Rehoboth Beach police said in a statement last week that they are aware of social media postings and promotions about these upcoming large gatherings. They reminded the public that large events need permits submitted up to eight weeks before any large event and that any event with open alcohol, loud music and “conduct that creates public safety concerns” are prohibited.

Meanwhile in Ocean City, police said they will be proactive in addressing criminal activity like these takeovers.

Earlier this month, the Ocean City police foiled an event advertised on social media as a “Late Night Beach Party Link Up.”

They learned about it through the Baltimore Police Department and were able to arrest several organizers right before the event. They arrested a Frederick, Maryland, woman in the city who was already wanted for a home invasion investigation.

They were able to identify several of the other organizers including Mehkai Leonard Tindal, 20, of Baltimore, Maryland, who officials said had been advertising drug sales online within Ocean City.

Law enforcement officials were able to pinpoint where he was staying and then conducted a sting and arrested him for distributing controlled substances.

In a statement, the , “As social media-driven takeover-style events continue to emerge nationally, OCPD encourages community members to report suspicious activity, including social media content promoting large gatherings, dangerous activity, or potential criminal behavior within Ocean City.”

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Many new college graduates are struggling to find jobs in the current economic climate and the emergence of artificial intelligence in the workplace.

But one Gen Z graduate instead created his own job and it will be very difficult for a computer to compete with him. Andreas Karagounis not only created his own career, he wants to ensure that college kids get a leg up and work experience like he did.

While the incorporated Gen Z Junk Removal was started just last year, the real start for Karagounis’s company started his freshman year at James Madison University, flipping couches.

“You buy couches, you fix them up, sell them and then, while the couches were sitting, we decided that we had a lot of open time,” Karagounis told WTOP.

But in the in-between, they found they had a lot of time on their hands and like any good entrepreneur, they pivoted to what the market told them and began doing junk removal with a pickup truck, eventually buying a trailer.

And what started as a college job for some extra coin in the pocket and beer money has now turned into a thriving business in Northern Virginia. Karagounis started Gen Z Junk Removal last March and now demos hot tubs and sheds and hauls them off for customers.

Very few can start a thriving business that employs others at just 21 years old.

“I think in high school I always just wanted to find a way to make money on my own,” Karagounis said. “I fell into junk removal. I don’t know how that happened, but it did, and it’s actually awesome. I love it. It’s a lot of fun.”

Karagounis told WTOP that a core mission of his business is hiring students and paying them a good wage for their work. The motivation came from see so many of his friends work summer jobs in college that paid meager sums.

“A lot of these jobs aren’t paying very well. So I wanted to make it a point that the guys that are working for me come in, they get paid very well, but it’s hard work,” he said.

He said these jobs and his employees buck the stereotype that Gen Z doesn’t work hard, a usual day could include emptying out an apartment in the morning and then having a two-and-a-half hour shed demolition in the afternoon with 90-degree heat and D.C.-area humidity.

But it also offers some other hidden lessons for the young people readying to enter the job market.

“They deal with clients every day, so they’re getting very good at talking to people, which is, in my opinion, the number one thing. Learning how to talk to people, I think that helps a lot,” Karagounis said.

After a year of renting, he recently bought his first dump truck to complete jobs. He hopes to eventually expand the business out of D.C., Virginia and Maryland into other markets like Florida.

His advice to fellow entrepreneurs in Gen Z? “The one thing is just to start — What do you use to take payments? How much does the landfill cost? How do you do pricing? This is all stuff you learn as you go.”

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President Donald Trump said half a dozen people have been arrested and several more have been cited in connection with vandalizing the new lining at the Reflecting Pool, according to a Truth Social post. Because of that, new security measures have been installed.

Portable lights and security camera towers have been placed every hundred yards along the edge of the Reflecting Pool.

“They don’t look real good, but the fact that they’re trying to protect the monuments, the fact that they’re trying to keep them in a good quality, good condition, I think that’s a good thing,” John Kirkegaard, a visitor to the Reflecting Pool, told WTOP.

The president has claimed that vandals cut a “350-foot gash” into the new liner that was installed last month. Pieces of the liner have been seen floating at the surface.

There is also fencing that is starting to go up around the outer edges of the pool area. In a statement, an Interior Department spokesperson said “the Reflecting Pool was always set to be fenced off ahead of the 4th of July. As in years prior, one of the launch pads for the fireworks is around the pool, so fencing is put up to ensure public safety. With the increase in vandalism by leftist activists, the fencing is going up earlier than originally planned to ensure no more damage is done to this historic site.”

For now, pedestrians and visitors to the site can still walk along the water’s edge. As for the water, it has been plagued with algal blooms over the past week.

With the help of nanobubble systems and chemicals, the water is currently much clearer with a good view of the “American flag blue” liner.

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The event also brought parking restrictions and road closures to the National Mall. Here’s what you need to know.

The celebration is being hosted by “Freedom 250,” a White House-led organization that’s separate from the congressionally chartered “America250” commission.

Numerous artists who were announced as headliners for the event dropped out, including Martina McBride, The Commodores and Bret Michaels. Shortly after the musicians stepped back, Trump said he would headline the opening rally with Lee Greenwood and the U.S. Army Band.

