Obama’s Veterans Day message focuses on jobs

the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are buried. Clad in a black overcoat, he spent time with families of the deceased who had come to stand vigil in the cemetery despite a cold rain. Back then, Obama was weighing whether to send tens of thousands of new troops to Afghanistan. Six months ago, appearing at Arlington to mark Memorial Day, Obama touted the end of an era — the first Memorial Day in 14 years in which the United States was “not engaged in a major ground war.” President Obama spoke to honor and remember "every patriot who has ever proudly worn the uniform of the United States of America" at Arlington Cemetery on Nov. 11. “We’ll continue to bring them home and reduce our forces further, down to an embassy presence by the end of the year,” Obama said in the spring. Since then, Taliban gains in Afghanistan and the largely stalemated fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have forced Obama to backtrack on plans to bring home U.S. troops. American soldiers are no longer involved in daily ground combat, but the wars continue. The president barely mentioned today’s wars in his Veterans Day remarks this year. Instead, the focus was on service members returning home. More than 1 million veterans of the post-9/11 wars have returned to civilian life over the past decade, and 200,000 more will leave the military this year to start civilian lives. Obama described improvements at VA since last year’s scandal over fabricated records and long waits for health care. “We have made historic investments to boost the VA budget, expand benefits, offer more mental-health care and improved care for our wounded warriors, especially those with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury,” Obama said. VA has added 1,400 doctors and seen more than 7 million more patients than it did in the year before the crisis. “We’ve now slashed the disability claims backlog by nearly 90 percent,” Obama said, referring to the time it takes for veterans to begin receiving their veterans benefits. The president also praised VA for helping tens of thousands of homeless veterans find places to live. The bulk of Obama’s remarks, though, focused on veterans’ employment. For years, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have suffered from a higher unemployment rate than their civilian peers. The improving economy and falling jobless rate have lessened the problem. Just two years ago,


Bud, Miller will be separate in U.S.; Macy’s sales fall short of estimates

down from its previous estimate of as much as $4.80 a share. The retailer also sees full-year revenue falling 2.7 percent to 3.1 percent, more than the 1 percent decline it forecast in August. One bright spot: Earnings topped estimates last quarter. Excluding some items, profit was 56 cents a share. Analysts estimated 54 cents, on average. In a separate statement, Macy’s announced an agreement with Luxottica Group SpA to bring LensCrafters shops to as many as 500 Macy’s department stores in the United States over the next three years. — Bloomberg News Also in Business ● Facebook said Wednesday that requests for account data from governments globally jumped 18 percent in the first half of 2015. Government requests for account data increased to 41,214, with a bulk of those requests coming from U.S law enforcement agencies. Content restricted for violating local law more than doubled to 20,568 pieces during the same period, compared with the second half of 2014, the social network said in a blog post. ● Kroger Co. announced plans Wednesday to acquire Roundy’s for about $800 million. Kroger, based in Cincinnati, said it would pay $3.60 a share for Milwaukee-based Roundy’s, a 65 percent premium over the closing price of $2.19 a share on Tuesday. Both boards of directors have already approved the proposed merger. Kroger, which operates 2,623 supermarkets in 34 states, says it expects to benefit from Roundy’s expertise in running urban supermarkets. No store closings are expected. ● Apple is committed to staying in Ireland even if European Union regulators rule against the country’s tax deal with the iPhone maker, chief executive Tim Cook was quoted as saying Wednesday. Apple had no “special deal” in Ireland and would support the Irish government in appealing if an adverse ruling is made in an ongoing E.U. investigation, Cook was quoted as telling national broadcaster RTE in an interview. Cook was in Ireland as Apple announced plans to hire an additional 1,000 staff in the country where it declares much of its overseas profit. Dublin expects a decision on whether its tax dealings with Apple constituted unfair state aid after Christmas. — From news services Coming Today ● 8:30 a.m.: Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims. ● 10 a.m.: Freddie Mac releases weekly mortgage rates. ● 2 p.m.: Treasury releases federal budget for October. ● Earnings: El Pollo Loco, Nordstrom, Viacom. — From news services CRUISES


Gene therapies offer dramatic promise but shocking costs

a risky approach aimed at fixing the malfunctioning genes at the root of some diseases — is finally emerging from its own darkness after weathering high-profile tragedies, including the death of a teenage patient. Research scientist James Wilson. (Chris Goodney/Bloomberg) As it evolves from experimental to applied medicine, gene therapy might soon find itself steeped in a new controversy: soaring drug prices. No therapy is approved yet in the United States, so discussions about price — as well as crucial questions about how much patients will pay directly — are hypothetical. But industry leaders are already talking about ways to get ahead of potentially massive one-time price tags that could make insurers and patients balk. A gene therapy approved in Europe in 2012 costs close to $1 million, and prices are expected to follow suit in the United States. The therapies in the pipeline are mostly for rare genetic diseases: sickle cell, hemophilia or immune deficiency. Their likely high prices stem from the expected value; unlike drugs that a person takes regularly, gene therapies are designed to be given once and have lasting effects. But everyone involved anticipates the potential backlash against a seven-figure price tag, which is leading to radical proposals. Instead of paying for a treatment all at once, insurers and patients could make installment payments as long as the therapy works, similar to a mortgage on a house. Some researchers are adding up the cost of the traditional treatments that a patient will be able to avoid each year to determine a price that, although high, could lead to savings for the health-care system. To Corona, the gift of vision is something approaching a miracle. But how much is that miracle worth in dollars? In the 1980s, a daring idea seized the imagination of scientists and physicians. What if they could design a drug that wouldn’t just treat the symptoms of a disease caused by a mutant gene, but could instead replace the gene with one that worked normally? Gene therapy was technically difficult but conceptually simple. Scientists would modify a virus so that when it infected a cell, it would ferry in the correct version of a broken gene. If the process worked, doctors would have a powerful weapon against rare but devastating maladies such as cystic fibrosis and “bubble boy” disease, which leaves children without immune defenses. As basic research moved forward, excitement about gene


Police identify man who was found stabbed and later died in NE D.C.

Police in the District have identified a man who was fatally stabbed Wednesday morning in Northeast Washington. Police said they responded to a report of an aggravated assault in the 1300 block of Okie Street NE at 7 a.m. When they arrived, they found a man with stab wounds. He was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities identified him as Diante McLeod, 28, of Northeast Washington. D.C. Police Lt. Ronald J. Wright Jr. told residents on the department’s Internet bulletin board that “this incident was the result of a domestic situation.” The stabbing occurred in front of Casten’s seafood business and was captured on surveillance video, and it raised concerns in the rapidly gentrifying community that once was largely an industrial area. A reward of up to $25,000 is being offered for any information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case. The case comes as there has been a surge in violence in the District with more than 130 homicides this year.


Monarch migration on the rise

blanketed as much as 44 acres. Pacchiano said the butterfly colonies could cover 7.8 to 9.9 acres this year, and officials hope to reach nearly 15 acres in the reserves by 2020. “The United States is very committed to protecting the monarch butterfly, but we need the help of Mexico and Canada,” Jewell said before hiking an hour into the mountains to see the trees where the monarchs roost. She said the United States is working to reintroduce milkweed, a plant key to the butterflies’ migration, on about 1,160 square miles within five years, both by planting and by designating pesticide-free areas. Milkweed is the plant the butterflies feed and lay their eggs on, but it has been attacked by herbicide use in the United States. “Our agricultural practices must be adapted. . . . We have to look at our use of pesticides,” Jewell said. “We have the goal of 225 million monarch butterflies returning right here, to Mexico, every year. We believe we can get there by working together.” Mexico, too, still has problems. Illegal logging more than tripled in the monarch butterflies’ wintering grounds last year, reversing several years of steady improvements. Pacchiano said the reserve’s buffer area lost more than 20 acres due to illegal logging in one area this year, but the tree cutting was detected and a number of arrests were made. The forest canopy acts as a sort of blanket against the cold for butterflies that form huge clumps on tree branches during their winter stay in Mexico. The migration is an inherited trait: No butterfly lives to make the full round trip, and it is unclear how they find their way back to the same patch of pine forest each year. Some scientists suggest the butterflies may release chemicals marking the migratory path and fear that if their numbers fall too low the chemical traces will not be strong enough for others to follow. Two years ago the butterflies reached a low point, covering only 1.65 acres, the lowest since record-keeping began in 1993. At their peak in 1996, the monarchs covered more than 44 acres. But since then, each time the monarchs have rebounded, they have done so at lower levels. The species is found in many countries and is not in danger of extinction, but experts fear the migration could be disrupted if very few butterflies make the long trip.


District firefighter charged in fatal road race crash in Northwest

A 23-year-old man has been indicted in connection with a fatal vehicle crash in July that occurred during what police described as a street race that reached speeds of 100 mph in Northwest Washington. The person killed was not involved in the race, according to police, but his SUV was hit by one of the speeding vehicles about 3:20 a.m. on July 19. That same month, authorities charged Rasheed M. Murray, 28, and identified him as the driver of an Acura that struck the victim’s vehicle. On Thursday, the U.S. attorney’s office announced the indictment of Ryan W. Thompson, a D.C. firefighter who authorities allege was driving the second racing vehicle. Thompson, assigned to Engine 22 in Brightwood, has been put on leave, city officials said. Both Thompson and Murray are charged with second-degree murder and reckless driving. Murray remains jailed; Thomson, a firefighter for four years, surrendered to police Wednesday night, according to authorities and his attorney. He was freed pending a court hearing Dec. 17. D.C. police have said that Thompson and Murray were racing each other north on 16th Street, approaching Rock Creek Park, when Murray swerved to avoid cars stopped at a light. Police said his Acura went onto the middle divider, became airborne and struck the windshield of a car being driven south. The driver of a sport-utility vehicle heading south, Matthew J. Roth, 24, died the next day at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. His family said in July that he had been driving home to Arlington after a gathering with friends in Silver Spring. He was a University of Maryland graduate and worked for an accounting firm in McLean, Va. District records show that Thompson was hired by the fire department in 2011. He lives in Northwest Washington, eight blocks from the site of the fatal crash. His attorney, Thomas S. Baldwin, would not comment on specifics of the case. “Obviously, my client is presumed innocent,” he said. “That’s all I can tell you right now.” Amy Brittain contributed to this report.


