Andrew Mollenbeck – Âé¶¹¹ÙÍø News Washington's Top News Thu, 05 Nov 2015 17:38:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 /wp-content/uploads/2021/05/WtopNewsLogo_500x500-150x150.png Andrew Mollenbeck – Âé¶¹¹ÙÍø News 32 32 Local fitness craze vows to ‘make sweat sexy’ /lifestyle/2015/11/local-fitness-craze-vows-to-make-sweat-sexy/ /lifestyle/2015/11/local-fitness-craze-vows-to-make-sweat-sexy/#respond Thu, 05 Nov 2015 15:44:47 +0000 http://wtop.com/?p=5372141 WASHINGTON — The house lights come down. The glow lights flicker on. The DJ starts the tables spinning.

Except, this isn’t a Saturday night at a U Street nightclub.

It happens to be a Saturday morning on 14th Street Northwest.

305 Fitness, which offers classes in D.C. and New York, combines elements of the club with a relentless dance cardio workout.

Fitting of its slogan, “make sweat sexy,” participants burn up to 800 calories during the 55-minute class, according to the leaders. Classes start at $21.

“This is a judgment-free zone!” shouts instructor Marie Schlatter as the class begins.

Patrick FitzGerald —  known as DJ Daywalker — cuts right to the hook of popular tracks, firing off several songs every minute.  The songs are infused with the driving beats of EDM, electronic dance music.

The teacher and the DJ don’t plan out the playlist ahead of time. It’s all based on an eight-count rhythm. They adjust to the vibe in the room.

While the sounds evoke a dance club, having two left feet is not a problem: The class is more of a traditional cardio workout than it is about busting moves.

Source

]]>
/lifestyle/2015/11/local-fitness-craze-vows-to-make-sweat-sexy/feed/ 0
D.C. Rollergirls finally have a home /dc/2015/11/d-c-rollergirls-finally-home/ /dc/2015/11/d-c-rollergirls-finally-home/#respond Thu, 05 Nov 2015 09:46:16 +0000 http://wtop.com/?p=5363426 WASHINGTON — The sports league known for its creative names and hard hits has landed its first home in a decade.

The signed a lease for a practice space at a warehouse in Edmonston, Maryland, near Hyattsville.

Community support helped them raise $40,000.

“We’ve been in parking lots for practices; we’ve been in parking garages; we’ve been anywhere we can find a large flat space,” says league president Adrienne Schreiber, whose nom de guerre is “Velocity Raptor.â€

“Skating in a parking lot is a little hard on everyone involved,” she says.

Between 50 and 55 women are in the league, which formed in 2006. Many of the members fashion their own memorable nicknames. The team names alone include Scare Force One, The Majority Whips and Cherry Blossom Bombshells.

Practices, boot camps and interleague competitions will be held at the warehouse, at 5706 Lafayette Place.

The 10th season begins in January, with most games at the D.C. Armory.

Source

]]>
/dc/2015/11/d-c-rollergirls-finally-home/feed/ 0
English not the 1st language in 1 in 4 D.C.-area households /local/2015/11/home-communication-often-not-english/ /local/2015/11/home-communication-often-not-english/#respond Wed, 04 Nov 2015 10:10:16 +0000 http://wtop.com/?p=5346921 WASHINGTON — One in four households in the Washington region speaks a language other than English, the Census Bureau said Tuesday.

In its most in-depth analysis on language, the agency counted at least 350 languages spoken in U.S. homes.

In this area, the Census Bureau reported at least 168 languages spoken in the home.

The Washington region ranked near the top in both total languages spoken and the percentage of households that speak a language other than English. Twenty-six percent of households in the region communicate in a language other than English, the findings show.

According to the survey, Amharic is among the smaller language groups, with 43,125 speakers nationwide.

The New York metro area has the greatest diversity, with at least 192 languages spoken at home.

In two cities, English-speaking households are in the minority: The Census Bureau reports 54 percent of the Los Angeles metro area and 51 percent of the Miami metro area don’t use English at home.