In a video posted to social media, Trump said, “It’s our music, our playlist. We don’t have a lot of people boring you with songs that you don’t want to hear. We have the hottest people, the hottest everything. It’s going to be one of the best rallies we’ve ever done.”

Fair outlook

After the rally, the 16-day Great American State fair will commence on the National Mall. It will highlight all 50 states and six territories through exhibits and state pavilions.

Each day will have a programming theme, including Friday’s “Land and Prosperity,” which honors ranching and agriculture, and next week’s “Horsepower of America” which celebrates “the engines, the muscle, and the spirit that keeps this nation moving forward.”

A Ferris wheel overlooking the fair has also been installed along with other carnival rides.

If you plan on going, Freedom 250 asks that you for free tickets, which will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The “Great American State Fair” will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Sunday through Wednesday and from 10 a.m. till 11 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday. The fair will stay open until midnight on the Fourth of July.

And even if you are not planning on attending it, you may still glimpse and hear part of the celebration. The military will conduct numerous flyovers near the National Mall, starting Wednesday, June 24, and lasting through July 10.

Traffic restrictions

There will be short-term and long-term closures related to the “Great American Fair.”

The following streets were previously closed for the construction of the “Great American State Fair” and will remain closed after it concludes on July 10 as organizers break down the event:

• Madison Drive from 3rd Street to 14th Street NW
• Jefferson Drive from 3rd Street to 14th Street SW
• 12th Street from Madison Drive to Constitution Avenue NW
• 12th Street from Jefferson Drive to Independence Avenue SW

Through Sunday, July 11, the following streets will be posted as emergency no parking:

• 7th Street from Constitution Avenue NW to Independence Avenue SW
• 4th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue NW to Independence Avenue SW
• Constitution Avenue from 14th Street to 3rd Street NW
• Independence Avenue from 14th Street to 3rd Street SW

Through Sunday, July 11, the following streets will be closed to vehicle traffic. Pedestrian traffic may move north and south but will be required to undergo security screening.

• 7th Street from Constitution Avenue, NW to Independence Avenue, SW
• 4th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue, NW to Independence Avenue, SW

From Thursday, June 25 through Friday, July 10, the following streets may be closed intermittently for public safety:

• 14th Street from Constitution Avenue NW to Independence Avenue SW
• Constitution Avenue from 14th Street to 3rd Street NW
• Independence Avenue from 14th Street to 3rd Street SW

The D.C. police will have the most up-to-date information on closures and delays.

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Throughout June, WTOP is recognizing and honoring the rich history and diversity of the LGBTQ+ community in the region. Find stories celebrating Pride on air, online and on the WTOP News app.

As McCarthyism was running rampant in the nation’s capital, one of the most targeted groups was gay and lesbian workers within the federal government.

On Feb. 9, 1950, Sen. Joseph McCarthy infamously announced that he had a list of communists working in the U.S. State Department. But as the claims unfolded, the accusations widened and targeted gay men and women.

“He gets around to describing who’s on that list, it turns out some of them aren’t communists at all. There are two groups of homosexuals on the list,” said David Johnson, chair of the history department at the University of South Florida and author of

“It starts this fear that gay people had infiltrated the federal government… and that they posed a threat to national security because they could be blackmailed,” he continued.

Johnson said many gay men and women in those times were not open with their sexuality leading higher ups in Washington to believe that they could be coerced into giving secrets to the Soviet Union. It was a justification for firing gay and lesbian workers and ultimately lead to an executive order from President Dwight Eisenhower in 1953.

“One of the first things he did when he was elected after winning office, on the slogan ‘Let’s Clean House,’ Let’s get rid of all of these undesirable people that the Democrats had brought to Washington — communists, homosexuals,” Johnson said.

stated: “Any criminal, infamous, dishonest, immoral, or notoriously disgraceful conduct, habitual use of intoxicants to excess, drug addiction, sexual perversion” was a threat to national security. At the time, homosexuality was described as a “Sexual Perversion.”

“My estimate is that between… 5,000 and 10,000 gays and lesbians lost their jobs,” Johnson said.

But despite those claims, there was no proof of any blackmail scheme with gay or lesbian federal workers.

The consequences though stretched far beyond the 1950s. Policies restricting hiring and security clearances for gay and lesbian federal workers lingered for decades overturning in the 1970s.

However, Johnson said, the policies lasted for an additional 20 years in higher security positions.

“In the State Department, the CIA, the FBI, the National Security Agency, it lasts until the Clinton era, until Bill Clinton signs two executive orders that overturn the Lavender Scare,” he said.

Johnson noted that the change was not accomplished without the activism of many brave men and women who fought their dismissals through the courts and activism.

For example, Frank Kameny lived in D.C. and worked for the Army Map Service to more accurately map the Soviet Union and target their intercontinental ballistic missiles. The Army discovered he was gay after he was arrested in a known gay cruising area. He fought it in the court and with the help of national gay rights organizations, helped end the Lavender Scare.

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Three young men have been identified by police as the pilot and two passengers who were killed in a single-engine plane crash Saturday night in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Maryland State Police said Monday Yoav Bomrind, of Israel was piloting the plane when it crashed, killing the 26-year-old and his two passengers, David Rabinovich, 19, also of Israel and Elad Naidik, 20, of Canada.