South Sudan thought it solved its child soldier problem. It hasn’t.

This photo from Feb. 10 shows young boys, child soldiers, sitting with their rifles at a ceremony of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration in Pibor overseen by UNICEF and partners. (Charles Lomodong/AFP/Getty Images) JUBA, South Sudan — About 16,000 children have been recruited by government and rebel forces since the war here began in 2013, according to the United Nations. They are foot soldiers and cooks and cleaners, boys and girls as young as 9. Many were taken from their homes and schools and forced onto the battlefield. “We’ve seen huge increases in these violations throughout the entire year,” said Ettie Higgins, the UNICEF deputy representative in South Sudan. In the rare instances when children have been released, UNICEF officials report treating boys with bullet wounds and deep psychological scars. Scores have lost track of their families. When leaders of the South Sudanese government and the rebels signed the peace agreement in August, both sides claimed they had stopped using child soldiers. But the cease-fire was immediately and repeatedly violated. Thousands of children were still on the battlefield, Western officials said. The United States this year named South Sudan as one of eight countries that violated the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008. That would normally cause U.S. military aid to be blocked. But President Obama issued a partial waiver. “The way the United States government has ignored the intent of the Child Soldier Prevention Act throws into question our commitment as a country to keep children safe,” said Jessica Bousquette, the policy adviser for child protection at World Vision International, a U.S.-based Christian humanitarian organization. “The administration says it does not condone the use of children as soldiers, yet it continues to provide military assistance to countries, like South Sudan, who we know are recruiting or using child soldiers.” U.S. officials counter that the bulk of the approved funding goes toward monitoring the cease-fire through a regional force that includes South Sudanese military officials. The U.S. government helped shepherd South Sudan through its independence from Sudan in 2011 and has spent billions on the country’s development. The civil war began primarily over a split between President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, and former vice president Riek Machar, a Nuer, but devolved into a conflict between the ethnic groups. In much of the country, the war has been unrelenting, with tens of thousands killed and civilian adults and children targeted. U.N. officials


1 killed, 1 injured in Northeast Washington shootings, police say

said it was not clear whether anyone other than the driver, who quickly got off of the burning vehicle, had been on board. The fire broke out shortly after 5 p.m., and extinguishing it took about 45 minutes, Wilson said. Metro spokesman Dan Stessel confirmed that the vehicle was not a Metrobus. — Clarence Williams PNC Bank is robbed in Adams Morgan A PNC Bank was robbed Thursday morning in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Northwest Washington, according to D.C. police. The robbery occurred about 9:30 a.m. at the branch on Columbia Road NW. Police would not immediately say whether a weapon was involved. Andrew Ames, an FBI spokesman, said the robber left a package inside the bank that police explosives technicians examined. He said police determined the package was not a bomb. Authorities were looking for a tall black male wearing a brown jacket, plaid shirt and skullcap. — Peter Hermann MARYLAND Police find evidence of drug production A Montgomery County man died at his home, leading police to find evidence of drug production there. Police said Thursday that they do not suspect foul play in the death of Ethan W. Villemez, 35. Villemez’s family told police that he suffered from long-term health problems, police said in a statement Thursday. When his brother could not contact him Wednesday, he went to Villemez’s home in Silver Spring and found his brother dead in the foyer. The brother called police, who found marijuana growing in the house and chemicals frequently used to make other drugs. Police said the chemicals, which required a hazardous materials crew to remove, do not pose a risk to neighbors. — Julie Zauzmer Man is fatally shot during drug deal A man was fatally shot during a drug deal in Prince George’s County last week, county police said Thursday. Diare Caldwell, 22, of Oxon Hill and Darin Moore Jr., 22, of Bowie have been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Edson Keister, 39, of Bowie, police said. Keister was shot on the 1400 block of Southern Avenue about 3:05 a.m. Nov. 5 and died shortly after, police said. In a statement, the police department said the shooting occurred when someone tried to rob somebody during a drug deal. But Cpl. Maria McKinney, a police spokeswoman, declined to say which of the three people involved were robbers or victims of the attempted robbery. — Julie Zauzmer


For runner Sam Chelanga, becoming a U.S. citizen was one of best finish lines he’s crossed

he turns his attention to the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, where he hopes to make the Olympic team in either the marathon or 10,000 meters. The approximately 7.5-mile race on Sunday, which began in 2013, is open to runners of all abilities and features an elite field that includes several Olympians. “Ever since I started running [these road] races, everything feels so special,” said Chelanga, an all-American at Liberty University. “I’ve watched it from the sidelines, and I always thought, ‘That’s so cool.’ And now I’m part of it.” Sam Chelanga, right, and Molly Huddle after winning the USA Track and Field 10-Mile Championships on Oct. 4, 2015 in Minneapolis-St. Paul. (Courtesy of USATF) ‘Just finish the run’ Chelanga’s path to becoming a professional athlete began on the dirt roads in the tiny Kenyan village of Kabarasel, where he grew up as the 11th of 12 children. Chelanga hated running at first, and reluctantly gave it a chance after high school when former marathon world record holder Paul Tergat convinced him. Tergat, who had trained Chelanga’s older brother Joshua, saw talent in the younger sibling and convinced him to join a group. But motivating him was not easy. When Chelanga would get discouraged, Tergat would give him pocket money, Chelanga recalled. And when that didn’t work, Tergat took him to an upscale mall in Nairobi. “We sat down and he told me, ‘Listen, all you need to do at practice is, I just want you to finish the program. If it’s one hour, just run that. It doesn’t matter if you’re behind by an hour, just finish the run,’” Chelanga remembered. “So that was my motto.” It wasn’t long until Chelanga was able to keep up with the group, and he began surpassing some of the older runners. “I would tell the guys, ‘If I beat you, pretty much you should be a farmer like me before I joined running,’ ” Chelanga said. “That’s when I realized, ‘Wow, I’m part of the running group now.’ ” An American success story Before Chelanga arrived at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, N.J. to start his first season of cross-country, he had never been far outside his village. He had limited knowledge of the U.S. and struggled with English. The large school also provided Chelanga with plenty of distractions, and he sensed that he was straying from his Christian faith and losing focus.


Bringing the maglev train to this region is just another pie-in-the-sky idea

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on board the L0 series magnetic-levitation (maglev) train in Japan. (Ko Sasaki/For The Washington Post) Regarding the Nov. 8 Metro article “Baltimore to D.C. in 15 minutes? Maglev study gets $28 million.”: The idea of magnetic-levitation trains between Baltimore and the District is ridiculous. Amtrak’s infrastructure needs in the form of Baltimore’s tunnels and those under the Hudson River are far more critical in terms of safe and efficient travel throughout the Northeast corridor. Furthermore, the $28 million study will prove whatever its backers wish to prove, without any realistic survey of present Acela passengers between the two endpoints to determine the need for such “express” service, which would in reality save 14 minutes at best, if that. That the project would pass through some of the most expensive real estate in the country would condemn it to a slow but expensive death while enriching developers and lawyers. Pie-in-the-sky ideas such as this always appeal to politicians because they are sexy, while desperately needed repair projects have no such appeal. Let’s address the real transportation problems and quit playing silly games with whiz-bang shiny toys. Al DiCenso, Annapolis


French officials think as many as 20 plotters may be behind Paris attacks

said no one recalled ever seeing him there. Mostefai is thought to have traveled to Syria in the winter of 2013, a French police official familiar with the case said. “That is when we lost track of him,” the official said. During his youth, Mostefai lived in a middle-class, predominantly Arab neighborhood in the Paris suburb of Courcouronne. Kamel Ousti, 53, a neighbor and family friend, said Mostefai grew up in a modest apartment on Rue Pont Amar, with three brothers; two sisters; a father, who was a deliveryman of Algerian descent; and a mother who was a Portuguese convert to Islam. When Mostefai was 13, the family received an eviction notice because of his criminal tendencies. “Ismael was kind of a troublemaker, he used to steal things, like mobile phones,” Ousti said. Ousti recalled one traumatic event in the family’s history. During a trip to Algeria, in 2000, Ousti said they went to the beach, where Mostefai’s brother-in-law and two nephews drowned in the surf. The family eventually moved to Chartres, where residents today recall his family as religious but not extremely so. Mostefai’s mother wore a headscarf, but his sisters did not. Ousti last saw Mostefai four years ago. “He was the kind of kid who wouldn’t talk that much. If you ask me, the little lamb turned into a monster.” Mostefai’s brother, who surrendered for questioning in a southeastern suburb of Paris, told the Agence France-Presse news service that he had broken off all ties with his brother years ago. The 34-year-old man, who was not identified, said Mostefai had moved back to Algeria with his young daughter. He said he was shocked to learn that his brother was involved in the attacks. French SWAT teams searched the brother’s home and that of Mostefai’s father, outside Paris, for three hours Saturday night, according to RTL radio. “What does this have to do with us?” the brother’s wife told AFP in tears. “We haven’t spoken to him in years. I hope we’ll be left alone. We have a quiet little life, and this is starting to worry me.” Cléophée Demoustier, Virgile Demoustier, Karla Adam and Monique El-Faizy in Paris; Steven Mufson in Brussels; and Elinda Labropoulou in Athens contributed to this report. Read more: French President Hollande's remarks after Paris attacks The Bataclan theater, the epicenter of the terror attacks in Paris Maps: Where the Paris attacks occurred


