“Think about 70 tons of turkeys,” SHARE Food Network volunteer Jennifer Newland exclaimed inside the organization’s warehouse.

Thanksgiving is the busiest time of year for the SHARE Food Network, based in Landover, Maryland, as more people and groups look to help those with less have a quality holiday meal.

More than 16,800 packages were sold for November distribution, which will yield almost 322,000 meals.

Volunteers and coordinators spent their Saturday morning buzzing around the distribution center to make sure each order was properly fulfilled and loaded into vehicles to be delivered.

“SHARE is a non-emergency food distribution network set up and structured very much like a co-op in that the more who participate, the stronger we become,” SHARE Food Network director Jayne Acevedo told �鶹����.

Anyone is welcome to buy a meal package through the organization, which generally costs about 50 percent less than a comparable meal purchased from retail outlets.

“Someone can drive up here in a detailed SUV and pay us with a Gold Card and their food is exactly the same as the single mother who took two buses and only has $11.62 left on her food stamp card,” Acevedo said.

She called it one of the few opportunities to foster equality between the more and less fortunate.

The group sells these packages every month with volunteers making the entire process possible. Many local organizations like churches and a Knights of Columbus council are frequent participants, seeing the financial value of buying quality food through SHARE to then donate.

The organization is working to remind everyone that hunger doesn’t just affect people in November and December, but also in February and July.

Acevedo is also looking for businesses that are looking for cost effective ways to give back to their communities.

“They can give money here to SHARE, double their investment dollars because of our savings model, and brand themselves taking that food out into the community,” said Acevedo.

You can learn more about the SHARE Food Network and see monthly offerings .

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That means that many people are looking to bring their contribution to the holiday meal with them.

“Indeed, we do see lots of food items being brought with them during the holiday season,” Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said Friday at Washington Reagan National Airport.

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She says knowing how to properly pack your food will help make the security screening process easier.

Your holiday food must follow the liquids, aerosols and gels rule.

“It needs to be 3.4 ounces each, one quart-sized bag, one bag per person maximum,” said Farbstein.

Not sure whether that can of cranberry sauce or container of mashed potatoes count?

“The rule of thumb is that if you can spill it, spray it, spread it, pump it or pour it, it’s considered a liquid, gel or aerosol, and that should go in your checked bag if it’s larger than 3.4 ounces,” Farbstein explained.

For the record, cranberry sauce is restricted by that rule; mashed potatoes are not.

“If you are not sure, tweet us. Tweet us a picture of your item,” Farbstein said. “Tweet us and you’ll get a quick response whether it should go into a checked bag, carry-on, either or neither.”

The to look up whether your turkey can fly with you in first class or must be relegated to your checked luggage.

Generally, items such as gravy, syrup and tools like corkscrews or carving knifes must be packed in checked luggage.

However, cakes and pies can be carried on — though they may be subject to closer inspection.

“We’ll probably do a swab test. We’re going to swab the container, test that swab for any trace of explosives, and then we’ll let you go as long as it’s cleared,” said Farbstein.

But the most important piece of advice on flying this holiday season? Give yourself extra time to get through security.

The TSA recommends arriving at the airport at least two hours before your flight to ensure you get through security in time to catch your plane.

Be prepared to pull whatever food items you are carrying on with you out of your bags and into separate screening bins.  If not, your bag will likely require extra screening, slowing down the process.

The TSA is also reminding travelers that all computer devices larger than a cellphone must now pulled out of bags during screening. Consumer electronics such as hair dryers and electric shavers can stay in bags.

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D.C. police say they received a report of a shooting in 5200 block of Just Street, Northeast — just around the corner from the intersection of Division Avenue NE, Eastern Avenue NE and Sheriff Road NE — around 6:50 p.m.

Police found a woman — later identified as 25-year-old Danjellicca Ball of Hyattsville, Maryland — unconscious and unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds.

She was taken to an area hospital where she later died.

