Reading archive 2025-08-09

Studying bank deposits, Sandra Grimes found a deadly CIA traitor: Ms. Grimes, who has died at the age of 79, helped reveal that Aldrich Ames was selling secrets to the Soviets. Her book about the case was adapted into an ABC miniseries.

Birds kept dropping dead. A D.C. biologist cracked the case.

Reading archive 2025-08-08

Pirro takes aim at D.C.’s crime laws, calls them ‘absurd’: The U.S. attorney for D.C. is calling on the D.C. Council to amend policies focused on second chances for criminal offenders, amid Trump’s threats of a federal takeover.

FBI fires former acting head, two other officials at odds with Trump administration: Brian Driscoll had resisted orders to fire agents involved in investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Reading archive 2025-08-07

As hunger spread in Gaza, Israeli media began to focus on Palestinians: Amid reports of starvation in Gaza and growing international outrage, news of the worsening crisis began to break through into mainstream Israeli media.

These nuclear reactors fit on a flatbed truck. How safe are they?: The nuclear industry aims to miniaturize, looking to place hundreds of small power plants across the nation. - "Walker said a billionaire approached Nano inquiring whether the microreactor could be used to power a self-sustaining island community. 'They asked if it was possible to have a project where this could power their own vertical farm and their own desalination plant on an island that is completely self-sufficient,' Walker said. 'We communicated back that it is certainly possible.'"

What the fall of Florida’s oranges tells us about the future: Orange juice was once a national obsession. Disease and the beverage’s high sugar content are turning consumers away.

He could have been the GOP’s voice on crime, but his faith intervened: Phillip Todd, a staffer for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), was nearly killed in a random attack in D.C. He took two years to figure out what he wanted to say.

What’s really depressing America’s young men: The U.S. has two overlapping problems: the housing crisis and despondency in young men.

Millennials went wild for Outdoor Voices. Can it become cool again?: The beloved brand redefined athleisure. Its founder has returned with plans to shake it up.

We analyzed the research on 5 sleep supplements. Here’s what actually works.: No supplement is going to dramatically improve your sleep, but some may offer modest benefits with minimal side effects.

The economy is cracking. This trend is most alarming. The U.S. economy is growing ever more reliant on top earners. It’s risky — and tough for the middle class.

Radioactive wasp nests found near nuclear storage site in South Carolina: One of the nests found near the Savannah River Site had a radiation level 10 times what is allowed by federal regulations, according to a federal report.

The Democrats Are Blowing a Big Opportunity Right Now: What Trump understands about the Texas gerrymandering war that national Democrats do not

Reading archive 2025-08-06

Why one epidemiologist won’t let his kids play on artificial turf fields: A turf war is raging over artificial grass. Here’s how nervous parents can navigate it.

Data from Calif. and D.C. shows how minimum-wage hikes can hurt: Recent experience underscores the perils of raising minimum wage above what the market can bear.

Reject the Commanders stadium deal: Even after tweaks, the deal still amounts to corporate welfare that the NFL team and its billionaire owner do not need. - "Even if the Commanders were to pull out of the deal, residents might be better-off. A separate report from the council’s budget office — written before the deal was revised — compared tax revenue from mixed-use development of the RFK site with and without the stadium. It projected that, over the course of 30 years, the site would generate about $1 billion more in revenue and $1.4 billion more in economic activity without the stadium."

Bowser needs a reality check on the D.C. stadium: City politicians and the team are promising growth on a scale that football stadiums don’t generate.

Texas election map fight swells into national political warfare: The battle over Republicans’ push to create more safe red U.S. House seats seats has widened, with red and blue states moving to counteract each other and ambitious politicians vowing aggressive partisan combat.

Reading archive 2025-08-05

D.C.’s Zoning Commission approves developer’s reworked McMillan site plan Jair Lynch’s plan to scale back the size of a grocery store in the new Reservoir District neighborhood is given the green light.

Momentum builds toward Netanyahu’s plan to occupy all of Gaza: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to discuss the move with top defense officials today, and Defense Minister Israel Katz is promising to “professionally implement” whatever the government decides.

Scientists say they’ve solved the mystery of starfish that turn to goo: Sea star wasting disease has killed billions of starfish and destroyed kelp ecosystems. In a study published Monday, researchers say they found the culprit.

One gene reveals clues to why humans thrived and Neanderthals didn’t: Humans and Neanderthals are virtually identical at the genetic level. Scientists are probing the differences to understand why we are here, and they aren’t.

Woman who ran over children in crosswalk on their way to school given 4 months: The judge in the case called the punishment ‘woefully inadequate.’

China is winning the trade war Trump started: On many fronts, Trump is inadvertently aiding China’s anti-American dictatorship. - "The countries that have done trade deals with Trump can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that their situation could be much worse. But Trump’s bullying is leaving hard feelings in its wake. One former Japanese trade official called the U.S. deal “humiliating,” while a Japanese economist called it 'completely unacceptable for Japan.' That’s an odd way to treat allies that the United States needs to contain China."

The AI spending boom could have real consequences for the U.S. economy: As revisions to U.S. jobs numbers call into question economic growth, Big Tech is becoming an even more important part of American prosperity.

This isn’t the same Democratic Party as Trump’s first term: Polls show a base of voters who are growing more liberal and less trusting of leaders in both parties.

D.C. area is feeling toll of federal spending cuts. These charts show how.: Amid signs of a broader economic slowdown, unemployment is up, spending is slowing and signs of strain are emerging across key sectors that once helped prop up the national capital region.

Latino GOP lawmakers voice worry about Trump’s mass deportation campaign: They expressed fears that the inroads Trump and the GOP made with Latino voters in 2024 could erode.

Smithsonian to restore Trump to impeachment exhibit ‘in the coming weeks’: A placard referring to Trump’s two impeachments was removed from the National Museum of American History in July, after the Smithsonian agreed to perform a “content review.”

Reeling over alleged child sex ring, Alabama community asks: ‘Did no one know?’: At prayer meetings and other gatherings, Bibb County residents have grappled with the realization that horrific crimes may have been happening in their town.

The simple way Democrats should talk about Trump and Epstein

Texas Democrats decamp to Illinois to deny Republicans a quorum on redistricting: In response, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to try to remove the Democrats from the state Legislature and said some of them may even be "felons."

Supreme Court tees up Louisiana redistricting case that could undercut Voting Rights Act

The Billionaire Behind Mysterious Immigration Ads Targeting Miami Republicans: “Deporting immigrants is cruel,” some of the ads against Cuban Americans in Congress read. Michael B. Fernández wanted to “wake up” Miami’s conscience.

Sneaking Into the Spy Museum’s New Vault

Reading archive 2025-08-04

Since wolves’ return, Yellowstone’s aspens are recovering, study finds The researchers found a 152-fold increase in sapling and young-tree density.

The Big Scientific Debate: Trophic Cascades

Reading archive 2025-08-01

Smithsonian removes Trump from impeachment exhibit in American history museum: The Smithsonian said it restored the display to an earlier version, which notes that “only three presidents have seriously faced removal.”

Tehran Is at Risk of Running Out of Water Within Weeks: After a five-year drought and decades of mismanagement, a water crisis is battering Iran.