D.C. news in brief

organize 1 1/ 2 - to three-mile “ward walks” and other fitness activities. They will also work with trained nutritionists and kinesiologists from the city departments to incorporate programs into individual fitness regimens. The program requires a commitment through next spring. District residents with a background in physical fitness or nutrition or with a personal health and wellness goal can apply at www.fitdc.com. For information, call 202-442-5955. SOME to open program for women with children So Others Might Eat is opening Thea Bowman House, a residential substance abuse treatment program for women with children. The center, scheduled to open in June, will provide help for up to 14 homeless and low-income mothers, each with one or two children 10 or younger. Pregnant women will also be accepted. The women must be 18 or older. For a registry of donation needs, including sheets, towels, dishes and children’s toys, go to some.org/thea-bowman-house. The nonprofit organization provides shelter, food and health-care services to homeless and impoverished residents in the District. For information, go to some.org. Smithsonian Folklife Festival is seeking volunteers The Smithsonian Folklife Festival needs volunteers to assist stage managers and perform administrative tasks and other duties before, during and after the festival, scheduled for June 24 to 28 and July 1 to 5 on the Mall, adjacent to the National Museum of the American Indian. Quechua and Spanish speakers are particularly needed this year. Applicants must be 16 or older. This year’s festival program, “Perú: Pachamama,” will include arts, crafts, cooking and music from Peru. For information, go to www.festival.si.edu, e-mail cfch-volunteer@si.edu or call 202-633-7477. D.C. Dragon Boat Festival is scheduled for May 16 and 17 The annual Washington D.C. Dragon Boat Festival will be from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 16 and 17 at the Thompson Boat Center, 2900 Virginia Ave. NW. The rain dates are June 20 and 21. More than 45 teams from along the East Coast will compete in dragon boat races on the Potomac River. The boats are powered entirely by human paddlers; the sport originated in the Pearl River Delta region of China’s Guangdong Province more than 2,000 years ago. The festival opens with a traditional lion dance and an eye-dotting ceremony, said to awaken the sleeping dragons, or the spirits, of the racing boats. For information, go to www.dragonboatdc.com. The event is sponsored by the Chinese Women’s League. — Compiled by Terence McArdle


Montgomery County crime report

Rd., Veirs Mill Rd., Veirs Mill Rd., Veirs Mill Rd., Weisman Rd., Whitegate Rd., MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS Hewitt Ave., Joseph Mill Rd., Niles St., Norbeck Rd., Piccadilly Rd., VANDALISM Randolph Rd. E., District 5GERMANTOWN STATION240-773-6200 ASSAULTS Aircraft Dr., Appledowre Way, Bethesda Church Rd., Century Blvd., Century Blvd., Club Hill Dr., Germantown Rd., Germantown Rd., McFarlin Dr., Observation and Panthers Ridge drives, Winding Creek Pl., ROBBERIES Cottage Garden Dr., Crystal Rock Dr., Frederick Rd., Frederick Rd., INDECENT EXPOSURE Century Blvd., THEFTS/BREAK-INS Aircraft Dr., Ansel Terr., Archstone Way, Ashmeade Rd., Brink Rd., Brink Rd., Brook Run Pl., Century Blvd., Coachmans Rd., Country Squire Way, Cricket Hill Dr., Eagles Nest Ct., Frederick Rd., Frederick Rd., Frederick Rd., Frederick Rd., Frederick Rd., Frederick Rd., Frederick Rd., Gateshead Cir., Kilmarnock Way, Longford Glen Dr., Mateny Rd., Mateny Rd., Mateny Rd., Middlebrook Rd., Muscadine Dr., Neelsville Church Rd., Newbury Rd., Old Baltimore Rd. W., Rainbow Arch Dr., Red Rocks Dr., Red Rocks Dr., Sanderling Pl., Seneca Meadows Pkwy., Seneca Meadows Pkwy., Smokewood Terr., Snowden Farm Pkwy. and Sweetspire Dr., Sparkling Water Dr., Walnut Cove Cir., Winding Woods Way, Winding Woods Way, MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS British Manor Dr., Brown Church Rd., Crystal Rock Dr., Grotto Ct., Millhaven Pl., Newcut Rd. and Winding Woods Way, Sojourn Ct., VANDALISM Middlebrook Rd., District 6GAITHERSBURG STATION240-773-5700 ASSAULTS Alcott Pl., Boysenberry Dr., Bureau Dr., Deer Park Rd. W., Diamond Ave. E., Ellington Blvd., Girard St., Horizon Run Rd., Lost Knife Cir., Montgomery Village Ave., Muddy Branch Rd., Watkins Mill Rd., West Side Dr., ROBBERY Club Lake Rd., WEAPONS Summit Ave. N., Watkins Mill Rd., West Side Dr., THEFTS/BREAK-INS Alden Ave., Beechcraft Ave., Bureau Dr., Cambridge Ct., Chestnut Ave., Clopper Rd., Crestwood Dr. and Summit Ave., Ellington Blvd., Fields Rd., Frederick Ave. N., Frederick Ave. N., Frederick Ave. N., Frederick Ave. S., Fulks Corner Ave., Grand Corner Ave., Hellingly Pl., Kardwright Ct., Market St., Market St., Maryland Ave., Medical Center Dr., Medical Center Dr., Odendhal Ave., Park Ave., Pullman Pl., Quince Orchard Blvd., Ridgeline Dr., Russell Ave., Russell Ave., Russell Ave., Russell Ave., Russell Ave., Russell Ave., Russell Ave., Russell Ave., Saybrooke Oaks Blvd., Suffield Dr., Sunnybrook Terr., Washingtonian Blvd., Washingtonian Blvd., Washingtonian Blvd., Watkins Mill Rd. W., Whitcliff Ct., Woodfield Rd., Woodfield Rd., MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS Snouffer School Rd., Ziggy Lane, Takoma Park and other areas ASSAULT Glenside Dr., THEFTS/BREAK-INS Baltimore Ave., Laurel Ave., New Hampshire Ave., Poplar Ave., VANDALISM Maple Ave.,


Laliguras review: On this menu, Nepali food fights for equal time

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 23: Laliguras Restaurant’s Khasi Ko Masu (Goat Curry).(Photo by Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) Laliguras chef/owner Dawa Tamang, formerly of Heritage India. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post) GOOD It’s Saturday at around 8 p.m., prime time for the buzzing D.C. dining scene, and Laliguras feels as still as an August night. No sitars intoxicate the air of this Indian and Nepali bistro in Van Ness. In fact, no music at all floats through the dining room, unless you count the occasional clattering of dishes from the kitchen, which means you’re free to fill this rare vacuum however you please. You could eavesdrop on nearby diners, but that would disrupt the tranquillity of the place should you catch some 20-somethings, full of exquisite ennui, complaining about the diminishing charms of Tuscany. (True story.) Better, you could use the meditative space to reflect on the food of chef Dawa Tamang, who draws inspiration not only from his time at Heritage India in Glover Park but also from his years growing up near Mount Everest in Nepal, not far from the epicenter of last month’s devastating earthquake. Communication back home has been maddeningly sporadic since the quake, but Tamang says most of his family survived, though they’re living in tents outside their crumbled homes in Kathmandu. One brother remains missing. “There’s too much suffering right now,” says the chef, who’s using his restaurant to generate funds to send home. For his family and for Washingtonians, Tamang has picked the right time to open a restaurant. If Filipino cuisine has become the new sweetheart of D.C. diners, then Nepali cooking is their backup date. Well, maybe the third or fourth match on their Tinder list. Nepali dishes, once a rarity in our restaurants, have found homes in Adams Morgan, Bethesda, Silver Spring and Fairfax County’s Rose Hill neighborhood . The food seldom carries the show. Instead, it assumes a quirky, character-actor role: regularly a scene-stealer but quickly forgotten among the leading lights of Indian cuisine. “What was the name of that amazing Nepali dish we had?” you might randomly wonder a week after a meal. The formula holds true at Laliguras, named for the striking, blazing-red rhododendron that grows wild in the mountains of Nepal, where it is the national flower. Tamang sprinkles his native dishes among the more familiar kormas, curries,


Oil train derails, explodes in flames in North Dakota; nearby town evacuated

Five days after federal regulators announced strict new rules for the tank car trains that hauled more than 490,000 loads of oil last year, a train derailed and burst into flames Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of a North Dakota town. “The town of Heimdal is being evacuated,” said Sarah Feinberg, acting administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration. “Today’s incident is yet another reminder of why we issued a significant, comprehensive rule aimed at improving the safe transport of high hazard flammable liquids.” At least six of the cars burst into flames, creating a plume of acrid black smoke. Nearby farms and Heimdal, an unincorporated town of several dozen people, were evacuated. Feinberg dispatched a team of FRA investigators to the scene of the fifth major derailment of an oil train in North America this year. In two other cases in the United States, and one in Canada, a massive fire resulted. All of the derailments have taken place in remote, rural regions of the country. But lawmakers and the Obama administration, with Feinberg taking the lead, are fearful that one of the trains could jump the tracks and explode in a major urban area. For example, dozens of them pass through Chicago as they make their way from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota and Montana to refineries in East Coast cities. The Transportation Department on Friday announced a series of new rules for tank car design and the trains that pull them. The rules require that tank cars be manufactured or retrofitted with an outer metal jacket that makes them less prone to leak in a derailment, and that trains be equipped with new braking systems to prevent “accordion-like” pileups in derailments. Trains with 70 or more tank cars are required to slow to 40 mph in “high-threat” urban areas, and railroads must take into consideration 27 safety factors — including the quality of track maintenance and the rail bed’s grade and curvature — in selecting routes for tank-car trains. The Association of American Railroads welcomed the new rules Friday, saying it supported an “aggressive retrofit or replacement program.” But this week, some railroad executives were less laudatory of the rule. Norfolk Southern chief executive Charles W. “Wick” Moorman told the Wall Street Journal that the Transportation Department “made some serious mistakes in the regulations.” He said that they would make shipping oil by rail too expensive and


