Capital Buzz: Kit Check innoculated with $10.4M investment

end of last year to 117 currently, with offices in San Diego, Kentucky, the United Kingdom and Costa Rica. It is expanding its Herndon headquarters starting Sept. 1 from 2,060 square feet to 3,409, allowing for 30 more employees. The company’s Costa Rica office will increase from 4,250 square feet to 5,150, which will hold 60 people. Search recently began a college recruiting program as a way to find technicians. The company brought in three students from George Mason University and one from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. “It is an important part of our overall growth strategy to invest in college graduates who are agile and eager to learn new technologies,” Search founder Kamran Khan said in an e-mail. “We want to train them to be search engine experts.” The company, which extracts nuggets of insight from reams of structured online information, now has 500 customers, including EMC, Accenture, Deloitte, Reed Business and the Council of Better Business Bureaus. Sold out The District’s sole distillery, Green Hat Gin, is dry — for the moment. That’s what I learned after running into my neighbor, Green Hat co-founder Michael Lowe. A former litigator for Verizon, Lowe tells me he ran out of the gin a week ago because of a big sale and expansion into Maryland, where the year-old distiller is in 40 stores and bars. The company makes its product in a 90-year-old brick warehouse in Northeast Washington, a short pub crawl from Gallaudet University. “We had been making about 40 cases a week, so we are going to 80 cases,” he said. “We are breaking even, at least one of us is taking a salary and we are beginning to pay back loans. Unless the market drops off substantially, we should be okay.” ‘Fore!’ the kids Chantilly entrepreneur Allen O. Cage Jr., above, owns several companies that collectively gross more than $40 million and employ 275 people across the United States. His firms processed more than $40 billion in e-commerce transactions last year. “We do back-office commercial payments and back-office stuff for large and small corporations — 17,000 in all,” said Cage, who flew Cobra helicopters for the U.S. Army for 24 years. Cage is now using his business contacts to help raise money at his Aug. 12 golf tournament to benefit his YouthQuest Foundation, which provides scholarships for at-risk teens. The tournament is at the Trump National Golf Club


Workers were able to repair a 48-year-old water valve in Forestville last week, which averted a days-long water shut-off in Prince George’s County. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) At 3 p.m. Tuesday, Cari DeSantis got word that Melwood, an Upper Marlboro nonprofit that offers programs for disabled adults, would not have water for the rest of the week. That’s when things got moving. “The first thing we had to do was pull out our business continuity plan,” said DeSantis, chief executive of Melwood. “There were so many arrangements to make.” Within minutes, DeSantis and her team had decided to shut down operations for the rest of the week. Employees began calling the 200 adults who attend Melwood’s programs every day. Others updated the Web site and emergency call-in line. The possibility of a water main shut-off in Prince George’s County last week sent dozens of business owners scrambling. By the time officials announced Wednesday that the crisis had largely been averted, the area’s retailers, restaurants and hotels had already dusted off their crisis management plans and made arrangements to shut down for five days. At Melwood, there were other considerations, too. As part of its work-placement program, the nonprofit oversees three greenhouses and a conservatory that supply plants to area institutions such as the Kennedy Center. Those plants needed to be watered. The organization’s facilities managers called around and arranged for a tanker to deliver 5,600 gallons of water. “We just mobilized,” DeSantis said. Among the hardest-hit businesses in Prince George’s County was the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, which emptied all 2,000 rooms on Wednesday and was forced to relocate five conferences. “The Gaylord losing a convention — that’s huge,” said Kent Digby, senior vice president of operations for National Harbor. “We’re talking a considerable amount [of money].” Although many of the businesses in the area already had crisis management plans in place, Digby said the suddenness of the situation — and the fact that there were thousands of visitors in the area who had to be relocated — complicated the situation. “We had our Rolodex ready to go, but there were a lot of phone calls being made, a lot of scrambling,” he said. While some companies relied on carefully crafted guidebooks, others played it by ear. Nkaiso Akpabio, manager of Capital Teas at National Harbor, said he made a beeline for Safeway Monday evening after he heard


Can Japan’s Shinzo Abe deliver on deeper reforms?

JAPANESE VOTERS gave Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) control of the upper house of parliament in an election Sunday, meaning that for the first time in six years the LDP will have control of both chambers of the Diet. The question is, how will Mr. Abe make use of this opportunity. The United States has a big stake in the answer. The LDP won control of the more powerful lower house in December, giving Mr. Abe a second chance at the premiership. He has adeptly implemented policies that have Japan’s long-moribund economy moving again. He increased government spending and pushed the central bank to pump up the money supply, both highly popular moves, but he also risked alienating his rural supporters by entering into free-trade talks with the United States and other Pacific nations. Mr. Abe has said that he needed control of the upper house to implement deeper reforms. His advisers have said that he will take advantage of the end of the “twisted parliament,” as Japanese call divided government, by promoting structural changes, including to the labor market and the farming sector. Many economists view these as essential to sustaining growth, especially as Japan’s population ages and declines, but deeply entrenched interests will resist. The multi-nation free-trade talks, which President Obama has said he wants to conclude by year’s end, could give Mr. Abe some political cover for the difficult changes. In addition, Mr. Abe is likely to push to restart many of the nuclear reactors that were shut after a 2011 earthquake and tsunami. And he will seek to reinterpret Japan’s “peace constitution” to allow its military to engage not only in self-defense but also in collective self-defense — to come to the aid of a U.S. ship, say, if it is attacked by North Korea. These are all divisive issues for Japan and, in the case of constitutional reinterpretation, for its neighbors. But they are nowhere near as divisive as another set of issues that the right wing of the LDP will now push to revisit, involving a reevaluation — a whitewashing, critics would say — of Japan’s behavior in World War II. Despite some personal sympathy for the idea that a winner’s version of history has treated Japan unfairly, Mr. Abe will not expend political capital in this inflammatory direction, his advisers say. Americans will be hoping that is true.


Vulnerable Maryland weighs threat of sea-level rise

It was scary enough that a team of experts on sea-level rise projected that Maryland’s coastal waters could rise to six feet in this century. But to hammer home the findings of a new report, they included a link to a Web tool that allows readers to make like a god, sliding a scale over pictures of state landmarks until a creeping tide washes them away. Maryland, with 3,100 miles of tidal shore along the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay, is one of several states, including Virginia, Delaware, Louisiana and Florida, most vulnerable to sea-level rise pushed in part by global warming that has caused glaciers to melt and oceans to expand. Coastal sea-level rise for Maryland will range from slightly less than a foot to more than two feet by mid-century, and from two to six feet by the end of the century, depending on numerous factors, including glacial ice melt, according to the projections in a recent report from the Maryland Commission on Climate Change. Six feet of sea-level rise by 2100 might not seem like much, said Donald F. Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, until its effect on storm surge is factored in. As waters inch up at a pace of nearly four millimeters per year, coastal Maryland will be highly vulnerable to flooding from wind surge from major storms such as Sandy, the “superstorm” that flooded New York City and wiped out huge chunks of the Jersey shore last year. “It’s going to happen,” said Boesch, who led the commission’s Scientific and Technical Working Group. In addition to seas rising, land in Maryland has been sinking as a result of ancient geological events. “Our estimate is we should prepare for a sea level that’s going to be almost up to my chest, well over my knees,” Boesch said. “We better prepare for that. We need to be ready to make some difficult and tough decisions about what we’re going to protect.” The options are clear: Raise houses, place utility poles on high ground “so they’re not destroyed in every flood,” Boesch said. Municipal planners facing similar issues in coastal regions nationwide have proposed another option: Retreat from areas that cannot be saved — do not locate schools, police stations, firehouses and other buildings meant to last 75 years in places projected to flood. Homeowners in those areas should be given


Does D.C.’s food scene make the grade?

of a half-dozen restaurants. Furthermore, the New York influence extends to the suburbs, as people move there and demand the same level of food that they had in the city. The local markets, one seemingly on each block, have produce that one can only dream of here. Barbara Perry, Spotsylvania ● Mark Furstenberg got much right, but he left out why Washington’s restaurants (excepting a few, such as Rasika and CityZen) are so bad: Their customers aren’t there for the meal. They are there for the experience of being there. When customers come for the meal, there is conversation at the table, sufficient quiet to allow it and intolerance for bad food and sloppy service. But, if, like lawyers, lobbyists and congressmen, you come to fete and be feted, it’s about the adulation; you are enjoying your importance, not the shared meal. Except for a few adults trying to dine before or after a theater show (good luck with that), there is no clientele for good food and reasonably priced wines in Washington restaurants. To the very few restaurants that are exceptions, that serve good food (albeit with ridiculously expensive wines), thank you! I don’t understand your business model. I sure wish there were more of you. Joe Reid, Falls Church ● It is important to note some key markets and stores that Mark Furstenberg left out of his rant against the District’s food scene. I agree that we still have a long way to go to compare to New York or San Francisco, but we have some fabulous new food-craft stores, such as Three Little Pigs on Georgia Avenue, a remarkable charcuterie that does everything by hand, and Glen’s Garden Market, near Dupont Circle, where the food is all locally sourced. We have Cowgirl Creamery for cheese, and no one can complain about our ice cream selections, from Thomas Sweet to Dolcezza. Broad Branch Market and Union Market are great, but they are not alone. As for butchers, we now have Stachowski’s in Georgetown and Wagshal’s. For fishmongers we have Cannon’s in Georgetown, Fishery in Chevy Chase and Maine Avenue at the Wharf. Chocolate shops are increasing, as are small coffeehouses such as Qualia in Petworth and Baked and Wired in Georgetown. I agree that we need more independent shops and individual restaurants to create a city worth walking around. That culture is starting. That’s encouraging. Debra Eichenbaum, Washington


