2023-02-26

Opinion  How the war will enrich Ukraine when it’s over

Opinion  Consider these 4 inconvenient questions as the Ukraine war moves forward - "Ukrainians will never give up their goal of liberating every inch of Ukrainian territory — nor should they. But as Zelensky and his supporters in the West consider options on the road ahead, they should review the postwar history of West Germany. By building a vibrant free-market democracy within larger European institutions secured by a U.S.-led NATO, West Germany created conditions in which the recovery of the country’s Soviet-occupied eastern third was just a matter of time. Could Ukraine become the West Germany of the 21st century?"

Opinion  Huge debts to China come due. Will the world’s poorest have to pay? - "China has been using developing nations as pawns in its bid for influence against the United States — a strategy that critics call 'debt-trap diplomacy.' In claiming to aid the world’s poor, China is exploiting them. But now, the bill is coming due, and the question is who is going to have to pay it."

Opinion  Gina Raimondo launches a new U.S. ‘industrial policy.’ But can it fly?

Reading archive 2023-02-25

Russia's Medvedev floats idea of pushing back Poland's borders

Opinion  The justices halt an execution — and reveal themselves in the process

Discreetly, and at peril, Russian volunteers help Ukrainian refugees

Mitch McConnell tells U.S. to ‘wake up’ to threat of Russia on Ukraine war anniversary: The Senate Republican leader pushed back against calls from within his own party to pare back U.S. funding in support of Ukraine - "'If Putin were given a green light to destabilize Europe, invading and killing at will, the long-term cost to the United States in both dollars and security risks would be astronomically higher than the minuscule fraction of our GDP that we have invested in Ukraine’s defense thus far,' McConnell said in the statement.

...

"'Prime Minister Kishida of Japan has warned repeatedly that Ukraine’s fate today could be East Asia’s tomorrow if the free world flinches in the face of aggression,' McConnell said. 'He calls the fate of Ukraine and the future of Asia ‘inseparable.''"

What's On Your Ballot?: Stephan Pastis, Cartoonist of 'Pearls Before Swine'

Reading archive 2023-02-24

BREAKING: A Train derailed in Washington, killing 3 people, injuring 62, and causing $40 million in damage. Biden & Pete Buttigieg will not be going to the scene and there will be no FEMA aid given. - "Now that I got your attention, this accident actually happened in 2017 under President Trump. Trump never visited the crash site, and neither did his Transportation Secretary  Elaine Chao. Instead Trump used the crash to try and tout his failed infrastructure plan, tweeting, 'shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly.'  He then went on to deregulate multiple safety precautions on trains. 

"No FEMA aid was given to anyone after this accident either and it was otherwise ignored by the administration." [ed. note: twitter post with video embed]

More than 43,000 aquatic animals are dead near Ohio train derailment

Opinion  The New York Times newsroom is splintering over a trans coverage debate

Protests in Russia denounce Ukraine invasion; antiwar rallies held worldwide

Oral history: Leaders recall dismay, fury on first day of war in Ukraine: Political, military and intelligence officials describe their reaction to the Russian invasion and what they did that first day

Reading archive 2023-02-23

Why are nurses quitting? Ask the nurse no hospital will hire.

‘Incredibly damning:’ Fox News documents stun some legal experts: The disclosure of behind-the-scenes emails and texts greatly increased the chances that Dominion will wins its $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox, experts say.

Is Western aid to Ukraine large or small? Our new Ukraine Tracker release takes a "big picture view" over 100 years. Main insight: It's comparatively small. US expenses in previous wars were far higher &the EU mobilized 10x more for other crises (Euro, Covid19, energy crisis) [ed. note: twitter thread]

Lamar Jackson, the Baltimore Ravens and an awkward year in limbo

US believes Russia had failed intercontinental ballistic missile test around when Biden was in Ukraine

Council Clashes with DCPS on Budget Deadlines and Transparency

Washington’s best museums for kids

What is a darkness retreat and why would Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers go to one?

