Video: Capital Weather Gang previews winter outlook for D.C. government

of winter the D.C. area will face, but said to expect some cold snaps and snow events, which are difficult to avoid in this region. After Ross and Strong presented their outlooks, Cheh questioned both forecasters on several topics. Capital Weather Gang’s Matt Ross and National Weather Service meteorologist Christopher Strong discuss the challenges of forecasting snowstorms during a D.C. Council Committee on Transportation and the Environment hearing on Oct. 25. The bulk of this question and answer session focused on the challenges posed by the small rush hour snow event of Jan. 20 last year, two days before the big blizzard, which caught the region offguard and stranded many motorists for hours. Strong stressed the difficulty of predicting little events like this and contrasted that to the relative ease of forecasting the big ones. But he said the Weather Service will implement new procedures this winter that will give local transportation officials more information and lead time about low confidence, but potentially high impact events. Cheh also asked Ross and Strong about differences in the Weather Gang and Weather Service outlooks, which the two agreed were minor. She concluded her time by asking about the effects of climate change on local weather, which both Ross and Strong said may be intensifying certain extreme events. Following Cheh’s questions, Ward 6 councilman Charles Allen asked Strong and Ross about whether it is appropriate for snowfall measurements at Reagan National Airport to represent the District. He plainly stated he thought the District should have an official location for measuring snow, and mentioned the White House or Naval Observatory as possibilities. Capital Weather Gang’s Matt Ross and National Weather Service meteorologist Christopher Strong discuss what goes into measuring snowfall totals during a D.C. Council Committee on Transportation and the Environment hearing on Oct. 25. Strong did not disagree with Allen but said coming up with the staffing resources to measure snow around the clock is a challenge while Reagan National Airport already has dedicated weather observers. Ross said he agreed with Allen and that Reagan National Airport is a poor place to measure snowfall. He said it did not represent most of the District given its location next to the river and at an altitude near sea level. He mentioned past snowfall measurement controversy at the airport and said he thought the Mall, White House, Arboretum or Zoo would serve as better sites.


Two thirds of the world’s vertebrate wildlife could be gone by 2020, report warns

mid-century. As a result, many of the problems facing wildlife involve being over-fished or hunted for food and losing their habitat as more and more land is cleared for agriculture. The WWF estimates that farmland already occupies more than a third of the planet’s surface. “Even though its environmental impacts are immense, the current food system is expected to expand rapidly to keep up with projected increases in population, wealth and animal-protein consumption,” the report notes. “Transitioning toward an adaptive and resilient food system that provides nutritious food for all within the boundaries of a single planet is a daunting but essential goal.” Other growing threats to wildlife include pollution, competition from invasive species and the ever-increasing influence of climate change, which can change the temperature and precipitation patterns animals have evolved to tolerate, strain their food resources and force entire populations to migrate or face extinction. What’s bad for wildlife is often bad for people, the report points out, noting that healthy and intact ecosystems “provide us with food, fresh water, clean air, energy, medicine, and recreation. In addition, we depend upon healthy and diverse natural systems for the regulation and purification of water and air, climatic conditions, pollination and seed dispersal, and control of pests and diseases.” In order to avoid the stunning losses projected by this year’s report, the authors recommend a variety of prevention tactics, including increasing the number of protected areas on Earth and committing to more sustainable energy and food systems. The alternative, the report suggests, is a world in which unsustainable activities eventually exceed the planet’s ability to support both the natural and human systems it houses. “The dominant worldview of infinite natural resources, of externalities and exponential growth, is at an end,” said Johan Rockström, executive director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre, in another foreword to the report. “We are no longer a small world on a big planet. We are now a big world on a small planet, where we have reached a saturation point.” Read more at Energy Environment: In loss for ExxonMobil, NY Supreme Court orders oil giant to produce climate documents We’re adding record amounts of wind and solar — and we’re still not moving fast enough It could be the nation’s first carbon tax. And environmentalists are fighting over it For more, you can sign up for our weekly newsletter here and follow us on Twitter here.


Women doing their makeup on the train are ‘ugly,’ says Japanese commercial

makeup on the train.” While Japan has all sorts of guidelines dictating considerate train behavior, from not wearing your backpack on your back to not talking on your cellphone or eating on the train, this latest directive is a bridge too far. “I can understand it if Tokyu’s ad asks me to stop putting makeup on because makeup powder might spill over or its smell bothers others,” wrote one Twitter user, @ryudokaoruko, according to The Japan Times. “But a railway company has no right to tell me whether I look beautiful or ugly.” It has since been retweeted more than 5,800 times. “If the firm wants to clamp down on people who make others uncomfortable, it should create a commercial targeting people with body odors, or people who smell of alcohol or vomit,” wrote @tinasuke. Kyodo News Agency reported another user as saying: “There are passengers who are a much bigger nuisance, such as drunks and gropers.” The video is one of four made by Tokyu as part of an awareness campaign on passenger etiquette launched this fall, Japan Today said. The others are aimed at discouraging people from using their smartphones while walking along the platform and jumping the line to board a train. Despite the reaction, the railway company is not backing down and has no plans to withdraw the ad. “We have actually received more positive feedback than negative,” Masayuki Yanagisawa, a Tokyu spokesman, said, The Japan Times reported. The ad frowning on women — many of whom are presumably on their way to work — comes at a time when the Abe government is trying to break down gender barriers encourage more women into the workplace. But ads like this and court decisions like the recent ruling that married women can not use their maiden names, even at work, show just how far Japan has to go. Despite the government campaign to “let women shine,” Japan is going backwards in the rankings. The latest Global Gender Gap Report from the World Economic Forum put Japan at 111th of 144 countries, 10 places lower than last year. "Japan records a significant widening of the gender gap for professional and technical workers, adversely affecting its ranking despite further progress in reducing the gender gap in tertiary education enrollment and women’s representation among legislators, senior officials and managers, and in improving wage equality for similar work," the report said.


Another parent’s overdose, another child in the back seat: A ‘new norm’ for drug users?

the passenger seat, and the boy staring at what's in front of him — spread like wildfire. So, too, has the photo of Hurt. Such incidents are becoming the "new norm" for drug users, Tallent told the Indianapolis Star. Erika Hurt. (Town of Hope Police Department) "They're traveling to other places because they don't want to be caught by someone that disapproves of their drug abuse," the marshal explained to The Washington Post. Brian Allen, public safety director for East Liverpool, the Ohio city where the man and the woman overdosed, agreed. The explanation as to why some choose to take drugs while in public is simple, he said: They're more likely to survive. "If they overdose in their home, the odds of them dying is much greater," Allen said. "No one can see them, and no one can get to them." Tallent said he knows of several instances involving people who injected themselves with heroin while in public. Allen said he sees similar incidents at least once a day, many of them involving adults who overdosed in their cars while children in their custody sat in the back. Shortly after the East Liverpool overdose, a grandmother in Elyria, Ohio, about 120 miles away, was found passed out while her pickup truck was running at a gas station, according to ABC affiliate WEWS-TV. The woman's 8-month-old grandson was in the back, without a car seat. First responders had to break the passenger side window to put the truck in park, the station reported. More recently, on Tuesday afternoon, a Michigan woman was found unconscious in her pickup truck at a gas station in Detroit, according to WJBK-TV. Two young children, ages 2 and 4, were in the back. The woman was "down to about two breaths a minute," a paramedic told the Fox affiliate. On the same day, a Kentucky high school teacher was charged with driving under the influence after he was found unconscious in a crashed vehicle. In all instances, the unconscious people were revived with Narcan, a lifesaving medication now used by many law enforcement agencies across the country. Nationwide, opioids such as heroin and prescription pain relievers killed more than 28,000 people in 2014, more than any year on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least half of all deaths from an opioid overdose involved a prescription drug, the CDC said,


The moon? The Pacific? How far will your generation go in the Marine Corps Marathon?