Source

]]>
/local/2015/11/home-communication-often-not-english/feed/ 0
Ahead of winter, more tents at Virginia Avenue homeless camp /dc/2015/11/ahead-of-winter-more-tents-at-virginia-avenue-homeless-camp/ /dc/2015/11/ahead-of-winter-more-tents-at-virginia-avenue-homeless-camp/#respond Tue, 03 Nov 2015 00:07:06 +0000 http://wtop.com/?p=5324921 WASHINGTON — Through shelters and motel rooms, the District expects to provide a roof for more than 700 homeless families this winter, by far the most ever.

But by limitation or personal choice, other homeless people, particularly individuals, are planning to brave the elements.

In the past few weeks, a homeless encampment along Rock Creek Parkway near Virginia Avenue has swelled, with more tents going up daily.

“About 12 new people have come in the last three days,” says one man who didn’t give his name. “The problem is that we don’t have work and some are disabled.”

On Monday afternoon, 14 tents — some with multiple rooms — dotted the grassy area just north of the Watergate.

It’s unclear how many recently became homeless. All said the tents — which appear new — were donated.

“Winter’s coming, and folks got to get up out from the rivers and from underneath the trees,” says a man who gave his name as John, who’s spent years in the area.

City agencies come by this and other encampments regularly, both to check on the welfare of the people there and to clean out the debris.

During winter, workers clean up debris, but they don’t take down tents or other garments that protect people from the elements.

The District’s Department of Human Services housed 12 people from the encampment this summer, the agency said.

Source

]]>
/dc/2015/11/ahead-of-winter-more-tents-at-virginia-avenue-homeless-camp/feed/ 0
Metro car derails on way to service building /dc-transit/2015/11/metro-car-derails-on-way-to-service-building/ /dc-transit/2015/11/metro-car-derails-on-way-to-service-building/#respond Mon, 02 Nov 2015 18:50:09 +0000 http://wtop.com/?p=5319461 WASHINGTON — A Metrorail car derailed Monday morning as it was being moved to its service and inspection building.

No passengers were on the car at the time, and no one was hurt.

The low-speed derailment happened near Brentwood Yard in D.C. at 8:36 a.m.

One set of wheels came off track, but the car remained upright, according to a statement from Metro.

The derailment did not impact passenger service.

The Federal Transit Administration and the Tri-State Oversight Committee have been notified about the incident.

Metro has launched its own investigation.

In August, a train without passengers derailed at the Smithsonian station, suspending service for hours.

Source

]]>
/dc-transit/2015/11/metro-car-derails-on-way-to-service-building/feed/ 0
New fees for Uber, Lyft /local/2015/10/hold-sat-am-new-fees-for-uber-lyft/ /local/2015/10/hold-sat-am-new-fees-for-uber-lyft/#respond Sat, 31 Oct 2015 07:49:10 +0000 http://wtop.com/?p=5288391 WASHINGTON – Ride sharing services famously settle the bill with customers without any physical currency ever coming out, but starting Sunday, riders may want to look for some loose change.

Trips to and from Dulles International and Reagan National airports will have a $4 “access fee” added to the fare.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority approved the new rules last month, impacting companies like Uber and Lyft.

“What this does for consumers is it unfairly inflates the place of a ride,” says Taylor Bennett, a spokesman for Uber.

“We expect that consumers will now pay about 25 percent more for an Uber X trip to Reagan and about 15 percent more for trips to Dulles,” he says.

The $4 access fee is on the high end compared with other airports in the country. Most that do apply a fee to pick-ups do not also have a drop-off fee.

Under MWAA’s new regulations, the airports will get a cut of the popular services’ fares.

The Airports Authority has also said the new structure will help it quantify how much passengers are actually using these services.

The $4 charge will be paid by the riders.