BSO delivers atmosphere and light to the Strathmore Music Center

Pianist Lise de la Salle performed De Falla’s “Nights in the Garden of Spain” with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. (Stéphane Gallois) Conductor Jun Markl, who led the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in a flamboyantly colorful program at the Strathmore Music Center on Saturday, looks every bit the part of the elegantly energetic storybook conductor. He runs on and off the stage, finds gorgeous, bullfighter-like poses and sweeps around the podium with the grace of a ballet dancer. He also seems so entirely immersed in the early-20th-century world of the program of Debussy, Ravel and De Falla he led that it’s hard to imagine him in his other guise as a specialist in German music. It would be fun to see him prance through “Parsifal.” This was a program dominated by atmosphere and light rather than structure, a big wallow in the pleasures of color. And the orchestra, which is very good at that sort of thing, was in its element. The winds, with a big night, never sounded stretched (aside from one troubled trombone spot in the concluding Ravel “Bolero”), and the strings managed to be as convincingly diaphanous in the Debussy “Images” as they were brash and percussive in Ravel’s “Alborada del Gracioso,” the program opener. Pianist Lise de la Salle joined the orchestra for De Falla’s “Nights in the Garden of Spain” in a role that had her alternating between adding just another orchestral texture to surfacing for some nice solo riffs. She has the power and the agility to dance through De Falla’s driving sensuality, and while Markl’s account was not a particularly expansive or shapely one, de la Salle found ways to put her expressive mark on the music and to let it breathe. The orchestra began the evening with a memorial to the events of the past days in France, a gentle and thoughtful reading of the Debussy “Clair de Lune.” Reinthaler is a freelance writer. Conductor Jun Markl led the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in a flamboyantly colorful program. (Jean-Baptiste Millot)


Sam Chelanga, Molly Huddle win .US National 12K

world championships in Beijing in August, when she lost out on a bronze medal in the 10,000 meters because of an early celebration. After she reached the halfway point on the George Washington Memorial Parkway on Sunday, though, Huddle was able to fully visualize her sizable lead. “I thought I’d have a bigger group [with me in front],” she said. “[But] I have to be ready to run my best every race. I don’t really want to give an inch.” The men’s race began at a slow pace, and there were several runners still bunched up at the 10K mark. Aware that it would come down to a sprint to the finish, Chelanga started to make a move, picking up his pace on a slight incline as a few others followed. Pennel, a recent sub-four-minute miler, shot to the lead at the final mile, only to have Chelanga take over with less than 400 meters to go. Chelanga, who also edged Pennel in October to win the USATF 10-Mile Championships alongside Huddle, crossed the finish line with both arms raised Sunday, celebrating his second U.S. road title in two months. The win gives Chelanga, 30, plenty of confidence going into next season as he looks to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team in either the marathon or 10,000 meters. “It’s part of preparing because you never know what’s going to happen,” he said of the photo finish. “It might come down to the same scenario in the trials or Olympics. I feel the closer the race it is, it tests your patience, your will to push yourself. And I learned something today. Even if you feel tired, just run to the line.” The victory also caps a career season for Chelanga, a former all-American at Liberty University who has had an injury-riddled professional career. It was just a year ago that he was sitting at home, unsure of when he would become a U.S. citizen — the process would end up taking five years — and discouraged by the fact that he was unable to participate in the U.S. road championships. Now Chelanga, finally healthy and racing, sees his best performances in front of him. “This has been the best year of my life,” he said. “Being American is a big deal for me. . . . It’s been a good year. Hopefully I got the momentum to keep going.”


Child’s case serves as ‘wake-up call’ to drug-resistant TB, doctors say

When a 2-year-old returned sick from a visit to India, doctors in the United States suspected tuberculosis even though standard tests said no. It would take three months to confirm that she had an extreme form of the disease — a saga that highlights the desperate need for better ways to fight TB in youngsters in countries that can’t afford such creative care. Drug-resistant tuberculosis is a global health threat, and it’s particularly challenging for young children who are harder even to diagnose, much less treat. Doctors at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center are reporting how they successfully treated one of the few tots ever diagnosed in the United States with the worst kind — extensively drug-resistant TB, or XDR-TB, which is impervious to a list of medicines. “This was so difficult, even when we had all these resources,” said Hopkins pediatric TB specialist Sanjay Jain, who co-wrote the report being published Monday in the Lancet Infectious Diseases. The child is 5 now and healthy, but Jain calls the case “a wake-up call to the realities of TB.” Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that usually strikes the lungs, spreading through coughs and sneezes. A recent World Health Organization report says TB sickened nearly 10 million people worldwide in 2014, including 1 million children. That’s double earlier child estimates, reflecting some countries’ better counts. Many experts suspect the toll is still higher because children in hard-hit countries can die undiagnosed. In much of the world, doctors “don’t have anything like a CT scan to use to help them with this. They just have to use a stethoscope and a scale and their clinical judgment,” said Anna Mandalakas, director of the global tuberculosis program at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine. The Hopkins patient, who wasn’t identified, returned from a three-month family trip to India with a high fever. A battery of tests yielded no diagnosis, and no relatives were sick. But X-rays and CT scans found clues, a spot on her lung and some enlarged lymph nodes. To diagnose adults, doctors check their sputum for TB germs. Children, especially younger than 5, don’t harbor nearly as much bacteria — and tots tend to swallow rather than cough up the mucus, Jain said. Suspicious doctors threaded a tube into the girl’s stomach for samples, so a lab could try to grow and identify any bacteria lurking in them. Meanwhile, the child


Business is booming at the Harvard of pot in California

enforce marijuana laws that were out of step with the times. Medical marijuana was approved by California voters in 1996. In the years since the raid, four states and the District of Columbia have legalized pot, making marijuana a legitimate business in parts of America, worth an estimated $3.5 billion a year. Still, as Oaksterdam preaches the gospel of pot entrepreneurism, its history offers a lesson in harsh reality. Robert Raich, a lawyer who has twice argued legalization cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, makes that lesson explicit in Cannabusiness 102, where he warns students of the risk inherent in cultivating a Schedule 1 drug. “Until the federal government changes the Controlled Substances Act,” Raich said, “I teach how to create defenses against possible hostile action by the government.” Business at Oaksterdam is booming despite that risk. Today, the school employs 20 staff members and 150 instructors, including some of the biggest stars in the cannabis universe. Debby Goldsberry co-founded the Berkeley Patients Group medical cannabis collective, and Ed Rosenthal is often cited as the world’s leading authority on marijuana cultivation. The Oakland lecture hall holds 50 students and every seat is paid for. The school is also branching out to satellite locations. There is a new campus in the works in Las Vegas, where two four-day seminars sold out this year, with 250 students paying as much as $995 apiece. Last month, the school conducted a conference in Orlando, where about 300 doctors and nurses earned continuing education credits after learning to use cannabis to treat an array of medical conditions, including glaucoma and glioblastoma. And the school routinely advises politicians from places including California and Jamaica on topics such as how to appraise applications for medical marijuana and dispensary licenses, and how to promote marijuana research and development. Debby Goldsberry, co-founder of the Berkeley Patients Group medical cannabis collective, leads a class on procurement and allocation at Oaksterdam. (Peter DaSilva/For The Washington Post) At the main campus, the walls display photos of the school’s 23,000 graduates, who range in age from 18 to 65 and represent every state and 30 countries. Last month, about 30 California lawmakers drove from Sacramento for lectures on taxation and regulation, studying up for the possible passage next fall of an initiative that would legalize marijuana for recreational use. Aseem Sappal, the school’s provost and dean, said he wants to build Oaksterdam’s credibility


This centuries-old drink isn’t just for Renaissance festivals anymore

Baltimore’s Charm City Meadworks, which launched last year, sells its products in bottles and cans, on tap and at bars in the Washington area. (Deb Lindsey/For The Washington Post) Mead, the fermented honey beverage swilled by Vikings, medieval royalty and costumed Renaissance festival fanatics, is undergoing a mini-revival right now, showing up at high-end neighborhood grocery stores, on tap at cool beer bars and, maybe, your Thanksgiving table. Example A is Charm City Meadworks, which officially opened for business in July 2014. It’s turning 3,200 pounds of honey into mead every month in a garage-size industrial space in South Baltimore, supplying 130 stores, restaurants and bars in the Washington-Baltimore corridor as well as pouring flights and selling growlers in its taproom on weekends. Charm City’s meads, infused with herbs, hops and fruit, are sold in cans and bottles at Glen’s Garden Market and Mom’s Organic Markets, offered on tap at Dacha Beer Garden and Meridian Pint, and used in cocktails at Boundary Road and Beuchert’s Saloon. Nationally, mead is on the rise: According to a report issued this past spring by the American Mead Makers Association, sales grew 84 percent from 2012 to 2014, and production increased 128 percent from 2013 to 2014. The association reported that 42 new meaderies opened across America in 2014, “with many more in the planning stages across nearly every state.” That despite mead’s less-than-cool reputation as something enjoyed at Ye Olde Ren Fest or home-brewed by shaggy-bearded New-Agers trying to live off the grid. “I walk into sales meetings, and they’re like, ‘Where’s your battle-ax, bro?’” says Andrew Geffken, one of the two partners in Charm City Meadworks. He’s clearly not joking. “You don’t need to go to the Renaissance festival. You don’t have to only drink mead one weekend a year. You can drink it over the other 51 weeks, too. You can go hang out at Dacha or Boundary Road.” Charm City co-founder James Boicourt was introduced to mead a decade ago while taking a beekeeping course at North Carolina State University, and he quickly refocused his love of home-brewing to making mead, because, as a beekeeper, he “had a lot of honey around.” But after growing tired of the stereotypical mead — honey-sweet, uncarbonated and potent (anywhere from 14 to 20 percent alcohol by volume) — Boicourt says he became “fascinated with dry, lighter, more drinkable meads. There was nothing like