Neighbors tells �鶹���� they are not surprised to see something like this happen — some noting that they want more police patrols in the area.

They say the apartment building where the shooting occurred is known drug dealing area with people always hanging out near the building.

“There’s a whole bunch of people standing around, tearing up the neighborhood,” neighbor David Smith said flatly.  “That’s pretty much it.”

For him, it doesn’t take much for something small to suddenly become a tragedy.

“There’s always something going on.  Always somebody fussing with somebody,” Smith stated.  “Somebody says something bad to somebody else — or something that somebody else didn’t like. And then — boop — there you go, just as simple as that.”

A $25,000 reward is being offered for any information about this shooting that leads to an arrest.  Police have not stated whether there were any possible suspects.

Anyone with tips can call police at 202-727-9099 or can text the Text Tip Line at 50411.

Four other men were shot in three other shootings, another in Northeast and two shootings in Southeast. Police said all of those victims were all conscious and breathing.

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There are 20 . Those include an illness, pregnancy, long commutes or even religious obligations.

For most of these reasons, you may need to including supporting documentation.

If you plan to vote by mail, election officials ask you to make your ballot request as soon as possible.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. For information about the candidates, .

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Results from a Washington Post-Schar School Virginia Poll, taken between Sept. 28 and Oct. 2, were published Friday and show that 57 percent of registered voters in Virginia support keeping the monuments. Forty-four percent say they strongly support it.

However, a plurality — a 46-41 percent split — of respondents says displaying the monuments is offensive to African Americans.

A majority — 63 percent — says displaying the Confederate monuments honors leaders who should be respected for their role in U.S. history.

About 30 percent of respondents felt the monuments defended slavery.

Republicans were far more likely to support keeping the monuments in place, with nearly 9-in-10 sharing that opinion. Democrats favored removing the monuments by a 53-34 split. Nearly 60 percent of independent voters support keeping the monuments where they are.

Along racial lines, two-thirds of white respondents said the monuments should be kept on government property while a quarter said they should be moved. However, half of black respondents said they should be removed while nearly a third said they should stay.

A plurality of other nonwhite respondents favored keeping the monuments in place by a 47-38 margin.

The poll also found that Virginians say they are willing to and have talked about racial equality and prejudice.

Two-thirds of registered voters say they had a “frank conversation” about race relations with someone who is African American in the past few years. The same percentage of black voters says they have spoken to someone who is not black about the matter.

Poll respondents told The Washington Post that talking about the issue has given them a better understanding of the situation and how members of another race feel things are. Some now say since the 1960s.

Others also say talking about the issue with other races have given them a different understanding of the significance of Confederate monuments that has usually softened their stance.

A random sample of 1,121 adults in Virginia was polled. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.

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The council is considering four bills, each filed at various points throughout the year, that could lessen the burden these fines have on drivers.

“The bills that we have in front of us deal with the payment of the fines,” D.C. councilmember Mary Cheh said at a joint public hearing Friday.

These fines can rise fast in D.C. if they are missed or payments aren’t made on time. Most double when they aren’t paid within 30 days.

Organizations like AAA Mid-Atlantic and the Legal Counsel for the Elderly — an affiliate of AARP — called these penalties excessive and say they do more harm than good, especially for low-income drivers.

“The doubling of fines in a 30 day period is intended to be punitive and draconian,” AAA Mid-Atlantic director of public and government affairs Tom Calcagni told the panel at the hearing.

D.C. administered over 2.7 million citations in fiscal year 2016 valued at over $299 million, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic. Nearly $24 million is still owed today by delinquent drivers on those 2016 fines.

“Few people have bulging wallets or a cash supply. The current draconian practice creates a proverbial ‘Catch-22’ for tens of thousands of motorists who can’t afford to pay their tickets on time,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s manager of public and government affairs, in a statement Thursday.