Police believe the men were on a training flight connected to the Washington International Flight Academy, based out of Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg.

The National Transportation Safety Board, the agency leading the investigation, said it will examine the wreckage, review air traffic control communications and radar data, interview witnesses, and collect maintenance records for the aircraft, along with the pilot’s medical records and flight history.

‘Sounded like thunder’: Neighbors react to Bowie plane crash

Residents in Bowie, Maryland, were rattled when the plane crashed near their neighborhood at around 11:30 p.m. Saturday night.

“I was just sitting down on the bed. We heard a loud boom, sounded like thunder, like a storm coming through, and then everything shook, and it stopped, and it lasted probably about seven seconds, and was complete silence after that,” said Shuntonya Clark, about the crash that happened near midnight on Saturday night.

The single-engine Piper PA-28 Cherokee was en route to Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg from Ocean City, New Jersey, when it crashed in a wooded area near a town home community and park off of Scarlet Oaks Terrace in Bowie.

Neighbor Vaughn Mackall told WTOP that the sound “wasn’t like a big boom or bang, it was just like a bunch of trees kind of crackling and snapping, and we didn’t really pay no mind.”

Both awoke the next morning to find police tape lining the backyard and park behind their town homes and a visible part of the wing.

“The next morning, I was coming out to go to work… the police was just like we had a plane crash in the back, and I was like, what?” Mackall said. “I heard it, man, but I didn’t really pay no mind.”

Clark added, ”It was very scary to find out later that it was a plane. I’m very grateful that there was no explosion, no fire, because of all the trees. It could have taken everything that’s over here out.”

Multiple local agencies began a search for the plane after the report of the crash, which was located around 3:45 a.m.

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WTOP’s Dan Ronan previously reported that the Piper Cherokee is “frequently flown, very safe” and Saturday night was very clear and favorable for flying.

WTOP’s Mike Murillo, Jeffery Leon and Jessica Kronzer contributed to this story.

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Throughout June, WTOP is recognizing and honoring the rich history and diversity of the LGBTQ+ community in the region. Find stories celebrating Pride on air, online and on the WTOP News app.

It is hard to miss as you travel down U.S. 301 through King George County, Virginia: a colorful sign with arching rainbow that reads, “Gardening Gays Farm.”

Now in their fifth season, the married couple who own the farm called this pivot in their lives a little unexpected at first but incredibly rewarding.

“I never thought that I was going to go back to it,” said Dragan Kurbalija, a co-owner.

He grew up on a farm in Croatia, and when he was young, vowed to never work a farm again.

It is a similar promise that his husband Kevin Graham made after working during his childhood for his father’s lawn service business in Florida.

“It’s not foreign to me, being outside, the hard work and ‘eating dust’, as my dad would call it,” Graham said. “My brothers and sisters and I vowed that we never wanted to have a flower bed in our yard when we became adults.”

Instead, the two now oversee a 27-acre farm, growing fresh produce such as tomatoes, peppers and watermelon, and watching over flocks of sheep, chickens and ducks.

“We pride ourselves on, first and foremost, being a working farm,” Graham said. “We have a farm store and a garden center.”

Gardening Gays Farm is open to the public year round, and welcomes customers seven days a week during the growing season.

In addition to whole chickens, just-laid eggs and other farm-fresh products, visitors will find items made by 20 or so local vendors.

“It’s like having a farmer’s market experience at your disposal without having to get up early on a Saturday morning and fight the crowd somewhere,” Graham said.

Every Saturday in the spring and fall, the farm invites food trucks and serves brunch. Farm festivals held four weekends a year attract up to a thousand people each day.

Gardening Gays Farm started as a garden in the backyard of their Upper Marlboro, Maryland, townhouse. Graham and Kurbalija grew enough to begin giving friends their produce, and Gardening Gays was born there as a hashtag on photos they would post on social media.

In March 2020, Graham had a friend sketch their Gardening Gays logo, and for Kurbalija’s birthday, they printed tank tops.

“Never in a million years thinking that it was going to be this,” Graham said. “It was the two of us, just our little hobby that we enjoyed enough to put it on a T-shirt.”

During the pandemic, they saw how empty grocery store shelves had become and decided they wanted to become more self-sufficient. That’s when the idea of a full farm came to be.

They originally wanted to stay close to D.C., but were priced out of any land that would be able to support a working farm. They looked in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and even New Hampshire before finding their spot in Virginia, moving there in August 2021.

“Our friends thought we were crazy,” Graham said. “Being a gay couple moving to some place — like D.C., where there’s so much acceptance, so much freedom, so much ability to be yourself — walking away from all of that to come back to a place that has a lot of question marks.”

The move tore some of their friendships apart. But they described the move as the next chapter in their lives. Where once they could walk into a D.C. bar and the bartender would instantly know their drink order, they now enjoy watching their five dogs roam and enjoy the farm.

“Just to watch nature unfold in front of your eyes, and to know that all of this stuff depends on you every single day,” Graham said.

Kurbalija agreed. “There’s more to life than a Friday afternoon happy hour. We decided to build this and enjoy it every day. Yes, there’s absolutely hard days when it’s 100 degrees and stuff needs to get done, but overall there’s just such a joy of being here,” he said.