The 25,480 runners signed up for Sunday’s Marine Corps Marathon span five generations, from a pack of 14-year-old Gen Z adolescents to an 83-year-old not-so-silent member of the Silent Generation. In running terms, they range in era from Jesse Owens to Dash in “The Incredibles.” The oldest among them is former Marine John Corbet of Miamisburg, Ohio, who ran track in high school but didn’t attempt a marathon until age 80, when he ran the 2013 Marine Corps Marathon. Sunday’s race will be his sixth. John Corbet with his medal from the 2015 Marine Corps Marathon. (Courtesy of Leatherneck Magazine) The Korean War veteran, who also plays softball and basketball, competes in far more races — and at more distances — than most runners of any age would attempt. Two years ago, he ran 44 events, including a Senior Games track meet and two marathons. Last year, he slacked off to just 40. If one interview is any indication, the part-time county court volunteer could be a full-time storyteller. He had an arsenal of anecdotes about his running career, his career at a division of General Motors, his family and even his love life, most of which ended with a punchline. “I have a picture of myself finishing last year and getting my medal from two young lieutenants — and boy were they cute,” he said. “One gave me a kiss on the cheek. Now I tell people, this is why I run the Marine Corps Marathon.” Corbet says his time goal for Sunday’s race is “under six hours and standing up — and still breathing.” Although Corbet will be the oldest marathoner, he will not be the oldest runner on the streets Sunday. That distinction goes to 85-year-old Tom Momiyama of Silver Spring, who ran the marathon 25 times in 27 years before switching to the accompanying 10K. A lifelong athlete who grew up in Tokyo and came to the United States as a college exchange student, Momiyama began entering races in 1967 and ran his first marathon in 1981. “I didn’t know how to run marathons and pretty nearly killed myself,” he said of his first one, the 1981 Marine Corps Marathon, which he still finished in a speedy 3:19:19. The career Navy aviation engineer has very practical advice for younger counterparts who are running long for the first time: “I always say, just plan on running 26


The dog ate my pot brownie: Legalization fuels increase in stoned pets

just 7 percent, said Alaina Buller, a clinic spokeswoman. Those findings echoed the results of a 2012 study that found such cases quadrupled at two Colorado veterinary clinics in the five years after medical marijuana was legalized in that state. Nigel, a teacup pig with a big appetite, got even hungrier after eating peanut butter cookies that contained marijuana. (Family photo) As several YouTube videos illustrate, baked pets look a lot like really high people: Glassy-eyed, teetering, lethargic and pretty pathetic. In the case of Nigel, a 1-year-old pet teacup pig who was vacationing with his family in Nantucket this summer, it led to a serious case of the munchies. One member of the family — none of whom would agree to be identified in this article — had recently been in Colorado, where he had acquired pot peanut butter cookies that were in his backpack. Nigel, who was described as having a voracious appetite when sober, rooted them out and left the empty package as evidence. “Very soon, we had a very stoned pig on our hands,” said one witness, a 54-year-old writer who lives in New York City. “He’s just wandering around the kitchen desperate for food, doing a lot of whining and oinking. Then eventually, he just passed out.” Animals can sleep off a marijuana high in many cases, according to veterinarians interviewed, all of whom said they immediately suspect the substance when an incontinent pet shows up. Other common toxins, such as caffeine or pesticides, can be far more dangerous. But veterinarians say there’s growing concern about the increased potency of today’s marijuana edibles, many of which are made with butters or oils infused with highly concentrated tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. Many also contain chocolate, which can be fatal to dogs. Marijuana ingestion by animals can lead to vomiting, racing or slowed heart rates, tremors or even seizures. Veterinarians said it is usually treated by inducing vomiting or administering intravenous fluids or anti-nausea medications. In some cases, medications to control heart rates or tremors are necessary. “Most of them just need a night of detox,” said veterinarian Shawn Thomas, who owns Tanasbourne Veterinary Emergency near Portland. The worst cases, Thomas said, involve owners who have also partaken. He recalled one standard poodle that was hospitalized for more than two days after devouring THC-infused butter. Its owner, Thomas said, didn’t quickly realize the dog was suffering because “he


America’s drug war: 30 years of rampaging wildebeest

of Texas upstaged him by calling drugs, “a menace draining away our economy of some $230 billion this year, slowly rotting away at the fabric of our society and seducing and killing our young.” The $230 billion figure — roughly equal to the Social Security budget — apparently was plucked from thin air. The bills flew fast and furious. No more probation for druggies! No more suspended sentences! Death penalty for kingpins! A billion dollars for new prisons! A billion for state and local narcotics squads! Repeal the exclusionary rule! Elevate the drug czar to cabinet status! Urine-test all federal employees! […] Drugs are “a threat worse than any nuclear warfare or any chemical warfare on any battlefield,” South Carolina Republican Thomas Hartnett said, sponsoring a measure to force the president to stop all drug smuggling within 45 days. Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia called it, “the equivalent of passing a law saying the president shall, by Thanksgiving, devise a cure for the common cold.” It passed anyway. The drug bill’s absurdity and political utility were plain for all to see. It’s “out of control,” David McCurdy of Oklahoma told Newsweek, “but of course I’m for it.” We have, of course, seen a dramatic shift in public attitudes about some drugs since then, particularly with marijuana. But we haven’t lost the consequences-be-damned instinct to legislate and prosecute our way out of what is ultimately a health problem. The drug in question may change, but the pattern remains. Stories percolate about a new drug-related public health problem. A high-profile death attributed to that drug (not always accurately) starts the panic. Demagoguing law-and-order types, anti-drug activists and editorial boards demand that something be done. Rash legislation gets passed, followed by decades of unintended consequences. You needn’t look far to see the pattern on display still today. Watch how quickly politicians will rush to ban whatever trendy new drug gets hyped on the local news. Or look at the response to the latest crisis of opioid addiction. We’ve had calls to criminally prosecute doctors believed to be over-prescribing opioid painkillers. We have grandstanding lawmakers and prosecutors demanding murder charges, or even the death penalty, for people who supply heroin to addicts who ultimately die of an overdose. And, of course, we have state legislatures responding to the crisis with — you guessed it — more mandatory minimums. It’s a pattern almost as predictable


New data shows a deadly measles complication is more common than thought

to Germany, is now in hospice, unable to move or respond to commands, researchers said. The average age of SSPE diagnosis was 12, but the range was from 3 to 35 years. Many of the patients had ongoing cognitive or movement problems before they were definitively diagnosed. SSPE typically progresses in stages. Initially, the signs are subtle, starting with behavioral problems, Cherry said. Then seizures develop until the person becomes comatose. An additional suprising finding is that Asians are disproportionately affected by SSPE, Cherry said. He is not sure why but suspects the disorder could behave like some other diseases, such as influenza, which seem to hit Asians harder and cause higher mortality than other ethnic groups. Measles infection causes fever, runny nose, cough, red eyes, sore throat and rash. The virus spreads throughout the body and is usually cleared within 14 days. In rare cases, the virus spreads to the brain but then becomes dormant. Eventually, that can lead to SSPE and result in death. Among other severe complications of measles, as many as 1 of every 20 children will develop pneumonia — actually the most common cause of death from measles in young children. And about 1 of every 1,000 children will develop encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, that can lead to convulsions and can leave the child deaf or with intellectual disability. Because there is a 5 percent failure rate with the MMR vaccine, a second dose is given to children before they begin school. Measles is so contagious that 95 percent of people need to be vaccinated with two doses to protect those who aren't, experts say. That means all who are eligible, including adults who haven't been previously vaccinated, should receive two doses of the vaccine. Nearly 92 percent of U.S. children 19 to 35 months old have received the MMR vaccine, according to the CDC. Through Oct. 8, 54 people from 16 states were reported to have measles this year. This post has been updated. Correction: This post originally said that babies cannot be vaccinated with MMR before 12 months of age. Exceptions are made for babies 6 months or older if they are at risk of exposure to measles. Read more: What you need to know about those new, deadly heart-surgery infections STI rates hit record high as screening clinics close Despite being shamed for overcharging patients, these hospitals raised prices, again