“Of the 2.7 million tickets issued by the city last year, 57.1 percent involved citations for parking violations, while automated traffic enforcement tickets comprised 39.9 percent of the ticket total. The fear of doubling fines forces some drivers to pay tickets they feel they didn’t deserve. But by doing so, they forfeit the right to fight or appeal the fine.”

Those who can’t pay the fine — or aren’t aware they had been cited — have these penalties snowball into unreasonable amounts. The groups that spoke at Friday’s hearing say many of the people who are unable to pay often lose their license because of these fines, which leads to other issues like being unable to get to appointments or even losing their job.

Cheh agreed.

“If they have fines they can’t pay and they double in 30 days and the fines are high and we don’t give them some way out, then what happens is it’s a cascade of bad effects which can include not having a car, not having a license, maybe even losing their jobs,” Cheh said at the hearing. “This is not the approach we should take.”

The four bills seek to offer some relief.

One bill would eliminate penalties if a motorist fails to pay a fine within 30 days.

A second bill would waive some parking infractions if the registered owner of a vehicle proves they were not notified about the ticket.

A third bill would offer an amnesty program for D.C. residents who owe more than $1,000 in violations. The bill would require the resident to pay 60 percent of the fines and the rest of the balance would be waived.

A fourth bill would establish a deferred payment plan for anyone who has at least $100 in delinquent debt because of parking or traffic violations. It would only allow for two deferred payment plans in a 12-month period.

“I don’t agree with all of the bills and all of their particulars, but they are aimed at this idea about giving people a fair notice and a full and fair opportunity to pay the fines or to have payment plans if that’s what could really work for them,” Cheh said.

The groups attending the hearing also agreed that these four bills are a step in the right direction for drivers in the District.

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The student was struck at around 6:50 a.m., Howard County Public Schools said in an alert sent to parents. The student was running to catch up to bus No. 806 when it turned a corner. The student slipped, and his leg was hit by the bus, spokesman Brian Bassett told �鶹����.

The school system said the student’s injuries are not life-threatening, and his leg was not broken.

The other students on the bus were taken to Howard High School on another bus.

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It is a far wider lead than other polls had found recently and the first to put the Democrat’s lead at a double-digit margin over Gillespie.

“If that’s what actually held and Northam won by 13 points, it would be a pretty smashing victory for him,” Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia, said Thursday. “Most of the other polls in this race — and I think the opinions of the two campaigns probably —  don’t see the lead in the race as that big of a lead for Northam.”

Kondik said most polls have had the race showing a slight lead for Northam, with the margin in the low single digits.

However, there is always a chance that this could be the beginning of a new trend in the race, he said.

“The party that doesn’t hold the White House can often be more motivated to turn out in these off-year elections,” explained Kondik, which could mean seeing results similar to what happened nationally in 2010.

His colleague Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, wasn’t buying the results of , tweeting that the numbers should be looked at skeptically.

New WaPo poll on VA GOV has Northam over Gillespie by 53-40 (likely voters). Much bigger than recent private D polls. Skepticism warranted.

— Larry Sabato (@LarrySabato)

In 2013 WaPo poll had McAuliffe up 12 toward the end of fall campaign. He won by ~2.5%.

— Larry Sabato (@LarrySabato)

Spring GOV primaries 2017: WaPo-Schar had Perriello up 2 and Gillespie up 20. Northam beat Perriello by 12 and Gillespie won by just 1%.

— Larry Sabato (@LarrySabato)

Kondik said that variance in poll numbers is a good thing.

“You don’t necessarily want there to be a herd mentality among pollsters in which they all try to match each other and they end up missing the trend,” Kondik stated.

The Virginia governor’s race was seen as one of the first barometers of the new White House administration, but voters have not taken great interest in the race.

Among registered voters, 58 percent say they are watching the race closely, while 41 percent say they are not watching it closely.

Interest is down about 20 percent compared to the last gubernatorial race in the final weeks of the campaign. In an October 2013 poll asking the same question, 79 percent of registered voters said they were watching that gubernatorial race closely.