Syria’s ripple effect

Anthony H. Cordesman holds the Arleigh A. Burke chair in strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Americans cannot afford to forget that they face more than one crisis in the Middle East. Critical as Egypt is, the situation in Syria continues to spiral out of control, affecting the security of Lebanon, Turkey, Iran and Iraq and giving Iran new opportunities. The Assad regime continues to make gains and has less and less reason to negotiate. For all the talk of U.S. arms transfers, the Syrian rebels have problems moving arms and supplies across the Lebanese, Turkish and Iraq borders. Meanwhile, Lebanon and Iran are supplying the regime with volunteers and arms. The lack of outside support weakens the moderates among the rebels, while the upheavals in Egypt polarize Syria’s Sunnis and tend to empower the more extreme factions. Even “success,” or the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government, would result in a new government whose structure is unpredictable and that will inherit enduring political problems and regional tensions. On balance, however, there are clear humanitarian and selfish reasons for the United States to intervene. At least 93,000 A collection of Tom Toles cartoons about international news. This may not be enough to sway U.S. public opinion, or congressional action, at a time when Americans are war-weary and facing a federal budget crisis and competing strategic demands. But although Washington cannot guarantee an outcome in Syria simply by arming and supporting the rebels, doing nothing could create a much broader threat to U.S. interests and our allies in the region. What started as a civil conflict more than two years ago now threatens to fuel a major conflict between Sunnis and Shiites throughout the Muslim world. The conflict is dividing Lebanon and giving Hezbollah and other extremists a larger foothold there. It is also creating problems in Jordan and Turkey, pushing Iraq toward civil war and making Iraq’s Shiite leadership more dependent on Iran. If Assad succeeds in crushing the opposition or otherwise maintains control over most of Syria, Iran will have a massive new degree of influence over Iraq, Syria and Lebanon in a polarized Middle East divided between Sunni and Shiite. Minorities will be steadily driven into exile. This would present serious risks for Israel, weaken Jordan and Turkey and, most important, give Iran far more influence in the Persian Gulf, an area home to 48 percent


Morsi’s family vows legal action on ousted Egyptian president’s ‘kidnapping’

CAIRO — Osama Morsi, the son of the former president, spoke at a news conference in downtown Cairo, as hundreds of protesters massed in front of the attorney general’s office down the street, chanting against the military officers who removed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, in a July 3 coup. The younger Morsi on Monday called his father’s detention by the armed forces a “kidnapping” and a “crime.” He said the secretive conditions of the detention violated the standards of international law and underscored the “militarization” of Egypt since the coup, despite the appointment of a civilian president and prime minister. “I challenge the attorney general to [show he] knows where President Morsi is being detained,” Osama Morsi said. Egypt’s military has held Mohamed Morsi and a number of his top aides from the Muslim Brotherhood incommunicado in an undisclosed location since Morsi’s ouster. Asked by one reporter Monday whether his father was dead or alive, Morsi’s son said, “I don’t know any more than you do.” The family said it has launched legal action against the chief of Egypt’s armed forces, Gen. Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, and his collaborators. The process at home is unlikely to yield results in a country where the military has operated with impunity and secrecy for decades. “We are in the process of taking legal action through international and local courts,” said Shaimaa Mohamed Morsi, the ousted president’s daughter. The family did not specify the international courts, but Morsi supporters in the past have talked about approaching the United Nations and the International Criminal Court. Supporters of the ousted president have staged demonstrations across the country over the past three weeks. On Monday, demonstrators clashed with anti-Morsi Egyptians and security forces in separate incidents across downtown Cairo, outside the Defense Ministry and in an industrial province north of the capital. At least three people were killed, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported. In Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, a lawless territory flush with weapons and militants on the border with Israel and the Gaza Strip, violence has raged nearly every day since Morsi’s fall, highlighting the deteriorating security situation there. Armed men have launched dozens of attacks on police and military checkpoints, killing at least 14 members of the security forces and seven civilians since early this month. Battles raged between militants and security forces in North Sinai’s two biggest towns late Sunday, injuring seven


Astronomer uses Kepler telescope’s data in hunt for spacecraft from other worlds

Geoff Marcy hopes instruments at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii will spot an errant laser beam flashing from a distant star system. (FROM UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY) In the field of planet hunting, Geoff Marcy is a star. After all, the astronomer at the University of California at Berkeley found nearly three-quarters of the first 100 planets discovered outside our solar system. But with the hobbled planet-hunting Kepler telescope having just about reached the end of its useful life and reams of data from the mission still left uninvestigated, Marcy began looking in June for more than just new planets. He’s sifting through the data to find alien spacecraft passing in front of distant stars. He’s not kidding — and now he has the funding to do it. Last fall, the Templeton Foundation, a philanthropic organization dedicated to investigating what it calls the “big questions” — which, unsurprisingly, include “Are we alone?” — awarded Marcy $200,000 to pursue his search for alien civilizations. As far as Marcy, an official NASA researcher for the Kepler mission, is concerned, that question has a clear answer: “The universe is simply too large for there not to be another intelligent civilization out there. Really, the proper question is: ‘How far away is our nearest intelligent neighbor?’ They could be 10 light-years, 100 light-years, a million light-years or more. We have no idea.” To answer that question Marcy has begun to sift through the Kepler data and to search the heavens for a galactic laser Internet that might be in use somewhere out there. (More on that in a bit.) Here’s a look back at some of the space telescope’s discoveries. Launched in 2009, Kepler was designed as a four-year mission to detect planets — habitable or otherwise — around distant stars by measuring the dimming of those stars as orbiting bodies pass in front of them. In May, a component of the spacecraft designed to keep it pointing precisely failed, dealing a crushing blow to Marcy and his colleagues who last year convinced NASA to extend funding for the mission into 2016, which Marcy says would have allowed researchers to further refine the number of known Earthlike planets in our galactic neighborhood. “It’s a heartbreaker,” he says. “People are reacting a little bit as if a close family member died. There’s this combination of severe depression and confusion, coupled with denial.” 100 billion


Bumblebee returns to areas where it once was a key pollinator of crops

Bumblebee returns to areas where it once was a key crop pollinator. (REUTERS) A North American bumblebee species that all but vanished from about half of its natural range has reemerged in Washington state, delighting scientists who voiced optimism that the insect might eventually make a recovery in the Pacific Northwest. Entomologists and bee enthusiasts in recent weeks have photographed several specimens of the long-absent western bumblebee (Bombus occidentalis) buzzing among flower blossoms in a suburban park north of Seattle. The sightings are evidence of western bumblebee colonies in the area, although it hardly proves the species will thrive, said Rich Hatfield, a biologist for the Oregon-based Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. B. occidentalis Scientists have cited a number of likely factors for bumblebee declines, including parasites, pesticides and habitat fragmentation, though a fungus spread from Europe is now a leading theory. Until the mid-1990s, the western bumblebee was among the most common bees in the western United States and Canada, where it was valued as a key pollinator for tomatoes and cranberries. It has since virtually disappeared from about half its historic range, although its population remains relatively robust in the Mountain West. The discovery of the bees near Seattle might mean that a population resistant to the fungus has emerged, Hatfield said. — Reuters


DOE metallurgist revolutionized coronary stent technology

(Sam Kittner/Kittner.com) The tiny scaffolding had to be strong, long-lasting and visible to an X-ray. It had to be able to hold open a human artery for extended periods of time to keep blood flowing. It had to be able to keep people alive. That was the task put before Paul Jablonski, a metallurgist in the Process Development Division of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Albany, Ore. Jablonski is a metal specialist, a scientist whose passion is creating new alloys with just the right properties to perform specific tasks. In the case of the scaffolding used as a stent to keep blood flowing through human arteries, the stakes could hardly be higher. When the project was completed, Jablonski was credited with transforming the world of coronary stents, greatly enhancing their safety and reliability by making them visible to X-ray machines. “Paul almost singlehandedly revolutionized coronary stent technology,” said Paul King, NETL’s director of business development. “Since its introduction in 2010, the platinum-chromium stent series has become the leading stent platform in the world, with more than $4 billion in sales and a 45 percent market share in the United States and a 33 percent global market share.” Jablonski’s stent is made of a platinum-chromium alloy, which makes it radiopaque, meaning it can be seen by an X-ray machine. This property makes implantation much easier and allows doctors to examine the stent after it is placed in an artery. Stents previously were made only of bare metal. Recognizing the need for materials that could perform in more challenging areas of the anatomy, Boston Scientific, a leading maker of medical devices, turned to the NETL. The lab’s mission includes engaging in cutting-edge research and assisting industry in technological development and product commercialization through its Work for Others (WFO) program. Developing the alloy for the new stent was a relatively simple task, but finding a manufacturing process to bring it to scale for commercial production was a different story. “Paul worked with Boston Scientific and with the future suppliers, not just on the chemistry, but how you produce it to give it the characteristics needed to be successful. Discovering an alloy is more run-of-the-mill, but to discover and also deploy it is exceptional,” said Cynthia Powell, director of the office of research and development at the NETL. Jon Stinson, the principal research and development engineer at Boston


Levin urges crackdown on Japanese currency as part of trade debate

the two agreements, “the train has to be slow enough to handle all the major issues, and if it isn’t, there will just be immense conflict” in Congress. His comments set up a fight on Capitol Hill that will have to be waged before either trade deal is completed. It is assumed that for either pact to be enacted, Congress will first have to renew “fast track” trade promotion authority. Fast track limits Congress to a quick up-or-down vote on any free-trade treaty. Officials and analysts agree that U.S. trade partners are unlikely to sign any treaty unless TPA is in place, guaranteeing quick consideration by Congress and no opportunity for amendments that would send everyone back to the bargaining table. But its renewal is likely to prove controversial in a Congress that has found it difficult to reach consensus on even non-contentious matters. Members will not only delve into the details of any likely agreement, but — as Levin’s comments indicate — use the debate to force larger questions. Both the House and the Senate, for example, have at different points approved legislation penalizing countries that use “currency manipulation” to gain a trade advantage — bills largely aimed at China. Levin said that concept should be built into a new TPA law and used in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations as a way to explicitly target Japan’s auto market — the third largest in the world but notoriously difficult for imports — and allegations that it has used currency tools in the past to boost its exports. Japan officially joined the 12-nation talks this week, greatly expanding the reach and potential economic import of the agreement. The Obama administration did not respond directly to Levin’s critique, but it noted that negotiators in April secured some advance steps by Japan to import more U.S. automobiles. Japan has the second-largest trade surplus with the United States, next to China, much of it related to auto sales. In the past, the administration has opposed efforts to tie trade penalties to a nation’s currency policy, arguing that the matter is better resolved diplomatically and that it is difficult to separate steps designed to rig a country’s exchange rate from those meant to regulate the money supply, control interest rates or pursue other legitimate monetary policy goals. The United States itself has been accused of “competitive devaluation” in recent years because of the Federal Reserve’s