L’Hommage Bistro Francais delivers Gallic flair near Mount Vernon Square

L’Hommage Bistro Français opened in September with a menu that’s a roll call of French classics. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post) “This reminds me of that big restaurant in New York, Balthazar,” I overhear a fellow diner say as he navigates the expanse of L’Hommage Bistro Français in Mount Vernon Triangle. Dark wood, golden lighting, red banquettes and mirrors that appear to have been plucked from the 19th century create a handsome frame for boeuf bourguignon and Côtes du Rhône. Washington restaurateur Hakan Ilhan would be pleased to know that a stranger thinks his latest contribution to the dining scene compares favorably to the Manhattan icon in SoHo. Balthazar, after all, was his chief inspiration for L’Hommage Bistro Français, introduced in September. “We need something like this in D.C.,” figured Ilhan, whose best-known Washington establishments — Al Dente and Alba Osteria — are Italian. Roast chicken is accompanied by potato puree, sweet garlic jus and baby vegetables. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post) Joshua Laban Perkins, 42, was recruited to make L’Hommage Bistro Français taste as good as it looks. A Memphis native whose previous post was at Grove Grill, an American bistro there, Perkins earlier served as chef de cuisine at the late Brasserie Le Coze in Atlanta, sibling to Le Bernardin, the lauded New York seafood temple. The chef takes to heart the name of his new digs, paying homage, he says, “to the chefs who came before me.” In other words, L’Hommage is not a “sous-vide-and-foam environment.” That’s an understatement. The menu reads like a roll call of French classics: duck terrine, steak frites, cassoulet, coq au vin, chocolate mousse. Gougères crack open to reveal molten Mornay sauce. A bountiful choucroute is decorated with plump house-made sausage, and the roast chicken is a proper one, crisp and golden and presented with buttery whipped potatoes. Specials can be just that: One day’s pan-fried sweetbreads, dusted with Espelette, further benefit from raisins and red onion cooked with simple syrup. (If the chef tweaks a classic, it’s usually for the better: To thicken a sauce, he prefers rice flour to regular flour.) Escargots are prepared in the traditional way, with butter, garlic and parsley. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post) Plump house-made sausage and braised and smoked pork enrich the choucroute. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post) “I forget where I’m at,” says a table mate. Oh, he knows he’s in Washington, but the food puts him


Rocky Mountain spotted fever isn’t limited to the Rockies, and it’s deadly

off. Sunday, April 19: Thursday, April 30: At dinnertime, I feel body aches. I attribute it to the extra 10 minutes in the pool — and my head starts to hurt, acutely painful behind my eyes. Friday, May 1: Sunday, May 3: Monday, May 4: Jane Ashley, left, sits with her sister, Jennifer Blank, in the back yard. (Photo by Olivia Heavey) By 2 a.m. they have found a bed at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring that will be available first thing in the morning on the floor reserved for Kaiser patients.I will wait in the Sibley ER until then. End of Day 4. Tuesday, May 5: By that evening, my breath is getting shallow. The nurses check my lung sounds and then, suddenly, the room is full of doctors and nurses: It’s the critical care team, called in when a patient appears to be going into organ failure and system shutdown. Liv is standing across the room watching. She looks worried, and I wonder why. I’m surrounded by medical professionals, and so I figure: What could possibly go wrong? They see that my lungs are full of fluid. They start me on Lasix to drain the fluid, lung treatments, steroids and an IV antibiotic, which is the standard treatment for Rocky Mountain spotted fever. This is prescribed by the team’s infectious-disease doctor, the first to suspect RMSF because of the tick bite, which I had mentioned to every other doctor along the way, combined with the sudden appearance of a rash on my arms and chest. One of the doctors, a critical care specialist, thinks that’s not correct, that I have interstitial lung disease, because of my history of smoking, even though I’d quit 3 1/ 2 years before. I ask if the antibiotics will hurt me. “No,” she says. “But it’s not going to help, either.” Luckily, the infectious-disease doc’s assessment carries the day and they stick with the antibiotics, which probably saved my life. End of Day 5. Wednesday, May 6: But I am still very sick. I send a text to my older daughter, who lives in Denver and who didn’t know anything was going on: “Hi Molly. I’ve been in Holy Cross hospital since Monday. Haven’t told you because didn’t want to worry you. i also didn’t want you to even think about coming out here. Jennifer is here. Don’t worry. Love you. Mom.”


Sen. Barbara Mikulski is among the 2016 Medal of Freedom recipients

James Taylor; veteran and survivor advocate Bonnie Carroll; former congressman Lee Hamilton; baseball player Willie Mays; former Environmental Protection Agency administrator William Ruckelshaus; composer Stephen Sondheim and director Steven Spielberg. Mikulski started her career as a social worker in Baltimore and entered politics as a community activist. On Monday she recalled her grandmother’s journey from Poland to the United States, her parents’ hard work at their grocery store, and her own education. “This is an amazing country,” she said. First elected to the Senate in 1986, she began her career as an elected official on the Baltimore City Council. She spent five years there and 10 in the House of Representatives before taking her current seat. In 2012, she became the first woman to lead the powerful Appropriations Committee, a position she lost when Republicans took over the chamber in 2015. As the dean of the 20 women in the Senate, she regularly urges them to “disagree without being disagreeable.” For two decades, Mikulski has held “power workshops” for women newly elected to the Senate as well as monthly dinners for all female senators. The White House in particular noted her fight to preserve the Hubble Space Telescope, which is operated out of Baltimore. Another barrier-breaking female politician, Shirley Chisholm, will be awarded the Medal of Freedom posthumously. Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress and the first major-party African American female candidate for the presidency, died in 2005. Also receiving posthumous awards are baseball great Yogi Berra, Native American activist Billy Frank Jr. and lawyer Minoru Yasui, who challenged the constitutionality of military policy toward Japanese Americans during World War II. Honoree Katherine Johnson, who charted the flight path for the first U.S. mission to space as well as several subsequent expeditions, is a mathematical pioneer whom White House chief technology officer Megan Smith has singled out as part of an ongoing effort to recruit more women and minorities into the fields of science and technology. Astronaut John Glenn trusted Johnson’s mathematics skills so much that when NASA opted to use electronic data processors to calculate the launch conditions for its Friendship 7 mission, Glenn insisted that Johnson check those calculations before he flew. Her figures matched the computer’s precisely. “No one knows that John Glenn wouldn’t fly unless Katherine Johnson checked the math,” Smith said in an interview. “It’s an amazing story, and it’s totally unknown.”


ULA bows out of Pentagon launch competition, paving way for SpaceX

engines, the way the contract was structured made it impossible for it to compete, Bruno said. For instance, he said, the Air Force used a procurement process that would give a lot of weight to the prices companies bid — and not their experience and past performance. “The key elements of reliability and schedule, certainly our most important strengths, are not allowed to be considered to differentiate bidders,” Bruno said. “It comes down to being a price-only comparison, which takes our biggest strengths off the table.” SpaceX declined to comment. Ellen Tauscher, a former member of Congress who serves as an adviser to the firm, said ULA is trying to hold the Pentagon “hostage.” “They are effectively saying, ‘We’re not going to bid unless you give us these Russian rockets’,” she said. For SpaceX, the development means that the fast-growing space company is primed to enter yet another market that it has helped disrupt. Founded by Elon Musk, the billionaire technology entrepreneur behind the electric Tesla automobile, SpaceX was the first commercial space company to fly cargo to the International Space Station for NASA. And it has another NASA contract to ferry astronauts there as well. Last year, SpaceX sued the Air Force for the right to bid on the contracts to launch spy and communications satellites for the Pentagon and intelligence agencies, arguing that it could do so for far less than ULA. The parties ultimately settled, and earlier this year the Air Force certified SpaceX for the launches. The contract to launch the Pentagon’s next-generation GPS III satellite was the first where there would have been two certified bidders. Air Force officials said the competition between ULA and SpaceX could dramatically reduce the cost of the launches. Claire Leon, the Air Force’s launch enterprise director, recently told reporters that “it is critical to the Air Force that we get more than one bidder. . . . The whole purpose is to reduce cost and get companies to operate at the lowest price point as possible.” Bruno said that he remains hopeful that Congress will loosen restrictions on the RD-180 engine and change the requirements so that ULA would be able to compete for future contracts. The company is working with Blue Origin, Jeffrey P. Bezos’s space company, to develop an American-made engine that would power ULA’s new Vulcan rocket. (Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, owns The Washington Post.)


At Biosphere 2, the experiments continue

there now. This research, she says, “is about what’s happening to Earth, not how to colonize Mars.” A scientist in Biosphere 2 checks a weather station in the complex's rain forest. The station measures temperature, humidity, wind speed and sunlight. (HMH) Much of this science relates to challenges caused by climate change, and this huge structure has been turned into an ideal place to conduct large experiments. As one scientist puts it, Biosphere 2 “has this sweet spot between the complexity of nature and the control of the laboratory.” Each section of Biosphere 2 has a fascinating story. To create an indoor tropical coral reef, materials were taken from different parts of the world. Milk tanker trucks carried seawater from the Pacific Ocean. Fish, sea urchins, lobsters and living coral were brought from the Caribbean, and sand was brought from the Bahamas. This attempt was not successful; the glass windows blocked too much sunlight. But even though the corals died, useful experiments are happening in this indoor ocean. Carson also shows how Biosphere 2’s forest, which is warmer than a typical tropical forest, helps increase our scientific understanding of climate change. “The rain forest is pretty amazing because it’s been there from the beginning,” she said. “It’s into its third decade. Certain species have died out, and others have done well. It’s not unlike . . . what hotter, drier tropical forests might face around the world.” The work that most interests Carson is the LEO Project, which she calls a “marvel of engineering.” LEO stands for Landscape Evolution Observatory, and it focuses on three giant hillsides of dirt each weighing 1 million pounds. Using sensors, samplers and suspended weather stations, scientists are answering such basic questions as how does rock become soil? What happens to rainwater once it soaks into soil? How does carbon move through the landscape? As Carson puts it, “These are basic questions that require a big science project!” Carson notes the positive, problem-solving approach that all of the Biosphere 2 scientists take as they do their work: “They know that the climate is going to change, so we need to figure out how we can measure the changes so we can compensate for them.” For their book, photographer Tom Uhlman and writer Mary Kay Carson focused on the science that is going on now in Biosphere 2. (From Tom Uhlman) Nolan is a freelance writer.