But with that joy comes hard work.

“I don’t know many people in their 40s who decide to work this hard,” Graham said.

There are constant chores: feeding and watering chickens, sheep, guineas and ducks, or planting the latest crop after bush hogging the field.

The new focus has changed their perspectives, they said. Things that used to stress them out don’t matter nearly as much because there are more important responsibilities on their daily to-do list.

“If we don’t get out of bed in the morning, these animals don’t eat. They don’t get fresh water,” Graham said.

Kurbalija appreciates how the farm made him more patient and less reliant on the instant gratification of modern life with smartphones.

“It just makes you slow down, like you plant stuff in April, you don’t harvest it until August, September,” he said.

Ultimately, they said, the rural move and career shifts dramatically improved their quality of life.

“The deep connections that we make with people, with the conversations that we have, is beyond anything that we ever had by living in D.C.,” Graham said. “We get to know people on such an intimate level, who their kids are, when they’re vacationing, all those types of things. It unlocks something inside of your spirit to be able to develop that type of community here, and we’ve never had that anywhere that we’ve ever lived before.”

What has the reaction been to a gay-owned farm in the largely rural King George County?

“It’s been amazing. I mean, beyond our expectations,” said Kurbalija.

According to the farmers, the community is driven to support local businesses, and they’ve been voted best agricultural business, best family-owned business and best overall business in the county for two years running.

“We were accepted by this community. Yes, absolutely it was risky. It’s a conservative community,” said Kurbalija. “But we also believed in our work and what we do.”

For the first year of its existence, their famous “Gardening Gays Farm” sign was not installed. They instead wanted to show neighbors that their farm about more than their branding.

Kurbalija and Graham said they do only what feels authentic to themselves, while it is Pride month, the number of rainbows at the farm is the same as any month in the year.

“We don’t need an extra month to be proud,” said Kurbalija. “Find what do you enjoy doing, and do that, and do it every day of the week.”

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A famous D.C.-area pizzeria will be closing its last location in the region after over 50 years of business.

Armand’s Pizzeria and Grille will shut its doors later this month; a co-owner of the business cited financial issues and mounting pressures on small businesses as reasons for the closure.

In a statement posted on Armand’s social media,: “While this chapter is coming to an end, we leave with a heart full of gratitude.

“The success of Armand’s was never just about the food, it was about the people of our community. The support you have given us over the years has meant more than words can express.”

 

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Since the restaurant announced its last day open will be June 20, people have been lining up to get a final pie.

Paul Rist drove over an hour from Virginia to the Rockville location when he heard about the closure.

“I grew up on Armand Pizza and I haven’t had it in about 20 years,” Rist said.

“I knew I couldn’t miss the opportunity, so I got a couple pies and get to share with my kids, they’ve never had it, so it’s a little piece of childhood that I get to revisit and enjoy.”

“The community has been great; customers have been great. They’ve all been telling us stories,” Chris Sappe, co-owner of Armand’s, told WTOP.

“Yesterday we were so busy, everybody came in, wanted to get another pizza.”

Armand’s has been in business for 50 years and made a name for itself with its Chicago-style deep dish. But due to financial reasons and a struggling environment for small businesses, they will have to shut their doors.

“Montgomery County is a tough place to have a family-owned business with minimum wage increasing, food cost increasing, obviously gas and everything else that affects everybody,” Sappe said.

“We can’t compete with national chains like Domino’s or Papa John’s because they just push the food at such a low cost, but we use fresh ingredients every day, we pay the extra money for the high-quality ingredients, but eventually you’ll price yourself out.”

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A bus driver accused of causing a crash that killed five people and injured dozens of others on Interstate 95 in Stafford County, Virginia, in May appeared in court for the first time Wednesday morning.

Jing Dong, 48, of Staten Island, New York, was pushed into two separate courtrooms in a wheelchair where he faced five counts of involuntary manslaughter and one misdemeanor count of reckless driving.

His attorney, Thad Furlong, said he is in immense pain and had several internal surgeries following the overnight crash on May 29 near Marine Corps Base Quantico.

“He has to focus sometimes to answer our questions. He’s still got some residual concussion and things going on up there, but he is competent at this time to participate in the proceedings,” Furlong said.

A Mandarin interpreter helped with the proceedings, but Furlong said Dong does speak “limited English.” The interpreter is present to make things faster and because his client preferred to speak in his native tongue.

Dong was born in China and his English language proficiency has been called into question by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Prosecutors would not comment what evidence they had gathered in that aspect of the investigation.

The court proceedings established an arraignment date in circuit court for June 22 where he will enter a plea. Another preliminary hearing was set for Aug. 28 in General District Court.

Commonwealth attorney Eric Olsen said the charges will likely be merged in circuit court, especially if the case goes to trial.

Police have said Dong failed to slow down the coach bus when approaching a work zone in the southbound lanes of I-95. The bus struck a Chevrolet Suburban, causing a chain-reaction collision with multiple vehicles.

Furlong said that Dong was devastated when he woke up in the hospital and learned of the five deaths in the crash.

“When he woke up in the hospital and was informed that people lost their lives in this accident. He was devastated by that. He’s expressed how sorry he is about this incident many times to us,” Furlong said. “It’s a genuine remorse. He wished it had never happened.”