Collaboration beers: Where creativity meets marketing

by the desire to build community and, at least sometimes, by savvy marketers, these beers suggest how the craft phenomenon has touched society at large — and how trendy chefs, HBO executives and countless other parties are reaching back. To be sure, “collaboration beers” have been coursing through taps for a long time: The term typically has referred to what emerges when employees from multiple breweries gather to brew, swap tricks of the trade and maybe blast some heavy metal. But a broader meaning is taking hold. “You used to see a lot of just brewery-and-brewery collaborations, and now it’s branching out,” says Tim Prendergast, who helps oversee the beer program at the Columbia Heights beer bar Meridian Pint and who estimates that since 2011, staffers there have brewed 18 collaborations alongside local brewers. “I definitely see the collaboration definition expanding.” Particularly notable have been the creations that demonstrate craft beer’s move into the fine-dining world, typically the province of oenophiles. This past spring, for example, Bay Area upstart Calicraft Brewing bottled Chez Panisse Farmhouse Ale, a limited-edition beer honoring the 33rd anniversary of Alice Waters’s famed Chez Panisse Cafe in Berkeley. “I’ve done more collaborations with restaurants than I’ve done with other brewers,” says Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergso, the Danish brewer behind the Evil Twin beer brand. His says his newly released Nomader Wit, a light, Belgian-style witbier fermented entirely with a Brettanomyces yeast strain and brewed for the Manhattan restaurant the NoMad, will be distributed widely, and most likely in the District. In the past, Jarnit-Bjergso has collaborated with Chicago’s the Aviary, Copenhagen’s Noma and the Toronto outposts of the Momofuku group. “It’s like, all right, now you have wine people drinking beer, beer people drinking wine,” notes Sebastian Zutant, a partner and sommelier at the Red Hen in Bloomingdale, which collaborated with DC Brau on a Belgian-inspired saison matured in a wine barrel with sauvignon blanc lees. (A follow-up effort, a version of DC Brau’s Penn Quarter Porter aged on red wine lees, is slated for a fall debut.) “It’s a unique way for friends to not only work with each other but also promote each other — and make each other money,” he says. That development has a downside, too: As more brewers partner with people whose hearts lie further and further from the world of beer, the results can seem less like true creative efforts and more


Woman attacked, raped in Howard University classroom, police say

A young woman who was sexually assaulted Monday on the Howard University campus was raped inside a classroom by a person who followed her off a city bus, authorities said Tuesday. D.C. police said they were searching for the attacker but had made no arrests. In a statement, the university said the 18-year-old woman was participating in a program that was not sponsored by the university. Police said the attack occurred shortly after 8 a.m. in the 2600 block of Sixth Street NW, near Cramton Auditorium. A police report obtained by The Washington Post said the woman was aboard a bus when a male passenger she thought she knew from junior high school winked at her. She got off the bus and walked north on Sixth Street and was confronted by the man, police said in the report. “The complainant reported that the suspect followed her into the school and pushed her into a classroom,” the report said. The report said the man forced the woman to the floor of the classroom and raped her. A spokeswoman for Howard University released a statement that said “the location and the circumstances around this case are still under investigation.” The police report said the victim told police she believed the attack occurred in the business school. The attack comes several weeks after Omar Sykes, 22, a business marketing major, was shot and killed just off campus during what police have described as a random robbery attempt July 4. No arrest has been made in that case. Since September, Howard University police have dealt with a small spike in violent crime, including armed robberies, thefts and assaults.


O’Malley expected to propose aggressive new standards for renewable energy use

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) is expected to propose more ambitious targets for renewable energy use in a speech on climate change on Thursday. (Brian Witte/AP) Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) will propose more-ambitious targets for renewable-energy use in a speech on climate change Thursday, according to people who have seen drafts of his plan. O’Malley is expected to propose boosting the state’s renewable portfolio standard, requiring utilities to make renewables 25 percent of their mix of electricity generation by 2020, up from the current target of 20 percent by 2022. The new standards would place Maryland alongside California as one of the most aggressive states in the country when it comes to reducing greenhouse gases, which scientists say are speeding climate change. In a speech at the conference center at the Maritime Institute in Baltimore, the governor is also expected to propose changing the definition of renewable energy so that a paper pulping byproduct known as black liquor would not qualify. In keeping with an agreement with other Northeast states participating in a cap-and-trade program, he also plans to vow to enforce a 2.5-percent-a-year reduction in the allowable carbon emissions from coal plants. O’Malley, who is considering a 2016 presidential bid, will also tiptoe into the debate over the oil and gas drilling technique known as fracking. Like New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D), O’Malley has imposed a moratorium so far because of environmental concerns, even though burning natural gas emits half as much carbon dioxide as burning coal. In the speech Thursday, O’Malley plans to warn that leaks of more than 3 percent of methane, the potent greenhouse gas that makes up natural gas, as a result of the drilling process would eliminate the climate benefits of burning gas instead of coal. O’Malley is also expected to set tougher energy-efficiency goals. He is required by state law to come up with a plan to reduce the state’s annual greenhouse gas emissions to 25 percent below 2006 levels by 2020. The state’s environment agency issued a draft plan last year, but this one is tougher, environmental activists say. “O’Malley’s climate plan is very strong and appropriate for Maryland’s climate vulnerability,” said Mike Tidwell, head of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “It is a plan that should be adopted by other coastal states across the country given the quick pace of climate change and the slow pace of action


CapitalSource purchase will create large Calif. bank

CapitalSource The move creates one of the largest commercial banks in California, with more than $15 billion in assets. Los Angeles-based CapitalSource, which still has around 175 employees at its Chevy Chase, Md. office, was founded in 2000 by John K. Delaney, an entrepreneur now a Democratic member of Congress from Maryland. CapitalSource was a high-flying finance company that specialized in lending to small and mid-size companies with revenues of $50 million or less. It flourished in the early and mid part of the decade but was laid low by the financial crisis. Delaney bought an ailing California-based bank because of its easy access to deposits, essentially turning his company into a bank. CapitalSource’s subsidiary, CapitalSource Bank, has approximately $8.7 billion in assets and 21 branches throughout southern and central California, according to a news release issued as part of the purchase. John K. Delaney, founder of CapitalSource Inc, now a Democratic member of Congress from Maryland. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post) Pacific Western Bank has $6.7 billion and 75 branches in California. CapitalSource shareholders will receive $2.47 in cash and 0.2837 shares of PacWest common stock for a share of CapitalSource common stock, the news release said. CapitalSource shareholders will own 55 percent of the merged bank, once the deal closes by the first quarter of 2014. Bank analyst Todd L. Hagerman of Sterne Agee analysts said in a report that the potential economic value made the acquisition compelling. “The critical mass achieved by combining two top-tier banks creates a formidable competitor in the (California) market,” Hagerman wrote. CapitalSource chief executive James J. Pieczynski Delaney said in an e-mail that he applauded the strategy of the transaction.


Tope Folarin finds his place in the literary world

and a half as an exchange student, first at Bates College in Maine, then at a university in South Africa. When he returned to Morehouse to complete his final year of study, he was told he had lost some of his financial aid package because he had failed to complete forms while abroad. He was broke, desperate to earn his degree in political science and was living on a friend’s floor. He did what any American would do: He wrote to Oprah. Two weeks later, the school informed him that his senior year would be covered. (He subsequently met Oprah Winfrey and attributes the financial assistance to her help or the intervention of someone on her team.) Four months later, Folarin was named a 2004 Rhodes Scholar. At Oxford, he began to examine whether he should follow his father’s wishes that he earn a law degree at Yale. At Oxford, he decided to take a different path. “When I first got there a friend of mine said, ‘I love Philip Roth,’ ” says Folarin, who had never heard of the American novelist. He began reading contemporary fiction and worked on what he describes as his first “failed novel.” After a few years of detours — working as a spokesman for Google in London; taking a low-level position on the Obama campaign; a period of unemployment — Folarin moved to the District in 2008 and connected with poets and writers here, including E. Ethelbert Miller. Those connections and that encouragement led Folarin to submit “Miracle” for the Caine Prize. In London last week, where Folarin accepted the prize, he had a conversation with another finalist, whom Folarin declines to name. The other writer told Folarin that he should begin using his full Nigerian name — Oluwabusayo Temitope Folarin — rather than calling himself Tope (pronounced tow-PAY). “Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t allow people to mispronounce his name,” said the other writer, according to Folarin. “I don’t see calling myself Tope as a capitulation,” Folarin says. And, he insists, it’s a better fit for his 21st-century hybrid Nigerian American life. “I had to recognize that if I wrote about my missing of Africa, my missing of Nigeria, my missing of my mom, then perhaps I could infuse my stories with a poignancy,” he says. “I’m trying to write back — even though I can’t be there physically. I’m trying to write back to Nigeria.”


