Reading archive 2024-02-16

Caps, Wizards arena plan stripped from one version of Va. state budget

Youngkin, Republicans disavow Va. GOP message disparaging House speaker

Virginia legislators plow through bills as session reaches midpoint

Crime in Chinatown has been a focus of arena talks. It’s nearly flat.: Statistics show that crime has increased very little in the neighborhood the Capitals and Wizards want to leave - "'One of the things I lived in fear of?' Leonsis said in an interview with NBC4 News last week. 'A fan gets injured. A fan is robbed.'

"Oops, maybe he’s forgetting that the biggest story of a fan getting injured at the arena was when he allegedly assaulted a jeering Jason Hammer, who was a 20-year-old hockey fan when Leonsis grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground after Hammer led a mocking chant against the Caps owner in a 2004 loss to the Flyers."

More details emerge on 13-hour standoff that began with dog abuse allegations: The Humane Rescue Alliance says it removed 31 dogs from the home after a day-long standoff in Southeast Washington

American cities and American sports need each other, but the link is fraying

What Fox was talking about instead of its upended conspiracy theory

Opinion  Mike Johnson needs a cognitive test

Opinion  The Trump gravy train is about to run over the RNC. Good.

Joe Manchin announces he won’t run for president, ending months of speculation

A dead whale raises a fresh question: Should you eat lobster?: A North Atlantic right whale that washed ashore is renewing a bitter fight between whale advocates and Maine lobster fishers over how to save an ocean giant near extinction - "Purple markings on the rope around the whale indicated it came from Maine waters, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service, also called NOAA Fisheries. It is the first time a North Atlantic right whale, one of the most endangered marine mammals on Earth, was found dead while entangled in rope from the state’s famed trap pot fishery for lobster and crab.

...

"Earlier this winter, a boat hit a newborn calf off the southeastern coast, where the whales give birth. Though they show signs of healing, the deep propeller wounds across its head, mouth and lip are so severe that marine biologists worry they could be fatal. Vessel strikes are another major cause of whale mortality.