When asked if Dong knows what caused this crash and if he had a medical episode or fell asleep, Furlong said, “We have had discussions on the defense team with him about his memory and what he recalls. … I can tell you that he has communicated with us what he remembers, and we are going to match that against the evidence that the commonwealth attorney gave us today to see if they match up.”

The commonwealth’s attorney handed over video evidence and around 2,000 photos.

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Some folks on their day off from work are responding to medical emergencies and putting out burning buildings. They’re the volunteer firefighters who keep many areas safe year-round, but they are now in need of more recruits, especially from Gen Z.

“Depending on where you are in the country, between 60% and 80% of the firefighters in any given community are volunteers,” said Shawn Stokes, the fire chief for the Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department and an officer with the International Association of Fire Chiefs.

The fire chiefs association has launched a campaign called “A Hustle Worth Having” that’s targeting the younger generation, with hopes of helping volunteer fire departments around the country attract new recruits through social media campaigns and marketing materials.

“How do they identify with the 20-year-olds that are coming in? That’s really a core demographic that we’re looking for,” Stokes said. “A big part of the program is to provide tools for us to be able to identify with and be attractive to the newer generation, the younger generation to want to come and volunteer, because that’s our future.”

Stokes said over the years, it has become harder and harder to recruit ready volunteers. He theorized that people usually have a busier life than previous decades and many are working in areas where they do not live, making it harder for daylight EMT and fire service.

“I just saw a video the other day where a single firefighter pulled up, pulled the line, charged it, made an initial attack on a mobile home fire because he was the only person out there,” Stokes said.

While there is a strong history of volunteer fire service in the D.C. area, Stokes said the majority of the work is handled by career firefighters and EMTs. The most vulnerable departments are in more rural areas, such as western Virginia and Maryland.

“In a majority of the communities by a square mileage basis across the country, if the volunteers don’t show up, the fire truck doesn’t go out the door,” Stokes told WTOP.

It is a reason Kim Burns, an EMT in Dunn Loring, began volunteering. The full-time United Airlines pilot is originally from North Dakota and her hometown depended on the volunteer fire service.

“I had a family member that was affected by it and I saw that probably gave that family member an extra year and a half of life,” Burns said.

Volunteering to become a firefighter is not for the faint of heart. It requires commitment and dedication, according to Stokes. Training in Fairfax County can last up to 18 months, but afterward, volunteers will have the full qualifications of a career firefighter. Most volunteers put in 250 to 300 hours a year.

“This isn’t, ‘I get a certification, and then two or three times a year I show up and ride a fire truck.’ This is something that you have to be current on, and something that you have to be committed to,” said Stokes, adding that it was a lifestyle.

And while volunteering can be tough, Stokes argued that it is the most rewarding opportunity in most people’s lives.

“You are the person there to help somebody on their worst day, and almost everybody that we see is having their worst day. Nobody calls 911 because something isn’t wrong,” Stokes said.

“We can help them physically, but we can also help them mentally and give them dignity, and also the family members that we’re dealing with,” Burns added.

Michael Van Dyke, a volunteer fire officer, told WTOP, “The thing that attracted me to it is the opportunity to do something, frankly, that wasn’t sitting at a desk eight hours a day because that isn’t good for me long term, and I don’t think it’s good for anybody long term. It was an opportunity to give back.”

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Follow WTOP’s team coverage of the D.C. primary and Election 2026 online, on air at 103.5 FM or on the WTOP News app.

The District is approaching a pivotal primary election where a front-runner for council positions and the mayor will be decided.

For the first time in 12 years, a new face will take on the city’s top job. WTOP spoke with voters and a policy expert about what issues are front of mind for those in the District.

Crime and homelessness

“At times I even think about leaving the city, and I’ve been born and raised here. … It’s gotten that bad. I’ve been robbed twice on the subway, I’ve had to defend myself,” said Latisha Mason, who works in Anacostia.

While crime rates have improved from the sharp spike seen during and after the pandemic, deeper structural issues remain, according to Yeshim Sayan, executive director of the D.C. Policy Center.

“The No. 1 reason why I see reductions in crime is … enforcement,” Sayan said, emphasizing that the visibility and presence of officers on the streets plays a more immediate role than long-term sentencing policies.

However, that is complicated by the declining staff numbers at D.C. police.

“The District’s police force has lost a lot of members; it’s hard to bring in new cadets and it’s hard to retain existing ones,” Sayan said.

One reason for it is the stiff competition from neighboring jurisdictions, such as Montgomery County, Maryland, and Fairfax County, Virginia, as well as federal law enforcement agencies that offer higher salaries and incentives. On top of that, policing in a city also has added challenges compared with policing in a suburb.

“I really wish they would have some on the ground, real programs for crime, having police sit outside the 7-Eleven in a mandated stationary position instead of out of their cars, walking the beat, getting to know their community,” Mason told WTOP.

Stacy Mills, who lives in Northwest D.C., said, “I think the city has put in every intervention it can, other than making sure there’s a policeman standing next to every person who’s committed a crime in the past.”

She added, “I don’t know what more the city can do with the resources that they have at this time.”

Mills mentioned the use of emergency youth curfew zones: “I want these kids to have freedom. … But we all have to take responsibility for our behavior.”