GOP’s blank spaces

had been an assistant attorney general. Obama met Tuesday with the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and, according to a White House summary, assured them he was committed to diversity in his administration. Obama “has made it a priority to fill the ranks of his administration with appointees [with] diverse skills and backgrounds,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told us, so “future presidents can tap a personnel pipeline” of experienced and diverse candidates. In other words, they’re working on it. Well, more top-level openings are likely in the next couple of years. Catholic interests The federal government’s massive contracting process aims to cross all t’s, dot all i’s. Even when it comes to military chaplains. Take, for example the FedBizOps solicitation number: N4223714RC002X2, a Navy request for a Roman Catholic priest for the submarine base at Kings Bay, Ga. There’s a long list of regs involving “convict labor” and “segregated facilities” and “affirmative action for workers with disabilities” as well as a “contractor policy to ban text messaging while driving.” We thought that Web site an odd place to advertise for a priest — after all, you could just call the Archdiocese for the Military Services here in Washington. But, as it turns out, there is a chronic shortage of Catholic military chaplains as aging priests hit the military’s mandatory retirement age of 62, and replacements are not, for now, available — though the number of seminarians in the pipeline has increased substantially. So the Navy appears to be contracting out for help maybe from retired priests. Hey! What about recently retired Pope Benedict XVI ? He might be able to fill in maybe — part time. Oh, wait. There’s something in the solicitation about the need to “Buy American”— and he’s German. It’s go time Today’s the final day to enter the Loop’s contest to predict when Attorney General Eric Holder will resign. Get your entries in by midnight tonight — just send us your best guess for the date when Holder (or the administration) formally announces his departure. Winners get a highly collectable Loop T-shirt. And a little glory. Send entries — only one prediction per person — to intheloop@washpost.com, including your name, profession, mailing address, a phone number and T-shirt size (M, L or XL), in case you’re a winner. Obama administration and congressional employees may enter “on background.” With Emily Heil The blog: washingtonpost.com/intheloop. Twitter: @InTheLoopWP.


Cisco to buy Sourcefire; CapitalSource being sold to PacWest Bancorp

ACQUISITIONS Cisco inks $2.7 billion deal to buy Sourcefire Sourcefire, the Columbia, Md.-based maker of cybersecurity software, has agreed to be acquired by networking-equipment giant Cisco for $2.7 billion, the firms announced Tuesday. The acquisition will allow San Jose-based Cisco to provide a greater degree of protection against cyberattacks on computer networks by incorporating Sourcefire’s software, the companies said in a statement. “Today, the perimeter is vanishing to encompass the mobile network and the cloud, all of which create entry points and an infrastructure that in many cases the IT manager no longer controls,” Chris Young, Cisco’s senior vice president of security and government, said in a conference call about the acquisition. Sourcefire’s open-source security product Snort “was an important attribute that attracted us to Sourcefire,” Young said. Snort is an intrusion detection and prevention technology with nearly 4 million downloads. The deal has been approved by both companies’ boards. The acquisition is expected to close later this year pending regulatory approval. Once the deal is complete, Sourcefire employees will become part of the Cisco Security Group. Founded in 2001, Sourcefire counts more than 650 employees worldwide. The firm went public in 2007 and reported revenue of $223.1 million for 2012. — Steven Overly and Mohana Ravindranath CapitalSource being sold to Calif. bank CapitalSource, a Maryland commercial lender that became a California bank to survive the financial crisis, is being purchased by PacWest Bancorp for $2.3 billion. The move creates one of the largest commercial banks in California, with more than $15 billion in assets. Los Angeles-based CapitalSource, which has about 175 employees at its Chevy Chase, Md., office, was founded in 2000 by John Delaney, an entrepreneur now serving as a Democratic member of Congress from Maryland. CapitalSource was a high-flying finance company that specialized in lending to small and mid-size companies with revenues of $50 million or less. It flourished in the early part of the decade, but was laid low by the financial crisis. Delaney bought an ailing California-based bank because of its easy access to deposits, essentially turning his company into a bank. CapitalSource’s subsidiary, CapitalSource Bank, has approximately $8.7 billion in assets and 21 branches throughout southern and central California, according to a news release issued as part of the purchase. Pacific Western Bank has $6.7 billion and 75 branches in California. CapitalSource chief executive James J. Pieczynski said he will stay with the new


Kudzu bug spreads to Maryland

Kudzu bugs are similar to stink bugs. (Charles Slate/AP) Of pests and predators the Washington region has no shortage, and it appears that a new one has arrived on the scene: the kudzu bug. University of Maryland researchers have found the new arrival this summer in five counties in the region, including Prince George’s, Charles and Anne Arundel, the university said. The research team under entomology professor William Lamp has also detected it in Calvert and St. Mary’s counties, the university said. It has also been reported in several Virginia counties, including Culpeper, Frederick and Warren. So far it has not been blamed for any large-scale harm, but the Maryland Agriculture Department has begun to raise awareness of the alien crop-eating creature. It can reduce soybean yields, the department said, and can also be a household nuisance. Hence it may come to be recognized along with the snakehead and the stinkbug as another unwelcome invader from abroad to establish a foothold in the region and beyond. “We want farmers to be aware that the kudzu bug is here and that it is another insect they may have to manage as the season progresses and in the years ahead,” Deputy Agriculture Mary Ellen Setting said in a prepared statement. In this country, authorities said, the Asia native was first found in Georgia in 2009 and has since spread to several other Southeastern states. So far, the U-Md. group that has been tracking the pest has not found huge populations, according to Alan Leslie, a graduate student in the group. But, he said in a statement, “that might be due to the fact that it’s just new here.” He added, however, that “the potential is there” for the kudzu bug to be an economic pest. And, he said, “now that we know for sure it’s here,” further study is warranted to determine how much impact it will have. The name given to the olive-brown bug, which even at full size is less than one-fourth inch in length, comes from the kudzu vine, on which it typically feeds. Its spread has been facilitated by the ample kudzu supply in the Southeast. But not content to confine its haunts to the vines, it may migrate to soybeans and other types of available beans, the Agriculture Department said. So far, all of the kudzu bugs found in Maryland have been collected from the vines, not


Police identify man fatally shot on Saturday

A man shot and killed early Saturday in Northwest Washington’s Sursum Corda neighborhood has been identified as 52-year-old Walter Goode Jr., according to D.C. police. Goode, of Southeast Washington, was found about 4:20 a.m. in the back of a building in the 1100 block of First Place NW. Police said he had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. The shooting occurred behind Tyler House, where 13 people were shot in a drive-by shooting in March; police have not said if there is any connection. Arrests have been made in the Tyler House shootings. The area is just off New York Avenue and a few blocks from the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood called NoMa, which is transforming with new offices, restaurants and condominiums. Police released few other details of Goode’s shooting. He was one of three people killed in the District on Saturday, a violent weekend in which six others were shot. The victims included a brother and sister, 21 and 28 years old, killed on East Capitol Street. No arrests have been made in the three Saturday killings.


Police seek man who robbed Northwest Washington convenience store

D.C. police are seeking a man who robbed a 7-Eleven store earlier this month near the Takoma Park Metro station in Northwest Washington. Video surveillance As another customer finishes a transaction, the video shows the man pushing the customer out of the way and reaching over the counter. It appears that he grabs money from one or two registers. He does not show a weapon. Anyone with information is urged to call D.C. police at 202-727-9099 or text the department’s tip line at 50411. Police are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.


Growler law expands a fresh take on beer

Charleen Merkel, whose husband has owned Bradley Food and Beverage in Bethesda for 41 years. The store sold its first growler July 2 and has sold “40 or 50 since then,” she said. The jugs allow customers access to fresh beer and brands that might not be available in bottles or cans, and they can be refilled. (Bill Ryan/The Gazette) Because of the efforts of the Merkels, of Bethesda’s Bradley Food and Beverage, beer drinkers have another venue from which to take home craft brews. Once only the privilege of local breweries, a new law allows some retail stores to sell craft beer in 64-ounce jugs, called growlers, which customers own and can take back to the store for refills. Charleen Merkel and her husband, Tom, spent the past year and a half working with state Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D) and the Montgomery County Council to promote passage of the state law that permits retailers — who hold a class B beer-and-wine or a class D beer-and-wine license — to sell growlers in the county. The jugs allow customers access to fresh beer and brands that might not be available in bottles or cans. And they’re eco-friendly. “Growlers can be reused,” said Charleen Merkel, whose husband has owned the beer, wine and gourmet food shop on Arlington Road for 41 years. “They never make it into the landfill.” The store sold its first growler July 2. “We’ve sold about 40 or 50 since then,” Charleen Merkel said. “We’ve already had refills.” After a growler is bought, the customer is responsible for washing it and bringing it back in good condition if a refill is desired. The beer options at the Bradley Food store change daily, even several times a day, she said, and always feature craft beers, some of which are not sold in bottles. A recent sampling included beer from as near as Frederick — from Flying Dog Brewery — and as far away as California — Bear Republic’s Black Racer IPA. “There’s a huge difference in the taste between from the tap and out of a bottle,” Charleen Merkel said. The county’s law is part of a national trend of growler legalization. Once identified primarily with the locavore and fixed-gear bike crowd, growlers have gone mainstream. Maryland breweries that have been selling growlers include Rock Bottom in Bethesda, Gordon Biersch in Rockville, Growlers Brew Pub of Gaithersburg


are not sold in bottles. A recent sampling included beer from as near as Frederick — from Flying Dog Brewery — and as far away as California — Bear Republic’s Black Racer IPA. “There’s a huge difference in the taste between from the tap and out of a bottle,” Charleen Merkel said. The county’s law is part of a national trend of growler legalization. Once identified primarily with the locavore and fixed-gear bike crowd, growlers have gone mainstream. Maryland breweries that have been selling growlers include Rock Bottom in Bethesda, Gordon Biersch in Rockville, Growlers Brew Pub of Gaithersburg and Franklin’s Restaurant Brewery & General Store in Hyattsville. When only breweries sold growlers, it wasn’t a fair playing field for the Bradley store, the Merkels said, because growlers can be sold in Whole Foods Markets across the D.C. border thanks to a District law passed last year. Virginia has been letting some retailers sell growlers for several years now, as well. Sales of beer in the United States surpassed the combined sales of wine and liquor in 2011, according to the Brewers Association, which promotes small and independent brewers. Prices across the county vary. At Growlers Brew Pub, for example, an empty jug — the equivalent of four pints — would set one back $15, while filling it with the house brew costs another $15. By contrast, a growler at the Merkel shop runs $7, but filling it costs between $20 and $30, depending on the beer. Although growlers are experiencing a wave of popularity, pails and jugs used for carrying beer from the local pub have been around since the 19th century. The origin of the term has not been confirmed, but there are a few theories among beer aficionados. One is that it came from the growling sound of carbon dioxide escaping through the lid of pails filled with fresh beer. Another is that growling is a reference to the buckets of beer given to factory workers whose stomachs growled from hunger. till another is that children would spill some of the beer they were carrying from the pub, making dad growl in anger. Customers like being able to take home fresh microbrewed beer, said Harvey, a manager. With their airtight seals, the brewery’s growlers can keep beer fresh for several days. “That’s one good thing about microbrewery beer,” Harvey said. “It’s strides above your standard domestic beers.”