Russia confirms Sinai plane crash was the work of terrorists

destination outside the former Soviet Union. They have been ferried back to Russia under tight security controls, including a ban on checked luggage, to prevent a bomb from being smuggled aboard. Similar measures have been taken by a half-dozen European airlines. Russian officials initially urged patience until the investigation concluded, but experts said that Tuesday’s news had probably been expected in the Russian government. “This will not come as too much of a shock to the Russians,” said Dmitri Trenin, the head of the Carnegie Moscow Center. Trenin said that he did not expect the public to blame Russia’s government for the crash, nor did he think the terrorist attack would sharply change Russia’s foreign policy. “The Russians have been living in this atmosphere of potential terrorism for a long time, since the 1990s, nonstop virtually,” Trenin said. “It’s not the kind of revelation that the French have just experienced.” In Moscow, many people said they believed the plane was brought down by an attack even before Tuesday’s confirmation. “I was sure it was a terror act from the very beginning,” said Aleksey Kalganov, 37, an engineer dressed in a dark blue jacket, checked scarf and gray cap. “A plane cannot just fall apart in the air.” Metrojet, the airline managing the Airbus A321-200, made a similar argument at a news conference shortly after the crash, drawing a swift warning from Russian officials to “abstain from premature statements.” Kalganov said he had always been afraid of flying because of the possibility of a terrorist attack and preferred traveling by car or train, even over long distances. “This is their response, and I think that there might be more,” he said, adding that he believed the attack was tied to Russia’s airstrike campaign in Syria. “But nevertheless I support the campaign. They are crazy there, and we should destroy them.” Others opposed the airstrikes. “This is terrible,” said Elena Lopatina, 44, a manager, when asked about the news of the terrorist attack. “But I am not surprised.” “No, I do not support the airstrikes. I am against the operation in Syria,” she continued. “I don’t think we can stop now, but I wish we could.” Daniela Deane in London contributed to this report. Read more: France strikes back after Paris attacks Al-Qaeda in Syria calls for revenge attacks on Russia Russia defends Syria airstrikes amid claims of blows to U.S.-backed rebels


Panda fans to get glimpse of Bei Bei in January

Juan Rodriguez, a panda keeper at the National Zoo, weighs Bei Bei on November 15. The cub will go on view in January, zoo officials announced. (Smithsonian's National Zoo) Visitors to the National Zoo will get their first peek at giant panda cub Bei Bei in January, zoo officials announced Tuesday. The black-and-white furball weighs about 12 1/ 2 pounds and is crawling around the indoor enclosure he shares with mom Mei Xiang (pronounced may-SHONG). Bei Bei (BAY-BAY), who was born August 22, took his first steps last week. The panda house has been closed since shortly before Bei Bei’s birth. It will reopen for Friends of the National Zoo members January 8-15 and for the general public beginning January 16. Zoo officials warned that sometimes Mei Xiang and Bei Bei will be in their den, which is not visible except on the Giant Panda Cam. Dad Tian Tian (t-YEN t-YEN) and 2-year-old sister Bao Bao (rhymes with bow-wow), who have their own outdoor yards, will continue to be on view. — Christina Barron


Bootleggers used this D.C. house in the 1930s. Guess who lives there now.

his territory. Warring would slip that charge, just like he escaped a murder charge against him in 1933, after the homicide of Joseph F. Nalley, a small-time gambler and racketeer who took a bullet to the heart at the Wunder Bar Club at 10th and U streets NW. Quoth The Post: “Nalley was reported to have hit Warring with an ice pick in a dispute over a woman.” These, then, were the sort of people allegedly involved in the production of untaxed liquor in the basements of two rented houses in two of the District’s nicer precincts. Fine single-malt scotch, it was not. The whiskey was poured into bottles and sold in D.C. alleys. The Chevy Chase Parkway house is gone. An apartment building stands on the spot today. The Madison Street house is still around, though, and not long ago Bill Duggan and his wife, Mercedes Bien, moved in. “Only I could be proud that I’m living in a house that got busted for bootlegging,” said Bill, the colorful owner of Madam’s Organ, a popular Adams Morgan bar. For 28 years, Bill and Mercedes lived a block away. They’d long admired the house and jumped at the chance to buy it. It needed quite a bit of work. In the 1960s, it was the property of the National Catholic Welfare Conference and was used as the headquarters of the Women Volunteers Association. That was a Peace Corps-type program that was run by the Archdiocese of Washington and trained women for service in African countries. The space that once held whiskey stills had been sanctified for Mass. When Bill and Mercedes moved in there was a chapel in the basement, complete with pipe organ. When I visited Madison Street recently, I stood in the driveway and tried to imagine the sweet smell of mash, fedora-wearing goons, a fleet of idling trucks waiting to fill up with another load of rotgut . . . I asked Bill if his new home might inspire a new hobby. “No,” he said. “I think I’ll stick to selling booze, not making it.” Lend a Helping Hand On Monday, I kicked off the annual Washington Post Helping Hand fundraising drive. Between now and Jan. 8, I’ll be sharing stories of three remarkable D.C.-area charities: Sasha Bruce Youthwork, Community of Hope and Homestretch. Each works with homeless families or teens, getting them out of shelters, into


By tracing cellphones, Pakistan makes inroads in war against polio

A Pakistani health worker administers a polio drop to a child during a vaccination campaign in Peshawar. (A Majeed/AFP/Getty Images) ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — The 85 percent decline in new cases this year is boosting confidence that Pakistani officials are on pace to stop the spread of the virus here, perhaps as early as next year. If Pakistan can achieve that goal, the world will take a major step toward becoming polio-free. In late September, the World Health Organization declared that polio was no longer “endemic” in Nigeria, leaving only Pakistan and Afghanistan on the list of countries where the crippling virus continues to spread. The revelation that the CIA had used a fake vaccination campaign to gain intelligence on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden in 2011 had been a huge blow to Pakistan’s efforts against the disease, especially in areas where Islamist militant groups were strong. But as the militants have loosened their grip on Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt, health officials are vaccinating hundreds of thousands of children for the first time. As a result, Pakistan has reported 40 new polio cases this year, compared with about 240 at this time last year. Pakistani officials say they believe they are on track to vaccinate nearly all children younger than 5 by next summer. “If the next few vaccination rounds are implemented, and we continue to reach all the children we need to reach, we should be home very soon,” said Mazhar Nisar, head of Pakistan’s emergency polio office. “The key challenge had been security, but now the government has taken that on head-on.” Many international health experts remain skeptical that Pakistan can rise to that challenge, citing bureaucratic obstacles and uncertainty that the country’s improved security can be maintained. Last month’s earthquake, which killed more than 200 and left tens of thousands of residents homeless, served as a reminder that Pakistan has a reputation as a magnet for crises that quickly distract political leaders and relief organizations. But Hamid Jafari, director of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative for the WHO, said Pakistan’s government has shown progress as it lurched onto a war footing to combat the disease. “You see the senior officers of security agencies, and the Pakistan army, now sitting with program managers in emergency operations centers co-planning and co-coordinating,” Jafari said. “You get a very good sense that all the ministries of the government are involved.” That


Fed chair calls GOP bill a ‘grave mistake’

to use a formula to set interest rates but would allow the central bank to deviate from that strategy if economic conditions warranted a change. — Associated Press EXECUTIVES Kohl’s new COO is a candidate for CEO Kohl’s has named former Walgreens executive Sona Chawla chief operating officer and also said its newest leader is a longer-term candidate to become chief executive. The department store operator said Tuesday that Chawla will join the company Nov. 30 and report to chairman and chief executive Kevin Mansell, who has led Kohl’s as CEO since 2008 and chairman since 2009. Kohl’s identified Chawla and Michelle Gass, chief merchandising and customer officer, as potential candidates for the company’s long-term CEO-succession planning. Chawla will oversee all store operations, including the logistics and supply-chain network, planning and operations, and store construction and design. The executive spent seven years at Walgreens, where she served as president of the company’s e-commerce business and chief marketing office. Walgreens Boots Alliance runs the largest drugstore chain in the United States. Before Walgreens, Chawla served as Dell’s vice president of global online business. — Associated Press Also in Business ● U.S. manufacturing output rose in October for the first time in three months as factories cranked out more steel, cars and computers. Manufacturing production increased 0.4 percent last month, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday, after slipping 0.1 percent in September. Auto sales jumped 14 percent in October, putting the industry on track for what could be a record year. Many other sectors reported gains, including machinery, electrical equipment and textiles. ● Home Depot reported its profit rose 12.2 percent in the fiscal third quarter as sales gained ground, fueled partly by a continued housing market recovery. The home-improvement retailer reported net income of $1.73 billion, or $1.35 per share. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. Revenue rose 6.4 percent, to $21.82 billion, in the period. Same-store sales, which are a key measure of a retailer’s health, rose 5.1 percent. The Atlanta-based company expects 2015 sales to rise about 5.7 percent in 2015, near the high end of its previous guidance of a 5.2 percent to 6 percent boost. It expects full-year earnings to be $5.36 a share. — From news services Coming Today ● 8:30 a.m.: Commerce Department releases housing starts for October. ● 2 p.m.: Federal Reserve releases minutes from its October interest-rate meeting. ● Earnings: Lowe’s, Target. SOUTH AFRICA


Residents of D.C. homeless camp distressed as city moves to clear site

of homelessness is not productive,” said Richard Cho, deputy director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. “It’s counterproductive and exacerbates the problem” of homelessness. “And from a legal perspective, certain [measures] can be found to be a violation of constitutional rights.” In the clearest sign yet that the federal government opposes laws that appear to target the homeless, the Department of Justice in August filed a statement of interest in a case in Boise, Idaho. It questioned an ordinance there that outlaws sleeping or camping in public places. “Sleeping is a life-sustaining activity — i.e., it must occur at some time in some place,” the statement said. “If a person literally has nowhere else to go, then enforcement of the anti-camping ordinance against that person criminalizes her for being homeless.” In 1981, the District passed a regulation that prohibited tents, trailers and “temporary abodes” in public places. And that law, officials said, is the legal basis for the planned removal of homeless encampments. “It’s not safe or sanitary for them to be living in a campsite out there,” city official Rachel Joseph said. But the residents wonder where they can go that is safer. Where can they go that is more sanitary? Social workers, police and sanitation workers arrived to move the homeless from a large encampment in Northwest Washington. “People come out of the [formal homeless] shelters with bug bites and spots all over the place,” Makel said. “People [there] steal. You need to sleep with your shoes under your head.” Mike Ford, 59, has lived at the encampment for nearly six months. He said it’s the best place in which he has lived since he became homeless about two years ago. “It’s better to be on the street than be in the shelter,” he said. “I get sick on their food.” It is also unclear, advocates for the homeless said, whether the city can accommodate all of those living in the encampments. At one point, dozens of people — maybe as many as 60 — lived at the K Street community. Some of them were women. Kate Coventry, a policy analyst at the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, said only four or five vacant beds for homeless women were available in shelters this past week. “There are a dozen women down there, maybe more, and we only have five vacancies for women,” Coventry said. She added: “Capacity