Source

]]>
/local/2015/10/hold-sat-am-new-fees-for-uber-lyft/feed/ 0
Flooding closes Montgomery Co. elementary school /montgomery-county/2015/10/flooding-closes-montgomery-co-elementary-school/ /montgomery-county/2015/10/flooding-closes-montgomery-co-elementary-school/#respond Mon, 26 Oct 2015 23:07:24 +0000 http://wtop.com/?p=5214721 WASHINGTON — It’s a bit early for a snow day, but one elementary school in Rockville has tallied its first flood day.

Staff at Rock Creek Valley Elementary School arrived Monday to extensive flooding at the school, forcing classes to be canceled for the day.

“It was determined that a spigot that was running water had been running throughout the weekend,” says Dana Tofig, a spokesman for Montgomery County Public Schools.

The water was pouring from a second-floor janitor’s closet.

Work crews spent the day at the school, repairing damage and setting up fans to dry out the classrooms.

“The school is safe to occupy,” Tofig said Monday evening.

Classes resume Tuesday as normal.

Tofig says at worst, the school will make some adjustments to the flow of the day if there are additional maintenance projects.

Source

]]>
/montgomery-county/2015/10/flooding-closes-montgomery-co-elementary-school/feed/ 0
Md. council members question taxi credit card payments /montgomery-county/2015/10/md-council-members-question-taxi-credit-card-payments/ /montgomery-county/2015/10/md-council-members-question-taxi-credit-card-payments/#respond Sat, 24 Oct 2015 07:39:37 +0000 http://wtop.com/?p=5171776 WASHINGTON — More often these days, taxi riders reach for their credit cards when it’s time to pay the fare.

But in Montgomery County, it’s the drivers that may be getting ripped off.

Seven council members on Friday wrote a letter to regulators, suggesting the Barwood Taxi Company could be avoiding the new taxi law and over-charging drivers.

“We want our Department of Transportation to verify that this is a fair fee for our taxicab drivers to be paying to Barwood when somebody uses a credit card,” said Councilman Roger Berliner.

Following the enactment of the new taxi law in July, Barwood restructured its charges to the drivers for licensing its cabs.

Councilman Marc Erlich called the restructuring an apparent attempt “to circumvent the new rules which limited the cab companies to adding 1 percent to credit card processing fees charged by banks.”

Officials at Barwood were not immediately available for comment after the council sent the letter to the Department of Transportation.

Source

]]>
/montgomery-county/2015/10/md-council-members-question-taxi-credit-card-payments/feed/ 0
Close call for officer as man misfires gun on Baltimore-Washington Parkway /prince-georges-county/2015/10/close-call-for-officer-as-man-gun-misfires-on-baltimore-washington-parkway/ /prince-georges-county/2015/10/close-call-for-officer-as-man-gun-misfires-on-baltimore-washington-parkway/#respond Fri, 23 Oct 2015 16:19:53 +0000 http://wtop.com/?p=5164101 PALMER PARK, Md. — A traffic stop that began on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway became a chilling close call Thursday afternoon.

After exiting the Baltimore-Washington Parkway to Riverdale Road, a passenger in a vehicle bailed from the car, started running, and then pointed a loaded gun at the officer in pursuit, police say.

He pulled the trigger, but the gun misfired.

“This guy probably didn’t understand the weapon, and had he, we could have another officer killed,” says Cpt. Ken Humbel.

The very officer at whom the gun was pointed was able to make an arrest without firing a shot, police say.

Joseph Clay, 21, of Lanham, Maryland faces 10 charges, including attempted murder stemming from a shooting in August.

“He was already wanted on an attempted murder charge in the same area,” Humbel says, noting that could have emboldened Clay’s desperation.

The driver of the car was also charged with drug offenses, after police found marijuana, the party drug Molly and capsules.

The officer originally made the traffic stop after observing the vehicle going just 25 miles per hour in the northbound lanes of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.

Source

]]>
/prince-georges-county/2015/10/close-call-for-officer-as-man-gun-misfires-on-baltimore-washington-parkway/feed/ 0
New life for old home videos /dc/2015/10/new-life-old-home-videos/ /dc/2015/10/new-life-old-home-videos/#respond Fri, 23 Oct 2015 09:05:47 +0000 http://wtop.com/?p=5154906 WASHINGTON — Give us your awkward, your hilarious, your sentimental.