D.C. news in brief

Nominations sought for endangered places The D.C. Preservation League, a nonprofit organization that works to protect historic sites, is accepting nominations for this year’s list of the Most Endangered Places in Washington. The sites are chosen by the Preservation League’s board of trustees. Criteria include the severity of the threat, whether through demolition, neglect or inappropriate alteration. The list can include buildings, parks and other landscaped areas or scenic vistas. Nomination forms are at www.dcpreservation.org and must be submitted by Sept. 9. Selections will be announced in October. For information, contact the league at 202-783-5144 or info@dcpreservation.org. MLK Library opens Digital Commons The Digital Commons, an 11,000-square-foot public place for formal and informal gatherings involving research and meetings through technology, opened at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G St. NW, on July 17. Through its Dream Lab program, the library will offer the meeting spaces to selected local entrepreneurs in return for a commitment of one hour of programming per month related to technology training. Small organizations, groups and individuals that use information technology to develop new ventures can apply to become Dream Lab members. Work spaces are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis Monday through Friday. Members must reapply every six months. The space includes 12 iMac computers, 48 PC workstations, four iMac Creative Stations with Adobe Creative Suite Software, workstations with outlets for laptop computers, an Espresso Book Machine for self-publishing, a 3-D printer, a Skype station and a video phone for communicating through American Sign Language. The commons will also offer five enhanced conference rooms and space for meetings of up to 50 people. The library is holding a contest to design a logo for the Dream Lab. Entries will be accepted through Aug. 17. The winner will receive a $500 Visa gift card. For information, go to www.dclibrary.org. To apply for Dream Lab membership, call 202-727-0321 or e-mail digital.commons@dc.gov. St. Elizabeth’s East arts festival to begin Saturday The Arts and Humanities Festival at St. Elizabeth’s East begins Saturday. Each festival day will include art exhibits, readings, workshops and family activities. The festival will continue Aug. 17, 18 and 24. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Saturday program will feature appearances by rapper AB the Producer, actor/director Anthony Anderson of the Web soap opera “Anacostia,” and singer-songwriter IhsAn Bilal, and will be held in conjunction with the DMV Food Truck Association’s Curbside


Cucumbers need bees

visits. For instance, you might have seen a little zucchini get off to a good start, then turn to mush at the flower end. That’s not a case of blossom end rot; it’s a poorly pollinated fruit that can go no further. If you get a small harvest of cucumbers or melons, inadequate pollination might be the cause there as well. So along with giving your plants good soil and sowing them on time, you need to think about bees. If, for example, you covered your early cukes with row covers to prevent early damage by cucumber beetles, or covered your squash against squash beetles, you must remove those covers as soon as blossoms start to appear. It’s also worth keeping track of bee numbers. Are there lots of them on each plant or just a few? If you’ve planted cucurbits inside a greenhouse to get an earlier harvest, are the bees coming inside? (Growers sometimes place bumblebee hives inside greenhouses because they will work under glass or plastic, while honeybees will not.) If you see a lack of bees outdoors, think about what you could plant to attract more of them. Even if there are few honeybees around, many species of native bee will be lured to a yard full of nectar-rich flowers. Observe which flowering plants bloom at the same time that cucurbits are flowering, and watch to see which ones are quivering with active bees. Those that bloom in the purple range are their favorites, and it takes only a glance to see that catmint, followed by any of the purple-flowered sages, is bee heaven. From there, move on to liatris and bee balm in midsummer and purple asters for fall. Hate the color purple? Get over it. And don’t use poisons in the garden. The number of articles tracing huge bee die-offs to chemical pesticides such as the neonicontinoids (see www.xerces.org) is not only a sad tale of furry little bodies lying dead. It could also foretell poor harvests for you. Damrosch's latest book is “The Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook.” Tip of the week Trim back the season’s growth of wisteria to promote the formation of flowering buds next spring. Vigorous growth is best tackled two or three times during the growing season to keep the vine in bounds and encourage flowering the following April. Asian wisterias can be invasive: Consider planting a less rampant


Full transcript: President Obama’s remarks on the economy at Knox College

good news is over the past four years we've helped more responsible homeowners stay in their homes, and today sales are up and prices are up and fewer Americans see their homes underwater. But we're not done yet. The key now is to encourage homeownership that isn't based on unrealistic bubbles but instead is based on a solid foundation, where buyers and lenders play by the same set of rules, rules that are clear and transparent and fair. So already I've asked Congress to pass a really good bipartisan idea, one that was championed, by the way, by Mitt Romney's economic adviser. And this is the idea to give every homeowner the chance to refinance their mortgage while rates are still low so they can save thousands of dollars a year. (Cheers, applause.) It would be like a tax cut for families who can refinance. And I'm also acting on my own to cut red tape for responsible families who want to get a mortgage, but the bank's saying no. We'll work with both parties to turn the page on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and build a housing finance system that's rock-solid for future generations. So we've got more work to do to strengthen homeownership in this country. But along with homeownership, the fourth cornerstone of what it means to be middle-class in this country is a secure retirement. And -- (cheers, applause) -- I hear from too many people across the country, face to face or in letters that they send me, that they feel as if retirement is just receding from their grasp. It's getting farther and farther away. They -- they can't see it. Now, today a rising stock market has millions of retirement balances going up, and some of the losses that had taken place during the financial crisis have been recovered. But we still live with an upside-down system where those at the top, folks like me, get generous tax incentives to save while tens of millions of hardworking Americans who are struggling -- they get none of those breaks at all. AUDIENCE MEMBER: PRESIDENT OBAMA: And if Congress is looking for a bipartisan place to get started, I should just say, they don't have to look far; we mentioned immigration reform before, the Economist show that immigration reform makes undocumented workers pay their full fare -- share of taxes, and that actually shores


Obama needs to warm up to Japan’s Abe

Vance Serchuk is a Council on Foreign Relations-Hitachi international affairs fellow, based in Tokyo at the Canon Institute for Global Studies. He writes a monthly column for The Post. TOKYO The coalition of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a majority of seats in the upper house of parliament on Sunday, consolidating Abe’s unlikely political comeback and ending the procession of weak, unstable governments in Tokyo that he inaugurated during his hapless first term in office six years ago. His victory means that U.S. policymakers finally have a pro-American partner in Japan who is capable of making tough decisions at home and abroad, backed by a parliamentary majority that can keep him in power for several years. Rather than welcoming this development, however, the Obama administration is widely perceived here as being ambivalent. The problem appears to be Abe himself; specifically, his reputation — cemented during his earlier tenure as prime minister — as a right-wing nationalist with revisionist views about Japan’s wartime history. The administration’s fear is not only that Abe will at some point pursue provocative policies, such as revisiting Japan’s past apologies for its wartime conduct. It’s also that, even in the absence of such actions, tensions between Japan and its neighbors are likely to fester under Abe — most troublingly with the other key U.S. partner in the region, South Korea. A collection of Tom Toles cartoons about international news. These are legitimate concerns. What’s unclear, however, is whether the Obama administration has a strategy to defuse them. This is not the first time President Obama has had to deal with the elected leader of an important ally, in a critical part of the world, whose cooperation on major national security challenges is essential but whose instincts and worldview he distrusts. Abe, meet Bibi. When Benjamin Netanyahu returned as Israel’s prime minister in March 2009, the Obama administration — recalling battles with him over the peace process during his first term in office in the 1990s — did little to disguise its doubts and misgivings. What followed was a protracted, unnecessary and thoroughly counterproductive melodrama that convinced many Israelis that Obama lacked affection or sympathy for their country. Eventually, the Obama administration recognized that its approach wasn’t working and that it needed to build a better personal relationship between the two leaders, as well as a broader rapport with Israeli society. Of course, Abe isn’t Netanyahu


Sports Digest: French inquiry finds proof of doping in ’98 Tour de France

Cycling Inquiry finds proof of ’98 Tour doping A French inquiry into sports doping uncovered proof that 1998 Tour de France champion Marco Pantani and runner-up Jan Ullrich used the banned blood-booster EPO to fuel their performances. France’s senate, after a five-month investigation focused on sports doping, released a report Wednesday that confirms what many long suspected: Use of the banned substance EPO was rife in cycling in the late 1990s, before there was a test for the drug. Pantani, of Italy, was suspended in 1999 from the Giro d’Italia after failing a random blood test, and his career was damaged by several doping investigations. He died in 2004 at 34 of an accidental drug overdose. Ullrich, the 1997 Tour winner from Germany, has admitted to blood doping and last year was stripped of his third-place finish in the 2005 Tour. Other star riders whose positive EPO doping tests were disclosed include American Kevin Livingston, who finished 17th in the 1998 Tour. Also listed were double-stage winner Mario Cipollini of Italy and Laurent Jalabert of France. The third-place finisher, American Bobby Julich, last year admitted to his own EPO use during the 1998 Tour. In 1999, Lance Armstrong won the first of his seven straight titles, which he was stripped of this year after admitting to using banned substances for all the victories. Also, one day after retiring, 39-year-old Australian cyclist Stuart O’Grady, a six-time Olympian, admitted to using a blood-booster during the 1998 Tour. Pro Basketball Forward Mike Miller agreed to a deal with the Memphis Grizzlies, about a week after the Miami Heat designated him as their amnesty player after three seasons with the team. Miller, 33, spent parts of six seasons with the Grizzlies through 2008. . . . Oklahoma City re-signed guard Derek Fisher, 38. . . . In Minneapolis, Lindsay Whalen had 18 points and seven assists to lead the host Minnesota Lynx to an 81-69 WNBA victory over the Phoenix Mercury. Minnesota (14-3) has won seven in a row Phoenix. Candice Dupree scored 17 points for the Mercury (9-9). . . . Angel McCoughtry Pro Football The Dallas Cowboys signed defensive linemen Landon Cohen and George Selvie and released wide receiver Lavasier Tuinei. Selvie played in nine games for Jacksonville last year. Landon last played in 2011 with New England. Also, defensive end Anthony Spencer is having arthroscopic knee surgery and is likely out