were infected. They identified 17 cases of SSPE during that period, all of whom had measles before being vaccinated. All but one of those patients have died. A 5-year-old boy, who was infected during travel to Germany, is now in hospice, unable to move or respond to commands, researchers said. The average age of SSPE diagnosis was 12, but the range was from 3 to 35 years. Many of the patients had ongoing cognitive or movement problems before they were definitively diagnosed. SSPE typically progresses in stages. Initially, the signs are subtle, starting with behavioral problems, Cherry said. Then seizures develop until the person becomes comatose. An additional suprising finding is that Asians are disproportionately affected by SSPE, Cherry said. He is not sure why but suspects the disorder could behave like some other diseases, such as influenza, which seem to hit Asians harder and cause higher mortality than other ethnic groups. Measles infection causes fever, runny nose, cough, red eyes, sore throat and rash. The virus spreads throughout the body and is usually cleared within 14 days. In rare cases, the virus spreads to the brain but then becomes dormant. Eventually, that can lead to SSPE and result in death. Among other severe complications of measles, as many as 1 of every 20 children will develop pneumonia — actually the most common cause of death from measles in young children. And about 1 of every 1,000 children will develop encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, that can lead to convulsions and can leave the child deaf or with intellectual disability. Because there is a 5 percent failure rate with the MMR vaccine, a second dose is given to children before they begin school. Measles is so contagious that 95 percent of people need to be vaccinated with two doses to protect those who aren't, experts say. That means all who are eligible, including adults who haven't been previously vaccinated, should receive two doses of the vaccine. Nearly 92 percent of U.S. children 19 to 35 months old have received the MMR vaccine, according to the CDC. Through Oct. 8, 54 people from 16 states were reported to have measles this year. This post has been updated. Read more: What you need to know about those new, deadly heart-surgery infections STI rates hit record high as screening clinics close Despite being shamed for overcharging patients, these hospitals raised prices, again


The Rio Olympics drug-testing program nearly collapsed, anti-doping agency reports

target tests were aborted in this way.” Of the samples collected, 30 percent were unusable or flagged for nonconformities, the report states, compared to just 10 percent from the 2012 Olympics in London. The reasons for the nonconformities varied, but some samples were deemed unusable due to inaccurate paperwork. For example, athletes were sometimes marked for the wrong discipline, or no gender or age was indicated, the report states. The report blamed several logistical failings for this near-collapse of the protocol, including inadequate training of personnel or lack of personnel altogether. “[O]n many occasions test missions were compromised because a significant number of the chaperones scheduled to attend the mission (on several occasions, more than 50 percent of those expected) failed to turn up, or turned up very late,” the report states. “Furthermore, on many occasions those chaperones that did arrive were generally entirely new to the role and had received little to no adequate training or other preparation; and often spoke little or no English.” The report also found poor pay and even insufficient meal vouchers contributed to the problems. These concerns were later alleviated in the second half of the Games when Rio’s 2016 Anti-Doping General Manager stepped in, “but they could and should have been avoided in the first place by adequate planning and preparation,” the report states. The only reason the anti-doping protocol worked at all was due to a small team of individuals who went above and beyond to overcome the program’s adversities, according to the report. “Without them, the Games anti-doping program would have almost certainly collapsed; but due to their initiative, tenacity and professionalism in the face of great difficulties, the many problems identified above were patched over and sample collection was conducted in a manner that ensured the identity and integrity of the samples,” the report states. Seven athletes ended up being sanctioned for doping offenses, according to the Associated Press, including one medalist. Kyrgyzstan’s Izzat Artykov was stripped of a bronze in the men’s 69-kilogram weightlifting competition after testing positive for the stimulant strychnine. The Court of Arbitration for Sport, which made the announcement in August, did not elaborate on when and how Artykov’s sample was taken. Throughout the report, Taylor made recommendations on how to ensure future Olympiads aren’t plagued with the same issues. On Friday, International Olympic Committee medical director Richard Bludgett told the AP he would study the


SpaceX says it is working on fix to return to flight

A Falcon 9 rocket set to take a satellite into space on Labor Day weekend exploded during testing days before. Courtesy of http://www.uslaunchreport.com/. In a statement posted online Friday afternoon, the company said it has been able to replicate the failure of a critical component, and said it is still investigating what caused the component to fail. The company says it is already working on a potential fix to what it called "loading conditions," and plans to resume testing the rocket stage in the coming days. "This is an important milestone on the path to returning to flight," the statement said. The explosion was the second such incident in the last two years. Immediately after the incident, the company partnered with officials from three federal agencies to investigate the cause of the explosion. Nobody was hurt in the explosion. But the incident raised questions around the safety and capabilities of one of the leading players in the commercial spaceflight industry. SpaceX, the commercial spaceflight company founded by billionaire technology executive Elon Musk, has been launching rockets to ferry commercial satellites into orbit around the Earth. The company has delivered cargo to the International Space Station on behalf of NASA and is under contract to one day transport humans there. SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk hopes one day to fly rockets to Mars. The investigation took a surprising turn when SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk took to Twitter calling it the "most difficult and complex failure we have ever had in 14 years." He said a mysterious "bang" sound occurred seconds before the explosion. [Related: Implication of sabotage adds intrigue to SpaceX investigation] The explosion became a flashpoint in a contract dispute, when the chief executive of a rival company penned a letter to Pentagon officials asking them to take the explosion into account when evaluating SpaceX's past performance. Members of Congress joined the fray last month when a group of Republican senators questioned the company's safety credentials in a letter to federal officials, and a separate bi-partisan group of 24 congressmen came out in support of the company. The statement posted Thursday said the company planned to return to flight "by the end of the year."


The battle of the bulge: Many of Canada’s troops are fat

driven by an increase in time spent using computers and surfing the internet,” the report said. Video games were also a major factor, with participation in sedentary activities even higher than average among soldiers ages 18 to 29. According to the survey, 17.4 percent of Canadian Armed Forces personnel reported being unable to deploy overseas because of health problems, including 25 percent of those considered obese. More than half of the respondents said they intended to lose weight over the next year. Scott Malcolm, director of Force Health Protection for the Canadian Forces, insisted in an interview that BMI should not be used as a proxy for fitness and that the index is used primarily to determine members’ risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes. “Our risks are about at par with Canadian or North American society,” he added. In the United States, the Pentagon is also reportedly concerned about excess weight among its personnel, but not at the same level. According to a recent report in the Military Times, 7.8 percent of the U.S. military is considered overweight, based on a similar BMI test, although it was not immediately known if the two surveys were comparable. Malcolm said that he hadn’t seen the U.S. study but that at first glance it seemed the two surveys would be “apples and oranges.” Among other things, the U.S. military is considerably younger than Canada’s, he said. “There is a problem,” said Scott Taylor, editor and publisher of Esprit de Corps, an independent Canadian military magazine. Taylor, a former infantryman, says that Canadian combat troops are extremely fit but that there are relatively few of them in the Canadian military. “We’ve got one of the worst ratios of headquarters to combat units anywhere,” he said. And it’s at headquarters in Ottawa, he said, that “you’re going to get guys taking the bus and eating pizza.” Taylor says the Canadian military is so top-heavy that there are now more personnel in Ottawa headquarters than there are in all of the Royal Canadian Navy. Because it’s an all-volunteer force, the Canadian military is worried about retention, so it has trouble enforcing fitness standards for aging members and has even given up on fitness standards for recruits. Instead, Taylor says, it will send recruits who aren’t fit enough to what he calls “the fat farm,” a special program to get newcomers up to standard before they


Swimmer Ryan Lochte says he plans to compete at 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

Ryan Lochte, who is serving a 10-month swimming suspension, is currently a contestant on “Dancing With the Stars.” (Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Ryan Lochte, the 32-year-old swimmer who caused an international scandal after he exaggerated a tale about getting robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro this summer, confirmed Friday that he plans to compete at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. You Will See Ryan Lochte at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics! “Ladies and gentleman, I will be there in 2020,” the 12-time medalist said on Friday’s episode of the daytime talk show “Hollywood Today.” Lochte, who would be 36 by that point, said he’s taking a “mental break from the sport” while he competes on “Dancing With the Stars.” Along with his “mental break,” Lochte is also serving a 10-month suspension for his actions at a Rio gas station that caused the scandal this summer. Brazilian police charged Lochte with a false crime report after he allegedly vandalized a gas station then misrepresented what happened when security personnel asked for reimbursements for the damage. As part of his punishment over the incident, the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Swimming barred Lochte from competing in the 2017 world championships and took away his stipends and other bonuses, which could total $100,000. Lochte was also banned from attending a ceremony for Team USA at the White House last month. “Unfortunately, this story line took attention away from the athletes who deserved it the most,” USA Swimming Executive Director Chuck Wielgus said in a statement accompanying the Sept. 8 announcement of the suspension of Lochte and the three other swimmers involved in the Rio incident. Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and James Feigen all received four-month suspensions but remain eligible to compete at the 2017 world championship meet. Neither the U.S. Olympic Committee nor USA Swimming has commented on Lochte’s announcement that he aims to compete in Tokyo.