Beyond staffing issues, the District’s criminal justice system presents unique complications, according to the D.C. Policy Center. Unlike most jurisdictions, D.C.’s criminal code is prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office rather than a local district attorney.

Sayan said this creates a “ping-ponging” effect, where D.C. police make arrests, a federal prosecutor could decide whether to file charges and a federal court decides the fate of convicted offenders, who can then be sent to federal prisons all over the country.

The result can be inconsistent prosecution and weakened accountability, according to the D.C. Policy Center. In 2022, prosecutors declined to prosecute nearly two-thirds of those arrested by police that would have been tried in D.C. Superior Court.

“At one point,” Sayan said, “1 in every 5 homicides got properly prosecuted, 1 in every 20 carjackings got properly prosecuted.”

Several voters mentioned a wish for the city to better address the issue of homelessness.

Gabriel Davis, a Marine Corps veteran who recently returned to D.C., found the city very different from when he left around a decade ago.

“A lot of people are homeless out here. I think there could be more programs,” Davis told WTOP. “I get it, can’t help everybody, but I think it should be more help from the taxpayers.”

Mason said that the city should focus more on mental health resources for people living on the streets and that it might lead to safer outcomes.

“You have people being attacked by mentally ill patients because they have nowhere to go,” she said.

Housing and rising prices

Roger Spence, a voter in Northwest D.C., said many colleagues in his office have had to move out of the city when they began having children.

Flavio Irnez agreed: “Everything, especially the apartments are really expensive — almost 30% higher than all around the DMV.”

He told WTOP that he is planning to move to Maryland in the next few weeks because of the rising costs of housing.

Irnez said it’s difficult for “normal people like us to get some decent apartment.”

“We need caps on rent, and caps on home prices,” Mills said. “At least for a couple of years.”

Housing prices are an area where local government could intervene, Sayan said.

“The city cannot do a whole lot about oil prices. The city cannot do a whole lot about grocery prices,” Sayan said. “The city can do a lot about housing costs.”

Sayan said there are numerous regulations and requirements that are on the shoulders of housing production and operations, which makes housing relatively scarce in the city.

“We produced a lot of units, but most of them are clustered in a handful of neighborhoods, and the reason they’re clustered there is because there wasn’t any other housing in those places to begin with,” Sayan said.

A recent report from the D.C. Policy Center found that policy decisions by previous councils and mayors have contributed to this housing scarcity.

“I would call it a death by a thousand cuts,” she said.

Local zoning is much more prohibitive than just the . Sayan said when it comes to mid-sized housing, most neighborhoods are entirely closed to that kind of development. That is why most housing in recent years has been developed in previously industrialized areas, such as The Wharf and NoMa. These, however, are far from many schools and amenities that are needed for families.

“Then you have to go through all kinds of permits and approvals. That takes a lot of time in D.C., and there’s also inconsistency,” Sayan said, noting that two different reviewers could have very different responses for the same set of development plans.

She added that current regulation energy efficiency upgrades for older residential buildings can be too costly, and even regulations around heritage trees have limited buildings that could house up to 20 families.

It’s causing an exit of families from the District and rapidly declining birth rates.

“You cannot have a city without families. It’s no longer a city,” Sayan said.

Small businesses and jobs

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, it is not only people that have left the District, but also small businesses.

“Thinking about the candidates, I’m interested in someone who is focused on small, mid-sized business retention and growth,” said Jocelyn Walters, a small business owner in Anacostia.

“This is the neighborhood of my grandmother and I just want to see this neighborhood and all D.C. neighborhoods be able to sustain themselves without again requiring people and businesses to have to move out of D.C. in order to be part of the growth,” she said.

Antonio Elberts, a resident of Southeast D.C., told WTOP, as he heads to the ballot box, the most important issue on his mind is simply employment.

“Jobs, jobs, jobs and at my age, I need a job. It’s hard to get a job right now,” he said.

Davis echoed his sentiment, “It’s hard to get a job around here at times. Even at Chipotle or Chick-fil-A, it’s hard to get a job, believe it or not. People think that you just walk in and get a job here. No, you can’t. It’s very competitive right now.”

Sayan said, “I think the new mayor and the new council are going to face particularly challenging times.”

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Families looking for a little fun and adventure this summer may find it with the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Super Hero Summer featuring DC, will run through Labor Day and feature a variety of activities.

“We’ll have our light show every single night, that’s our Battle for Justice light show, where the villains will take on those superheroes, and we’ll see who’s triumphant at the end, as well as our DC Super Hero Academy, where you can get in on the action in our interactive show, where you can awaken your inner superhero,” David Bracamonte, the director of creative for special events and entertainment, told WTOP.

Guests can also put their wits to the test with the Revenge of the Riddler Scavenger Hunt, where they solve puzzles across the resort to rescue kidnapped members of the Justice League.

Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman will also make weekend appearances.

“If you want to meet our characters live and in person, the superheroes coming in from the Hall of Justice, focus on those weekend dates, Saturdays and Sundays,” Bracamonte said.

The superhero themes will even spill over into the pool with games, such as DC trivia and movie nights, where guests can watch iconic superhero films while lounging in the water.