After car bombs explode, an Iraqi musician shows up with his cello

Karim Wasfi, conductor of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra, plays his cello at an impromptu memorial service for the victims of a recent bombing in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood. (Ayman Oghanna/For The Washington Post) BAGHDAD A crowd drew in: policemen, passersby, friends of those killed by the blast. As the musician played the national anthem, the voices of the crowd rose with him. Karim Wasfi, conductor of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra, had decided to play amid the wreckage to drive home a message. Iraqis needed to experience beauty, not just endure one bomb after another. “It’s about reaching out to people exactly where someone had experienced something so grotesque and ugly earlier,” Wasfi said in an interview. “The spot where people lost their lives, the spot where people were still trying to stay alive, trying to function.” He wanted, he said, to reach out to residents “at a higher level.” The bomb site in the central Baghdad district of Karrada is the second where Wasfi has given an impromptu performance in recent days. A video of him playing at the site of an explosion near his home was posted on YouTube last week and has been viewed more than 47,000 times. His performances have resonated in a city where bombings have been part of life for more than a decade. More often than not, the broken glass is swept aside after the blasts, shop fronts are quickly mended and people resume their routines, although the explosions inevitably leave a deep impact on the psyche of this city. Late last year, the frequency of bombings declined, and a nighttime curfew was lifted after more than a decade, breathing a new vibrancy into the Iraqi capital. But in recent months, as Islamic State militants come under pressure elsewhere in the country, the explosions have come back. Last month, 319 civilians were killed in terrorism, violence and conflict in Baghdad province, according to the United Nations, the highest toll for any province. The first time Wasfi played at a bomb site last week, he did it on an impulse. An evening explosion that had rocked the upscale district of Mansour was a spit from his home. The next day, he went to the site to play. “My house is just behind that main street, so it was very symbolic for me to wake up, grab my cello and walk to that spot, get


The U.S. relationship with Ethiopia

South Sudan. Ethiopia, among the world’s fastest-growing economies, has made significant progress toward its Millennium Development Goals. But stability, security and economic development are sustainable only with the development of democratic values. Ethiopia has a long road to full democracy, as I publicly said there. As President Obama suggested, my comments were aspirational in hopes that the upcoming election would be a step forward. Later in the trip, I said, “Ethiopia is a young country in terms of democracy and over time we hope the political system matures in a way that provides real choices for the people.” I highlighted that more journalists are in jail in Ethiopia than anywhere else in Africa. Civil society leaders told me, “They are about solving problems and being advocates for people who don’t believe they have a voice.” The United States maintains a frank discussion with Ethiopia regarding democracy and human rights. In my meetings in Addis Ababa, I expressed concerns about restrictions on political space, arrests and imprisonments of independent journalists and use of antiterrorism legislation to stifle political dissent. It is unfortunate the editorial mischaracterized my remarks and, more important, underestimated the fullness of our bilateral relationship. The U.S. government closely monitors the human rights situation and works with Ethiopia to foster a true democracy as part of our valued relationship. Wendy R. Sherman, Washington The writer is undersecretary of state for political affairs. ● When I grew up in Ethiopia, Americans built roads there and invested in education, agriculture and commerce. They showed us how to wash and dry our coffee. Consequently, quality, price and incomes improved. Ethiopia sold more than 50 percent of its high-quality coffee to the United States. About 35 percent of Ethiopia’s development loans came from the United States. Pan American Airways helped modernize Ethiopian Airlines. Americans were our teachers and mentors in high schools and colleges. After the Cold War, U.S. officials lost the motivation to invest in Ethiopia. Now China is lending money and building roads. India and Turkey are investing in agribusiness, manufacturing and banking. And U.S. officials are heaping praise on the regime in Ethiopia — their so-called key security ally in East Africa. But a free and democratic government is a better and more enduring ally than a repressive one. The United States has not learned from its past mistakes of propping up dictatorial regimes in Africa. Daniel Teferra, Madison, Wis.


Baltimore sends an SOS to the feds

violence and political outcry that followed the death of Freddie Gray, the young African American who sustained a lethal injury while in police custody last month. Still, her request — for just the sort of massive federal intervention that many mayors resist — is a brave and timely move. It would be surprising if Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who met with politicians, police and community leaders in the city on Tuesday, declined. Federal civil rights probes They may also be required to fix the actual problems with the police that the mayor herself has long acknowledged and tried on her own to address. Her steps have included recruiting new and reform-minded leadership for the department; encouraging the abolition of a notorious police unit known as the Violent Crimes Impact Section, which was a lightning rod for community complaints; and, last fall, launching an ambitious plan to combat police brutality that included expanding the department’s internal affairs division, which investigates allegations of officers’ misconduct. She has also pushed to redraw rules enshrined in the police union contract, which sometimes impede efforts to discipline bad cops. More recently, Ms. Rawlings-Blake has promised to launch a program to equip patrol officers with body cameras before the end of this year. The cameras are widely thought to be effective in promoting more civil interactions between cops and civilians and deterring police abuse. By temperament, the mayor is a cautious politician, wary of alienating the police rank-and-file. She previously green-lighted a “collaborative review” of the police by the Justice Department — a process, still underway, that is likely to result in recommendations for reform but not court orders. She has cited statistical evidence, including a sharp drop last year in complaints of police brutality, which suggests her push for progress is bearing fruit. Nonetheless, in the aftermath of Mr. Gray’s death, she asked the Justice Department to review the circumstances of his arrest and injuries. Now, by her appeal for federal intervention, Ms. Rawlings-Blake has shown she is also capable of bold steps to tackle head-on what has been a toxic undercurrent in Baltimore’s civic life for too long. Read more on this topic: Ruth Marcus: Baltimore’s breach between police and community The Post’s View: In Baltimore, a toxic stew of violence and broken police relations Jonathan Capehart: Paralyzed by watching black men and boys die The Post’s View: A city’s trust, severed in Baltimore


New Whole Foods coming to Tysons Corner, near a Metro stop

A Whole Foods store in Rockville, Md. (Courtesy of Whole Foods) Whole Foods Market, a chain that sells natural and organic groceries, said it will open a large store in the Tysons Corner area of Virginia near a Metro station. The store will be located in a new development of stores, offices and housing called the Boro near the Greensboro Metro stop on the Silver Line. It will be about 70,000 square feet, making it one of the chain’s biggest stores in the area. An opening date has not been set. “Tysons Corner is truly a growing hub for the D.C. area — it deserves a store that will evolve alongside of it,” Scott Allshouse, president of Whole Foods’s Mid-Atlantic region, said in a statement. “As a flagship location, we are dreaming up new innovations that will make this store unlike any other.” The Boro is a 3.7 million-square-foot project being built by Bethesda-based developer Meridian Group near Routes 7 and 123 in Fairfax County. Whole Foods already has a store on Route 7 at the Idylwood Plaza Shopping Center in Falls Church. The chain had been looking for another spot in that area for some time, as part of its plan to add more stores in the D.C. region. On Wednesday, Whole Foods also said it plans to open a 40,000-square-foot store near Howard University in the District. That store will be in the 900 block of Florida Avenue NW at a project being built by MRP Realty and Ellis Development Group. No opening date has been set. Recently, Whole Foods said it would add stores near Nationals Park in the District’s Southeast area and on H Street NE, along with possibly at the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The Whole Foods chain includes more than 400 stores in the United States and 10 in the Washington area.


Musicians From Marlboro offers a Viennese bouquet

The Musicians From Marlboro closed out the Bill and Mary Meyer Concert Series at the Freer Gallery of Art on Wednesday night. (Peter Checchia) The Musicians From Marlboro heralded spring Wednesday night at the Freer Gallery of Art, offering a Viennese bouquet to conclude the Bill and Mary Meyer Concert Series. Violinists David McCarroll and Itamar Zorman, violist Hélène Clément and cellist Peter Wiley were joined by French horn players Wei-Ping Chou and Patrick Pridemore in an ebullient performance of Beethoven’s Sextet in E-flat, Op. 81b. In this work of buoyant high spirits, leavened with Beethoven’s occasionally rustic humor, it is tempting to overstate the punchlines. But here nothing was overplayed. Subtle articulation, hand-in-glove ensemble and artful interplay between horns and strings created a sunny, irresistible cheerfulness. The concert closed with delightful party music at its 18th-century best. Oboist Mary Lynch and double bassist Tony Flynt joined the ensemble in the charmingly lighthearted Mozart Divertimento, K. 251. Like many young violinists, Zorman and McCarroll, for all their superlative musicianship and beautiful sound, tend to play very loudly. Lynch proved herself equal to the challenge, her sweet oboe sound floating serenely above all. Between these two youthful works of Beethoven and Mozart was nestled a deeply serious work from Brahms’s early 40s. McCarroll, Zorman, Clément and Wiley delivered a passionate String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 51, maintaining an intensity from the first note to last. An urgency verging on desperation characterized the opening Allegro, which made the following slow movement, with its whispered intimacy and delicate gestures, a palpable relief. Here Wiley revealed himself the senior partner of the evening, with his judicious pacing and beautifully sung cello solos. Meanwhile, Clément’s exquisite viola playing was luminous throughout. Rucker is a freelance writer.


Marjorie Townsend, who managed a U.S. spacecraft launch, dies at 85

Marjorie Townsend discusses the X-ray Explorer Satellite with a colleague in December 1970. (NASA) According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the findings from the Uhuru mission “quadrupled the number of X-ray sources known at the time.” “It was a really important moment in the history of astronomy,” Josh Grindlay, a professor of practical astronomy at Harvard University, told the science association. The data collected from Uhuru helped revolutionize the field of high-energy astronomy and astrophysics, which examines the universe in terms of wavelengths and examines high-energy phenomena such as black holes. Mrs. Townsend served as the program manager for NASA’s applications explorer missions program before retiring in 1980. For her contributions, she received the agency’s Exceptional Service Medal and Outstanding Leadership Medal. Marjorie Trees Rhodes was born March 12, 1930, in Washington. Her father was an engineer and inventor. She enrolled in college at 15 and, in 1951, became the first woman to receive an engineering degree from George Washington University. “The thought seems to lurk in people’s minds that women go into a man’s field to catch a husband. In fact, there was a wager on the line when I went to school that I would get married and never graduate,” she told The Washington Post in 1957. “That gentleman had to pay” up. Early on, she was a physical science aide at what is now the National Institute of Standards and Technology and worked on sonar-signal-processing mechanisms for anti-submarine warfare at the Naval Research Laboratory. She moved to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in 1959 and helped develop the first successful weather satellites, including TIROS-1 and the Nimbus satellite series. A look at those who have died. After her retirement, she worked with Washington-area government contractors. She was director of space systems engineering at BDM International and then vice president for space systems development for Space America until her second retirement in 1996. She was named a Knight of the Italian Republic Order in 1972 for her contributions to U.S.-Italian space efforts. She also was chairman of a local chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, past president of the Washington Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Her husband of 53 years, Charles E. Townsend Sr., died in 2001. Survivors include four sons, Charles “Chet” Townsend Jr. of Fort Denaud, Fla., John Townsend of