D.C.’s welcomes all sorts of family movies and videos that have long been relegated to a dusty shelf.

“We will have archivists inspect their films for them and give them preservation advice, and then we’ll screen it for them if they want,” says Jamie Mears, a national digital stewardship resident for the D.C. Public Library system.

The event is being held from noon until 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Southwest Branch of the D.C. Public Library. Film dropoff starts at 11 a.m.

“The fact that we have a chance for you to view it may remind you of how valuable it is, and then we’re hoping you’ll take steps to preserve it,” Mears says.

Home Movie Day is free to attend, and so is the consult with an archivist.

The event can accommodate the following formats:

  • FILM: 8 mm; Super 8; 16 mm
  • VIDEO: VHS; Hi-8; VHS-C; Mini-DV

Source

]]>
/dc/2015/10/new-life-old-home-videos/feed/ 0
Home sellers in D.C. get big payoffs /real-estate/2015/10/home-sellers-d-c-get-big-payoffs/ /real-estate/2015/10/home-sellers-d-c-get-big-payoffs/#respond Thu, 22 Oct 2015 08:41:34 +0000 http://wtop.com/?p=5137591 WASHINGTON — Homeowners in the District who stuck out the recession are getting quite a payoff, and for recent buyers, the windfall has come quickly.

Figures compiled by the Office of the Chief Financial Officer show the median gain for all sellers during the past fiscal year was $108,000.

The gains are more dramatic for those who have owned homes 14 years or more. In that group, the median gain was $324,000.

“The 14 years or more really reflects the rapid price appreciation that we’ve seen in the District over the longer term,” says Steven Giachetti, the director of revenue estimation for the OCFO.

This region is still more transient than most. On average, D.C. homeowners hang on to their properties for about seven years.

“I think what surprised me was the gains for people who held on to their homes for three years or less,” Giachetti says.

Those recent buyers-turned-sellers saw gains of $132,000.

Source

]]>
/real-estate/2015/10/home-sellers-d-c-get-big-payoffs/feed/ 0
D.C. works to balance privacy, transparency with police body cameras /dc/2015/10/d-c-works-to-balance-privacy-transparency-with-police-body-cameras/ /dc/2015/10/d-c-works-to-balance-privacy-transparency-with-police-body-cameras/#respond Wed, 21 Oct 2015 20:30:16 +0000 http://wtop.com/?p=5130871 WASHINGTON — As D.C. moves closer to fitting police officers with body cameras, questions remain about what footage would be available to the public.

A council hearing Wednesday examined three different bills related to police body cameras.

The chief concern to surface involved what footage would be subject to a Freedom of Information Act request.

“Who gets access to this information and when do they get it inside the constructs of an investigation?” asked David Grosso, D.C. Council member at-large.

The current plan exempts assaults and footage recorded in homes from FOIA requests.

“The interactions recorded in their private residence or other places where a person has a heightened expectation of privacy, we believe in providing maximum protection to those individuals,” said Kevin Donahue, the deputy city administrator.

A person directly involved in one of the FOIA-exempt situations could choose to allow footage to be released. Also, the mayor could release footage of great public interest, even if it falls under one of the protected categories.

Still, some see the bills as murky and not fully transparent about what the police body cameras record.

“I think what the executive is trying to do here is to make a carve-out in a way that will create a whole area that is exempt from discovery, and I think the council should reject that,” says Delroy Burton, chairman of the police union.

D.C. police officers are set to begin using body cameras in 2016.

Source

]]>
/dc/2015/10/d-c-works-to-balance-privacy-transparency-with-police-body-cameras/feed/ 0
GW Parkway’s facelift almost complete /dc-transit/2015/10/gw-parkways-face-lift-almost-complete/ /dc-transit/2015/10/gw-parkways-face-lift-almost-complete/#respond Wed, 21 Oct 2015 09:10:04 +0000 http://wtop.com/?p=5114976 ARLINGTON, Va. — Winter didn’t play nice with the region’s roads the last go-round.