PM Update: Mild temperatures overnight. Warm again on Sunday with afternoon showers.

Monument galore by Jon Sonderman via Flickr It only says Oct. 29 on the calendar, but that doesn’t mean it has to feel like late October. Strong high pressure and a beneficial wind direction gave the entire DMV some real nice weather Saturday. And the good times will keep on rolling, at least for another 24 hours or so, before we return to more “traditional” autumn weather. Through tonight: View the current weather at The Washington Post. Tomorrow (Sunday): The numbers to beat via National Weather Service See Ian Livingston’s forecast through the weekend. And if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For related traffic news, check out Dr. Gridlock. When will D.C. hit the freezing mark?: Dates of the first and last recorded 32 degree readings at DCA. Via Cornell. Want our 5 a.m. forecast delivered to your email inbox? Subscribe here.


What do Trump and Brexit have in common? Warnings of electoral fraud.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump reviewing his revamped Trump Turnberry golf course in Scotland in June 24. Trump saluted Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, saying, “They took back their country, it’s a great thing.” (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP) How is Donald Trump’s presidential campaign like the Brexit vote last June in which British voters decided to leave the European Union? In many, many ways, as commentators have noted. Both are right-wing populist movements that have beaten expectations. Both Trump and Brexit leaders have drawn support from largely white, older, “left-behind” voters unhappy with the political establishment. Immigration has been a big issue on both sides of the Atlantic. And although there are important differences — one being that Trump appears unlikely to prevail on Election Day — Trump went so far as to call himself “Mr. Brexit” over the summer. But here’s a similarity that few have noticed: In advance of the poll, both campaigns have claimed that the votes would be riddled with flaws. Their supporters also planned to intervene in the electoral process and stop the “fraud.” The Brexiteers warned that the referendum would be rigged and that ineligible immigrants would vote Trump has been claiming, without evidence, that the vote will be rigged against him and has called on his supporters to monitor the polls. Several Brexit campaigners did the same — including United Kingdom Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, now a Trump supporter. Such tactics weren’t new for Farage’s team, which alleged fraud when he lost his 2015 race for a seat in Parliament from Thanet South. As the Brexit referendum approached, Farage was keen to point out that ineligible “E.U. migrants” were being sent poll cards. There was then an organized Brexiteer campaign to have voters take their own pens to the polling stations. If citizens used the pencil provided by electoral officials, they warned, their votes could be rubbed out and changed. The hashtag #Pencilgate was born. One poll found that more than half of “Leave” voters thought that the referendum would be rigged. More was to follow. Just as the polls closed and before the result was known, Farage argued that the government’s late extension of the voter registration deadline had “got 2 million voters . . . [and] tipped the balance” in favor of the “Remain” campaign. The extension occurred because the government’s central electoral registration website crashed just before


D.C.-area forecast: A cooler, fright-free Halloween, but the ghost of summer could haunt us midweek

A skeleton at Congressional Cemetery on Oct. 21. (Miki J. via Flickr) TODAY’S DAILY DIGIT 7/10: EXPRESS FORECAST Today: View the current weather conditions at The Washington Post headquarters. FORECAST IN DETAIL It’s spooky: No matter how deep into fall we get, 80-degree summerlike weather keeps coming back at us. Until Sunday, we thought the record-setting warm spell in the middle of the month was the end of it. But after a brief cool down today, a warming trend begins Tuesday that could climax with another 80-degree day Thursday. After a cool front brings showers into the region late Thursday or Thursday night, temperatures return to near normal through next weekend, which will probably be dry. Today (Halloween): Tonight: Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest updates. For related traffic news, check out Dr. Gridlock. Keep reading for the forecast through the weekend… Tomorrow (Tuesday): Tomorrow night: A LOOK AHEAD Wednesday Thursday The period Friday through Sunday, right now, looks fantastic. We should have mostly sunny, mild days and cool, clear nights. Highs should generally range from 60 to 65, with lows mostly in the 40s except 35-40 in our colder locations. Confidence: Medium SNOW POTENTIAL INDEX 0/10 (→):


1 in 7 children globally lives with ‘toxic’ air, study finds

that the vast majority — about 90 percent of outdoor air pollution deaths — are in low- and middle-income countries.” Around 2 billion children live in areas where outdoor air pollution exceeds international limits. Around 300 million live in areas with especially toxic air. (UNICEF) Last month, the WHO released an analysis underscoring the extent of the risks of indoor and outdoor air pollution, which the agency has said accounts for millions of deaths globally each year. The report found that more than 90 percent of people face pollution levels that fall short of WHO standards. With children and adults alike, the greatest concern is a form of pollution called PM2.5, which refers to particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers — so small that they can be inhaled, travel into the lungs and enter the bloodstream. The WHO considers a concentration greater than 10 micrograms per cubic meter of these fine particles to be dangerous. The sources of air pollution are among the main factors fueling the warming of the planet, namely fossil-fuel emissions. Particulate air pollution in cities can come from many sources, from smokestacks to automotive tailpipes, from manufacturing facilities to exhaust from planes and ships. As urban air quality declines, researchers say, people living in cities face increased risks of heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and acute respiratory illnesses. And in many places, the burden of pollution is only growing worse, not better. Another WHO report, released earlier this year, found that air pollution continues to worsen in urban areas in many parts of the world, hitting the poorest city dwellers hardest and contributing to a wide range of potentially life-shortening health problems. The agency found that in “low- and middle-income countries,” 98 percent of urban areas with populations of more than 100,000 fall shy of its air-quality standards. Asia accounts for a large number of deaths attributable to air pollution. But increasing industrialization and urbanization are contributing to growing air-quality risks in parts of Africa. George D. Thurston, a professor of environmental medicine and population health at the New York University School of Medicine, said many children in developing countries face a “triple whammy” when it comes to air pollution. They already lack proper nutrition and other needs that put them more at risk. Beyond significant levels of outdoor pollution, they often encounter additional air pollution at home, where unvented cooking with fuels such as wood, dried


The month of October in restaurant openings and closings

Chef Kyoo Eom has crafted a menu of globally-inspired dishes at Dirty Habit. (April Greer for The Washington Post) Things show no sign of slowing down in D.C.'s restaurant scene. Want to know which eateries have come and gone this month? Here's your cheat sheet. Hello : Ambar: Backroom at Kingbird: Commonwealth Joe: Dirty Habit: District Taco: Ice Cream Jubilee: Johnny's Half Shell: Jrink: La Colombe: Letena: Los Cuates: Ocean Prime: Owen's Ordinary: Proper 21: Service Bar: Stella's PopKern: Farewell Fuego Cocina y Tequileria: Zenebech: Read more: - The month of September in restaurant openings and closings - The month of August in restaurant openings and closings - The month of July in restaurant openings and closings - The month of June in restaurant openings and closings


With mother on mind, Cirovski steers top-ranked Terps through tumultuous weekend

car was moving about 20 mph. The driver stopped and administered aid before paramedics arrived. Since her husband died in 1988, Ljubica has been the “rock of the family,” Sasho said. The Cirovskis emigrated from the Macedonian region of Yugoslavia when Sasho was 8 and settled in Windsor. While Sasho has worked at Maryland since 1993, his brother is president of Windsor TFC, a development program affiliated with MLS’s Toronto FC. Sasho played at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Vancho at Michigan State. Their sister Diana, who works for Chrysler, lives in Detroit. After his urgent conversation with Vancho on Friday, Sasho found it hard to focus at practice. “My head was spinning,” he said. Their mother’s life was not in danger, so he did not need to fly immediately. Coincidentally, the Terrapins were scheduled to fly the next morning to Detroit ahead of Sunday’s match against Michigan in Ann Arbor, 45 miles west of Windsor, which sits across the river from Detroit. After the team got settled, Vancho picked up Sasho and drove him to the hospital. He shuttled him back that night. On Sunday, as previously planned by Vancho, some 50 friends and family members attended the match at U-M Soccer Stadium. Compounding Sasho’s personal concerns, three of his players fell ill late Saturday evening. They weren’t well enough to suit up the next afternoon. During the game, a fourth player was overcome by sickness. The staff traced the problem to a restaurant in College Park, where the players had dined Friday night. In addition, Amar Sejdic did not travel because of a minor injury. After falling behind 2-0 in the first 19 minutes to the three-win Wolverines, the Terrapins (15-0-2) rallied in the second half, scored the equalizer in the 89th minute and prevailed in extra time, 3-2, on Suli Dainkeh’s golden goal with 62 seconds left. Maryland has won 13 straight heading into the Big Ten tournament, which begins this weekend at campus sites. Regardless of how they fare, the Terrapins are sure to receive a top-four seed in the 48-team NCAA tournament and, as long as they’re alive, host matches at Ludwig Field through the quarterfinals leading to the College Cup, Dec. 9-11 in Houston. With almost a week before his team’s next match, Cirovski might return to Windsor in the coming days to visit his mom. “It’s been a rough few days,” he said, “but she’s feeling better.”