Washington slept here — no, really

Guide Caribbean Guide If you go Where to eat Bonnie Blue 334 W. Boscawen St., Winchester 540-686-7490 www.bonnieblue.us Southern cooking, barbecue and baked goods abound. The shrimp and grits are a knockout. Entrees start at $7. FoodE 1006 C/D Caroline St., Fredericksburg 540-479-1370 www.foodeonline.com With its focus on locally sourced ingredients, this establishment is truly a foodie’s delight. Dine al fresco in its cozy, walled-in entrance. Dinner entrees hover around $20. Su Pollo 8741 Richmond Hwy., Alexandria 703-799-6577 www.supollorestaurant.com Peruvian chicken joint a stone’s throw from Fort Belvoir. Offers tasty, inexpensive Latin American fare. A quarter chicken plus a salad and side is $6.75. What to do Belvoir Mansion Historic Area Corner of Forney Loop and Fairfax Drive, Fort Belvoir Belvoir plantation was home to the wealthy Fairfax family, with whom Washington spent much time. The park includes the site where the manor stood, a cemetery and hiking trails along a scenic bluff overlooking the Potomac River. Visitors should enter Fort Belvoir at its Tulley Gate and bring a passport or state-issued ID. Fort Loudoun 419 N. Loudoun St., Winchester www.frenchandindianwarfoundation.org/history/fort-loudoun Site of Washington’s regimental headquarters during part of the French and Indian War. Visitors can see where the fort once stood in what is today a residential neighborhood. George Washington Birthplace National Monument 1732 Popes Creek Rd., Colonial Beach 804-224-1732 www.nps.gov/gewa The Popes Creek plantation, where George was born, is today run by the National Park Service. Although the house burned in 1779, visitors can check out where it stood and enjoy several miles of hiking, a scenic Potomac River beach and the ancient family cemetery. Historic area open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. George Washington’s Boyhood Home at Ferry Farm 268 Kings Hwy., Fredericksburg 540-370-0732 www.kenmore.org/ff_home.html Take a self-guided tour of the place where Washington spent most of his childhood. Guests use an iPad complete with digital map, videos and photos to tour the area where the family’s home and outbuildings stood. Open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday noon-5 p.m. Entry is $8, $4 for students. Children younger than 6 are free. George Washington’s Office 32 W. Cork St., Winchester 540-662-4412 www.winchesterhistory.org/george_washington.htm The middle room of this building served as Washington’s office during construction of nearby Fort Loudoun. The structure is now a small museum. Open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday noon to 4 p.m. Admission is $5, $4.50 for seniors, $2.50 for students or $12 per


Before death of student, an altercation with her roommate

two did not have a personal relationship and Vander Briel was simply renting a room in the house. In a statement, university officials said they had been engaging with Feminists United and other students throughout the year to address issues of safety and campus culture. They said they take allegations of gender-based violence very seriously and would cooperate with any investigation that follows the complaint. “Creating a safe learning and living environment is our first and foremost concern,” said Richard V. Hurley, president of the school. Detectives filed additional search warrants in Fredericksburg Circuit Court seeking information from Vander Briel’s cellphone and a computer. The University of Mary Washington student group "Feminists United" filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education, accusing the school of failing to act on online threats against its members, one of whom was killed last month. The documents said Mann’s roommates had seen her on the Mary Washington campus about 2:20 p.m. April 17 and Mann told them she was going home to do her hair before a 3 p.m. event. When the roommates arrived home a short time later, they found Vander Briel exiting one of their rooms and closing the door behind him, which was suspicious to them, according to the search warrant. The roommates asked where Mann was and Vander Briel told them he had an altercation with her. The search warrant does not say what sparked the altercation. Vander Briel directed the roommates to the room he had exited and they found Mann, according to the search warrant. A previous search warrant said the roommates found Mann bound and unconscious. The roommates tried to resuscitate her as Vander Briel fled the home. Mann was taken to the hospital, where she died. Vander Briel was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and abduction. Detectives think plastic shopping bags were used to asphyxiate Mann, according to a search warrant. The killing ended a tumultuous year on campus. Feminists United members had spoken out about a recording of members of the rugby team chanting about having sex with a dead prostitute. The stance caused a backlash on Yik Yak. The school suspended the team in March. Zakaria Kronemer, Mann’s friend, said it was after that controversy that someone posted on Yik Yak that Mann would be raped at a location on campus. “She was afraid,” Kronemer said. “She was worried about her safety.”


Flowers may be nice for Mom, but they’re terrible for Mother Earth

improve worker conditions. They use some organic pesticides and additives (including humus fertilizers), conserve water with drip irrigation and rainwater collection, and incorporate environmentally sensitive waste disposal into their farming practices. USDA-certified organic blooms have been grown without harmful pesticides, though organic flowers made up only 0.25 percent of the market in 2010. There is also a movement to go local. Flowers with the American Grown and California Grown labels have a reduced carbon footprint, because they don’t travel as far as their exotic counterparts, and are grown under more stringent standards. Some smaller supermarket chains, such as New Seasons Market in Portland, Ore., and SpartanNash in the Midwest, now source flowers from nearby growers, says “Slow Flowers” author Debra Prinzing, who provides a directory of U.S. growers on her Web site. Farmers markets also stock locally grown bouquets. “You’ll get much more interesting varieties,” says Amy Stewart, author of the industry exposé “Flower Confidential.” She points to options such as sweet peas, love-in-a-mist and other unusual stems that don’t ship well and aren’t grown on an industrial scale. “You’ll also support a local farmer who might be growing some food crops, since flowers happen to make a great rotating crop to help revive depleted soil and attract pollinators to the fields.” In fact, the movement for local flowers is becoming so strong that this month, the Senate passed a resolution supporting domestically grown flowers for Mother’s Day. (And while it’s nice to see Congress getting involved in something mom-related, it’s too bad lawmakers can’t make any headway on what mothers really need: paid protected maternity leave — the United States is the only developed country without it — or a national fine for anyone who tries to kick a breast-feeding mom out of a restaurant or off an airplane.) But why not sidestep commercial flowers altogether? This Mother’s Day, I sent my mother-in-law an online gift card for heirloom seeds to plant in her cherished garden, and I’m giving my mom what she really wants: quality time with her only daughter at a “girls” lunch. As for me, I’m more than thrilled with dandelions from my daughters and my husband’s promise that on Sunday, I’ll have the morning off to luxuriate in bed. Twitter: @jennigrayson Read more from Outlook and follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter. Read more from Outlook and follow our updates on Facebook and Twitter.


As aging D.C. rowhouses are renovated, scores of alleged construction, permit problems

would be installed — not that it was illegal. “I was shocked and angry,” Jacobson said in an interview, “that something we had paid a premium for and had plans to make good use of was not even allowed in the house.” Hundreds of homes flipped Insun Hofgard is among a multitude of developers swooping into the District’s lucrative housing market. Tom Daley, a member of the board of directors at the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors, said he estimates that there are “hundreds” of renovated homes being flipped annually in the District. “There’s certainly a lot of people running around who see opportunity — developers and people who want to be developers — and take properties that haven’t been touched in decades and go up or back with them,” Daley said. The demand in Washington is high: The median selling price of a D.C. home was $500,000 in March, up from $405,000 in March 2012, according to the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors, which relies on data from RealEstate Business Intelligence. And homes in some of the city’s hottest neighborhoods — Columbia Heights, Petworth and Eckington — stay on the market for between a month and two months, according to the realtors group. To maximize their profits, builders are frequently tacking on additions to rowhouses in the rear or on top — so-called “pop-backs” or “pop-ups” — that are altering the look of many neighborhoods. Those additions enable developers to transform single-family rowhouses into much more profitable multi-unit condominium buildings. In March, the city’s Zoning Commission took a preliminary vote to clamp down on pop-ups by reducing the maximum height of rowhouses from 40 feet to 35 feet in neighborhoods including Columbia Heights, Capitol Hill and Shaw. The commission also voted to ban pop-backs that stretch 10 feet past the rear of an adjacent house. NextGen Development owner Brian Brown, who builds pop-ups in Washington and monitors community e-mail lists for residents’ complaints about developers, said there are probably “at least a dozen” developers doing “questionable” work in the city. “They hire a contractor to do the work,” Brown said, “and they don’t understand what they’re paying for, and the contractor may be cutting corners.” Melinda Bolling, DCRA’s director, declined to comment on the case against the Hofgards, citing the investigation. The District requires anyone seeking to build, repair or renovate homes to purchase permits according to


The Buzz: D.C.’s hospitality industry starts to show signs of life

A Wendy's restaurant in Richmond, California, is seen on May 7. The Wendy’s fast-food chain recently began offering Honest Tea’s fresh-brewed Tropical Green Tea in all its 5,800 U.S. outlets. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) News feed Scaling up: Getting bigger: On-the-job training: the buzz We do think the market has bottomed. . . . As Congress becomes more active, they’re actually legislating, and they’re even considering other legislation. . . . We are seeing that activity on the ground. Jon E. Bortz,