Russia Drops Ominous Warning About Attack on Second Country

Judge moves Club Q suspect’s murder, hate-crime case to trial

Trump’s grip on the Republican base is slipping — even among his fans: More than 150 interviews in pivotal electoral states show the former president maintains a bond with his GOP voters, but faces rising interest in a new standard-bearer

Reading archive 2023-02-22

In wake of Ukraine war, U.S. and allies are hunting down Russian spies: Officials caution that Russia retains significant capabilities despite exposure of multiple operatives in Europe

Ex-ISIS teen bride Shamima Begum loses appeal to regain British citizenship

Notice of Infractions: Notice No. U 100286

Pythons are snacking on GPS-wearing opossums that give up their locations

Europe awakens to the threat of sabotage by Russian agents: Attacks on critical infrastructure from France to Denmark bear the hallmark of Russian operatives, experts say.

Poland reviews security after divers found near key port

Putin, czar with no empire, needs military victory for his own survival

Where U.S. house prices may be most overvalued as climate change worsens: While individual homeowners stand to collectively lose billions as hurricanes and heavy rains intensify flooding, local governments that rely on property taxes also could suffer crippling decreases in revenue

Meet the climate scientist helping guide Biden on spy agencies: Kim Cobb answers questions about her hopes to infuse Biden’s intelligence discussions with climate expertise

Arizona’s top prosecutor concealed records debunking election fraud claims: Newly released documents show how Republican Mark Brnovich publicized an incomplete account of his office’s probe of the 2020 election in Maricopa County - "Sonny Borrelli, a GOP state senator who had alleged a coverup of election irregularities, did not repeat those claims during an interview but did provide what he said was the name of a deceased voter, the memo stated. Investigators learned that the alleged deceased voter was alive, had not voted and was not a resident of Arizona."

Georgia juror unsettles Trump investigation with revealing interviews: Emily Kohrs may have added to the challenge for Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis, whose investigation has come under scrutiny for what some have described legal and ethical missteps

National Zoo debuts a serene new habitat for birds and humans: Historic bird building re-creates the quiet habitats of migratory birds that visitors can experience

Montgomery turned a road into a park. Residents want the street back. - "To solve the cut-through conundrum, Montgomery Parks decided keep the road open but restrict traffic to two lanes from Arlington to Dorset in late-2022. The result, traffic studies showed, was healthy flow on Little Falls and an end to cut-through traffic in the Kenwood neighborhood. 

"But some residents refute the data presented by public officials, because it does not match what they claim to be seeing with their own eyes." [ed. note: fucking lol]

Inside the Taliban campaign to forge a religious emirate: Afghanistan’s new rulers are replacing civil rights with ‘God’s law’

ALEX JONES ON ALLEGED FBI MONITORING OF NICK FUENTES: ‘IT’S A TRAP’

Reading archive 2023-02-21

The Poisoning of Heritage Trees

Reading archive 2023-02-16

Police arrest man after dismembered body found in yard in Brookland: The body was found by someone doing yard work in the backyard of the home in Northeast Washington

Spring is awakening weeks early in the D.C. area. This could be a problem.: Already, the buds on Washington’s famed cherry trees at the Tidal Basin are starting to develop

Why So Many States Want to Ban China From Owning Farmland

D.C. overpays landlords millions to house the city’s poorest: Paying above-market rents means fewer people are helped by the troubled housing authority - "Arthur Simpson, 73, lives on the third floor of an apartment building in Northeast Washington. The elevator doesn’t work, so he climbs the stairs. He has no electricity, so he sees by the light of the street at night. The hallway outside reeks of musty carpet and cigarettes, so he shoves a towel against the door crack to block the stench. 

"The D.C. Housing Authority pays $2,467 in monthly rent for Simpson to live there, but his apartment at the Havana was never worth that, even when new. One real estate consulting firm recently put the median market rent for one-bedrooms in the area at $1,613. 