“Super Hero Summer builds on Gaylord National’s entertainment legacy by delivering interactive adventures, spectacular shows and unique experiences,” Dan McKeon, area general manager at Gaylord National Resort said in a statement. “It’s the only place in the capital region where families can experience this level of immersive summer fun.”

According to Bracamonte, the best way to experience Superhero Summer at Gaylord National is to, “book one of our room packages that’s going to include all of those different superhero experiences.”

To book a room or learn more about their supersized festivities

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Local business owner and adventurer Frank Fumich has run over 150 marathons, at least one per continent.

The Virginia man has reached the South Pole, biked across the United States and competed in dozens of ultramarathons while raising money for charity. But last month’s feat was the pinnacle of Fumich’s career: reaching the top of Mount Everest while carrying a very precious gift with him.

“I did take like 60 seconds and look around and appreciate where I was standing, and that, 0.001% of humans ever get to see with their own eyes, but mostly I was just thinking, ‘OK, now I need to get down,’” Fumich told WTOP.

The trip to the top of the world’s tallest peak is decades in the making for Fumich. He climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro around 22 years ago and the idea started, and he began to work toward this goal ever since.

Fresh from his descent, he said, “I’d say literally and figuratively say it ranks at the top.”

Fumich endured hours of running, strength training and wearing out his home treadmill with a 40-pound pack. He also incorporated balance training and hiked the Shenandoah Valley half a dozen times with full gear.

He also completed what is called a flash expedition to the top, which requires a shorter amount of time on the mountain to get acclimated to the altitude. This is achieved by an altitude tent that Fumich slept in every night for two months before he traveled to Nepal.

“You turn up the machine and it simulates higher and higher altitude, and you know it’s pretty miserable because you’re kind of choking and gasping in your sleep,” Fumich said.

“You’re training hard here and normally, you’re looking forward to going to sleep, but I was kind of dreading going to sleep because that was harder than even the training.”

Fumich and the group he joined to climb the mountain initially planned to go up the north side of Everest, but the Chinese government closed that side to any international traveler and they had to pivot to travel up the southern side in Nepal.

The climb is a waiting game, waiting for the right conditions to make the ascent.

Fumich said there was a lot of sitting around “trying to stay mentally in the game.”

There is a tiny window of only a few days to a week in late May before monsoon season begins.

Eventually, their window arrived and they had to make it to the top of Everest and back down in five-and-a-half days.

Arguably, the most treacherous part of their journey is at the beginning on the Khumbu Icefall, a moving glacier with deep crevasses that can only be crossed via ladders that are roped together. One crevasse required five ladders to be latched together.

“If you’re in the wrong spot at the wrong time and one of those things collapses, it could be devastating,” Fumich said.

The toughest part of the journey for Fumich and most climbers is the sheer altitude. One camp, located at above 26,000 feet, is what’s referred to as the “Death Zone.”

“That is definitely where you are dying,” he said. “Humans are just not made to be at that altitude. We obviously use supplemental oxygen, but even with the oxygen, I was amazed.”

“We literally walked past dead bodies, which is super sobering, and we also saw a guy pass away, which was really sobering,” Fumich said.

“It’s a reminder when you see one of those people, none of them plan to not come back. No one thinks that you’re going to be the one that doesn’t come back, but it happens every year.”

A guardian angel

When Fumich finally reached the top of the mountain, there was not much time to spare. He recorded videos to friends and loved ones and took in the view, but also laid to rest the ashes of a 13-year-old girl.

Lilly Toxavidis, the daughter of one of Fumich’s closest friends, died of cancer in 2019. Fumich was in the hospital room as she drew her last breath, and her father gave Fumich some of her ashes to spread as he adventures across the world, helping to keep her memory alive.

The vial that Fumich carried to the top of Mount Everest held the last of Lilly’s ashes.

“It’s a nice way to end all my adventures and my experience with her ashes, to put them on top of the world,” he said.

During this adventure, in particular, he viewed Lilly as a “guardian angel.”

“She’s kind of looking over me on these adventures. I feel privileged to be able to do it,” Fumich said.

Helping hands

This achievement is, of course, never done alone, Fumich said he could not have gotten to the top without his sherpas, Dawa and Passang, who helped carry oxygen, gear and even attached their crampons to his boots when it was too cold for him to take off his gloves.

He also climbed the mountain with three friends from across the world, joining the group of 10 on this particular expedition. He said the challenges they faced together formed bonds that can only be forged under shared hardship.

“When we all made it to base camp and sort of recounted our stories — we’re eight grown men that were bawling like children,” Fumich said. “It was super emotional, and those guys are my brothers.”

The 58-year-old said this would be his first and last time summiting the tallest mountain in the world.

“How do you top Mount Everest? I saved the best or hardest for last, and I’m feeling pretty satisfied,” Fumich said.

He said that this feat is a lesson for anyone who wishes to put themselves to the test and see what they are capable of.

“I always say you never find anything about yourself sitting on the couch,” Fumich said.

“I’m not talented, I’m not a fast runner, but I just basically refuse to quit, and everybody has that in them. I think you know it’d be great if sometimes people would go out there and see what they’re made of. … They’d be really surprised to find out.”

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What exactly are the qualifications for a driver and are there any processes to ensure greater safety when traveling at night?