Ashby Inn & Restaurant review: Art you can eat

PARIS, VA-April 16: The Lamb Loin with Lemon Hummus entree at the restaruant atThe Ashby Inn. (Scott Suchman/For The Washington Post) (Scott Suchman/For The Washington Post) Ashby Inn’s Moroccan-inlfuenced lamb loin encrusted with almonds and served with lemony hummus. (Scott Suchman/For The Washington Post) NOTE: Chef David Dunlap announced his departure from the Ashby Inn Restaurant for a job in Richmond after this review was completed. GOOD/EXCELLENT Were you worried what would happen to this bucolic property when the clever Tarver King decamped for the Restaurant at Patowmack Farm? Me too, until I checked into the inn this spring and got a taste of what his successor, David Dunlap, can do. “I like ethnic restaurants,” says the former executive sous-chef at that other popular inn, the Inn at Little Washington. His worldly preferences are displayed across an ever-changing menu, which might set pork shoulder on kimchi-spiked polenta or almond-crusted lamb on lemony hummus, a little wave to Morocco. A lot of his peers make Thai-style soups. Dunlap dares to brush the bottom of a bowl with chocolate ganache, roasted peanuts and puffed jasmine rice before pouring on coconut milk, lemon grass and kaffir lime. The soup is different — and good to the last drop. A few plates go overboard; potato salad with green beans, cultured cream and orange roe on a slab of slate brings to mind both Stonehenge and the Rockettes. Ashby’s desserts, inlcuding the grapefruit curd, leave lasting impressions. (Scott Suchman/For The Washington Post) Dunlap’s green curry soup includes a daring brush of chocolate ganache. (Scott Suchman/For The Washington Post) Ashby’s four cozy dining rooms miss the smooth touch of former innkeeper and sommelier Neal Wavra, but desserts — apple crisp that nearly disappears into its big wooden bowl, grapefruit curd and basil pound cake with a grove of garnishes — leave lasting impressions. Dunlap tends a garden from which he plucks nasturtiums and vegetables for use in the kitchen. Unfortunately, soon after I tasted his work, Dunlap announced that he was leaving Ashby for a new project in Richmond; his last day is May 17. Here’s hoping the inn’s owners make another good hire to replace him. 2.5 stars →692 Federal St., Paris, Va. 540-592-3900. www.ashbyinn.com. Open: Lunch and dinner Wednesday through Saturday, brunch and dinner Sunday. Prices: Lunch entrees $12 to $16, dinner entrees $28 to $46, three-course brunch $45. Sound check: 64 decibels /


BSO director silences critics with strong sounds

Pianist Lukas Vondracek performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on Thursday at Strathmore. (Irene Kim) On Thursday night at the Music Center at Strathmore, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s music director, Marin Alsop, again silenced those who have criticized her programming as tepid the past few years. The evening’s program included rare local performances of two important pieces by Rimsky-Korsakov and Prokofiev, with Tchaikovsky’s barn-burning first piano concerto sandwiched in between. Prokofiev’s seventh symphony, his last, crowned the evening. Soviet control had beaten most of the caustic dissonance out of the once-defiant composer, but the symphony’s sweet feeling of reminiscence for his youthful, freer days was bracing. The performance brought out the tension in the first movement, a somber melancholy contrasted with the light strings and glockenspiel-tinged theme to which Prokofiev returns at the end of the symphony. A well-heeled waltz in the second movement and the Brahmsian ardor of the third led to the inane galop of the finale, which wound its way down to a calm ending. Although Alsop wisely opted not to include the coda that Prokofiev was forced to add to the symphony, the BSO offered an unexpected encore, the “Final Dance and Apotheosis” from Shostakovich’s ballet “The Bolt.” Standing in for Prokofiev’s musical youth was the “Russian Easter Festival Overture” by Rimsky-Korsakov, whose music is evoked in Prokofiev’s seventh symphony. With themes based on Orthodox liturgical chants, the piece has a multi-metrical, syncopated character, and it provides a lesson in orchestration, which Rimsky taught in St. Petersburg, in its unusual combinations of instruments, like a trombone solo accompanied by cellos in divisi. Pianist Lukas Vondracek worked technical wonders in the Tchaikovsky without really distinguishing himself musically in the process, as his tendency to rush made the job of accompanying him more difficult for Alsop and the musicians. Downey is a freelance writer.


‘Marley’ rising up in Baltimore

Mitchell Brunings will star as the musician Bob Marley in the musical Marley at Center Stage in Baltimore. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post) This morning I woke up in a curfew. / — Bob Marley, “Burnin’ and Lootin’ ” That’s what artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah was listening to April 28 as he drove to Baltimore’s Center Stage. A day earlier in the English-born writer-director’s adoptive city, shops had been ransacked, a senior center had gone up in flames and a curfew had been declared — all while the city’s top theater company continued preparing its highly anticipated new musical, “Marley.” “The irony does not escape,” Kwei-Armah says in his office, which is adorned with a photo of his 11-year-old self in the background of a 1977 London video shoot with Marley — Bob Marley! — and a group of schoolchildren. “Driving in and seeing the National Guard every three feet, it’s painful. And it’s weird that we are doing a play about a country and a city, Kingston, that was essentially at war, while Bob was seeking peace.” The Jamaican politics of the 1970s were different, of course — Cold War tensions trickling into a troubled Caribbean nation, with Marley literally caught in the crossfire during an 1976 attempt on his life. That conflict is in the foreground of Kwei-Armah’s script, which knits together Marley songs and his two years of exile after the assassination try. Then-Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley and various party enforcers are among the characters in the show. Also included: Marley’s wife, Rita, and his mistress, Cindy Breakspeare (the reigning Miss World at the time), as well as Island Records founder Chris Blackwell and Marley friend and colleague Neville Garrick, who designed some of Marley’s best-known record covers, including “Exodus,” “Kaya” and “Uprising.” “It’s a big deal,” says the lean and laid-back Garrick, in Baltimore for the day to cast his experienced eye on the material. (Kwei-Armah, who put together a different Marley show several years ago, calls Garrick “a major source” for this project.) “I expect this to be successful, and I expect it to go for Broadway,” Garrick says. Broadway has seen jukebox musicals succeed and flop since the ABBA catalogue “Mamma Mia!” began making a killing in 2001. The more serious “Fela!” and “Jersey Boys” would seem likelier models for what Kwei-Armah has in store. Regardless, this is no half-measure workshop being rolled out


Equinox review: Vegans, vegetarians have a dining destination downtown

WASHINGTON, DC-April 14: The Casareccia Pasta with Mushrooms at Equinox Restaurant in downtown Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Suchman/For the Washington Post) (Scott Suchman/For The Washington Post) Chef Todd Gray in the kitchen at Equinox downtown. (Scott Suchman/For The Washington Post) GOOD/EXCELLENT If you’re looking for memorable modern American cooking, I’d send you to a dozen other places around town. If you’re in search of a meatless meal with some pomp near the White House, allow me to introduce you to Equinox, where chef-owner Todd Gray is taking some cues from his (mostly) vegetarian wife and business partner and spreading the message that you don’t need fish, fowl or flesh to draw people to the table. Introduced two summers ago, his vegan tasting menu is beautiful and bountiful, five courses for $65 and not a sinker in the bunch. Green garlic and celery root bisque gets its creaminess from almond milk, its prick from pickled fiddlehead ferns. Belgian endive entices with smoked walnuts and burnt maple vinaigrette. Twisty pasta tinted with red wine and fleshed out with mushrooms, Brussels sprout petals and gremolata brings dinner to a climax. (In a thoughtful gesture, the chef allows the “vegan curious” to order a dish or two from the tasting list.) If I have a complaint, it’s only that black bean chili with walnuts plays the heavy when I’m eager to embrace the light after a winter that wouldn’t go away. Gray repeats the vegan theme for Sunday brunch, where patrons can catch him in action behind the tofu “scramble” station. All this is not to say carnivores will go away hungry; house-made tagliatelle with duck Bolognese and artichoke chips finds me finishing every strand of pasta. Casareccia pasta is tinted with red wine and dressed with mushrooms. (Scott Suchman/For The Washington Post) Hearty black bean and walnut chili — perhaps more suited to winter appetites. (Scott Suchman/For The Washington Post) Desserts are more artful than ever, too. Witness the banana napoleon, a round tower of pastry and roasted banana cream elevated with a side scoop of coconut-lime sorbet. My point is, the city could use a good (full-time) vegetarian restaurant, and Equinox tastes up for the challenge. 2.5 stars →818 Connecticut Ave. NW. 202-331-8118.www.equinoxrestaurant.com. Open: Lunch Monday through Friday, dinner daily, brunch Sunday. Prices: Lunch entrees $16 to $22, dinner entrees $24 to $34, buffet brunch $30. Sound check: 72 decibels /


Plan to train Iraqi tribal fighters to face Islamic State lifts hopes in Anbar

to “build a state and expand rule of law.” In a sign of persistent tribal suspicion of Baghdad, however, recruits for the program have primarily come from one tribe, Albu Eissa. Still, the plan would seem to align with statements by U.S. officials suggesting that arming tribesmen should be managed by Baghdad. The United States is leading an international coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and it has sent military advisers to train Iraqi forces and some tribesmen. The Anbar plan also seems to align with a proposal backed by the prime minister to form national guard units at the provincial level, a move meant to reduce sectarian tensions. Since replacing the divisive Nouri al-Maliki in September, Abadi, a Shiite, has earned respect for cooperating with Sunnis. But analysts say his power has been constrained, partly because of the Shiite militias, some of which are backed by Iran. Government forces have drawn heavily on militias for operations to win back territory from the Islamic State, an issue that dissuades Sunni tribesmen from joining the military operation in large numbers, tribal sheiks say. Anthony Cordesman, a national security analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described this as a symptom of one of many still-unresolved political disputes that will hinder the fight against the Islamic State. “The problem isn’t that the Islamic State has gotten stronger, it’s that Iraqi unity hasn’t gotten better,” he said. At Friday’s ceremony here, several tribal sheiks accused Shiite militias in the area of intimidation, including arbitrarily detaining residents and of theft. The militias control the road from Baghdad to the east. “We fear them more than Daesh, of course,” said Chihad Mishaan, 55, an Albu Eissa tribal elder, using the Arabic name for the Islamic State. Tribesmen as well as local police officers said clashes broke out last week in the city after a Shiite militia, Kitaeb Hezbollah, seized a copper mill. Tribal fighters and police officers exchanged fire with the militia, which retreated from the mill, said Nayef al-Chiyad, another leader from Albu Eissa. He added that it was the second time in a week that the militia tried to take the facility, which he described as “full of things for the militia to steal and sell off.” Three police officers from the city confirmed the clashes. “They were dressed in police and military uniforms, so at first we