D.C. community calendar, July 25 to Aug. 1, 2013

poverty and how it intersects with the changing location of affordable housing, jobs, services and transit. 12:30 p.m., National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Free, registration required. 202-272-2448. www.nbm.org. Chess club for children and teens, Lyric Workshop: Examining the truths of today’s radio artists, Albus Cavus: Bicycle Design, Board game night, Woodridge Checkmates, Shaw Knitting Circle, The Civil Rights Act of 1964: Is It Relevant Today? Poetry by Split This Rock’s DC Youth Slam Team, Victims of Communism, “Anatomy of a Murder,” Game night for teens, Yoga class, 7 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays through Aug. 28, Yards Park, Third and Water streets SE. Free. 202-289-0111 or www.yardspark.org. U.S. Navy Concert Band performance, 8 p.m., U.S. Capitol west steps. Free. 202-433-2525. Lincoln haunts jaunt, Screen on the Green: Tuesday, JULY 30 Blue Sky Puppet Theater, for ages 3-12, featuring “The Time Capsule,” part of the Dig into Reading summer reading program. 11 a.m., Juanita E. Thornton-Shepherd Park Library, 7420 Georgia Ave. NW. 202-541-6100; and 1:30 p.m., Takoma Park Library, 416 Cedar St. NW. 202-576-7252. Free. Silent film music for the organ, AARP driver safety course, Stories by hand, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and the Necessity of Freedom, Library of Congress lecture, William Roger Louis discusses “Another Dimension of Empire: The History of the Oxford University Press.” 4 p.m., Library of Congress, Room 119, Jefferson Building, 10 First St. SE. Free. 202-707-0213. USS Indianapolis secret mission, New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra concert, Nam June Paik: global visionary gallery talk, Conscious Moves chess club, for ages 10-16, learn the game or improve your skills. 6 p.m., Anacostia Library, 1800 Good Hope Rd. SE. Free. 202-715-7707. www.dclibrary.org. U.S. Navy Band concert, the Navy Ceremonial Guard performs. 7:30 p.m., U.S. Navy Memorial, Naval Heritage Center, 701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Free. 202-737-2300 or www.navymemorial.org. U.S. Air Force Band jazz concert, a performance by the Airmen of Note. 8 p.m., U.S. Capitol west steps. Free. 202-767-5658. Wednesday, JULY 31 Blue Sky Puppet Theater, for ages 3-12, featuring “The Time Capsule,” part of the Dig into Reading summer reading program. 11 a.m., Northwest One Library, 155 L St. NW. 202-939-5946; and 2 p.m., Dorothy I. Height/Benning Library, 3935 Benning Rd. NE. 202-281-2583. Free. Gallery talk, What the Tower Sees, Mini golf at the National Building Museum, Scottish music, folk musician and songwriter Alasdair Roberts performs a mix of his own compositions and traditional songs. 6 p.m., Kennedy Center,


Prince George’s and Southern Maryland Going Out Guide

Ritmo Cache plays salsa, Afro-Cuban, jazz, pop, bossa nova, merengue and tejano. (College of Southern Maryland) Ritmo Caché 3The College of Southern Maryland’s Latin band plays salsa, Afro-Cuban, jazz, pop, bossa nova, merengue and tejano. Thursday at 6:45 p.m. College of Southern Maryland, Prince Frederick campus, 115 J.W. Williams Rd., Prince Frederick. 443-550-6000. www.csmd.edu/arts. Free. THU 25 “Spectacular Shadow Puppets!” A workshop for ages 9-13 to draw and make Asian animal shadow puppets, then put on a show. Thursday-Friday at 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Annmarie Garden, 13480 Dowell Rd., Solomons. 410-326-4640. www.annmariegarden.org. $45, registration required. Ritmo Caché Natty Beaux Skip Mahoney and the Casuals Thad Wilson and Kindred Soul “The Mousetrap” “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife” Gridloc Band Sendy Brown FRI 26 “Tidewater Archaeology Days” “Sure Thing” and “The Actor’s Nightmare” Marenje Marimba Some Assembly The Winstons “Seussical the Musical” SAT 27 Dee of St. Mary’s cruise Pyrates Royale “Jazz Under the Stars” “Honky Tonk Dance” Public star party SUN 28 The Crawdaddies “The Goonies” “Text/Message: A Teen Art Exhibit” MON 29 “Annapolis Through the Camera’s Lens” TUE 30 Terrific Tuesdays WED 31 Bruce Ewan — Compiled by Jillian S. Jarrett from staff reports


Montgomery County Animal Watch

This was among cases received recently by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5054. That number provides recorded information on topics such as the Montgomery County Animal Shelter hours and location, adoption and licensing procedures, rabies clinics and low-cost neutering. Cat rides 30 miles in car engine compartment: Bethesda, July 10. Animal services received a call about a cat that was discovered underneath a car after the driver visited a bakery. Before the officer arrived, the orange tabby climbed into the engine compartment, wedging itself between the engine and a fire wall. While attempting to remove the animal, the officer noticed cat hair in the compartment. Upon seeing the cat, the car owner identified it as belonging to a neighbor. The driver called the neighbor, who arrived, removed the unharmed feline and took it home to Fort Meade. The tabby had apparently crawled into the engine compartment before the car owner left Fort Meade for Bethesda, a trip of about 30 miles. This was among cases received recently by the City of Gaithersburg animal control office. For information, call 301-258-6343. Two raccoons test positive for rabies Reduced fees for cat adoption: Germantown Shelter has adoptable cats Gaithersburg Montgomery County Humane Society Bethesda Gaithersburg — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


The $20 Diner: Cheap D.C. eats for the discerning intern

have to split plates in order to enjoy the best meals at the most economical prices. But for a generation that shares bikes, cars and living spaces, that shouldn’t be a stretch. And besides, even your grandpa shares his pizza. Pizza Newcomers love to tell us how lousy the pizza is in the District, especially if they’re from New York, where the city’s famous water has apparently flushed out that part of the brain capable of rational thought. I grant you that neither the rectangular pies at Ledo nor the custom rounds at Pizzeria Paradiso — both institutions in the D.C. area — would crack the Top 50 in a real pizza market. I won’t even bother recommending these joints, nor will I suggest you visit 2 Amys, because you likely have a small stack of guidebooks already praising the genuine thrills of its Neapolitan pies. Instead, may I suggest you hop on the Metro to Columbia Heights, Clarendon, Friendship Heights or Silver Spring and order an 18-inch white-clam pie ($26, suitable for two or three mouths) from Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza? This small, locally owned chain is a prime example of a common D.C. phenomenon: A business that strives to recreate a flavor from another region to keep the transplants (and the rest of us) happy. Prices are $14.50 and $19 for a 14-inch and 18-inch cheese pizza, respectively. Toppings cost extra. Beer The District, you might have heard, has evolved into a two-fisted craft-beer town. Of course, some bartenders might as well wear a ski mask as they pull a draft of $9 suds; at those prices, you practically feel robbed. But take comfort, you members of the exploited working class. A local brewery, 3 Stars Brewing, hosts a tasting every Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. You can sample several 3 Stars beers at its facility at 6400 Chillum Pl. NW for absolutely no charge. As in free. The brewery even brings in food trucks, such as DC Slices and PORC, to fill your belly. You have to pay for the victuals. food trucks Is it just me or is it actually hard to find a decent food truck these days? Our streets are clogged with vendors of no great distinction, a rolling bazaar of kebabs, cheesesteaks and bland Indian dishes barely touched with curry gravy. Among the trucks worth chasing down is the mobile version


A traveler with disabilities takes on China

has different steps, and some of them seem to change with the moment. When we arrived at the airport to fly from Hangzhou to Sanya, it became apparent that I was the first ventilator user the airline workers had ever seen. I’d chosen to fly China Southern airline because its Web site stated that ventilator users who don’t use oxygen aboard the aircraft (I don’t use oxygen with my vent) don’t require medical forms. But our presence at the ticket counter brought out at least a dozen staff members — ticket agents, supervisors, ramp personnel and security — to inspect my paperwork, my scooter, my ventilator, my batteries. We handed over my medical documentation and documentation on the factory-sealed batteries, and finally the supervisor had me moved to a manual wheelchair and escorted us to the gate. We’d arrived at the airport more than three hours early and boarded our flight with less than 10 minutes until takeoff. For our next flight, from Sanya to Shanghai, we took the added step of having all our documentation translated into Chinese. Again, we arrived at the airport more than three hours early. Once we gave the officials our paperwork, more and more staff members came out of the woodwork to inspect the wheelchair, the ventilator, the paperwork and me, and this parade of personnel didn’t stop for two hours. I pointed out that the China Southern Web site stated that I didn’t need medical paperwork, but it didn’t help. All the negotiations took place in Chinese, and even with the paperwork translated, we were unsuccessful in getting onto the plane. Now I was worried: We were going to miss our connecting flight to Japan if we didn’t get to Shanghai soon. I zoomed over to the China Eastern airlines ticket counter, which had the next flight that day. The China Eastern manager was young and clearly puzzled by me and my constellation of equipment. Despite our pleas, he refused to waive the three-day mandatory waiting period to approve medical paperwork (which shouldn’t have been required). Just as I left the counter with the final decision that I wouldn’t be allowed on the flight, Patrick appeared with tickets for a flight that left in 30 minutes. The China Southern staff member who’d been working with us had become sympathetic to our plight. While I was unsuccessfully negotiating with China Eastern, Patrick had charmed