D.C. and Army make a deal on Walter Reed; man shot in D.C. is identified

The District City, Army strike deal on Walter Reed The District and the Army have agreed on a price to be paid by the city for more than half of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus in Northwest Washington, it was confirmed Tuesday night. The city is to pay the Army $22.5 million for a little more than 66 acres of the 110-acre site on Georgia Avenue, officials said. In addition, the District has reached an agreement with the site’s master developers under which the city will lease the property to them for a mixed-use development. The terms of the purchase were reported ahead of a groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for Wednesday at a D.C. fire station on the campus. The city noted that Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) had introduced the Walter Reed Development Omnibus Act of 2015 this month to authorize the acquisition of property and allow redevelopment to begin. The project is to provide 3.1 million square feet of residential, office and retail space and 2,100 units of housing, with about one-fifth categorized as affordable. — Martin Weil Man who was fatally shot is identified A 24-year-old California man who was shot and killed in Southeast Washington has been identified, D.C. police said. Police said Onyekachi Emmanuel Osuchukwu III was found Sunday in the 2900 block of Second Street SE. He was pronounced dead at the scene. — Victoria St. Martin Maryland Boy, 8, dies after Pr. George’s crash An 8-year-old boy died after a car crash in Prince George’s County, police said. Chionesu Amona-ra was in a car that was involved in a collision in Chillum on Nov. 5. He died of his injuries Monday, county police said. The car the child was in was turning from Prince George’s Avenue onto New Hampshire Avenue, the street where he lived. It crashed into another car while turning right. — Julie Zauzmer Virginia Man charged with peeping at mall Police charged a 30-year-old Fredericksburg man with three counts of peeping after a woman spotted a bag he allegedly used to record her — and, on separate occasions, two other women — in a women’s restroom. Richard Rodriguez was arrested Monday at Potomac Mills. The woman pointed him out to security after finding him in a neighboring restroom stall. Police said there was a video-recording device in the bag. — Victoria St. Martin


Montgomery Animal Watch

These cases were received by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5900. This number provides recorded information on topics such as the new animal services and adoption center’s hours and location in Derwood, adoption and licensing procedures, and lost-and-found and field services. Dog fight leads to biting incident: Raccoon vs. grocery store worker: Reduced fees for cat adoption: Germantown Adoptable cats at no-kill shelter: Gaithersburg Adopt dogs and cats at MCHS no-kill rescue: Rockville — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Police training exercises underway in Prince William County

Don’t be alarmed, Prince William County residents — if you see lots of police officers, even a helicopter, at some popular gathering places today, it’s only a drill. The county police department is conducting training at Manassas Regional Airport, Jiffy Lube Live and the Hylton Performing Arts Center on Wednesday from noon to 4 p.m. Police said the public may see a flash distraction device, in addition to the large police presence and the helicopter.


The three biggest financial challenges first-time homebuyers face

August 2015 in the D.C. real estate market have been issued to millennials. While some millennials are managing to buy their first home, almost no one considers the process to be easy. For the McKinneys, the challenge was finding something desirable in their price range. “We used WalkScore to look for neighborhoods with walkable amenities and input our commutes on that site to narrow down areas and then looked at listings within our price range in those communities,” Olivia says. “We lived in the Navy Yard before it was developed as much as it is, so we’re fine with being in an area that is still developing now. We spent a lot of weekends looking at places, so we got to know a lot of different neighborhoods, but this place has a great shared rooftop deck, a private deck, a parking space and the layout that we like, even though it’s not in the Navy Yard.” The McKinneys financed their purchase with an FHA loan with a 3.5 percent down payment so that they could use their accumulated savings to pay for moving and closing costs. Among prospective first-time buyers surveyed by TD Bank, 64 percent of millennials said that they need to save for a down payment, and 45 percent said that they need to pay down debt before they can buy their first home. Financial challenges Here are three big financial challenges that affect millennials who want to buy their first home, particularly in high-cost housing markets such as Washington, New York City and San Francisco. • Expensive rent: According to ApartmentList.com, the average rent for a two-bedroom unit in Washington was $3,000 in September, which makes saving a challenge. “It’s hard to save for a down payment when rents are high and require a large share of your income,” says Svenja Gudell, chief economist for Zillow in Seattle. • Tight credit: “We’re seeing a little bit of a window opening in looser underwriting guidelines,” says Jonathan Corr, chief executive of Ellie Mae, a loan software company and provider of mortgage data in Pleasanton, Calif. “The average FICO score for approved loans dipped to 723 in September, the lowest number since we started reporting back in August 2011.” However, Ellie Mae’s data for purchase loans, not including refinance loans, shows that the average credit score remained the same as the 2014 average at 755 for approved conventional loans,


Police release video of six people sought in connection with shooting

D.C. police are asking for the public’s help in finding six persons and a vehicle of interest in connection with a homicide that occurred Nov. 17 in the 1600 block of New York Avenue NE. (D.C. police) D.C. police are searching for six people described as persons of interest in connection with a fatal shooting on Tuesday along New York Avenue in Northeast Washington. Police identified the victim as Kevin DeAndre Wallace, 21, of Northeast. He was shot about 10:30 a.m. in the 1600 block of New York Avenue, near a major intersection. Police have not said if the shooting occurred inside a building or outside. Authorities on Thursday released pictures of five of the six people they are seeking to question. A sixth person is on a surveillance video. That video shows the people outside a motel along New York Avenue and in the immediate neighborhood.


Don’t fly hangry. Here’s your guide to food at the D.C. area’s three airports.

Illustration to accompany Weekend airport dining story. (Andrew Bannecker/For The Washington Post) (Andrew Bannecker/For The Washington Post) (Andrew Bannecker/For The Washington Post) (Andrew Bannecker/For The Washington Post) A Maybe you’re the kind of put-together, think-ahead traveler who packs meals and snacks in leak-proof, TSA-friendly form. Maybe you’re someone who can somehow resist the siren song of Cinnabon and the salty promise of Combos. But most of us are not like you. Most of us can barely get everyone out the door, ideally with boarding passes in hand. So when hunger strikes and the specter of several hours stuck in the air with only limited airline food for sale looms, we place ourselves at the mercy of airport dining. Thankfully, these days, we don’t have to feel like we’re compromising flavor and nutrition for convenience. Airport eateries are getting an upgrade. Part of the push has placed an emphasis on recognizable local brands and specialties. Travel around the country, and you’ll find Beecher’s Handmade Cheese at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Michael Voltaggio’s ink.sack at Los Angeles International and Rick Bayless’s Tortas Frontera at Chicago O’Hare International. Our three local airports — Reagan National, Washington Dulles International and Baltimore-Washington International Marshall — are no different. “You want to bring a sense of place into your airport,” said Steven C. Baker, vice president for customer and concessions development for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which runs National and Dulles airports. Mike Isabella’s Greek-themed Kapnos Taverna recently opened at Reagan National Airport’s Terminal C as part of efforts to bring in recognizable local restaurants. (Becky Krystal/The Washington Post) Walk along the corridors of National, and you’ll see what he means. Recent additions to the airport in Arlington include Ben’s Chili Bowl, Cava Mezze Grill, &pizza, Taylor Gourmet, Lebanese Taverna Express and Kapnos Taverna. (Keep in mind, though, that even local concepts are collaborations with third-party operators, often locals themselves, who contract with the airport and their development partners to bring the restaurants to fruition.) At Dulles, local eateries with homegrown origins include Chef Geoff’s, Be Right Burger and &pizza. Because of the large number of international flights at Dulles, “local” to many travelers may mean “national” to the rest of us, which is one reason the airport is bringing in slice-of-America restaurants such as Wendy’s and the Kitchen by Wolfgang Puck. The pace of change has been especially accelerated at National and Dulles, where 18


Nuevo avance sobre el cancer

casos similares que puedan darse sean diagnosticados como cáncer humano, especialmente en países en desarrollo donde este tipo de parásito (Hymenolepis nana) es común. Agudelo aseguró que esta revelación “abre la puerta a nuevas investigaciones, hipótesis y preguntas”, y además permitirá a los médicos del mundo que enfrenten un caso similar “hacer un diagnóstico oportuno y evaluar qué opciones de tratamiento”. Pero aclaró que el descubrimiento “no significa” que a las personas que tengan este parásito les vaya a dar un cáncer, e indicó que ahora los investigadores tendrán una “nueva visión entre el hospedero (paciente) y el parásito, y de cómo es la relación entre cáncer e infección”. El paciente atendido por Agudelo tenía 41 años, sufría el VIH y tenía su sistema inmunológico debilitado. “El paciente tenía las defensas bajas porque había abandonado el tratamiento. Vino por un cuadro de tos, fiebre y pérdida de peso”, relató el infectólogo sobre el caso. Unas radiografías de tórax que mostraba masas pulmonares con características que “sugerían” un cáncer hicieron que se “orientaran las sospechas” en esa dirección, por lo que tomaron muestra de esas células, que fueron revisadas por los patólogos colombianos Lucy Díazgranados y Alejandro Vélez. Las imágenes de esas biopsias fueron enviadas a diferentes médicos en Colombia, España, México, Australia y Estados Unidos. Microbiólogos, patólogos e infectólogos analizaron esa muestra, pero ninguno tuvo respuesta. Mientras se daban los primeros avances del experto de los CDC, el paciente colombiano desarrolló otras complicaciones e infecciones asociadas a la progresión del VIH. “El cáncer progresó. Le empezaron a salir lesiones en el cuello e hizo una complicación renal asociada a los medicamentos que estaba recibiendo. El paciente estaba cansado, con dolor y sufriendo por no saber qué le pasaba”, dijo Agudelo . El médico relató que 72 horas antes de que el paciente falleciera, el doctor Atis Muehlenbacs envió unos “resultados preliminares” en los que hablaba de un parásito, una lombriz solitaria que trasmitía células cancerosas a humanos. La lombriz solitaria afecta a cerca de 75 millones de personas, en especial a niños, personas con sistemas inmunes débiles o quienes toman esteroides. “El comportamiento de este parásito es muy novedoso, es la primera vez que se reporta algo así en un humano. Merece muchos más estudios a fondo, porque el componente de inmunosupresión del paciente probablemente jugó un rol importante”, apuntó Alicia Hidrón, médica infectóloga que también participó en el estudio.