Beer-fueled fight in Fairfax prompts officials to look at state farming law

traffic and drunk drivers in a neighborhood of stately homes and quiet country roads. “You’re not wanted here!” someone shouted at Silva during a recent town meeting as he tried to explain his idea. A few days later, Silva said the brewery plan was dead. The project “was never meant to be a source of contention and angst amongst neighbors,” Silva said in a Facebook post. He did not respond to requests for further comment. The fight prompted Fairfax officials to begin weighing how to regulate proposed farm brewery projects, which under state law already must obtain a liquor license and comply with local and federal environmental standards. For example, neighboring Loudoun County, which has seen the successful launch of two farm breweries, requires them to be on land that is primarily agricultural, not residential, and on plots of 20 acres or larger. Residents of Clifton, Va., gather for what became an angry town meeting about the now-scrapped Loudmouth Brewery project. (Antonio Olivo /The Washington Post) “I think, in the right location, farm breweries make a lot of sense,” said Fairfax Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield), who represents the Clifton area and stayed neutral in the Loudmouth dispute. “But it needs to be in the right location.” The brewery site is among nearly 51,000 acres in Fairfax where development is limited to protect watersheds and marshes. The area surrounding Clifton — which relies on Occoquan River aquifers for drinking water — can have one house per five acres. Opponents of Silva’s project, and some county officials, called the breweries a form of manufacturing that could have negative effects on water tables in watershed conservation districts. Under the 2014 state law, farm breweries are allowed to produce up to 15,000 barrels of beer per year. “You grow the hops and the barley, but after that, it’s all industrial production,” said Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully), whose district includes areas that are zoned to protect local watersheds. In Loudoun, Kellie Boles, the county’s agricultural development officer, said brewery projects encountered some resistance from residents, but also generated support from people who wanted the economic benefits. After a decade of steady industry growth, craft beer represents 11 percent of overall beer sales in the United States, according to the Brewers Association, a national trade group. A farm brewery in Goochland, near Richmond, opened in 2013 — before the state law was passed — and


The Nigerian military is so broken, its soldiers are refusing to fight

— among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa — but experts say much of that is lost to corruption. Many low-level soldiers complain about not having received their $100-per-month salary for weeks. The troops’ legal cases feature numerous allegations of insufficient weaponry. The military also has been accused of grave human rights abuses. The army doesn’t have a history of desertions. But as the military has escalated its fight against Boko Haram, reported cases of mutiny have appeared to surge. In the most prominent case, 54 soldiers from the 111th Special Forces Battalion were sentenced to death for mutiny after they refused to join an operation against the insurgents in August. A month earlier, the same unit had been ambushed, leaving 26 troops dead and 83 others injured. The soldiers then demanded better munitions to fight the rebels, who were armed with antiaircraft guns and armored personnel carriers, said a court filing from Falana. Ironically, most of the rebels’ weapons appeared to have come from Nigerian military bases they had overrun, according to the surviving troops. The special forces unit had only 174 fighters in August, its commander said in court, rather than the approximately 750 soldiers that battalions are expected to have. The commander didn’t say why there were so few soldiers. But many Nigerian units have fewer troops than commanders indicate on their payrolls, analysts say, allowing senior officers to take so-called “ghost” salaries. That is one of several ways in which corruption has weakened the army. “All this money the military has to purchase weapons is going to [Nigerian officials’] pockets,” said a military officer who is the brother of one of the soldiers who was convicted of mutiny. He spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his own career. Nigerian military officials deny that soldiers are inadequately armed. In the case of the 111th Special Forces Battalion, military officials called the soldiers’ justification for not fighting a hollow excuse. “The Nigerian army is not an organization with a trade union,” whose members can stop working “to protest poor wages or poor working conditions,” Capt. J.E. Nwosu, the military prosecutor, said in his closing remarks. Experts fault training In the 1990s, the Nigerian military was hailed for its role in peacekeeping missions in Sierra Leone and Liberia. But after military rule in this country ended in 1999, experts say, the armed forces were kept weak to prevent


Election may set U.K. on path to a split, isolation

A shock surge in U.K. election for David Cameron's Conservatives and the SNP's near clean sweep in Scotland revives the spectre of a possible British breakaway from Europe - and the break-up of Britain itself. LONDON — A result that maintained the status quo at 10 Downing Street masked the dramatic transformations roiling Britain, ones that threaten to leave this country more isolated than at any time in its modern history. Thursday’s election may become just the first in a trilogy of rapid-fire votes that set this island adrift from Europe, divide it in half along ancient lines of national identity and ultimately leave behind a rump state of ever-diminishing value to its American allies. “Yesterday was V-E Day, when the United Kingdom was celebrating its finest hour. Seventy years later, it could be contemplating the beginning of its end in its current form,” said David Torrance, a British political analyst and author. “The next five years will be a twin debate about two unions — the European Union and the United Kingdom.” The questions of whether Britain stays whole and whether it remains in Europe are deeply entangled, with the outcome of one expected to heavily influence the other. If Britain leaves Europe despite notably pro-European sentiment in Scotland, the chances of Scotland’s newly empowered nationalists leading another drive for independence would instantly rise — despite a promise that last year’s failed bid was a “once-in-a-generation” event. That’s one reason that Europe is likely to be settled first. Cameron’s reelection fired the starting gun on what is sure to be an emotional and high-stakes debate over Britain’s future in the E.U. Cameron promised a referendum on the matter by the end of 2017, but some are pushing for the vote to come far sooner so that uncertainty doesn’t hang over Britain’s economic and political fortunes for the next 2 1 /2 years. Polls suggest that if the vote were held today, Britain would choose to stay in the E.U. But the energized voices for “out” are gearing up for the fight, in the belief that the country could better manage itself without meddling from Brussels. Opponents of an exit say it could be catastrophic, leading to an exodus of jobs and a muffling of Britain’s voice both in Europe and beyond. Cameron has projected ambivalence on the issue, saying he wants the country to remain inside Europe, but only


In weary Baltimore neighborhood, children take to the street for some fun

Residents in Baltimore gather for a festival of music, art and community activism. BALTIMORE — The act was part of the eighth annual Boundary Block Party, a festival of music, art and community activism put on by the No Boundaries Coalition, a local advocacy group, and Jubilee Arts, a nonprofit group that provides art and music classes to residents of West Baltimore’s poorest neighborhoods. But nearly two weeks after this city exploded into civic unrest, the sight of little girls performing a ballet was also part of a healing process for weary residents. “If we speak the word of peace, we will have peace,” an MC declared, as parents and children lined up to have their faces painted. “Amen,” some responded. Local civic and church groups offered residents the opportunity to register to vote, to create art projects and to purchase fresh vegetables. Officials from the Baltimore City Housing and Health departments handed out pamphlets about child nutrition, cancer and lead poisoning. The Department of Social Services invited people to get involved in Baltimore’s foster-care program. A local choir performed, and teenage drummers and dancers with gold pompoms leapt across the pavement in bright afternoon sunshine. This was the side of Baltimore that some residents and community activists said they wished the world saw, the Baltimore that exists side by side with poverty and recent unrest, and which local officials angrily accuse the TV networks of ignoring. “This is something that . . . the major news organizations don’t cover — where everybody is getting along, white and black,” said Baltimore council member Jack Young, who stopped by the block party in a suit and tie. The No Boundaries Coalition has been hosting block parties in the neighborhood since 2008, mobilizing residents to get involved in community issues, the group says. But neighborhood activists say recent unrest, following last month’s death of local resident Freddie Gray, has lent a new urgency to the pursuit of justice and empowerment in one of Baltimore’s most marginalized communities. “We want to turn Freddie Gray into a positive, and educate individuals on how you can become a part of this system,” said Nicole Hanson, a local activist, whose Out for Justice advocacy group works to empower ex-convicts by helping them register to vote and participate in politics. Indeed, Hanson said she had registered 45 voters in the first few hours of the block party.


Can a simple tea bag turn Coors Light into something worth drinking?

wife took a few packets to the Munich Oktoberfest last fall and used them to dose liter steins of Paulaner and Hofbrauhaus. He credits the tea with keeping them wide awake to enjoy the amusement park rides after they left the beer tents. “We did the bumper cars after five or six liters of beer,” he laughs. For drinkers who want to avoid caffeine, Martino offers several uncaffeinated, ersatz tea blends, including Harbor Breeze and On the Waterfront, which derive their flavor from a mix of dried fruit, spices and flower petals. The beer enhancers are available at Capital Teas’ 14 stores, about half of which are in the suburban Maryland-D.C.-Northern Virginia corridor, or nationwide by mail. A foil pouch of six sachets costs $5, which works out to 83 cents to enhance one beer. (You can buy a sampler of five pouches for $20, a savings of $5.) “They’re among our top 10 online products,” says Martino. Craft brewers might want to take note. Coffee beers are ubiquitous, tea beers much scarcer. That’s because craft beer drinkers prefer bolder flavors, speculates Matt Brophy, brew master and chief operating officer for Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick. “They want to take a sip and say, ‘Wow! That’s coffee!’ Tea is more subtle. It tends to blend in with the beer.” Flying Dog’s Earl Grey Black Wheat, the April release in the brewery’s Brewhouse Rarities series, contains “a just a hair under a pound per barrel of tea,” Brophy estimates. He stuffed the tea into a mesh sack the size of a kitchen trash bag (“the same way we dry-hop”), then suspended it by a fishing line in the secondary fermenter. Even though he allowed the Earl Grey to cold-steep for 48 hours, its contribution is restrained: There’s a bit of a tannic bite and an orange-chocolate flavor in the finish from a mingling of the bergamot oil with the roasted malt. Brewing with tea is like balancing on a high wire, suggests Mitch Steele, brew master for Stone Brewing in Escondido, Calif. You want to extract enough of the tea flavor but prevent too much tannin and cooked-leaf taste from leaching into the beer. Steele has brewed an IPA with Japanese green tea, and he more recently released Stone Chai-Spiced Imperial Russian Stout. This big (10.6 percent alcohol) liquid fudge cake of a beer contains about a quarter-pound per barrel of


Pianist Khristenko helps Fairfax Symphony finish season joyously

Stanislav Khristenko. (Dario Acosta Photography) The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra has a knack for attracting guest soloists who have won recent competitions — and no wonder, because the pliant ensemble provides rising artists with an ideal setting in which to showcase their talents. For its season finale Saturday evening at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts, the symphony featured Stanislav Khristenko in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor, K. 491. In the Ukraine-born pianist’s hands, the work became an organic creation, performed with care and charismatic expression, rather than a regurgitation of an ancient relic written in 1786. Khristenko’s gentle, loving approach to the keyboard — and his palette of touches — yielded a startling array of emotions. His solos captivated with their clear simplicity, and yet he also was not shy about making listeners work to hear the Steinway ruminating beneath the orchestral material. At times cherubic and at other moments intensely hunched, Khristenko achieved an easy rapport with the orchestra, conducted by Music Director Christopher Zimmerman, striking a delicate balance between the concerto’s gravitas and the finale’s lighthearted call and refrain. If the program’s first half was about refinement and restraint, then the second half was about unleashing the fury in Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64. Khristenko’s Mozart left an imprint on the expanded orchestra, inspiring the musicians to explore a broader spectrum of its collective sonic power. Reveling in the brightly sweeping brash sounds and ardent melodies, the orchestra generated an elegant waltz and coasted through a joyous finale, prompting well-deserved audience whoops at the conclusion. Jean is a freelance writer.