Why a new president and Congress must support smart freight rail policy

nation’s rail networks, expand their capacity, meet the needs of a growing economy and further improve safety. They would also endanger many national policies and goals that are tied directly to the efficiency and health of our nationwide freight rail system, including: - Improving the capacity, efficiency and productivity of freight railroads overall to aid a growing economy. - Increasing U.S. exports—and their shipment by rail as the most efficient transport means—and supporting jobs tied to exports. - Achieving U.S. energy independence through the rail transportation of domestic energy products. - Increasing freight railroad’s share of freight traffic to reduce congestion on our nation’s highways and lower CO2 emissions. - Ensuring reliable service for Amtrak passengers and commuters, because many passenger trains run on freight rail infrastructure. A key task for the new president and Congress must be to put the brakes on a federal agency whose regulatory actions are needlessly placing one of the nation’s core industries at risk. Federal policy should ensure a smarter, pro-growth regulatory framework to boost an economy that sorely needs it. What’s at stake Our freight railroads help American industries succeed by assuring them an efficient and affordable means of moving their products to domestic and global markets they otherwise might not be able to reach. So this means a vast number of jobs quite literally ride on the freight rails. In fact, the major U.S. railroads in 2014 supported approximately 1.5 million jobs and helped facilitate $274 billion in annual economic activity. They also paid nearly $90 billion in wages and $33 billion in tax revenues, according to Towson University’s Regional Economic Studies Institute. America’s freight rail system, in contrast to those of most other countries, receives virtually no taxpayer supported funding. Instead, U.S. railroads have invested more than $600 billion in the rail infrastructure over the past three decades, made possible by the fact that they can earn the revenues needed for continued investment. This has been in sharp contrast to the deteriorating condition of most publicly funded U.S. transportation networks. In January, the new administration and Congress will be asked to ensure that the freight rail network, which plays an essential role in the nation’s economy, can sustain its efficient and well-managed and maintained transport system even in the face of tremendous change. Millions of jobs – and hundreds of billions of dollars of economic activity – depend on their answer.


Sexual misconduct has started a civil war at this federal service academy

behaviors that have persisted both on campus and during Sea Year.” Foxx, in a letter to members of Congress last week, said the school is taking steps to address the issues raised by accreditors. Tobin declined to say how much the contractor hired by the alumni is being paid or how it plans to survey midshipmen. The company will not be allowed on campus to interview students in person, although they can answer questions by email or off campus, federal officials said. The alumni foundation raises millions of dollars a year for Kings Point, much of it for sports programs. The group was once a bigger force on campus. In 2009, federal auditors found improprieties in the financial relationship between the academy and the foundation. Three years later, former transportation secretary Ray LaHood ordered the school administration to evict the group from its campus offices, according to several people with knowledge of the decision. The academy’s superintendent, Rear Adm. James Helis, told the alumni that the space was needed for other activities. Helis, hired in 2012, is not a licensed mariner, and his hiring angered the alumni. While Kings Point received just one report of sexual assault in the 2014-2015 academic year, government surveys show that 63 percent of women and 11 percent of men experienced unwanted advances or other sexual harassment, either at sea or back on campus. And 17 percent of women and 2 percent of men reporting some kind of sexual assault, defined as unwanted contact, from groping to rape. Some alumni have said these statistics are exaggerated. They claim the survey methodology is flawed because it includes a definition of inappropriate behavior they view as too broad. “We owe it to current and future midshipmen to propose evidence-backed solutions to the Academy’s challenges,” Tobin said. Federal surveys show there are more incidents of misconduct on campus than at sea. But an administration official, who was not authorized to speak about the issue on the record, said that a disproportionate number of assaults, one third, occur while midshipmen are away at sea. The school’s parents association stands with the alumni group. Tom Wesley, an alumnus who is national chairman of the parents association’s executive board, said the group support any initiative whose goal is to return midshipmen to sea on commercial ships. “We are satisfied that the alumni effort meets these criteria,” he said in an email.


Visitor to Chinese zoo proves why you do not prod a resting panda

A feisty giant panda was woken up from a nap by a man who entered his zoo enclosure in China on Oct. 27. The panda tackled the intruder, who eventually escaped unharmed. In a video that alternates between terrifying and adorable, a man visiting the Nanchang Zoo in Jiangxi province, China, can be seen tussling with a panda. The 20-something man, reported China’s Jiangxi Television, was motivated out of a desire to impress his two female companions. So he entered the panda enclosure Thursday and poked one of the animals. Specifically, the man scaled a four-foot-tall barrier, passed over a 10-foot-deep moat and snuck into the playground designed for the large animals. He approached Mei Ling, a 12-year-old, 265-pound panda, and tapped it on the head as it slept. Mei Ling awoke, tackling him by the leg. “It is biting him,” said a woman on the video, according to South China Morning Post. Reuters reported that the pair wrestled for five minutes. For the entirety of the incident caught on video, Mei Ling maintained the upper paw. The animal wrestled the man to the grass, ripping the man’s jeans before letting him go. The would-be panda wrangler scrambled out of the enclosure and quickly exited the zoo. “The young man left the zoo right after he escaped, and we could not get in touch with him,” said zoo manager deputy Kuang Huaming, Deutsche Welle reported. Mei Ling appeared to be completely unharmed in a follow-up medical exam, he said, and the zoo’s staff would be keeping a close eye on the panda. Although they may seem like bamboo-munching pacifists, pandas can still pack a punch. The man was lucky Mei Ling only embraced him in a trousers-ripping bear hug. Pandas have hospitalized zoo visitors who hopped the fence out of curiosity or drunkenness. A panda at the Beijing Zoo, Gu Gu, hospitalized three people between 2006 and 2009. All of the victims entered the panda pen and Gu Gu attacked. In the most severe case, Gu Gu bit a teenager’s leg to the bone. More from Morning Mix Two arrested in ‘savage’ fatal 2014 stomping of elderly, disabled homeless man in San Francisco This incredibly deadly snake’s bizarre toxin could lead to a strong, non-narcotic painkiller ‘Closet homosexual’: Trump supporter launches smear robo-calls against Utah’s Evan McMullin