Along with respondents favoring Northam in this election, 44 percent view him favorably while only 38 percent said the same of Gillespie.

Top issues for registered voters in this poll were health care and the economy, followed by education and illegal immigration. Only 3 percent said Confederate monuments were most important.

Much of the interest in the gubernatorial race has been drawn away by news consistently coming out of the White House. But a majority of respondents — 54 percent — say President Donald Trump is not a factor in their vote. Roughly 28 percent say they will vote to express opposition to the president while 17 percent will vote to express their support.

The poll also asked about the president. Almost 60 percent of respondents disapproved of the job he was doing — only 33 percent approved. And 60 percent say their opinion of Trump has become more negative since he took office — 26 percent said the opposite.

The Washington Post/Schar School poll was conducted between Sept. 28 and Oct. 2. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent for registered voters and 4.5 percent for likely voters.

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The center had been planning to build a larger mosque about a mile away from its current building to house its growing congregation and bought property on Old Plank Road in 2012 to build the larger mosque on.

However, brought national attention to the project and the effort fizzled out.

Now, the center is looking to get the Old Plank Road property rezoned to allow up to 19 houses to be built on it. Currently, only three are permitted.

Should the rezoning be approved by the Spotsylvania County board of supervisors, the Islamic Center would sell the land to a homebuilder. It would then take that money, buy a parcel of land next to its current Harrison Road property and expand its current facility.

That decision is likely a few months away.

The reports community reaction to this new plan has been far calmer than the 2015 discussions with the prevailing concern being traffic on Old Plank Road, best described as a secondary road serving residential developments and farms.

However, county officials had told the paper that the county prefers residential use of that land over commercial or community use since it would have less of an impact on traffic.

If the rezoning is denied, the Islamic Center plans to go back to its original effort of building a larger mosque on the Old Plank Road property.

This all comes months after a group in Culpeper County sued the county when it denied a permit for a proposed Islamic center there. The two sides settled leading to the county approving its construction in April.

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The penalties are meant to be a deterrent after a series of attacks on bus drivers — including an incident where .

that Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld is looking into what other transit agencies do with their troublesome riders.

Currently, only the courts can decide whether a bad rider can be banned from the transit system. to specific lines for a finite period of time. Metrobus operators and their union expressed outrage after the urine attack at what they say is an inadequate punishment.

Wiedefeld and Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans — who is also a D.C. councilman — would like to see stiffer penalties.

Some possible changes could involve considering crimes that are currently misdemeanors as felonies and allowing Metro itself to ban riders.

Some, like D.C. Councilman Charles Allen, are open to the idea, but have their reservations. Allen noted his concern that it would unnecessarily punish those struggling to make ends meet.

Others feel such a crackdown would be nearly impossible logistically, because of state borders and individual local jurisdictions with their own legislative variations.

Source

It’s an annual event that takes place at the friary ahead of the celebration of Saint Francis of Assisi.

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“People love their animals,” Priest Jim Gardiner told �鶹����. “Look how affectionate [the pets] are, how forgiving they are.”

Gardiner says throughout history, pets have been an important part of civilization because of their unconditional affection.

“Let’s put animals in charge of Metro — all public transportation,” Gardiner said half-seriously, noting that the affection animals give would make everyone kinder.

After a prayer, owners lined up to have their pets be individually blessed with holy water.

Most people at this year’s event came with their dog on a leash.

One man, with a group of friends, arrived with a dog donned in a white dress.

“It’s a shower curtain and a tutu,” Josh Cruz said while laughing. “It’s all white, with a bow tie and some flowers on there.”

Cruz called it a baptism dress for his 6-month-old puppy, designed by his roommate.

While the absurdity of a dog all dressed in white was good for a laugh, Cruz said this event is important to him.

“I’m Catholic and it’s a big event for dog owners,” said Cruz.