"DCHA agreed to the amount anyway, because it doesn’t check to ensure rents it pays on behalf of low-income voucher holders are in line with market prices, as required by local and federal regulations. As a result, the agency overpays landlords by millions of dollars every year, a Washington Post investigation found. ...

"Slover again pressed Donald about the failure to check lease payments against the market. This time, then-board chair Dionne Bussey-Reeder, whom Bowser had appointed to replace Albert, shut Slover down. She instructed Donald not to answer any more of his questions. 

"Two weeks later, HUD issued its report, which squarely backed Slover’s assessments."

Elon Musk reinvents Twitter for the benefit of a power user: Himself: Musk has rolled out major changes -- many of which have targeted his own experience, but not that of millions of regular users of the site

The clever trick that turns ChatGPT into its evil twin: Reddit users are pushing the popular AI chatbot’s limits -- and finding revealing ways around its safeguards.

Reading archive 2023-02-15

Unite the Right marcher captured in viral photo dies by suicide before trial

Election deniers face a nationwide wave of pushback: The growing effort by election officials and others is intended to counter mistrust arising from Donald Trump’s claims of a rigged 2020 vote

Sanctions haven’t stopped Russia, but a new oil ban could cut deeper: Russia may be the most sanctioned country in human history, yet the economic toll hasn’t deterred Putin’s assault on Ukraine so far

Reading archive 2023-02-14

Lifelong couples told me their secrets. This is what they said.

Chris Cuomo’s new cable-news home woos moderates. So far, they’re not tuning in.: With gestures at nonpartisanship and hosts from the Ghosts of Cable News Past, NewsNation tries to break out in a crowded market with a fraught future.

U.S. warns Ukraine it faces a pivotal moment in war: As first anniversary nears, White House fears flow of arms may be harder to come by

D.C. opens new housing for homeless, named for a Kennedy, as clearing nears

Yes, Elon Musk created a special system for showing you all his tweets first: After his Super Bowl tweet did worse numbers than President Biden’s, Twitter’s CEO ordered major changes to the algorithm

Reading archive 2023-02-13

Russians abandon wartime Russia in historic exodus

How Mahomes' Chiefs beat Hurts' Eagles in Super Bowl 2023

Super Bowl LVII: The Inevitable Patrick Mahomes - "And everyone else outside the NFC East is either a spunky up-and-comer (Lions, Seahawks), last-year's news (Bucs, Rams), Fraudzilla (Vikings), being held hostage by a barking madman (Packers), or just a mess."

Opinion  They clicked once. Then came the dark prisons.

Former FBI agent’s side work puts bureau under new scrutiny: Charles McGonigal’s alleged illegal dealings in Albania — and for a notorious, U.S.-sanctioned Russian oligarch — have put the FBI in political crosshairs - "In January, McGonigal was indicted on federal charges of money laundering, violating U.S. sanctions and making false statements, stemming in part from his alleged interventions on Fokina’s behalf. McGonigal has pleaded not guilty to the charges in New York and Washington and is free on bond. He is one of the most senior FBI officials ever charged with criminal offenses, and his case has deeply concerned national security professionals, given the extraordinary access he had to sensitive government secrets."

China says at least 10 U.S. balloons have flown in its airspace since 2022

A barred owl and a bald eagle were badly hurt, rescued in Virginia: Experts said they are being cared for, but they are also worried about their ability to return to the wild

Reading archive 2023-02-12

A virus crippled U.S. cities 150 years ago. It didn’t infect humans.

Want to live longer? Consider planting a tree.: The more trees planted in a neighborhood, the longer people live, according to a recent study led by U.S. Forest Service researchers out of Portland, Ore.

The U.S. shot 3 objects out of the sky in eight days. What to know.