Even beer skeptics can enjoy Oregon’s craft-brewery mecca

Employees at Crux Fermentation stir hops in the back of the Bend, Ore., factory. (Tyler Rowe) ‘Do you want to go to the Shell or Chevron?” asks Andrea as we heft our mountain bikes onto car racks after a ride at Shevlin Park, a 650-acre spread three miles northwest of downtown Bend, Ore. I tell Andrea I don’t care where she gets gas. “I’m not getting gas,” she says. “I don’t have any beer to go with dinner. I’ve got my growler to fill.” Oregon law doesn’t allow you pump your own gas. But the beer scene in Bend, an outdoors playground anchored by mountain biking in the summer and the Mt. Bachelor ski area in the winter, is such that a local company, the Growler Guys (11400 NW College Way, www.thegrowlerguys.com), successfully pushed to make it legal for them to have taps in gas station convenience stores. “While they’re filling up your car, I run inside and get a growler filled,” Andrea says. “It’s so much more convenient than buying a six-pack at the grocery store or going to a brewery itself.” Inside the Chevron there are 36 taps; 30 dispense beer or hard cider and six dispense kombucha. As a guy fills Andrea’s growler — an accessory here akin to a briefcase on Capitol Hill — with Boneyard Beer’s flagship brew, RPM, a pale ale brewed with six different varieties of locally grown hops, we’re offered samples. I go for What Does the Fox Say?, a Cascadian dark ale from local Riverbend Brewing. It’s described as having a slightly chocolate flavor. The mouthwash-size sample comes in a mouthwash-size plastic cup. Sipping it, I see a handwritten sign taped above taps: “Pints now available. Limit 2.” In Wyoming, where I live, there are drive-through liquor stores. This is another level, though. Brewer Joe Jasper tends to a vat at Deschutes Brewery, Bend's first and largest. (Jeff Barnard/Associated Press) Here’s the problem: I hate the taste of beer. Never in my entire life — college fraternity parties included — have I been able to drink an entire pint without throwing up in my mouth. As an adult, friends have sometimes sneaked beer into an opaque glass before handing it to me just to watch my facial expressions. The adjectives I use to describe beer’s taste and smell, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a pilsner, IPA, hefeweizen or stout, include


Czech guest conductor leads pianist Igor Levit in strong debut at NSO

Pianist Igor Levit performed with the National Symphony Orchestra. (Gregor Hohenberg/Gregor Hohenberg) There’s a lot of great Czech music you probably haven’t heard, and the best argument for hearing more of it is hearing it conducted by a Czech. Jiri Belohlavek, the Czech Republic’s leading conductor, has been bringing it to the D.C. area for years, and if his program with the National Symphony Orchestra on Thursday night wasn’t as packed with unexpected fare as the 2007 outing when he played little-known pieces by Dvorak, Smetana and Janacek, it did include one notable rarity, Bohuslav Martinu’s sixth symphony, that was the highlight of the program. Martinu was a strikingly prolific composer who, like Brahms, turned late to symphonies. He wrote all six of his symphonies in his maturity, in or for the United States (symphonies 1 and 6 were both commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra), between 1941 and 1953. From the humid, sinuous opening in the winds, rising to a flare from the trumpet, to the noble elegiac strings intoning at the end, there’s nothing remotely off-putting about this music. It moves a Central European sensibility — the full, burnished, warm melodies — into the 20th century, remaining original and unusual, breaking away from sonata form into its own free-form world, but never ceasing to look back over its shoulder and reveal its roots in the 19th-century orchestral tradition. Belohlavek, 69, has recorded a cycle of the symphonies, and he knows them by heart — literally; he conducted this one from memory. The NSO had never done the piece, but the musicians sounded like willing learners under this experienced baton. The piece requires some leading: Titled “Fantaisies Symphoniques” or Symphonic Fantasias (the composer had moved to Paris by the time it was finished), it moves restlessly across three movements without recourse to conventional forms, with buzzing, jittery strings and winds creating atmospheric points of departure for the music’s various episodes. The NSO did it credit. There’s no faulting Belohlavek as a technician, but there’s also no denying he was a little less compelling, if no less correct, in the other two works on the program. The evening opened with Mozart’s “Prague” symphony, continuing a Czech theme that might have been better upheld with another Czech work. There was nothing wrong with the Mozart, light and clean, but nothing particularly gripping about it either. Having opened with two back-to-back symphonies,


20th century, remaining original and unusual, breaking away from sonata form into its own free-form world, but never ceasing to look back over its shoulder and reveal its roots in the 19th-century orchestral tradition. Belohlavek, 69, has recorded a cycle of the symphonies, and he knows them by heart — literally; he conducted this one from memory. The NSO had never done the piece, but the musicians sounded like willing learners under this experienced baton. The piece requires some leading: Titled “Fantaisies Symphoniques” or Symphonic Fantasias (the composer had moved to Paris by the time it was finished), it moves restlessly across three movements without recourse to conventional forms, with buzzing, jittery strings and winds creating atmospheric points of departure for the music’s various episodes. The NSO did it credit. There’s no faulting Belohlavek as a technician, but there’s also no denying he was a little less compelling, if no less correct, in the other two works on the program. The evening opened with Mozart’s “Prague” symphony, continuing a Czech theme that might have been better upheld with another Czech work. There was nothing wrong with the Mozart, light and clean, but nothing particularly gripping about it either. Having opened with two back-to-back symphonies, the program ended with a big concerto and a notable debut that was arguably the big news of the night — that of the debonair and multifaceted pianist Igor Levit, the soloist in Beethoven’s “Emperor,” the Piano Concerto No 5. Levit is focusing this year on three sets of variations: Bach’s Goldberg, Beethoven’s Diabelli, and Frederic Rzewski’s “The People United Shall Never Be Defeated,” a contemporary classic. The juxtaposition alone (made on a new recording) marks Levit as a multi-talent and a thinker. His Beethoven on Thursday didn’t disappoint; nor did it fall into expected debut tropes. Levit plays with a clarity and lightness that fit well with Belohlavek’s approach. He can pull out the virtuosic stops, but his most memorable playing was extremely quiet, when he buried his fingers in high notes played with an elfin quality that was positively Mendelssohnian, emerging as tiny and perfect as little crystals of glass. His playing was taut, but not reserved. This wasn’t true of Belohlavek, who occasionally crossed the line from crispness to a mechanical time-beating — possibly a byproduct of keeping the orchestra so well in line. The program repeats Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.


‘I messed up’: 61-year-old runner caught cheating on marathon route

for most of his adult life, but in recent years, as his body struggled to make it 26.2 miles, he still fancied himself a marathon runner. “I feel bad,” he said. “There’s no great back story to it. It’s just wrong. I haven’t been feeling that well, didn’t do the proper training. Now, at the end of the day, what do I have? Nothing.” Runners train for months for a marathon, and many suffer through several failed attempts before successfully completing the grueling race. To cheat in a marathon is considered one of the sport’s most egregious sins. Perhaps most famously, a runner named Rosie Ruiz was the top woman finisher in the 1980 Boston Marathon but later was stripped of her title when race officials ruled that she didn’t complete the entire course. More recently, runners Mike Rossi and Kip Litton have been subjected to intense Internet sleuthing and scrutiny over their marathon results. “A lot of running is about integrity and being yourself,” said Jim Hage, a two-time Marine Corps Marathon winner and a member of the race’s Hall of Fame. “The cliche is that there are no shortcuts to a marathon, and to have someone manufacture a shortcut is surprising. . . . I suppose non-runners might think it’s sort of funny and a quirky thing. Runners might take more offense because we understand more what the sport’s about, and it ain’t about shortcuts.” In the weeks following the Marine Corps Marathon each year, race officials usually begin scouring the database and scrutinizing times posted by the top finishers, often cross-checking split times with photos that are taken along the course. “In this case, you click on the photo, yeah, looks like a runner — 61 years old, fit, healthy black male,” Nealis said. “But then you look at the times, and you see he’s missing two mats.” Every five kilometers and at 13.1 miles, race officials position wide rubber timing mats that register when a chip embedded on each runner’s bib passes by. So a runner who finishes the race should have nine split times between the start and the finish. Price, though, was missing times from the 25-kilometer mark, near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and again at 30 kilometers, near the U.S. Botanic Garden. But the mat at the 35-kilometer mark, not far from the Pentagon, showed that Price had resurfaced on the


Hilary Hahn’s most welcome return with her hometown Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Baltimore native Hilary Hahn made a most welcome return performance with her hometown orchestra Thursday at Strathmore in Bethesda. Much had happened since she last appeared with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2011. She canceled several months of concerts in 2014 because of a hand injury, and last summer she became a mother. Whatever the reasons might be, her rendition of Dvorak’s Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 53, was not quite up to the stratospheric standards she set and has maintained for nearly20 years now. Hahn remains one of the greatest violinists in the world. The musical architecture is worked out to the millimeter; the flawless brilliance of her top register dazzles the ear; the rock-steady control of rhythm and accents makes everything seem natural and inevitable, and the cleanliness of her bow arm puts a little sparkle on each note. All of this was fully present in the Dvorak, but there were tiny slips here and there that were uncharacteristic. The ridiculously hard broken octaves near the end of the piece were not perfectly in place, and the big tune at the start of the adagio didn’t sing out with the chocolaty warmth that she so often brought to similar passages in the past. These are small quibbles, notable only because I never had any before (violinistically speaking), hearing her at least a half-dozen times over the years. And Hahn on an off night is still above almost all her peers. She and guest conductor Hannu Lintu were enjoying themselves with the piece, and the ovation from audience and orchestra at the end was volcanic. May she grace our stages many more times. Lintu then returned for Sibelius’s “Four Legends from the Kalevala,” Op. 22. Although “The Swan of Tuonela” and “Lemminkäinen’s Return” pop up on orchestra programs now and then, the two longer pieces are rarely heard, and they should be. As Lintu remarked, the collection really amounts to Sibelius’s Eighth Symphony, and his performance was rich with drama and detail. I have more than once noticed that the BSO seems to play better with unfamiliar music; the musicians all have to take the parts home and practice them carefully, and a strong conductor, such as Lintu, can work wonders. He has an unsophisticated stick technique — beat patterns are pretty general, and his left hand simply mirrors the right for much of the time. But his