In Yemen, children — possibly thousands of them — join ﬁght

joined the Houthis because their friends did or because they were bored. “There was nothing else for me to do,” said Ayman, 17, who guards a Houthi-controlled military installation and declined to give his last name. He earns about $3 a day, he said. ‘He will not be a fighter’ A woman known as Umm Kamal said she went to the Houthi headquarters in Sanaa last month to demand that her 17-year-old son Kamal return home. He had joined the militia six days earlier, without her permission, and was working as an armed guard, she said. “This is not what I want for my son. He will not be a fighter because I want him to have a good future, to finish his education and live a good life,” she said. Umm Kamal, who declined to give her full name, citing concern for her safety, said that the Houthis did not stop her son from quitting. But there have been grenade attacks on the homes of some parents in the south of Yemen who have refused to allow their sons to join militias, according to Lisa Piper, the Yemen country director for the Danish Refugee Council. Ali wonders whether his son Mohammed was drawn to the Houthis by their message — a blend of social justice, anti-imperialism and conservative Islam — or because of his family’s dire finances. Several months ago, men linked to the rebels began recruiting boys in his city of Taiz, holding out the prospect of making money and “becoming a man on the battlefield,” he said. Mohammed has called the family only three times since he left, Ali said. “He refused to come home, and he said that he’s fighting because it’s his mission to destroy the Islamic State and Takfiris,” he said. That is a reference to extremist Sunni groups that the Houthis consider mortal enemies. Mohammed himself is Sunni, but his father suspects that he may have been brainwashed by the Houthis, who follow an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Ali has no idea where his son is, or how to reach him. He just hopes that young Mohammed will come back alive. “The thought of him coming home in a body bag is torturing us,” he said. Naylor reported from Beirut. Read more: Chart: Yemen’s chaos, explained Who are the Houthis? Obama called Yemen’s war on terror a success. Now Yemen is in crisis.


At a key point in the Baltimore riots, the governor wanted to talk to the mayor. She didn’t pick up the phone.

want to give incomplete information or take my attention off the work that was being done to bring calm and peace to the city.” When she did hold a news conference, at 8 p.m., the first question Rawlings-Blake faced was about her having “waited five hours, all day, before your first announcement about what’s going on inside your city.” “We’ve been managing the situation,” Rawlings-Blake replied. ‘Ready to go’ That morning, the mayor had joined hundreds of mourners at the funeral of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old man whose death after police arrested him triggered protests and days of tension in the city. Gray’s family had issued a public plea for no demonstrations on that day. But Baltimore leaders, including Rawlings-Blake, became increasingly concerned about looming unrest. At 2:30 p.m., Drew Vetter, director of legislative affairs for the Baltimore police, e-mailed members of the City Council and state legislators representing the city about a “credible gang threat against officers” and “possible violent activity” at Mondawmin Mall and downtown. After 3 p.m., Gregory E. Thornton, Baltimore’s schools chief, headed for the mall, only to be turned back by police who were blocking the streets. Thornton went to City Hall and told the mayor what he had seen. Rawlings-Blake was receiving a number of calls about Mondawmin, including one from her adviser, Gus Augustus Jr., who was at the mall. He told her of escalating violence and police officers being injured. At one point, Augustus became alarmed that police in paramilitary uniforms had arrived with what appeared to be rifles, said Larry Young, a Baltimore radio host and a former member of the Maryland Senate, who was with him. Augustus was afraid that the police “would fire at the kids,” Young said. “They showed up with those guns, and Gus said, ‘Oh my goodness.’ And he started trying to reach City Hall.” By then, Mitchell had arrived at City Hall, having been ordered by Hogan to “be where the mayor is.” A former Baltimore City Council member who lives a mile from Mondawmin, Mitchell has known Rawlings-Blake since middle school. His uncle, as a state senator, had shown then-Gov. Spiro T. Agnew around Baltimore after the riots that followed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968. That was the last time the National Guard had been called in. “The governor asked me to be down here, and anything you need, I’m


Prince’s Rally 4 Peace finds fans in Baltimore in a celebratory mood

Children look through windows that are lined with Prince posters as people line up to see singer Prince as he performs at the Baltimore's Royal Farms Arena on Mother's Day, part of his Rally 4 Peace event in Baltimore. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) BALTIMORE — That was the catchphrase of the night at Prince’s Rally 4 Peace on Sunday, when thousands of fans crammed into the Royal Farms Arena here to see the protean musician perform in a rare appearance that was announced just days earlier. After making the audience wait nearly an hour for the show to begin, Prince took the stage to explosive cheers and applause. “To all the families who have lost loved ones . . . tonight we are your servants,” he said before launching into slowed-down, stylized versions of “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Take Me With U,” “Raspberry Beret” and “Baltimore,” the improbably jaunty song he composed specifically for the occasion. It was at that point that Prince introduced Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby and her husband, Baltimore City Council member Nick Mosby, who had the best seats in the house, right on the stage. Before leading the audience in the refrain of “U Got the Look,” Prince warned the crowd, “There’s no curfew, so there’s no telling how long this is gonna go.” The curfew in question had been imposed two weeks earlier by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake after a night of unrest and destruction of property that was precipitated by the death of Freddie Gray, 25, who was severely injured while in police custody. On May 1, Mosby announced that she would charge six Baltimore officers in Gray’s death, including counts of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. “No curfew.” That was the catchphrase of the night at Prince’s Rally 4 Peace, when thousands of fans crammed Baltimore’s Royal Farms Arena to see the protean musician perform. On this night, Prince cast himself as Baltimore’s pop culture savior, offering up an exhaustive show of hits and newer material as a salve for a community racked by discord and pain. But the downtown Baltimore he came to that night was mellow, even buoyant. The show culminated a weekend crammed with cultural events with reconciliation at their core, including the annual Maryland Film Festival unspooling in the city’s Station North neighborhood, as well as concerts by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Soulful Symphony. A portion of


Ris review: A neighborhood stop for the swells

The lamb shank at Ris in Washington’s West End neighborhood. (Michael Temchine/FTWP) Dishes such as the lamb shank at Ris occupies the finer side of a menu that balances rustic and elegant. (Michael Temchine/For The Washington Post) GOOD When Ris Lacoste rolled out her eponymous restaurant five years ago, the veteran chef promised a neighborhood restaurant that would be both rustic and elegant. She continues to make good on her word in a West End dining room that shares its building with the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton; Ris’s menu embraces cheeseburgers and crab cakes fancied up with sliced kumquats. The prettiest dish brings beet and goat cheese ravioli dappled with shimmering pistachio arugula pesto. The heartiest plate is weighed down with dry-aged rib-eye and a potato cake held together with Gruyere. The best of the lot is thinly pounded chicken in a golden coat of Parmesan, lemon and basil, served with an arugula salad pink with prosciutto. Since Ris opened, the bar for dining in the city has risen dramatically; some compositions could use more finesse. This is a generous kitchen that can’t say no to an extra accessory or five, evinced by a catch of the day with more parts than a Lego set and desserts with so many flowers, a companion asks if I want one for my lapel. The signature scallop margarita lacks the balance of heat and sweet the appetizer once offered, its tequila sorbet a ringer for limeade. But the service is swell, and so is the people-watching. Chances are good you’ll be sharing the place with a Cabinet member, a talking head, a celeb staying at one of the nearby posh hotels or ... OMG, is that Oprah? 2 stars →2275 L St. NW. 202-730-2500. www.risdc.com. Open: Lunch Sunday through Friday, dinner daily, brunch Sunday. Prices: Lunch entrees $18 to $42, dinner entrees $20 to $42, brunch entrees $14 to $23. Sound check: 73 decibels / Must speak with raised voice. Previously (2010): This review appears in The Washington Post’s 2015 Spring Dining Guide.


How an upstart baker helped bring respect to D.C.’s bagel scene

Freshly baked bagels cool off in the kitchen at Jeremiah Cohen's Bullfrog Bagels. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post) It’s around lunchtime on a cold but sunny spring day, and Jeremiah Cohen is walking along H Street NE when he spots a “for rent” sign on a dilapidated storefront. Undeterred by the large, faded “grand opening” banner still legible in the window — testament to a previous failed business — he starts dialing the phone number listed on the sign. Cohen, the former general manager of the troubled Tabard Inn, is looking for a new home for his business, Bullfrog Bagels. And he needs one. Since its opening day last September, Bullfrog has taken off, and it has been bursting at the seams of its current space, which it shares with a tavern at the far end of the rapidly developing H Street corridor. Much like spring peepers, a small but vocal species of frog, Bullfrog appeared not with the roar of a large corporate-backed enterprise but with a number of small, insistent cries for attention. In October, just one month after Bullfrog’s debut, Zagat highlighted it as one of the eight “most promising independent bagel spots” in the United States. In April, Washington City Paper’s reader poll named it the best bagel in D.C. — until recently, perhaps, a dubious distinction. Bullfrog is no doubt part of the maturation of Washington’s bagel scene, whose primary product is moving from puffy and pre-frozen to smaller, thinner, more authentic and made from scratch, said Joan Nathan, longtime local food writer and cookbook author. “The trend now is to go back to the real foods,” she said, crediting such cooks as Mark Furstenberg of Bread Furst and Frank Ruta of the Grill Room for helping bring more attention to a traditional style of bagel. Bullfrog Bagels owner Jeremiah Cohen, left, and Operations Manager Ross Perkins run the growing business from shared space inside the Star & Shamrock, a Jewish-Irish tavern on H Street NE. (Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post) Bullfrog’s bagels began as an experimental small-batch project produced at Cohen’s home after his mother fired him from the Tabard as part of a family drama unfolding at the 91-year-old hotel and restaurant. Cohen, who had no professional baking background, then went to work as a pizza baker at 2 Amys pizzeria in the District, where he continued his bagel experiments. His dense, chewy rounds wound