It was his first time taking part in the event, noting this is the first time he’s had a dog while living in the District.

Aviana Symon was also at the monastery with her pet, Luna.

“She’s about 7-years-old and she’s a Mini Rex rabbit,” shared Symon.

Luna was the only rabbit to be blessed.

Symon admitted that Luna was a bit uncomfortable being around the loud dogs barking.

“But it’s still good for her to socialize. It’s just a lot of noise and she’s not used to that.”

It’s the third year Symon and Luna came out to the monastery for a blessing.

“I think that it’ll maybe help her health in the future,” Symon said.

The number of pet owners at the event demonstrated the meaning pets have in society and what they do for people individually.

“I know Luna’s a big part of my life,” Symon stated. ” She’s definitely a de-stressor for me. I know that rabbits aren’t the most common type of animals, but especially after a hard day at work, it’s nice to come home just to pet her super soft fur. She has fur like velvet. To that end, she’s really part of the family.”

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Servpro — a disaster restoration firm — had been contracted to help Ellicott City cleanup following the historic flooding last summer.

Melissa Poole worked for the firm and had been assigned to Attic Antiques ‘n Things on Main Street for several weeks.

The shop’s owner was set to reopen the store in late October 2016, but $6,200 worth of jewelry was missing, including a $1,200 Tissot watch.

Howard County police found out that many of those items had been pawned off in Frederick and Westminster.

The Howard County State’s Attorney’s office said Poole entered an Alford plea on a theft charge Thursday, which is not an admission of guilt, but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to convict.

Friday, Poole was sentenced to five years with all but 30 says suspended. She will serve that sentence over the next 15 weekends.

When she is released, Poole will be placed on three years of supervised probation and ordered to pay $1,200 in restitution for the still missing Tissot watch.

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Police are on the scene investigating and have N Street SE blocked off between Half Street and 1st Street.

The suspects used a stolen U-Haul to ram the ATM around 4:45 a.m. and abandoned it when an alarm at the stadium went off. The U-Haul truck is sitting in middle of N Street.

Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said stadium security confronted the thieves.

They got away in another truck, but police do not have a description of it.

Police plan to put surveillance images.

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The Board of Supervisors authorized sending a letter this week to the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority praising its work.

It comes as a plan to reduce noise from departing flights starts to become reality.

The plan would have departing “south flow” flights — flights that head out of the airport toward Alexandria, Virginia, and Fort Washington, Maryland — stay over the Potomac River longer and eventually turn over land when they are at higher altitudes.

Fairfax County Supervisor Dan Storck told the board at Tuesday’s meeting the FAA has some technical work to do before it is handed off to MWAA. Flights would test the new pattern as early as this November.

The full plan could be implemented by November 2018.

However, work still needs to be done on inbound flights, which Storck said accounted for 60 percent of “south flow” noise complaints.

There is even less progress on “north flow” — flights coming in and out over areas that include Montgomery County, Georgetown and Rosslyn. Storck said there are several disagreements over how to get flight path adjustments made.

Several Maryland officials — including Gov. Larry Hogan — suggested the FAA needs to be sued to correct the path.

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Most Northern Virginians, however, support removing the statues.

“Northern Virginia is very different from the rest of the state,” University of Mary Washington political science professor Stephen Farnsworth told �鶹����.

The Northern Virginia region — as defined by the survey as containing Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park — supports removing the statues by 43 to 40 percent.

The state overall opposes the idea by a 52 to 35 percent.

“I think it’s going to be a challenge for the Democratic candidates to deal with the statues issue if it becomes a topic throughout the campaign,” Farnsworth said.

Democrats nationally have been voicing their strong support for removing Confederate statues, with cities such as Baltimore, New Orleans and Dallas taking action to remove statues.

In Virginia, 59 percent of Democrats support removal — though one in five aren’t sure on the issue. Republicans are far more certain in their stance, as 79 percent say they oppose the idea, compared with the 16 percent who support their removal and 5 percent who are uncertain.