Border walls are bad for wildlife

major problem,” said Jesse Lasky, a biologist at Pennsylvania State University and author of that study. The move could affect more than 111 endangered species and 108 migratory birds, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provisional report. The Trump campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the proposed wall’s potential effect on wildlife. The U.S.-Mexico border wall in Brownsville, Tex., at dawn. (Zoeann Murphy/The Washington Post) Two recent studies have shed light on the often-overlooked effects walls have on wildlife. The fences can “curtail animals’ mobility, fragment populations and cause direct mortality,” according to an article published last month in Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law. The latter study focused on Slovenia, which has for about a year been fencing its border with Croatia in an attempt to block an influx of refugees that the government fears could morph into an outright “ “These events are horrid,” said co-author Aleksandra Majic, a biologist at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. But, she added, “what is worrying in the long-term is the fragmentation that such fences cause.” Slaven Reljic, another co-author, tracks brown bears along the Slovenia-Croatia border and has found that of 33 radio-collared animals, 16 cross between the two countries. Majic said she has observed similar movements among wolves. “Conservation success for large carnivore populations here is largely depending on this trans-boundary connectivity,” she said, adding that lynx along the border are most at risk. The population hovers at around a mere 20 animals and is in danger of local extinction within the next decade, Majic said, adding that “habitat fragmentation would speed up this process.” A deer stands in front of a fence in northeast Croatia, near the border with Hungary. Thousands of deer and other wild animals have had their natural habitat disrupted by miles of barbed wire fence erected last year to stem the flow of refugees and migrants. (Mario Romulic/Romulic and Stojcic Studio via AP) Barriers are hardly new, of course. Construction on the Great Wall of China began in the 3rd century B.C., and it still splits habitats today. The Berlin Wall divided East and West Germany throughout the Cold War. When that fell in 1989, triggering the figurative collapse of the Iron Curtain, people began moving and trading en masse across increasingly porous European borders. Wildlife, biologists documented, also reaped rewards. Not only could they move


8 beer parties and festivals you should check out in November

anniversary, the Val-Dieu brewers have created a special dry-hopped beer called Val-Dieu Cuvée Spéciale 800 ans. It makes its Washington debut at a special party at Brasserie Beck, where it will be on tap alongside Val-Dieu's Tripel and Grand Cru, with happy hour pricing on all three beers. 5 to 8 p.m. 1101 K St. NW. brasseriebeck.com. Free. Nov. 11: Buy a Vet a Beer at Fair Winds Brewing On Veterans Day, veterans and active-duty service members who visit Fair Winds Brewing's Lorton taproom receive their first beer on the house. The brewery is asking customers who come in before then to purchase a beer for a random vet as a way of showing appreciation, as well as offering a chance to write a personal thank-you note, which will be given to the veteran who receives the beer. (Brewery founder Casey Jones, a veteran and former instructor at the Coast Guard Academy, is one of a growing number of vets involved with the local beer scene.) Doors open at noon on Nov. 11; hours vary before that. fairwindsbrewing.com. Most pints $6. Nov. 19: Machismo Release at Crooked Run Brewing The draw at Crooked Run will be the release of Machismo, a smoked chipotle stout aged in bourbon barrels. (A $26 advance ticket gets you a glass of the beer, a commemorative glass and a 750 ML bottle to take home.) But this is also an excuse to head to Leesburg for some of Crooked Run's special releases on tap, including Seek Truth, a Belgian tripel aged in Catoctin Creek Peach Brandy barrels, and Altruism, a sour quadruple brewed with brett yeast and elderberries. (Ocelot and Brothers will also have beers on tap.) 1 p.m. to midnight. 205 Harrison St., Leesburg. crookedrunbrewing.com. Free. Nov 26: DC Holiday Marketplace at DC Brau DC Brau's annual Holiday Marketplace is a great way to kick off holiday shopping season, with more than two dozen local merchants selling cards, T-shirts, wallets, bags, baby clothes, dog treats and much more. Of course, there will be plenty of DC Brau to sample and food trucks selling lunch. 1 to 6 p.m. 3178-B Bladensburg Rd. NE. dcbrau.com. Free. Read more: - The Hotlist: 13 things to see, eat, drink and do in November - A guide to Election Day-inspired food and drink specials in Washington - You know about Virginia wineries. These Maryland ones are worth visiting, too.


Where to find election-night watch parties in Washington

6 p.m. 2002 Fenwick St. NE. bigchiefdc.com. BlackFinn The first 75 people who arrive at Blackfin to watch the results get a free drink on the house (as long as they've RSVP'd on Facebook). That sets the tone for a night that includes $3 beers, $4 cocktails, $5 shots and, from 4 p.m. to close, $5 taco and slider plates. 5 p.m. 1620 I St. NW. blackfinnameripub.com. Busboys and Poets Each of the six branches of the progressive local restaurant group is hosting its own viewing party. Hyattsville, for example, features Russ Parr and Teresa Marie of Majic 102.3 FM and Angie Ange and EZ Street of WKYS 93.9 FM broadcasting live; while Brookland features a string of guests, including Nizam Ali, Etan Thomas, and Busboys founder Andy Shallal, discussing "What's at Stake." All events are free and open to the public. Times and locations vary. busboysandpoets.com. Capitol Lounge While the popular Capitol Hill bar is closed for private events until 8 p.m., it will open to the public after that. Expect a party “in the same vein” as its debate-watching ones, which included Donald and Hillary impersonators and a raucous, highly partisan crowd. 8 p.m. 229 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. capitolloungedc.com. ChurchKey ChuchKey undertakes a delicious experiment in democracy on election night: Five local beer experts, including ChurchKey beer director Greg Engert and DC Brewers Guild Director Kathy Rizzo, have created their own versions of Flying Dog's The Truth imperial IPA. All five cask-conditioned beers go on tap at ChurchKey on election night, and guests can vote for their favorites while watching the real election results roll in on the bar's TVs. 5 p.m. 1337 14th St. NW. churchkeydc.com. Jack Rose Dining Saloon Continuing the “Vote for Beer” theme, Jack Rose puts 13 Allagash beers on tap on its rooftop, including Farm to Face, a sour beer aged with peaches; Northman, a farmhouse ale aged in apple brandy barrels; and James Bean, a strong ale aged in bourbon barrels before being blended with cold-press coffee. Mark a ballot for your favorite then watch election results on all TVs. (Want to get away from the news? Head down to the main bar, which has no TVs.) 5 p.m. 2007 18th St. NW. jackrosediningsaloon.com. Kangaroo Boxing Club Specials at the Columbia Heights bar include taco pairs (two pulled pork, pulled beef or veggie for $6), fifty-cent wings, $3 PBR or Tecate tallboys


Yuengling’s Trump endorsement shows why beer and politics don’t mix well

not and resurrecting at least one old recipe — Yuengling Traditional Lager, in 1987 — that became the company’s best-seller. It also meant new advertising and marketing initiatives, and pushing into fresh marketplaces. Philadelphia, 100 or so miles to the southeast, was quite the get shortly after Dick Yuengling took over. His brewery now reaches 18 states plus Washington, D.C., and is the largest independently owned brewery in the United States. It’s also the fourth-largest overall, behind Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors and Pabst Brewing (and just ahead of fifth-largest Boston Beer Co., maker of Sam Adams). It remains, though, way, way behind the top trio. The corporate parent of A-B, for instance, earlier this month closed perhaps the biggest consumer-goods merger in history — the $100 billion takeover of SABMiller — and thus now accounts for nearly one out of every three beers sold worldwide. Scrappy histories and comparatively tiny sizes make Yuengling, Smuttynose and their brethren irresistible props for major-party candidates. They contain just the right mash of entrepreneurial moxie, manufacturing chops and strong brand loyalty to all but scream, “Successful American small businesses!” Plus, it’s beer. There is no such thing as Joe Wine Bottle, but there is Joe Six-Pack. The term originated sometime in the 1970s to describe blue-collar workers (and voters) who preferred cans of Bud and Miller with their weekends and weeknights. Sarah Palin famously wedded “hockey mom” to Joe Six-Pack during the 2008 vice-presidential debate. But hockey mom hasn’t really had the staying power. Because it’s not beer. Beer is the nation’s most popular alcoholic beverage by far — 43 percent of Americans who drink alcohol choose beer, compared to 32 percent wine and 20 percent spirits, according to Gallup. There are now more breweries than at any time in the nation’s history — 4,200, give or take —with most smaller, more traditional breweries such as Yuengling and Smuttynose. The majority of Americans now live within 10 miles of a craft brewery, according to the Brewers Association trade group. In denser areas such as the D.C. metro area, it’s probably more like two or three miles, plucky operations uniting citizens of myriad allegiances and tastes, stronger together as they make American beer great again. Let’s keep politics out of it. Cheers. Read more: Trump wines are actually pretty good. But I can’t put them on restaurant menus. Pabst Blue Ribbon is finally earning its hipster cred