One of Tesla’s biggest critics is funding a Super Bowl ad against it: Tech entrepreneur Dan O’Dowd has dedicated his fortune to getting Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology banned from public roads

DeSantis wanted to ban guns at event, but not to be blamed, emails show

Reading archive 2023-02-11

Mother Upset After Son Kicked Out of Class Over Pledge of Allegiance - "An 11-year-old Polk County student refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, and after explaining his reasons, he was kicked out of class and eventually arrested for being disruptive and disobeying commands to calm down and leave the classroom."

Elon Musk fires a top Twitter engineer over his declining view count: Inside Twitter 2.0, turmoil leaves employees stretched to the max

Alphabet shares dive after Google AI chatbot Bard flubs answer in ad

Reading archive 2023-02-10

These D.C. trees were thriving. Then they were poisoned. - "On a lush, 55,000-square-foot undeveloped plot of land in Southeast Washington, two towering white oak trees more than 100 feet tall and more than 100 inches in circumference have stood sentry over the District’s easternmost tip for decades. 

"Sometime in the past two years, someone knelt down and bored penny-sized holes near the base of the trees, the District says, injecting them with poison."

Amish country farmers say George Santos took puppies, left bad checks: One breeder recounted how the future member of Congress made off with four golden retrievers, leading to a criminal charge in 2017

Reading archive 2023-02-09

Alex Jones Urged Rogan To Host Pro-Rape Extremist

Supreme Court justices discussed, but did not agree on, code of conduct

Gov. Sanders’ surly SOTU response was very on brand

SpaceX admits blocking Ukrainian troops from using satellite technology

Reading archive 2023-02-08

Marjorie Taylor Greene yells ‘liar’ during combative State of the Union: After guidance to behave themselves from Speaker Kevin McCarthy, House Republicans had plenty to say in the chamber

New images of the Chinese balloon recovery show the closest glimpse yet

Dark Brandon shows up at State of the Union, mops the floor with lost Republicans

Romney goes after Santos in tense exchange at the State of the Union

Fact-checking President Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address

Dutch probe implicates Putin in 2014 downing of Malaysia passenger jet

Drought may have doomed this ancient empire — a warning for today’s climate crisis - "A new analysis published Wednesday in the journal Nature shows that the Hittites endured three consecutive years of extreme drought right around the time that the empire fell."

New French law will blanket parking lots with solar panels: The measure could add 10 nuclear power plants’ worth of solar panels atop parking lots

Reading archive 2023-02-07

Heat pumps boom in Maine, despite frigid cold and oil industry pushback: Fossil fuel industry groups say the technology isn’t ideal for the state’s climate. Mainers aren’t buying it. - "'Oh, hell no,' Casagranda said, when asked recently if she missed her propane furnace. As part of the experiment, the agency promised residents they could have their fossil fuel-burning systems back if they didn’t like the results. So far, none of the homeowners have wanted to go back, according to agency officials, and Casagranda said she is more than satisfied. ...

"'It’s a simple fact that a high-efficiency cold-climate heat pump saves carbon relative to utility gas (methane), fuel oil, or [liquefied petroleum] gas, in virtually every electric market in the U.S., and certainly in all of the Northeast,' Bruce Harley, a veteran energy consultant based in Vermont, said in an email."

BP dials back climate pledge amid soaring oil profits: The energy giant is aiming for a 20 to 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions, backing off of an earlier goal of 35 to 40 percent

On routine house call, pest control finds 700 pounds of acorns in the walls

Obesity in the age of Ozempic: Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are changing how patients view their own weight struggles. Will society follow?

What data on 3,000 murderers and 10,000 victims tells us about serial killers

A federal judge mocks the Supreme Court on abortion: A Democratic federal judge suggests that banning abortion violates the 13th Amendment’s prohibition on “involuntary servitude.” - "The argument that the Thirteenth Amendment protects a right to abortion is fairly straightforward. In Bailey v. Alabama (1911), the Supreme Court held that this amendment sought to abolish 'that control by which the personal service of one [person] is disposed of or coerced for another’s benefit, which is the essence of involuntary servitude.'