Some are still bumpy, cracked and in need of some love.

The George Washington Memorial Parkway, which had some of the roughest spots anywhere, has been getting a facelift recently.

By next week, crews are expected to have finished milling and repaving a stretch from the Humpback Bridge to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

“The condition of the roadway after last winter was not good,” says Aaron LaRocca, the chief of staff for the GW Parkway. “This is part of the projects to address the problem areas of the road.”

In addition to the repaving, the Park Service has dropped 350 tons of asphalt on the GW Parkway and the Clara Barton Parkway.

LaRocca says that works out to 10,000 square feet of roadway surface work in preparation for the next winter season.

Source

]]>
/dc-transit/2015/10/gw-parkways-face-lift-almost-complete/feed/ 0
Ben’s Chili Bowl’s Bill Cosby mural defaced /dc/2015/10/bens-chili-bowls-bill-cosby-mural-defaced/ /dc/2015/10/bens-chili-bowls-bill-cosby-mural-defaced/#respond Mon, 19 Oct 2015 23:31:05 +0000 http://wtop.com/?p=5098086 WASHINGTON — If North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ever visited Ben’s Chili Bowl, he’d have to pay cash like nearly everyone else.

Comedian Bill Cosby, who loves the restaurant and has a long-standing relationship with the owner’s family, is one of the few whose half smoke tab is covered when he drops by.

But on Monday, Cosby’s now-controversial image on a mural at the restaurant was covered up by none other than the Dear Leader.

A cutout of the North Korean dictator obscured Cosby’s face in the painting at the U Street Northwest location.

A street artist, who posts under the name “Smear Leader,” took credit for the work.

“Instead of looking at a sexual predator, people can celebrate in jubilation that the great leader is now on their Wall,” a .

He referred to the restaurant at “Kim’s Chili Bowl.”

Shortly after the image appeared, someone tore Jong Un’s face down from the mural.

Representatives for the restaurant didn’t comment on the vandalism. A painting of President Barack Obama, which occupies the portion of the mural closest to Cosby, was not defaced.

It has continued supporting Cosby, despite dozens of accusations he took advantage of women.

Source

]]>
/dc/2015/10/bens-chili-bowls-bill-cosby-mural-defaced/feed/ 0
Phone use behind wheel a ‘natural habit’ for youngest drivers /local/2015/10/phone-use-behind-wheel-a-natural-habit-for-youngest-drivers/ /local/2015/10/phone-use-behind-wheel-a-natural-habit-for-youngest-drivers/#respond Mon, 19 Oct 2015 19:26:07 +0000 http://wtop.com/?p=5093906 WASHINGTON — The generation getting its first driver’s license has heard about distracted driving since it played with toy cars.

But the alert of a text message or a Snapchat still has a strong pull on the eyes, away from the road to the screen of a cellphone.

“I think it’s extremely hard for them to put that down,” says Mark Rosekind, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “If anything, it’s gotten harder.”

He was among the speakers at a Teen Safe Driving Summit in Alexandria.

“I think it’s an addiction,” he says. “We’re just used to being connected all the time.”

The event, put on by the National Organizations for Youth Safety, highlighted a range of blind spots for young drivers, but distracted driving was top of mind.

“You don’t have to drive like you’re moms and dads,” says Joel Feldman, whose daughter was killed in a distracted driving accident.

When he speaks to young drivers, they tell him 70 percent to 80 percent of their parents use phones at the wheel.

Students attending the summit said the personal stories of loss forced them to rethink using their phones while driving.

“Distracted driving in general is something they don’t realize they’re doing,” says Sierra Schoenfeldt, a teenager attending the lectures. “They’re just doing it because it’s a natural habit.”

Source

]]>
/local/2015/10/phone-use-behind-wheel-a-natural-habit-for-youngest-drivers/feed/ 0