Amazon will now bring your farmers market (and more) to your door

small sausage and salami maker in Landover, Md., said AmazonFresh partnering with small businesses “is a good thing all the way around. It helps the farms and the artisan food producers. And for the people at the farmers markets, it’s another outlet for them.” Brown provided snapshots of some of the companies partnering with AmazonFresh: * Cascade Beverage Company, based in Lorton and in Mississippi, invented a technology for infusing nitrogen into beverages and developing a proprietary process for crafting smooth, rich cold-brew coffee at scale. * Guadalajara Grills, also in Lorton, was created by Rosa Vasquez, a native-born Mexican immigrant who, along with her daughters, began sharing their cuisine through festivals and private parties. The food is now sold from a food truck and AmazonFresh. * Loopy Scoops, based in Haymarket, Va., is the work of Loreann Grimes, a pastry chef and ice cream maker who started with a small cart in the Manassas farmers market in 2015. She now has three ice cream carts in two farmers markets and is beginning to supply ice cream, sorbets and popsicles for local restaurants and food trucks. * Ms. Jo’s Petite Sweets was founded February 2016 by Army veteran Erinn Roth as a tribute to her late mother. Jo’s Petite Sweets creates desserts from scratch, gourmet ice cream and Southern-inspired holiday dinner packages. * Himalayan Soul Foods truck, based in Lorton Va., began operations in July 2016, serving special Nepalese Momos (dumplings) throughout Washington. It was invented by Nepalese-born Sujit Shakya, who left his job at a nonprofit to launch his food truck. Amazon was founded Jeffrey P. Bezos, who is the chairman and chief executive of the company. Bezos also owns The Washington Post. AmazonFresh began its home delivery grocery service in 2007. It serves U.S. metropolitan areas including Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston and Dallas. It plans to roll out in the District, too. It also has a service in London. For more than a year, reports have circulated that Amazon.com wants to open grocery-centric brick-and-mortar locations, including outposts in Seattle and Sunnyvale, Calif. The new outlets would allow shoppers to drive up and retrieve grocery orders they place online. The buzz grew louder last month when the Wall Street Journal reported that many such locations are in the works. It said the locations would include walk-in stores where customers can buy perishables.


140 countries will phase out HFCs. What are these and why do they matter?

the Kyoto Protocol’s “basket” of greenhouse gases. Legal negotiators from the United States successfully used a provision of the Montreal Protocol’s parent treaty, the 1985 Vienna Convention, to justify the legal basis for an HFC amendment. The Montreal Protocol provides technical and financial assistance to developing countries to help achieve their phaseout and phase-down targets. Developing countries have 10 additional years to meet the emissions targets. The ozone regime also has a long history of participation from the chemical industry and downstream industries dating back to the 1980s, unlike the Kyoto Protocol, which has been contested by the fossil fuels industries. The Montreal Protocol’s proven track record of reducing chemicals that harm the atmosphere made it a sensible and efficient vehicle for phasing down the consumption and production of HFCs. 3) The Kigali Amendment comes at a time when countries have completed a trifecta of agreements to combat climate change. In December 2015, more than 190 countries adopted the Paris Climate Agreement and formalized a target of keeping global warming to within 1.5-2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. A new aviation emissions agreement also came into place to offset carbon dioxide emissions from commercial airlines. In 2011, countries adopted an amendment under the International Maritime Organization to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from commercial shipping. These agreements suggest that tackling climate change on a sector by sector basis is an effective approach. And many researchers consider the Montreal Protocol the most effective climate protection treaty ever because the ozone-depleting chemicals it helped to phase out had considerable global warming potential. Under the Kigali Amendment, the Montreal Protocol will help reduce HFCs without modifying their status in the U.N. climate change regime. This proved to be a contentious issue because China, India and Brazil initially preferred to keep discussions of HFCs within the U.N. climate regime, which explicitly acknowledges that developed and developing countries have different responsibilities in mitigating climate change. 4) What role did industry play in the Kigali Amendment? Besides the institutions of the ozone regime, stakeholders and governments expect that multinational chemical companies (e.g., DuPont, Honeywell, Daikin Industries) will continue to play an essential role in helping countries to switch to alternate chemicals in their domestic refrigeration and air conditioning industries to meet the new requirements. Honeywell was one of the first companies to push for an HFC amendment and has developed a new refrigerant with no ozone-depleting or


Beautiful ‘Pillars of Destruction’ formed in the violent births of far-off stars

spires, also called elephant trunks, are about three light-years tall. That is so immense as to be essentially incomprehensible, about three-quarters the distance between our sun and the next closest star, Proxima Centauri. A pillar of gas and dust, three light-years tall, which is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. (A. McLeod/EPA/ESO) The name was a reference to one of the most famous images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, the 1995 discovery of the Pillars of Creation in M16, a region of the Eagle Nebula. Although they may sound like different ends of a spectrum — cosmic life and cosmic death — both of these new images and the Hubble pictures are the flip sides of similar phenomena. (It is a matter of perspective: Pillars of Destruction refers to the cloud, and Creation to the stars.) “There is the only one thing that can light up a neighborhood like this: massive stars kicking out enough horsepower in ultraviolet light to ionize the gas clouds and make them glow,” said Arizona State University’s Paul Scowen in January 2015, reflecting on the 20th anniversary of his Hubble observation, with fellow astronomer Jeff Hester, of the Pillars of Creation. “Nebulous star-forming regions like M16 are the interstellar neon signs that say, ‘We just made a bunch of massive stars here.’” As the radiation plucks electrons from the clouds, the gas disperses, a process called photoevaporation. But the European Southern Observatory scientists also noted that the complex dance of radiation and solar winds within these clouds are not fully understood. It is possible, according to the ESO, that radiation also shoves the gas into denser pockets, creating the right conditions for new stars. A team of astronomers at the ESO, led by PhD student Anna Faye McLeod, said they were able to directly link the energetic output of the newly formed stars to the illuminated destruction of the clouds: As the stars produced more ionizing radiation, the pillars dissipated at higher rates. McLeod and her colleagues recently published the findings in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. A composite image of several pillars within the Carina Nebula. (A. McLeod/EPA/ESO) More from Morning Mix Stanford sexual assault survivor named Glamour ‘Woman of the Year’ Mysterious ‘Alaskan Ice Monster’ in government video not so monstrous after all The Comey effect and Trump’s gains send global markets into fear


Your WiFi-connected thermostat can take down the whole Internet. We need new regulations.

no sense to maintain two different versions of the software. This is truly an area where the actions of a few countries can drive worldwide change. Regardless of what you think about regulation vs. market solutions, I believe there is no choice. Governments will get involved in the IoT, because the risks are too great and the stakes are too high. Computers are now able to affect our world in a direct and physical manner. Security researchers have demonstrated the ability to remotely take control of Internet-enabled cars. They’ve demonstrated ransomware against home thermostats and exposed vulnerabilities in implanted medical devices. They’ve hacked voting machines and power plants. In one recent paper, researchers showed how a vulnerability in smart lightbulbs could be used to start a chain reaction, resulting in them all being controlled by the attackers — that’s every one in a city. Security flaws in these things could mean people dying and property being destroyed. Nothing motivates the U.S. government like fear. Remember 2001? A small-government Republican president created the Department of Homeland Security in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks: a rushed and ill-thought-out decision that we’ve been trying to fix for more than a decade. A fatal IoT disaster will similarly spur our government into action, and it’s unlikely to be well-considered and thoughtful action. Our choice isn’t between government involvement and no government involvement. Our choice is between smarter government involvement and stupider government involvement. We have to start thinking about this now. Regulations are necessary, important and complex — and they’re coming. We can’t afford to ignore these issues until it’s too late. In general, the software market demands that products be fast and cheap and that security be a secondary consideration. That was okay when software didn’t matter — it was okay that your spreadsheet crashed once in a while. But a software bug that literally crashes your car is another thing altogether. The security vulnerabilities in the Internet of Things are deep and pervasive, and they won’t get fixed if the market is left to sort it out for itself. We need to proactively discuss good regulatory solutions; otherwise, a disaster will impose bad ones on us. Read more: By November, Russian hackers could target voting machines Your iPhone just got less secure. Blame the FBI. Hackers don’t want to crash stock exchanges. They want to make money off them.