"As Koppelman writes, 'forced pregnancy and childbirth' by its very nature, operates 'by compelling the woman to serve the fetus.' ... 

"... [I]n a better world, judges would behave as servants of the law — rather than trying to stretch that law to serve their particular agenda. 

"But here in the actual world, lower courts do not always operate as loyal followers of the Supreme Court’s precedent. They often act as think tanks for new legal ideas that haven’t gained support on the Supreme Court, but that could at some point in the future. The Fifth Circuit more or less operates as a generator and legitimizer of right-wing ideas that are often, but not always, rejected by this Supreme Court. So do several federal trial judges that have become favorites among right-wing advocates seeking to move the law hard to the right."

Reading archive 2023-02-06

Bowser proposes changes to D.C. criminal code bill as congressional action nears

China claims ownership of second suspected spy balloon over Latin America

White people have flocked back to city centers — and transformed them: In the past decade, the White population increased significantly in urban cores across the country, bringing changes both sweeping and intimate - "'The Faustian bargain we make when we improve neighborhoods is in doing so, you drive out people who can no longer afford to live here,' said Drew Dutcher, president of the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood association and one of the few longtime White residents. 'Now, housing costs are going up, and pretty soon the only people who are going to be able to afford to live here are wealthier, Whiter people.'" [ed. note: yeah]

Neo-Nazi leader and girlfriend accused of targeting Md. power stations: Atomwaffen founder Brandon Russell and a girlfriend, Sarah Clendaniel, are accused of a plot to attack power substations around Baltimore

Eagles' Sirianni: 'Chip' on shoulder after not being retained by Andy Reid [ed. note: eyeroll]

Reading archive 2023-02-05

China blames U.S. politics for ‘overreaction’ to suspected spy balloon

Trump Denies Pentagon’s Claim That China Flew Balloons Over U.S. During His Term: “China had too much respect for ‘TRUMP,’" the former president wrote, calling the Pentagon's claim of "at least three" incidents "fake disinformation."

The Colorado River drought crisis: How did this happen? Can it be fixed?

Land-dwelling rats are upending life for coral reef fish: When rats invade tropical islands, they can trigger a chain reaction that reverberates all the way to coral reefs, researchers say - "Bathed in smelly guano, algae around bird-filled islands is more nutritious, previous research has shown. Both coral and fish appear to grow faster around rat-free islands. Scientists have found the fertilizing effect of guano, too, from the Scattered Islands near Madagascar to Fiji in the South Pacific."

The deepening chill of Afghanistan’s second Taliban winter: Washing clothes in the snow, heating homes with scavenged trash, families struggle to survive

Meet Nimbee, the mascot who scorns bike lanes, development and change: Nimbee wants his hive, and yours, left alone — and he’s not afraid to sting (with words) anyone who disagrees with him - "'I dislike anyone or anything that threatens to change my neighborhood from what it was like the day I moved here. Any change that happened up until that moment is totally cool, though, and should be given historic preservation protection in perpetuity.' ...

"'I’m totally for affordable housing! I’m also for multi-family housing, density, public transit, and all kinds of things like that. I just don’t want any of it near me, on the way to where I’m going, or any place where I would have to even look at it. That’s all.'"

Comparing green funeral options, from composting to natural burial to water cremation: Throwing a funeral that leaves Earth a bit better off, maybe

Spending time in nature may protect against the risk of dementia: Older adults who lived in an area with more green space had a lower rate of hospitalization for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, a large study showed

Opinion  Artificial light harms our bodies and souls. It doesn’t have to be this way. - "Too often, city planners assume adding more light is an effective way to address crime. Yet many lights are used in ways — unshielded and shining into the sky, blazing over empty parking lots through the wee small hours — that serve little purpose. While artificial light at night might make us feel safer, there is no clear evidence that it actually improves our safety."