Details, China

details GETTING THERE United Airlines offers nonstop flights from Washington Dulles to Beijing. WHERE TO STAY Beijing Marriott Hotel City Wall No. 7 Jian Guo Men South Ave. Dongcheng District, Beijing 011-86-10-5811-8888 www.marriott.com/bjscw Centrally located and within walking distance of the Beijing Railway Station, offering wheelchair-accessible accommodations. Rooms from $160. The Peninsula Shanghai No. 32, Zhongshan Dong Yi Rd., Shanghai 011-86-21-2327-2888 www.peninsula.com An upscale chain with hotels in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, all offering a selection of wheelchair-accessible rooms/bathrooms. Rooms from $325. Sanya Marriott Resort Spa Yalong Bay, Sanya 011-86-898-8856-8888 www.sanyamarriottresort.com In the most beautiful part of Yalong Bay on Hainan Island. Offers wheelchair-accessible rooms and accessible pathways to the beach and pools. The staff works diligently to understand the needs of guests with disabilities and to accommodate them. Rooms from $210. WHERE TO EAT Wei Jing Ge Waldorf Astoria Club Level 5 No. 2 Zhongshan Dong Yi Rd. Huang Pu District, Shanghai 011-86-21-6322-9988 www.waldorfastoriashanghai.com Features several regional Chinese cuisines, including dishes in the styles of Shanghai, Canton and Sichuan, in an elegant historic setting. Entrees start at $12. Dim sum brunch starts at $37. Restaurant is accessible by elevator, and the spacious table setup allows ample room for maneuvering a wheelchair. WHAT TO DO The Palace Museum/Forbidden City Forbidden City Imperial Palace No.4 Jingshanqian Qianjie Dong Cheng District, Beijing 011-86-10-8500-7422 www.dpm.org.cn/index1024768.html The main entrances have ramps, and the courtyards and open spaces are largely accessible. The inner palaces and buildings vary in accessibility, although the Palace Museum has recently undergone extensive renovation to add ramps and elevators/lifts. Tuesday-Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (also Mondays during summer and on holidays). Admission starts at $7. Suzhou Museum 204 Dong Bei St., Suzhou 011-86-512-6757-5666 www.szmuseum.com An architecturally unique building designed by local native I.M. Pei, housing extensive collections of ancient Chinese art, painting, calligraphy, stone sculpture and other antiquities. Tuesday-Sunday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free. It was closed the day we tried to visit, but the Web site, unusually for China, mentions that “wheelchairs are available free of charge at coat-check areas, lifts are accessible to each floor, and restrooms on the B1 for the people with disabilities are accessible on each floor.” INFORMATION For a travel agent with expertise in Chinese travel and unique travel situations, contact Mei Zhang of WildChina (1-888-902-8808; www.wildchina.com). For general information on train travel in China, see www.se at61.com/china.htm. C.Z. More from Travel:


12 Md. corrections officers injured by inmates in surge of assaults

As state lawmakers on Thursday questioned whether Maryland should replace its oldest and most troubled corrections facility, the union representing officers at Maryland’s newest prison warned that conditions there may be even worse now. A surge of attacks on corrections officers by inmates at the maximum security North Branch Correctional Institution in Western Maryland has left 12 officers injured since June 28, state corrections officials said. Several assaults appear to be gang-related, according to the union, and the 1,400-inmate facility has been placed on lockdown until at least early next week while investigators gather evidence to pursue charges against several inmates. Patrick Moran, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in Maryland, the union for state corrections officers, said its members believe that the state has not done enough to keep officers safe. Moran said that in the hours before the most recent assault, when two officers were wounded July 23, corrections officers were warned before their shifts that information gleaned from a recorded jail phone call suggested another attack was imminent, union officials said. State officials did not immediately comment on that account. “What did they do with that information? Nothing,” Moran said. “People are losing faith in management’s ability to create a safe environment. This is poor oversight, poor management.” Rick Binetti, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, said officials are “very sensitive to the safety concerns of staff and inmates” and noted that serious assaults dropped between 2007 and 2012. He said that none of the guards was seriously injured and that staff needed to call 911 in only one instance. Binetti, who said the facility houses some of the state’s most violent inmates, added that the department is reviewing its evaluation of inmates and staffing assignments. The department has been under siege since a recent federal indictment detailed widespread collusion between gang members and guards at the state-run Baltimore City Detention Center. Officers smuggled cellphones, drugs, money and other contraband for members of the Black Guerrilla Family. The detention center is the oldest in Maryland, dating to the Civil War. North Branch, by contrast, in Cresaptown, began receiving inmates in 2003 and has state-of-the-art technology. Moran, who voiced his complaints Thursday in a meeting with Corrections Secretary Gary D. Maynard, said he thinks he knows at least part of the reason there have been so many recent attacks.


Ethan Saylor’s death deservedly under investigation again

ETHAN SAYLOR would be alive today if Frederick County sheriff’s deputies had exercised good judgment and restraint. Instead, they ignored explicit warnings from the caretaker who accompanied Mr. Saylor, who had Down syndrome, and physically confronted him over an unpaid $12 movie ticket. In the ensuing scuffle, he died of asphyxia. The Maryland medical examiner’s office ruled his death a homicide. A grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against the three off-duty deputies, who were working as security guards at the movie theater in Frederick. That shouldn’t be the end of the story. With good reason, the Justice Department is now investigating the incident as a civil rights case. Charles A. Jenkins, the Frederick County sheriff, says he is confident that the conduct of the deputies — Lt. Scott Jewell, Sgt. Richard Rochford and Deputy 1st Class James Harris — was beyond reproach. Really? Mr. Saylor, 26, had just watched “Zero Dark Thirty” at a Regal Cinema multiplex Jan. 12 and wanted to watch it again, even though he hadn’t paid for a new ticket. Before the deputies confronted Mr. Saylor, the young woman who was caring for him implored them to “wait it out” and let her handle the situation. She told the deputies that Mr. Saylor had Down syndrome, that he would refuse to comply with their orders and that he was likely to curse them. Even after the deputies approached Mr. Saylor, the caretaker implored them not to touch him, saying he “will freak out” if touched. And that’s what happened, according to recently released witness statements. Despite the caretaker’s warnings, the deputies moved on Mr. Saylor, who swore at them, and hoisted the 294-pound man from his seat. He panicked, screeched in pain, screamed for his mother, struggled and, moments later, crashed to the ground in a heap with the deputies. With at least one deputy on his back, Mr. Saylor was handcuffed. Moments later, he stopped breathing. Of the nearly 20 witnesses who saw at least part of the confrontation, many understood immediately that Mr. Saylor was mentally impaired. That, along with his caretaker’s entreaties, should have clued the deputies to back off. When they approached him, he was sitting in his seat, using his cellphone, bothering no one. Their actions suggest they lacked training in crisis intervention or dealing with the disabled. That’s inexcusable. One witness, an elderly woman, asked one of the


Japan recommends military upgrades, including buying drones

SEOUL — The plans were outlined in an interim report on overhauls to Japan’s defense strategy. Although a final determination won’t come until the end of the year, the report hints at the nation’s new defense tactics under hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has pledged to loosen restrictions imposed on Japan’s forces by the pacifist constitution. In addition to buying drones, Japan should also consider strengthening deterrence against ballistic missile strikes and establishing a marine unit to counter attacks on remote islands, according to a preliminary translation of the report. It said Japan’s defense policies needed to be reviewed in the wake of North Korean missile and nuclear tests and “China’s increasing [maritime] activities in Japan’s vicinity.” Shortly after taking office in December, Abe ordered the review of the defense guidelines — a set of fundamental policies that were last updated in 2010 by the left-center Democratic Party of Japan, which has since been ousted. Abe has frequently vowed to turn Japan into a “normal country,” one that can regain lost clout not only with a revived economy but also with improved defense capabilities and broader security cooperation with allies, including the United States. For the most ambitious changes to its Self-Defense Forces, Japan would have to revise its constitution, under which it renounces war. But that would require a protracted political battle, analysts say, and probably cost Abe some of his popularity at home. Abe has available a middle ground that includes some of the improvements recommended Friday. Japan’s defense minister, Itsunori Onodera, told reporters in Tokyo that “there is no change in our basic stance of defense-only policy.” According to analysts, Japan’s greatest security concern is the East China Sea. Since the Japanese government purchased several disputed islands there last year, Chinese ships have patrolled the area with increasing frequency, most recently Friday, when Chinese coast guard vessels confronted Japanese boats. Although no such standoff has turned violent, experts in Tokyo and Washington worry that a miscalculation could trigger an armed conflict. To respond to any attack on a remote island, the interim report said, “air superiority and command of the sea must be maintained. To rapidly deploy troops as the situation unfolds, mobile deployment capability and amphibious capability are also important.” Under the previous government, Japan was sharpening its focus on the disputed islands. Following the 2010 defense guidelines, Japan spread its forces more evenly across


Panda’s rising hormones may indicate pregnancy, zoo officials say

Mei Xiang, the female giant panda at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, eats breakfast Dec. 19, 2011. Zoo officials say rising hormone levels indicate she may be pregnant. (Susan Walsh/AP) Attention, panda fans: Mei Xiang, the National Zoo’s female giant panda, may be pregnant. Zoo officials announced Friday morning that Mei Xiang had experienced a secondary rise in urinary progesterone. In other words, her hormones are rising in a way that might suggest a pregnancy. It will take 40 to 50 days to know for sure, and even then, the only conclusive evidence will be if Mei Xiang produces an actual panda cub, zoo officials said. The news comes less than a year after Mei Xiang lost a cub, the sad culmination of a series of attempts by zoo officials to impregnate her. Mei Xiang had five consecutive false pregnancies between 2007 and 2012. Last year, she became pregnant and successfully gave birth, but the week-old cub died due to liver abnormalities and fluid in the abdomen. Officials said in a news release that Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated twice on March 30 after natural breeding attempts with the zoo’s resident male panda, Tian Tian, were unsuccessful. During the first procedure, she was inseminated with fresh sperm from Tian Tian and frozen samples that were collected in 2003. In the second procedure, Mei Xiang was inseminated with Tian Tian’s frozen 2003 sperm as well as frozen sperm from the San Diego Zoo’s male giant panda, Gao Gao. Ever since, the National Zoo’s “panda team” has monitored Mei Xiang’s hormones. Veterinarians will continue to conduct daily hormone analyses as well as ultrasounds as often as Mei Xiang “chooses to participate in them.” Officials noted that giant panda fetuses don’t start developing until the final weeks of gestation, making it difficult to determine whether there is a pregnancy. As a result, panda watchers will rely on hormone analysis and behavioral changes as indicators. Mei Xiang has started to build a nest, which is consistent with the hormonal changes she is experiencing and could be a sign that she is preparing for a baby. Zoo officials will eventually close off the portion of the panda habitat nearest to Mei Xiang’s pen to “provide extra quiet” for the possible mom-to-be.