All bus drivers are required to hold a commercial driver’s license (CDL) along with a passenger endorsement, according to Scott Michael, president of the United Motor Coach Association.

“There’s a new entry-level driver training requirement that the feds have put in place back in ‘22 that requires that you go through the curriculum, and there’s required training and certification things that you have to go for that process,” Michael said.

He said most motor coach companies also have internal training.

One focus of the investigation is whether English language proficiency may have played a role in the crash. The driver, 48-year-old Jing Dong, a naturalized citizen originally from China who lives in New York, is a licensed commercial driver in that state.

“There’s been a lot of talk about the English language proficiency—that is a requirement that has been in place for a number of years, and some states have done a better job of enforcing that than others,” Michael explained. “You have to have at least enough ability to speak English that you can interact with any law enforcement personnel that you might encounter, and obviously you need to be able to read the traffic signs.”

Investigators with NTSB said speed played a role and the bus failed to slow down as it approached a work zone on I-95 before crashing into six other cars.

While exact causes in this crash are not known at this time, previous fatal motor coach crashes have found driver fatigue to be a contributing factor in many of them. Like other commercial drivers for freight, passenger drivers have hours of service limitation to ensure safety for passengers.

This crash happened at 2:35 a.m. according to Virginia State Police.

“I do know that many of our members have been for years examining whether it makes sense to operate at night, and some of them are either limiting the number of trips that they agree to do that require overnight travel,” Michael noted.

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In the D.C. region, conversations often start with, “What do you do?” WTOP’s “Working Capital” series profiles the people whose jobs make the D.C. region run.

Millions of us grew up reading comic books, fantasizing about becoming our favorite superhero and telling our own stories in our head or through playtime with Spider-Man action figures.

But one D.C. man took that passion throughout his career and eventually told his own stories using his favorite Marvel character.

David Betancourt is a veteran journalist for The Athletic. He lectures at both the University of Maryland and American University. But the thing that connects it all is his love for comic books and he has been fortunate to write a few of his own.

Betancourt grew up with a comic book always in his hand, and he attributes his love of reading and writing to those early comics that he read as a kid.

During his years as a culture reporter at The Washington Post, he made several connections with Marvel, which asked him to write a character with whom that Betancourt has a deep affinity: Miles Morales, a newer Spider-Man who has become widely popular thanks to two theatrically released animated movies: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”

“The character of Miles Morales means a lot to me, because he represents the first time, I felt that I’ve truly seen myself in any medium,” Betancourt said.

Much like Morales, Betancourt has one African American parent and one Puerto Rican parent.

“He’s bilingual, he’s biracial, he looks like me and he’s Spider-Man. And that’s somebody who I always wanted to be as a kid,” Betancourt said.

He was first approached by Marvel to write an essay about how much Miles Morales meant to him. He was then asked to write a few more essays about the comic book company.

“I said, ‘I’ll do it if I can write Miles, because he’s a character that means a lot to me, because I am what he is.’ So that led to me writing my very first Miles Morales comic book story for Marvel,” Betancourt said.

In the story, Morales as Spider-Man meets the Black Panther. At its core, it is a story of identity.

“He talks to the Black Panther, ‘When people see you and your Black Panther superhero suit, even though they can’t see you, they know you’re Wakandan. I have this superhero suit, but people don’t know what I am,” Betancourt said about his story.

Morales wanted the world to know that he is both Black and Puerto Rican.

“In the story, that led to the creation of what is known as the Boricua suit,” Betancourt said.

The black Spider-Man outfit prominently displays the Puerto Rican flag on its chest. It has even been made into an action figure. His biggest hope is that it appears in the final Spider-Verse movie that will be released next year.

“It really is kind of an out-of-body experience,” said Betancourt. “To always be that adult that runs to the superhero toy section to see what cool toys are there … then see a toy that started off as an idea in your head, it was really an amazing experience. It’s something I’m very proud of.”

Another proud moment was when he received fan mail as a comic book writer. One letter came from Latin America, writing that they could tell this particular story was written by a Latino.

He took great responsibility to reflect both sides of his culture in Miles, but made sure the story and action was on point. It is a balancing act.

“People aren’t running to the comic bookstore to buy a superhero comic to hear someone talk about how Puerto Rican or how black they are. They want to see a superhero bench pressing a car and throwing it and getting into battles with super villains,” he said.

“So you really have to pick your moments where you can let the reader know that you’re a part of that culture and you want to express that within the character.”

Along with writing comics, Betancourt has written books about comic book culture. He authored “The Avengers Assembled: The Origins of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.”

Betancourt is highlighting a series of lectures and activities for children at the D.C. Public Library called “Comictroplis.”

“We have multiple writers from the comic book realm that I’ve curated,” Betancourt said, speaking about the shows.

“I want this series to be for the older comic book-loving community, but especially our young community. Here is a chance to peek inside what it’s like to create comic books and let these kids know that reading comic books can be a path to becoming a creator,” he said.

“I want this series to be an eye-opening experience for young kids that are into comics that potentially have an interest in maybe doing that someday.”

On Saturday, June 13, Betancourt will speak about his path towards writing Miles Morales at the Southwest Neighborhood Library.

To register for one of the three remaining events, visit the .

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