Opinion  D.C. must address its crime issue - "We have funded violence interrupters and social workers for 30 years. This is not a new idea. Unfortunately, it has never worked. Let’s figure out why before spending more money. 

"At a recent meeting, Police Chief Robert J. Contee III said one young man told him people don’t commit as many crimes in Maryland and Virginia because 'they don’t play.' Well, if we want a safer city for our residents, we should create the same atmosphere here: We don’t play."

Reading archive 2023-02-04

China rushes to cap damage over suspected spy balloon as Blinken delays trip

U.S. military downs Chinese balloon over Atlantic Ocean

‘I didn’t know, Mom’: The force that drives the most improved player in college basketball

Alex Jones’ Texts Highlight Infowars Overlap with Proud Boys

Reading archive 2023-02-03

Opinion  In America, you have to opt out of religion in public life. That’s backward.

Pete Buttigieg says U.S. can fix the most dangerous thing in transportation: The transportation secretary is targeting safety during a ‘season of building’ brought on by the 2021 infrastructure law

Employers added 517,000 jobs in January, astonishing labor market growth: January marked the 25th straight month of solid job growth, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.4 percent

Reading archive 2023-02-02

Infowars’ Alex Jones Says He Lives ‘in Hell,’ Texts Show

Laptop email suggests Hunter Biden read newspapers, not classified documents - "For nine years, The Fact Checker was diplomatic correspondent for The Washington Post. I’ve seen my share of backgrounders, State Department cables and even the odd classified document. Far from being especially sophisticated, Hunter Biden’s email appears to be largely the product of diligent reading of recent newspaper and magazine articles."

U.S. reaches military base access agreement in the Philippines

'A big deal': US, Philippines tighten military ties

What made George Santos lie so much? Experts weigh in on his deception.

Reading archive 2023-02-01

‘White Men’s Roads Through Black Men’s Homes’: Advancing Racial Equity Through Highway Reconstruction

How Interstate Highways Gutted Communities—and Reinforced Segregation: America's interstate highway system cut through the heart of dozens of urban neighborhoods.

How to do the laundry better, according to a TikTok cleaning queen: Ann Russell draws on nearly 20 years of cleaning experience to deliver no-nonsense housekeeping tips. We asked her 10 burning questions about laundry. - "Add half a mug of oxygen bleach powder (such as OxyClean) to a bucket of hot water, add your whites and stir with a wooden spoon — then put something heavy on top of the clothes inside the bucket, like a plate, to keep everything submerged for 24 hours. Finally, wash everything in the machine twice, without detergent: 'Usually, it comes out beautifully.'"

PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL GROUP TO PAY RECORD FINE

When I was 15, a psychiatric hospital nearly ruined my life. This advice saved me.: By the time I left the hospital, I was the scattered wreckage of a teenager

Opinion  Industry’s last great electric-car skeptic accepts the inevitable

Which food is better for the planet? Salmon or cod? Pork of Beef? Rice or Potatoes?

Buried in a leaked membership list of Oath Keepers from Kansas, a chilling set of skills

Metro employee killed while trying to stop man shooting at D.C. commuters: A witness said the gunman muttered, ‘I’m the killmonger’ before entering the station and firing several shots - "One commuter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of his safety, said he was on the bus on his way to work when he saw a man pull a gun and put it to the head of another passenger. The armed man told the passenger, who seemed to be a stranger, to get off his cellphone. The passenger responded, 'Yes, sir,' the witness said. The gunman, he said, threatened to shoot the passenger." [ed. note: the hero we deserve?]

Fairfax launches plan to combat invasive spotted lanternfly in parks: Experts are focusing on getting rid of the insect’s favored host, the tree of heaven

An alleged $500 million Ponzi scheme preyed on Mormons. It ended with FBI gunfire.: In Las Vegas, a lawyer with huge gambling debts is accused of a financial fraud that left hundreds of victims in its wake

Calif. sinkhole swallows third car as drivers ignore ‘ROAD CLOSED’ sign