Fairfax shelter stops dog intake after outbreak of illness

The Fairfax County Animal Shelter has temporarily suspended its intake of new dogs after about a dozen canines exhibited symptoms of an unspecified upper respiratory illness and one died of pneumonia, officials said. The staff said the infection could be Canine Influenza, which can spread rapidly through a shelter population and be transferred to cats. It does not pose a risk to humans, but people can transfer the virus to pets via their hands and clothes. The staff is working with veterinarians on a treatment program and containment plan. The shelter will have test results confirming the cause of the outbreak by Tuesday or Wednesday. Shelter volunteers and the public will be asked to take special precautions to prevent the spread of the illness. Sick dogs are being isolated from other dogs and the public while they undergo treatment. The shelter will continue to adopt out healthy dogs.


Square challenges Amazon, Etsy with Square Market

platform allowing vendors to sell and process payment directly through the site for a flat fee of 2.75 percent per transaction. Other e-commerce giants — Etsy, eBay and Amazon, for instance — also offer platforms for small merchants, often for a monthly subscription and transaction fee. (Yelp recently launched “Yelp platform,” which allows customers to order services directly through the reviewing site.) “Square is focused on making commerce easy for everyone, and creating a simple online marketplace was the natural next step. We’re committed to giving local merchants tools that enable them to reach new customers,” Faryl Ury, Square’s spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail. In its first month of operation, Square Market has amassed tens of thousands of listings, including for spices, homemade crafts and services, according to the company. But while many merchants are proponents of Square’s payment service, some feel Square Market is too simplistic in its early stages. Derek Swanson, founder of DC Mobile Sharpening, a knife-sharpening business in Northeast Washington’s Union Market, hopes to move sales online, and has hired an intern to compare options. He is not yet impressed with Square Market’s capabilities. “Right now, we’re hyperlocal,” Swanson said. “Product sales come through people coming in and trying things before they buy them” — not because they found them online. Some vendors are using the new platform as a supplement to — and not a substitute for — their current e-commerce strategies. For instance, brothers Pedro and Noe Ruiz operate Pixil 3D, a custom manufacturing company in Royal Palm Beach, Fla. They recently uploaded their inventory on Square Market — products such as iPhone cases, wall clocks and clothing accessories — and so far have seen a handful of sales. The Ruiz brothers have added Square Market to the growing list of Web stores they operate, including storefronts on Etsy, ScoutMob, ArtFire and Shapeways, an e-commerce site dedicated to 3-D printing. Though they haven’t seen much traffic through Square Market yet, their business is directly tied to “the audience and the eyeballs” who view their products, Pedro Ruiz said, so it’s important to maintain as many channels as possible. Because about 50 percent of their products are custom — the two often imprint logos or engravings using their MakerBot printer — the Ruiz brothers prefer e-commerce platforms allowing them to communicate directly with customers, Noe Ruiz said. Square Market does not yet have this capability.


THE REGION Hormones may mean panda pregnancy Attention, panda fans: Mei Xiang, the National Zoo’s female giant panda, may be pregnant. Zoo officials announced Friday morning that Mei Xiang had experienced a secondary rise in urinary progesterone. In other words, her hormones are rising in a way that might indicate a pregnancy. It will take 40 to 50 days to know for sure, and even then, the only conclusive evidence will be if Mei Xiang produces a panda cub, zoo officials said. The news comes less than a year after Mei Xiang lost a cub. — Maggie Fazeli Fard THE DISTRICT Man found shot in burning apartment A 31-year-old man was found shot in his burning apartment in Northwest Washington, according to authorities. Police said his Mercedes is missing. The man, identified as Randolph Scott Harris Jr., died at a hospital. A D.C. police spokesman said it was not clear whether his death was a result of the gunshot or the fire. Officials said the fire was reported about 6:20 a.m. in an apartment in the 1000 block of Euclid Street NW. Authorities said firefighters forced their way into the apartment and pulled the man out. — Peter Hermann Woman hit by car in Northeast dies A 30-year-old woman who was struck by a vehicle Thursday night while crossing a street in Northeast Washington has died, D.C. police said. Georgette Jones of Northeast was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. She was struck about 9:15 p.m. while crossing the 500 block of Eastern Avenue NE. Police said she was walking from the Maryland side of the street into the District. The driver remained at the scene. Police said the cause remains under investigation. — Peter Hermann Driver gets 7 years for killing pedestrian A District woman who had been drinking malt liquor and smoking crack cocaine was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday in connection with an April car accident that killed a Washington pedestrian. D.C. Superior Court Judge Herbert B. Dixon Jr. sentenced Maria N. Werts, 49, in connection to an April 28 accident that killed Emmajean Gainey, 58, as Gainey was walking on the sidewalk along South Capitol Street. In May, Werts If Werts had been convicted at trial, she could have been sentenced to more than 30 years in prison. Prosecutor Edward O’Connell argued that Werts was intoxicated about 2:45 p.m. when she got behind


Ryan Braun, Alex Rodriguez are learning that lying is worse than cheating

Yankees are unfairly shelving him on the disabled list, oh, after he has been lying and cheating the game long after he said he stopped lying and cheating the game, he doesn’t merely come across as a multiple offender under baseball’s anti-drug program; he comes across as a three-time offender under humanity’s anti-fraud program. Bonds, Clemens, Braun and Rodriguez are all cautionary tales in what should be the thesis of the Lance Armstrong School of Ethics: The public will forgive a guy for using PEDs. What they’re less likely to forgive is lying about it afterward and then trashing and attacking the accusers. People understand the temptation to cheat. But if and when you get caught, don’t be a jerk. It makes you look irredeemable. Look, I still have dreams about playing basketball in high school, when I last commanded an audience on the court. If I could have that feeling again just once, I might give all the money I have to a synthetic chemist such as Anthony Bosch of Biogenesis or BALCO’s Victor Conte. It’s why some of us can eventually forgive cheaters, especially the player who convinced himself he needed performance-enhancing drugs to stay relevant. We get the main rationale behind most drug use — the elite athlete convinces himself it’s so prevalent in his sport that he needs it to survive, to the point that puncturing a syringe full of synthetic testosterone into your veins becomes as routine and mindless as icing or stretching. Confession: After I read Rick Maese and Sally Jenkins’s exhaustive series on the NFL’s Hurt Locker, my first thought was what a sad medical state of affairs the game is in. My next thought: Where can I get some of this Toradol to take away this damn chronic pain in my left hip before my next pickup game? What none of us understand, where the contempt for drug cheats resurfaces with a white-hot fire, is getting caught, not confessing and then having the audacity to go on the offensive. It’s one thing to cheat the game and your fellow competitors, but the moment you’re confronted and you lie about it, only then it feels as if you’ve wronged us. If Bonds and Clemens had just come clean before their court dates and did the redemption tour — a la Andy Pettitte after he admitted using human growth hormone or Mark McGwire two


Monarch butterfly campaign takes wing

them?” Hamilton said. “I tell them yes, we could, but the monarch is really indicating something to us about our environment, whether it’s about climate change or our agricultural practices. The monarch is telling us something about what’s going on around us.” Among the primary threats the monarchs face is the disappearance of milkweed plants, their breeding ground. Milkweed has become increasingly rare as the spread of genetically modified crops and the use of herbicide sprays transform the farmlands where the butterflies once thrived, particularly in the Midwest, according to experts. Lincoln Brower, a biology research professor at Sweet Briar College in Virginia who has specialized in monarchs for more than 35 years, said the butterflies have suffered tremendously from agricultural practices and two other factors: new climate patterns and illegal logging in the forests of Mexico, where the monarchs spend the winter. “Those three things have been pounding the monarchs for years,” Brower said. “The continued expansion of industrialized agriculture is going to have a major impact on the future of not only monarch butterflies, but all pollinating insects.” Because more farms have turned to genetically modified crops and herbicide sprays that kill native plants, the insect food web “is unraveling,” Brower said. “It’s an incredibly serious problem. It’s an elimination of biodiversity on a scale that’s unprecedented.” The butterflies are measured by the number of insects that are observed in an area of one square meter, or hectare, Brower said. Each hectare accounts for about 50 million butterflies. Last year, scientists documented more than two hectares of monarchs in Mexico. This year, the number was a little more than one hectare. In the face of such a seemingly grim plight, the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s efforts might seem too locally focused to have much effect, but the real value lies in spreading knowledge and awareness of the broader problem, Brower said. “It’s about getting people interested and getting more kids involved,” he said. “If people plant a milkweed garden and a nectar garden, it’s not going to be the be-all and end-all of solving this problem, but the more people who get involved and care, eventually you can develop sufficient political clout to have some policy changes along the way.” The Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy launched the campaign in January, but it has ramped up its efforts recently, as Loudoun residents have established more than 50 monarch way stations —