However, independent voters also largely oppose their removal. The poll found that 62 percent of those voters oppose the idea of removing the statues, while roughly a quarter support it.

Along racial lines, 58 percent of white voters are against removing Confederate statues, while 57 percent of black voters support it.

“It’s going to be a challenge for the Democrats to put forward something that’s going to keep African-American voters happy at the same time that others don’t see it as disrespecting heritage of their own,” Farnsworth stated.

His recommendation for Democrats is to find a new topic to focus on.

“Something along the lines of education or economic development or transportation in Northern Virginia — any one of these issues are likely to be more useful for a conversation that would help Democrats win a swing voter than to talk about the statues,” said Farnsworth. “You can understand, though, on the other side why Republicans would want to talk about this topic because the idea of leaving things more or less as they are has majority support and that’s the Republican position.”

The state as a whole was even more against the idea of removing monuments for Confederate units and common soldiers, by 62 to 24 percent.

Northern Virginia also opposed that idea, but by a narrower 46 to 32 percent.

“One of the things to remember about Virginia is that an awful lot of people have come to Virginia from somewhere else, and so they may not have the values and conservative views with respect to these monuments that you may have seen in Virginia 20 or 30 years ago,” Farnsworth said. “It’s a very rapidly changing state and for some voters, this is simply not going to be a matter of personal pride.”

The governor’s race

For the gubernatorial race, the poll had the race close, with Democrat Ralph Northam slightly ahead of Republican Ed Gillespie by a 44 to 43 margin.

“I think the biggest challenge that both candidates for governor are facing is how to be heard in the age of Donald Trump,” the professor stated. “President Trump has really taken so much media attention this past year that these candidates for governor have not really had much of a chance to be heard unless they talk in some way about something Donald Trump is already talking about.”

Farnsworth says that’s in stark contrast to the last Virginia gubernatorial race: “Ken Cuccinelli and Terry McAuliffe were very, very visible and aggressive campaigners who had a lot of opportunities to be heard.”

Northam said in the Sept. 19 debate that these monuments allow groups such as the white nationalists seen in Charlottesville last month to “spew hatred and bigotry.” He argued that local communities should decide what to do with them.

Gillespie said at that same debate that the monuments should be kept in place, but supports the idea of more context and more statues honoring more recent civil rights leaders.

Voters support adding context to statues by a 54-to-32 percent margin — roughly an equal margin across all regions of the state. Independent voters and Republicans were more likely to support that idea than Democrats.

Also, 55 percent of likely voters also say that Confederate monuments are an important part of history.

That compares with 37 percent who say that Confederate monuments glorify racism and resistance to civil rights.

Only Northern Virginia had a majority of respondents say the monuments represented racism.

When it comes to paying to remove these statues, two-thirds of Virginians say it is a bad use of government money. About 55 percent in Northern Virginia said the same.

If a local government wants to move a statue, 60 percent of respondents say, they have the obligation of paying for it.

Divisions

The growing split in opinions on state values such as Confederate statues, Farnsworth said, just creates more of a challenge for the two parties to win in the areas where they are in the minority.

“You are looking at a traditional pattern that is getting more and more extreme in every election,” Farnsworth said. “There are more advantages for Democrats in Northern Virginia, more advantages for Republicans in the rural part of the state.”

For this coming election, Farnsworth says Democrats will need to crank up the turnout in Northern Virginia, and Republicans will try to do the same for everyone living south of the Occoquan and west of I-95.

As for the president’s impact on this election, the political scientist says there is one place to look.

“A number of House of Delegates races in Prince William County … that’s going to be where you are going to see the challenge for Republican incumbents dealing with an electorate that is split, because Prince William County is one of key swing counties in Virginia these days.”

The Mason-Dixon Polling survey questioned 625 registered Virginia voters. The margin of error is plus or minus four percentage points.

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