Table review: Still making a fashion statement

WASHINGTON, DC- FEBRUARY 5: Exterior of Chef Frederik de Pue's new restaurant, Table on Tuesday, February 5, 2013. (Photo by Tracy A. Woodward/The Washington Post) (Tracy A. Woodward/The Washington Post) A three-seat chefs table is among the minimalist pleasures of Table in Shaw. (Tracy A. Woodward/The Washington Post) GOOD/EXCELLENT Keep an eye on Patrick Robinson. He’s the able successor to Frederik de Pue at one of the most intimate restaurants in town, where he’s cooking front and center in the open kitchen of a simple room with ribs of wood overhead. Lucky diners might find themselves at the three-seat chef’s table, hugging the counter, where they can watch dinner whipped up before their eyes. Garlicky snails and oyster mushrooms tossed with ear-shaped pasta and onion sauce has my fork stabbing away. On the sea side, mackerel “cooked” with citrus juices and dressed up with sliced star fruit yields a seviche that appeals as much to the eyes as the tongue. Robinson came to Table after serving as executive sous-chef at the much-missed Citronelle in Georgetown. Hence the many pretty plates. Or most of them, anyway: Alaskan halibut riding a raft of white asparagus is a nice piece of fish that could use a bolder vegetable. Meats tend to be tough (venison in winter) or chewy (strip steak in spring). Endings are better than ever, however, with credit going to pastry chef Cassie Holcomb. Her banana fantasy features the fruit three ways — as a curd, as a mousse, as caramelized slices — along with salted caramel ice cream and bruléed maple meringue. Springier in all ways: white chocolate-pomelo mousse arranged with hazelnut sponge cake and delivered by a server who’s all sunshine and smiles. 2.5 stars →903 N St. NW. 202-588-5200. www.tabledc.com. Open: Lunch Tuesday through Friday, dinner Tuesday through Sunday, brunch Sunday. Prices: Lunch entrees $10 to $17, prix fixe lunch $25, dinner entrees $18 to $36, brunch $11 to $26. Sound check: 74 decibels /Must speak with raised voice. Previously (2013): This review appears in The Washington Post’s 2015 Spring Dining Guide.


Too much black and blue in Baltimore

Police detain a man during unrest following Freddie Gray’s funeral in Baltimore. (Patrick Semansky/Associated Press) TWO OR three times a day on average, suspects in the custody of the Baltimore police are turned away by the city jail because they are deemed too battered, beaten, bruised or otherwise injured or sick to be processed and admitted. The police are forced to head instead for a hospital emergency room to seek treatment for suspects suffering from head injuries, broken bones, hypertension and an array of other afflictions. The frequency of such occurrences was detailed over the weekend by the Baltimore Sun, which obtained records from the city’s detention center under the Maryland Public Information Act. According to those records, the jail has turned away nearly 2,600 ailing detainees since June 2012 — about 2 percent of all bookings. That staggering figure suggests the Baltimore police are heedless, at best, of the physical welfare of suspects in their custody. It also may help explain how Freddie Gray could have pleaded for medical care at least five times after he was arrested last month before the officers who detained him bothered to summon a paramedic — by which time it was too late. As is now widely known, Mr. Gray died of his injuries; among them was a mostly severed spinal cord — sustained, it is suspected, while he was confined for 45 minutes in the back of a police van, his hands and feet shackled. That the officers discounted or disregarded his pleas, as alleged by Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby, appears to fit a pattern of negligent police conduct. The police understand — and after 2,600 reaffirmations in three years, they should be acutely aware — that they are obliged to seek medical attention for suspects who are sick or injured before the jail will admit them. Yet somehow that obligation doesn’t seem institutionally ingrained in cops on the beat. Some suspects may fake or exaggerate ailments to avoid lockup, a phenomenon that led one officer to suspect that Mr. Gray was suffering from “jailitis.” But judging by the number of suspects who are turned away at the Baltimore jail, it seems likely that police are routinely ignoring genuine and grave injuries, notwithstanding how they occurred. The Justice Department’s civil rights investigation of the city police, announced last week by Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, should take account of these


University of Maryland group looks to bring butterflies back to campus

The Baltimore checkerspot, it needs to be said, is not a place to play that well-known board game in Charm City. It is a butterfly, and it was named the state insect more than 40 years ago, but its numbers have been declining. In an effort to arrest that trend, a group at the University of Maryland held an online fundraising drive that brought in more than $5,000 that is to be used to help bring the checkerspot to the College Park campus. “We are excited to help create a refuge for our state insect right here on campus,” the group said on its fundraising Web site, beneath the appeal “Bring the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly Back to Campus.” It went on to say, “We can’t think of a more appropriate way to effect change and make an impact than by bringing this butterfly back” to campus. “Back” suggests that at some sunnier bygone time, the insect had been spotted in College Park in the black-gold-and-white-winged glory that is so suggestive of the colors of the state flag. The decline in its numbers in this area has been ascribed in part to habitat loss, some due to deer grazing on the plants that host the insect. A 63-page report on the insect noted the existence of at least one wild colony in Prince George’s County between the 1960s and 2009. In recent years, it appears that it has been fluttering its way only through the skies of Western Maryland. Although pleasing to the eye, butterflies are not all show and no substance. Like bees, they perform the work of pollination that is vital to agriculture. Some of those active in trying to preserve bees are involved in the butterfly effort. One is Dennis vanEngelsdorp of U-Md.’s honeybee lab. “I am really excited about this project — I can’t imagine a better way to show Maryland pride — creating pollinator habitat” he wrote on the fundraising site. Habitat will be created with the turtlehead plants of which the butterflies are fond, he said by e-mail. He said an effort would be made to deer-proof the turtlehead stands. Other phases of the project involve capturing adult butterflies, in approved ways, and then hand-rearing caterpillars on campus.


Watch Bao Bao, the giant panda at the National Zoo, play in a new yard

popular giant panda at the National Zoo, has new digs. A month after she moved out of a yard she shared with her mother — Mei Xiang — zoo officials said Bao Bao is adjusting well to her new area. In a video, Bao Bao is shown climbing, rolling and tumbling from trees in the grassy yard. Another shot shows her doing what panda bears do — eating bamboo. “She is adapting really well,” aid Pamela Baker-Masson, a spokeswoman for the zoo. “She’s exploring.” “She’s doing everything a bear should do.” Bao Bao’s yard includes a maple tree in the middle — a favorite spot for climbing, zoo keepers said. And there’s a waterfall and pool that zoo keepers have gradually been filling up over the last few weeks to get her used to it. Turns out, she likes it. Zoo keepers reported that she’s been splashing around in the water features. Bao Bao’s yard also has an oldie but goodie for her — hemlock, a tree that she enjoys napping in, zoo keepers said. At 18 months, Bao Bao was separated from her mom. That is a typical move for panda cubs, who separate from their parents between the ages of 18 and 24 months. Pandas are solitary in the wild, and at the National Zoo they are also kept separately. Zoo keepers are hoping that Bao Bao, who will be 2 in August, will get a sibling. Last month, they got frozen giant panda semen from China and artificially inseminated Mei Xiang. Officials said they expect to know in a few months if Mei Xiang is pregnant. A panda’s gestation period is between three and six months. Now that panda breeding season is over and Bao Bao has acclimated to her new yard, zoo officials said they plan to rotate the pandas through each of their three yards on a regular basis. This winter, the zoo put out video of Bao Bao playing in her first D.C. snowfall. The National Zoo’s two Andean bear cubs were named Mayni and Muniri after the public voted on several selections. The brother cubs are expected to go on display March 28. And for those who adore looking at animals frolic, the zoo has put out plenty of B-roll showing their Andean bear cubs, Mayni and Muniri, chewing on sticks, climbing trees and walls — and generally acting like — well, bears.


Endurance running in the woods is a great (but dirty) experience

who gave up his job to start Irunfar.com, a Web site dedicated to trail running, has been a trail runner for more than 20 years. Even though trail races have existed for decades — the JFK 50-miler, the first ultra trail race established in the United States, started in 1963 — Powell has seen an explosion in the popularity of trail running and races the past seven to eight years. In contrast to the major road marathons, trail races may have 100 racers or fewer. Those smaller fields are due to distance, both in the length of the courses and the location of the races. Many of the ultramarathon races are on trails in more remote areas. Plus, the logistical challenges of trail racing can make it harder to have multiple aid stations like a typical road race. Trail runners also tout the whole-body workout and the demand to be fully present in the moment. They treasure the ability to escape city life, to exchange the sounds of cars for the murmur of creeks and to have, as Doug Cassaro put it, “this primal feeling when I’m out on the trails, like I’ve become part of them.” Cassaro, 29, an Arlington resident and coach with the DC Road Runners, who ran his second 50K Endurance Challenge race and fourth trail race overall at the event, prefers trails to roads and has taken on hefty trail challenges such as 100-mile races. (Something I won’t try. A MisFit has to have limits.) Gaithersburg’s Catherine Rehm, 57, says, “The trails don’t punish the legs as much as asphalt and concrete and give you a whole-body workout — core training that doesn’t seem like core training.” Rehm, who doesn’t describe herself as a competitive racer yet helps train hopeful marathoners with Fleet Feet Gaithersburg, ran the Endurance Challenge half-marathon with a cast on her left arm. She told me she prefers trails because they force runners to focus on their surroundings. They demand complete attention. “Your mind, as well as your core, needs to stay engaged 100 percent of the time just to stay vertical,” Rehm said. “And that’s the difference between trail running and road running, as well as most forms of exercise — you need to focus on the moment you’re in.” That concentration means the pace will be different. Cassaro told me that dealing with the different kinds of terrain and


What AOL meant to Washington’s tech industry

An employee walks past a banner displaying the AOL logo at the company’s offices in Dulles, Va., in 2010. Verizon said Tuesday that it is buying AOL for $4.4 billion. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post) AOL may have moved its headquarters from the Washington area long ago, but business leaders in the region say the media company has long been one of the chief forces that shaped the region’s technology ethos. Tuesday’s announcement that Verizon is set to buy the company that brought dial-up Internet to millions of Americans is the latest chapter in the online giant’s storied history. The journey began in 1985, when co-founders Jim Kimsey and Steve Case set up a company named Quantum Computer Services in Northern Virginia to offer online services Less than a decade later, Quantum had renamed itself America Online and the company grew rapidly, helping ordinary folks connect over the Internet. The “Welcome! You’ve got mail” chime became a cultural phenomenon, and millions used the company’s Instant Messenger service to chat back and forth. AOL’s Washington operations flourished during the ensuing Internet boom, growing from hundreds of employees to thousands. At its zenith, the company’s Dulles headquarters spanned 1.2 million square feet and turned sleepy Loudoun County into a bustling tech hub. Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, went on to found Revolution LLC, an investment firm. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post) “At the time, Northern Virginia was the center of the Internet universe and AOL was the shining star,” said James C. Dinegar, president and chief executive of the Greater Washington Board of Trade. Its massive physical presence aside, AOL brought a spirit of community among technology companies in the region that continues today. “AOL has been a transformational engine for technology and innovation throughout our region,” said Bobbie Kilberg, president and chief executive of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. As AOL grew, it quickly gobbled up a host of upstarts until, in 2001, it made its biggest splash, taking over the venerable media giant Time Warner. AOL used its high-flying stock to purchase the media conglomerate, but the marriage between old and new media proved to be a troubled one. When the Internet bubble burst, AOL’s fortunes began to decline. Customers started to defect to faster broadband providers, and new players began an assault on AOL’s business model, which aimed to keep users within a “walled garden” of digital content. Amid the hemorrhaging,