At Md. food warehouse, volunteers ensure the needy’s Thanksgiving is a day of plenty

people just can’t afford the food in the grocery store,” Saunders said. “This food is cheaper, and the quality is great. I get groceries here myself each month, too.” Packing nearby was Nichole Harris, a psychologist with Community Counseling and Mentoring Services in Largo, a mental-health center, with others from her agency. “This is my first time working with this program, but members from our center help every year,” Harris said. “I do other programs through my church, and it is a great way to give back.” Volunteer organizations that assisted with Friday’s work also included the ARC of Prince George’s County. This year, the average cost of a Thanksgiving meal for 10 people is topping $50 for the first time, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. But a two-meal combo package from the SHARE Network sells for $43. The group is able to offer reduced-price food by buying directly from wholesalers at bulk rates rather than dealing with grocery stores. “We cut out the middleman,” said Jaynee Acevedo, executive director of the program. “Our proteins are coming out of packing plants in Chicago. Our potatoes are coming out of the fields in Maine.” This food is shipped to SHARE’s large storage facility in Hyattsville. Each month, community volunteers meet there to package the items and take them to one of the 200-plus SHARE distribution sites, Acevedo said. Among them are churches, rehabilitation centers and other health-care facilities. A typical monthly value package from SHARE includes about $40 to $50 worth of groceries for $21, Acevedo said. The $43 Thanksgiving combo package includes fixings for a traditional turkey dinner in addition to items for a second meal, among them a roasted chicken, potatoes, stuffing mix, macaroni and whole fruit. Over the past 25 years, SHARE has distributed more than 50 million pounds of food to about 7 million people, Acevedo said. Tim Gorman, the SHARE team leader for Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Northwest Washington, said he has seen how these affordable meals help change people’s lives. “During tough economic times, this allows people to be able to maintain their dignity by getting fresh, nutritious food,” he said. “We’ve seen wonderful cases of people who receive this food. It allows them to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” Moving forward in 2016, Acevedo said, the program will focus its efforts on tackling food insecurity among senior citizens.


Beer of the Week: Avery Rumpkin

Avery Rumpkin Ale, a strong pumpkin ale, is aged for six months in rum barrels. (Avery Brewing) Beer lovers can talk all day about what goes best with Thanksgiving dinner. You’ll hear experts and sommeliers make the case for a Belgian-style dubbel or triple; a dry and herbal saison; or a sweet, malty brown ale. (Heck, maybe even a bottle of mead.) Those are all good options. But the most important beer at Thanksgiving, for me, is the one you reach for once you’ve pushed away from the table. After consuming a hearty, carb-heavy feast, you need an after-dinner beer that’s strong enough and complex enough to cut through the impending food coma. This year, I’ll be bringing a bottle of Avery Brewing’s Rumpkin, a pumpkin ale “aged in fine, fresh rum barrels” for six months, according to the Boulder, Colo., brewery. The time spent in wood is immediately obvious: Vanilla and brown sugar are prominent in the nose, alongside nutmeg and other pumpkin spices. The body is on the sweeter side, with molasses, oak, caramel, ginger and fresh pumpkin puree, and some boozy warmth in the mouth feel. A noticeable but mild burn from the rum shows up in the lingering finish and is your first clue that this is an incredibly smooth beast of a beer. Clocking in at 18 percent alcohol by volume, Rumpkin is one pumpkin ale you should sip from a snifter, not a pint glass. This is the fifth year Avery has made Rumpkin, and although 2015 is the largest release yet, it’s still relatively limited, with only 1,944 cases produced. Still, I found it on shelves at local Total Wine and Whole Foods stores last week, and Rumpkin also shows up at beer-centric liquor stores. Thanksgiving is probably your last chance to drink pumpkin beer before all the spiced holiday and Christmas ales hit the market. And if you’re toasting friends and relatives with Rumpkin, you’ve saved the best for last. — Fritz Hahn Avery Brewing, www.averybrewing.com. About $15 per 12-ounce bottle. More from Food: Beer Column


The questions unanswered in Jordan attack that killed 2 U.S. contractors

olive orchards about 40 miles north of Amman, friends and relatives remembered the father of two as devoted to his king and country. On graduating from university, Abu Zeid quickly rose through police ranks to become a captain in Jordan’s criminal investigations department, often dealing with the country’s most violent criminals. Although he rarely spoke of his work, his relatives said they believe he spent part of his career working on a counterterrorism unit, compiling an extensive file on Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, leading to his appointment at the Jordan International Police Training Center at KASOTC in January. The Jordanian government has declined to comment on Abu Zeid’s professional duties or position at the center. Abu Zeid was an observant Muslim, attending dawn prayers at his neighborhood mosque and even fasting every Monday and Thursday — a voluntary undertaking modeled after the example of the prophet Muhammad. As a job perk, the Jordanian government twice sent him on the hajj; once to accompany his mother on her pilgrimage and again as an award for memorizing the Koran. In all, he made 13 trips to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. “Yes, Anwar was observant, but so we all are, and so were all his colleagues,” said Fadi Abu Zeid, his brother. “Our Islam is a moderate Islam, one that condemns acts of violence.” When he married seven years ago, Abu Zeid paid for his wedding himself at a cost of several thousand dollars, a large sum for a Jordanian police officer. Under pressure, he took out a hefty loan for “personal reasons” from an Islamic bank four months ago, his family members said. They also said that the bulk of Abu Zeid’s $775 monthly salary went to paying off that loan. On the day of the shooting, Abu Zeid attended dawn prayers and took a police bus to Amman. Police say he hid a Kalashnikov assault rifle and 138 rounds of ammunition in a duffel bag. When he reached the gates of the compound, he was asked what was in the bag, according to Jordanian reports. He replied that it was his “winter uniform.” Personal firearms are not allowed on the compound, and only the center’s guards carry guns. In his only reported communications with family or friends that day, Abu Zeid asked his mother to set aside for his dinner a plate of his favorite meal,


Bangladesh executes two former members of Parliament

to accept testimony from some of his alibi witnesses. For Mujahid, it permitted only three of hundreds of potential witnesses to testify, according to the report. “Justice and accountability for the terrible crimes committed during Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence are crucial, but trials need to meet international fair trial standards,” Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “Unfair trials can’t provide real justice, especially when the death penalty is imposed.” The issue of war crimes has been a divisive one in the predominantly Muslim country of 160 million since the war forged the new, secular nation of Bangladesh from what had been East Pakistan. The accused had fought for the Pakistani side during the conflict, which left hundreds of thousands dead. Prosecutors had argued that Chowdhury had accompanied the Pakistani army on a village raid in April 1971 in which scores of Hindus were executed. Mujahid was accused of running a militia that systematically killed the country’s leading artists and intellectuals in the waning days of the war. “It’s the responsibility of the nation to try those who have committed crimes against humanity and genocide. Morally speaking, it is the right thing to do, there is no doubt in my mind,” said Ali Riaz, an expert on Bangladesh who is chair of the department of politics and government at Illinois State University. But he said there were “procedural flaws” in the process that should have been addressed at the outset. In 2013, hundreds of students and other young people massed in Dhaka’s Shahbag Square to call for capital punishment for war criminal Abdul Quader Mollah, whose eventual execution later that year sparked violent protests across the country. News of Sunday’s executions comes as Bangladesh has been reeling under a string of terror attacks, beginning with the killing of four secular bloggers and a publisher this year by a Islamic fundamentalist group inspired by the writings of al-Qaeda. In recent days, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the shootings of three foreign nationals, two of whom have died, and vowed that more attacks will come. Hasina’s government has denied the presence of the Islamic State in the country and said that the deaths of the foreign nationals were fomented by her political opponents and could have been a plan to disrupt the work of the war crimes tribunal. Azad Majumder contributed to this report.


Burma’s top general: ‘I am prepared to talk and answer and discuss’ with Aung San Suu Kyi’s government.

are talking about. So if the country is stable, you will be willing to cede more power to the civilian government? Yes. What are the signposts of stability to you? Number one is the ethnic armed conflict — we need real and total peace in our country. Number two is the maturing of the multiparty democracy system. Third, we need better relations between the ethnics and the government. Only eight ethnic groups signed the cease-fire agreement with the government. Now you need the rest of the groups to sign on? Yes. The other groups need to be brought into the cease-fire. What do you think about the criticism of Myanmar’s treatment of the Rohingya? We do not allow the word Rohingya. They are Bengalis. These people are not our ethnics. They are not our nationalities. They are from Bangladesh. Would like to see the remaining U.S. sanctions lifted? Yes, it would be a good thing to lift the sanctions. I would like to go back to talking about Section 436 of your constitution, which says that in order to amend it, you need 75 percent of the parliament. The military has 25 percent of the votes, [which gives it] a blocking veto over any changes to the constitution. So after the large vote for the NLD, would you change this article to make it easier to amend the constitution? We — the armed forces — favor national politics, not partisan politics. We are not rigid on the constitution . . . . We have already signed a nationwide cease-fire agreement. But we need a mature and stable political situation in our country. We need to gradually change. Right now we are not ready. What would you need to make you feel comfortable to turn more power over to the civilians? It would depend on the stability of our country and people understanding the practice of democracy. Some countries have faced problems as they become democracies. Are you referring to the Middle East and Arab Spring? The Middle Eastern countries are the worst example. We have only experienced democracy for a short time. To get good results for our country, you need to be patient. It is very difficult for us to have quick change in our country. Were you impressed by the way people turned out and voted on election day? I think the current government cannot fulfill people’s desires.