Meet the Mirai: Why Toyota wants to make your next car run on hydrogen

the trunk can turn the car into a mobile generator, the company says, delivering enough juice to power the average American home’s essentials for a week. Even in the small-batch world of environmentally friendly automaking, the Mirai’s production is an oddity, pieced together without use of a robot or conveyor belt in Toyota’s sprawling Motomachi plant in Japan. A dozen specialized workers in blue hard hats assemble the car by hand, turning out about three a day. Though no other automaker has pushed to mass-produce hydrogen cars, the Mirai is far from the first car to embark on the path to alternative power. Hydrogen-powered cars, such as the Hyundai Tucson, have gained loyal if microscopic followings in California. Honda, which recently retired its small line of FCX Clarity fuel-cell cars, said it plans to sell a space-age upgrade of the car, the FCV, sometime next spring. Toyota’s hydrogen crusade has gained a spirited boost in its home country of Japan, which plans to install fuel-cell stacks in more than 5 million homes over the next 15 years. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe became the first to own a Mirai, in December, and he recently celebrated the opening of Tokyo’s first hydrogen station as “the dawn of a true hydrogen society.” But this new age will require heavy government investment at levels American policymakers and taxpayers might be less excited about. Japan is now offering subsidies of 3 million yen, or about $25,000, to buyers of fuel-cell vehicles in Tokyo, which has pledged $375 million worth of hydrogen-related development before the city’s 2020 Olympics. Like the Prius, the Mirai could be what industry insiders call a “halo car,” a flagship meant to boost Toyota’s eco-friendly image rather than drive sales. That, skeptics say, would make Toyota’s boasting of a “hydrogen era” and the evolution of the Mirai more a marketing tactic than revolutionary act. But in the end, the trickiest obstacle for advanced fuel-cell cars might prove to be a simple one: price. At its cheapest, the Mirai can be leased for $499 a month, three times the cost of a new Corolla set to sip historically cheap gas. To succeed, Toyota will need to get “some people on board and willing to spend $50,000 on a compact car,” said Whiston, the Morningstar equity strategist. “Much like with Tesla, [buyers] will have to pay up for the privilege of saving the world.”


A rewarding shelter for your rainy-day fund

are federally insured. To find the list, go to Bankrate.com and look for the link “2015 High-Yield Checking Survey.” “Savers are starved for yield, and this is one of those little-known options to boost the return on your emergency savings without sacrificing access to the money or the safety of federal deposit insurance,” said Greg McBride, Bankrate.com’s chief financial analyst. Of course there are some conditions with these accounts. To receive the better rates, eligible customers have to jump some hurdles, although you probably are doing many of the things anyway. Typically, you have to have direct deposit, get your statements electronically and pay bills online. Most of the institutions require at least 10 debit-card transactions each month and some as many as 15. If you don’t hit the mark on the conditions during a monthly period, there are default rates on what you can earn on your money. Coupled with those requirements, many of the financial institutions have caps that limit the amount of money deposited in the account that can earn the higher interest rate. The caps range from a low of $500 to as much as $25,000. Any amount in the account that exceeds the cap earns a much lower rate. In the Bankrate.com survey, BECU, a credit union near Seattle, offers a checking account that has the highest annual percentage yield at 4.07 percent. But balances above $500 yield just 0.05 percent. There are membership requirements to open the account. Among traditional institutions, Jeff Davis Bank in Jennings, La., had the highest rate at 3.25 percent for its “Kasasa Cash” account. You can earn that rate for a balance of up to $10,000. But it’s available only if you live in Louisiana or the southeast Texas counties of Jefferson, Orange, Jasper and Newton. If you don’t meet all the conditions for the self-service, electronic-based account, the default rate can drop to 0.10 percent. You still enjoy free checking, and there’s no penalty for failing to qualify for the higher-interest rate within the specified monthly period. Even though some accounts are open only to certain customers, almost half of the high-interest rate accounts surveyed by Bankrate.com are available nationwide. Even if you don’t want to switch your everyday banking relationship to these banks and credit unions, it could be a good place to park your emergency money, which you don’t want to touch anyway because it’s there


In frank language, Obama addresses poverty’s roots

over. And that’s fundamentally unfair.” Brooks emphasized that many conservatives are just as committed to addressing economic inequality as their liberal counterparts, and the issue has to be viewed through a moral lens. “Capitalism is nothing more than a system, and it must be predicated on right morals,” he said, adding that the poor are “not liabilities to manage. They’re assets to develop because every one of us made in God’s image is an asset to develop.” Obamamade a pointed critique, echoed by Putnam, about the withdrawing from the commons the U.S. has witnessed in recent years, as wealthier citizens have enrolled their children in private schools and extracurricular activities. “Instead of softening the edges of the market, we’re turbocharging it,” Obama said. “What used to be racial segregation now mirrors itself in class segregation and this great sorting that’s taking place. Now, that creates its own politics. Right? I mean, there’s some communities where I don’t know — not only do I not know poor people, I don’t even know people who have trouble paying the bills at the end of the month. I just don’t know those people.” He referred to the rosy scenario Putnam painted of U.S. society a generation ago, when people of different classes mixed easily in playgrounds, schools and other community gathering spots. “Even back in Bob’s day that was happening, it was happening to black people.” Still, Dionne asked Obama to respond to critics who say he tells young black Americans to examine how their own actions might have contributed to their disadvantaged status, in ways he wouldn’t to white youth. The president said he made “no apologies” for it. “And the reason is, is because I am a black man who grew up without a father and I know the cost that I paid for that,” he said. “And I also know that I have the capacity to break that cycle, and as a consequence, I think my daughters are better off.” “I think it would be powerful for our faith-based organizations to speak out on this in a more forceful fashion,” Obama said. “I think there is more power to be had there, a more transformative voice that’s available around these issues.” John Green, a political scientist at the University of Akron, said the big faith groups to whom Obama was speaking — Catholics and evangelicals, who together make up about


Following tragedy, debate over Amtrak funding continues on the Hill

on unsteady footing, a desperate federal effort to keep passenger rail service alive in an era when cars offered the benefit of door-to-door travel on short distances and airplanes delivered people more swiftly on longer trips. As passenger numbers dwindled and the equipment and the condition of the rails deteriorated, the big commercial rail lines — the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central, the East Coast titans — faltered and collapsed. At its inception, Amtrak was molded out of 20 passenger operations that had been part of 26 big railroads. Amtrak began operations in a deep hole, saddled with outdated engines and cars near the end of their useful lives and stations that also had fallen into disrepair. In addition, most of the lines on which their trains operated were owned and maintained by freight railroads that shared them. Congress later stepped in to transfer portions of the Northeast Corridor to Amtrak control. That section between Washington and Boston became the heart of the Amtrak system. But the system and its operation of the Northeast Corridor regularly have come under fire from members of Congress who argue the federal government does not need to prop up the for-profit company. Some Republicans have suggested that the marginally profitable Northeast Corridor should be split off from Amtrak and put in the hands of a private corporation. Others have proposed that the entire system be privatized. But rail advocates argue that businesses will not invest in something that is not profitable, and point to countries that invest in passenger rail not because it makes money but because the service is good for the community. They look at sleek high-speed trains in Europe and Asia with envy. American ridership has increased markedly in the past decade. Some attribute it to millennials not sharing the same affinity for the automobile as previous generations. But often generational shifts happen first, and policy catches up. “I think we have a slow process going in the right direction,” said Ross Capon, who for 40 years ran the National Association of Railroad Passengers. “The ridership has set records, growing substantially while the politicians fight over whether [Amtrak] should exist.” Kelsey Snell contributed to this report. Read more: 72 years ago, a deadly derailment occurred at same Philadelphia spot Who to follow on Twitter for the latest on the Amtrak train crash Lives lost include midshipman, AP video staffer


Arlington chef enjoys her tasty calling: A meals-to-go business

Taste by Katie Chef Katie Gilman holds one of her heat-and-serve meals: miso chicken, udon noodles and mixed vegetables. Operating the store is “a lot of work, but if this is what you love doing, then it’s not a burden,” she said. (Bettina Lanyi/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST) About 6:30 on a recent Friday evening, Chris Wilson was picking up dinner for his family of three. As chef Katie Gilman, owner of Taste by Katie, packed up the heat-and-serve meals, Wilson perused the menu options for the coming week. “I’ll take the udon noodles and the chicken thighs,” Wilson told Gilman before leaving the store in the Dominion Hills strip mall, where the menu options change weekly. The variety, Wilson said, is part of what keeps him coming back. He also likes the convenience of a home-cooked meal that is ready to eat. “In a restaurant, the menu’s the same, but here each week there’s something new and different,” Wilson said. “And it tastes better than restaurant food. “My wife and I have a small child and one on the way, so for us convenience is very important,” Wilson said. “It’s nice to be able to pop in and get dinner.” Gilman, 25, who received her culinary degree from the Art Institutes in Rosslyn, started the store a little more than a year ago. After two years at Marriott’s Renaissance Arlington hotel and a year as a personal chef, Gilman discovered that local residents had a desire for home-cooked meals, but lacked the time or ability to cook them. She decided to step in and fill that niche. “My regulars who buy from me five or six days a week — they never go to the grocery store except to get bread and milk,” said Gilman, who grew up in Arlington and attended McKinley Elementary, Swanson Middle and Yorktown High schools. “I have everything that they need. It’s like home cooking. You don’t have to think about what you want to eat this week, make a grocery list and go to market.” Her customers’ needs vary, she said. Some people order a week’s worth of dinners, and others pop in to pick up a meal for one when their spouse is working late. She also caters to the elderly, including a 98-year-old woman whose son orders her meals online from his home in North Carolina. Some of the most popular offerings,