There is only one pig in Afghanistan. His name is Khanzir.

the zoo by China in 2002, along with a female pig and a pair of brown bears, Saqib said. News reports from the time said the delivery also included two lions, two deer and a wolf. Khanzir and his mate, shortly after they arrived in Kabul in 2004. (Courtesy of Kabul Zoo) Khanzir and his mate, both pink and sturdy, had a litter of piglets a few years later. But the little porcine family was torn apart by tragedy in 2006. “Our zoo caretakers were fairly new then and not very well-trained at the time,” explains Saqib. “One day, a caretaker accidentally left the door to the brown bear’s cage open, and one of the bears got into the pigs’ enclosure that was close by,” he said. The bear attacked Khanzir’s brood, killing the piglets. Zoo authorities got there just in time to rescue Khanzir and his mate. The female pig, however, was hurt severely in the attack and succumbed to her injuries a short while later. And so Khanzir was left all by himself: The only one of his kind in all the land. Today, Khanzir may be a lonely pig, but he isn’t always alone. He has developed a special relationship with his caretakers, who feed him daily and clean his enclosure regularly. “He doesn’t move much these days, but he shows enthusiasm every time he sees me, because he knows that I bring him food,” said Shah Barat, a longtime zoo caretaker. Barat demonstrated this on a recent day, calling out to Khanzir who, despite his advanced age and generous girth — he weighs more than 500 pounds — came swiftly. When asked if caring for the pig contradicts his religious beliefs, Barat gave a firm no. “Sure, it is haram, but it’s not a bad thing,” he said. “This is a zoo, so there should be such animals. Besides, Khanzir is an innocent animal, like all animals. Sure, he is very dirty, but he is our responsibility,” he said. (Pigs, actually, are not particularly filthy animals, despite their reputation.) Khanzir has faced some external opposition, however. That occurred in 2009, during a worldwide epidemic of swine flu. Government authorities grew worried about a potential outbreak in their war-torn country, and they set their sights on the nation’s only swine. As headlines about the virus spread, the Afghan public also became alarmed and began calling for the


Trump voters don’t like women in military combat roles. That may have consequences for the use of force.

Female Marine recruits stand in line before getting lunch during boot camp. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) In recent weeks, gender issues have come to the forefront of the 2016 election. Ever since Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was caught bragging about his ability to kiss and grope women without their consent, sexism has dominated the headlines to an unprecedented degree — even for an election that boasts the first female major-party nominee. Some Trump supporters have even started a Twitter campaign to repeal the 19th Amendment, calling for women to lose the right to vote so that Trump’s predominantly male support base could carry their candidate to victory. The Trump campaign has clearly mobilized a portion of the population that holds strong views about women’s role in society. This may have important consequences for public views on women in the military. In December 2015, Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter announced that all combat positions would be open to women. This was a contentious decision, one that received significant pushback from many of the service elements. This led us to ask how the rising wave of sexism led by Trump supporters might influence the integration of women into combat roles and affect public support for the use of force. From Oct. 13 to 20, we conducted a Mechanical Turk survey of U.S. voters to understand how the inclusion of women in combat roles will affect the public’s support for the use of force. We presented a sample of 538 individuals with one of two randomly assigned scenarios. Mechanical Turk usually skews younger and more liberal, so we expected that any opposition to women in combat would be less pronounced than among Americans as a whole. In the first scenario, we told survey-takers that the U.S. government was contemplating the deployment of a Marine unit to rescue American citizens trapped in a foreign embassy. In the second scenario, we presented the survey-takers with the exact same military scenario but told participants that it was a female-integrated combat unit. To make sure our survey-takers were aware of the women in the unit, we included pictures of female Marines from a combat exercise and a quote from a female officer. We then asked the survey-takers whether they supported or opposed the potential deployment. When we analyzed the data, we found a statistically significant difference in the level of support for military force in the non-gender


More cases reported of a mysterious polio-like illness that killed a 6-year-old

(Courtesy of Marijo De Guzman via Facebook) On Wednesday, Oct. 12, 6-year-old Jonathan Daniel Ramirez Porter woke up with a fever. His mother, Marijo De Guzman, decided to keep him home from kindergarten in Ferndale, Wash., a small town less than an hour south of the Canadian border. Instead of getting better, Daniel complained of a severe headache the next day. By Saturday, Oct. 15, he was stumbling and drooling, unable to keep food in his mouth or to speak clearly. De Guzman and Daniel’s father, Jose Ramirez, brought him to Seattle Children’s Hospital, where his condition at first baffled physicians there, his mother said. “They had no clue what it was,” said De Guzman, 33. “At first they thought it was a bacteria, so they were giving him antibiotics. That didn’t work, and they figured out it was a virus. They were giving him pain medicine, blood pressure medicine and steroids to help with swelling in his brain.” With local news reports describing other children in Washington state as having a polio-like condition called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, De Guzman said, “I asked the doctor if it’s possible he could have this, because a lot of the symptoms sounded the same.” As his condition worsened,Daniel was given a tentative diagnosis of AFM. “They said they could try to put him in an induced coma to let his body fight the virus,” De Guzman said. “All Daniel wanted to do when he got this was to rest, so we chose the coma.” Despite the efforts of some 30 doctors treating him, Daniel died Oct. 30. Daniel is one of nine children tentatively diagnosed in recent weeks with AFM across Washington state, and the first person known to have died of the mysterious disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began tracking the disease in 2014, when 120 cases were confirmed between August and December. The condition mimics polio but is not caused by the polio virus. It affects primarily children, causing sudden loss of control of the muscles in limbs and other parts of the body. It’s not clear what causes the disease, and no medical treatment has proved effective. This year, reports of new cases in the United States doubled in September compared with August, the CDC reported Monday, with the year-to-date total of 89 cases in 33 states on track to match or exceed the 120


cases confirmed in all of 2014. Locally clustered cases of AFM have been reported in Philadelphia and, for the first time, in Europe. The first cluster of European cases of the polio-like condition was described in British news reports last month, involving four cases being treated at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, Scotland. Two cases of AFM have also been reported in Canada. In Philadelphia, nine children were treated for AFM in August and September, said Sarah Hopkins, a pediatric neurologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Although the average age of children treated during the 2014 outbreak was 7, the average age of the nine children seen this year by Hopkins has been closer to 5. Most of the children treated in 2014 have made a modest recovery, she added, although none is back to their original strength. The CDC defines AFM as the sudden onset of flaccid paralysis, in which muscles controlling the limbs, face or other body parts become droopy (not stiff), and in which an MRI exam shows damage to the gray matter of the spinal cord. The condition is often preceded by a fever or severe headache. Although some cases involve only a mild paralysis of a single limb, others affect the muscles that control breathing, and patients require mechanical ventilation to survive. As the number of cases rises this year, researchers at the CDC say they are more mystified than ever by what is causing the condition. “It’s a complete puzzle,” said Steve Oberste, chief of the CDC’s Polio and Picornavirus Laboratory Branch. “What’s going on now is really odd. I hope we can assure the public that people are working on it, not just the CDC but many others. There are so many things about this outbreak that are puzzling, and the pieces aren’t fitting together yet. Eventually we’ll know more, but right now it’s pretty difficult.” During the 2014 outbreak, a growing line of evidence suggested that the condition may be a rare but serious complication of infection with enterovirus D68. That year, more than 1,000 children across the country were treated for serious respiratory illnesses linked to D68, which is in the same viral family as the polio virus. The problem with that hypothesis was that D68 was never found in the spinal fluid of infected children. Even so, many doctors remain convinced by studies showing a strong geographic


These are the Brits who just threw a giant wrench into the plan for Brexit

Hairdresser Deir Dos Santos and investment manager Gina Miller, the two lead claimants in a case at England's High Court, welcomed the court's Nov. 3 ruling that the British government needs parliamentary approval to trigger the process of exiting the European Union. LONDON — Activists who want Parliament to have a say in Brexit were celebrating on Thursday after judges ruled that it wasn’t legal for the British government to leave the European Union without consulting its members. Gina Miller, a business executive and philanthropist, helped to bring the case against the British government, arguing that Prime Minister Theresa May didn’t have the power to start divorce proceedings without consulting members of Parliament, many of whom voted to remain in the E.U. May had said that she would trigger Article 50, the mechanism by which the U.K. will start negotiations over leaving the bloc, by the end of March. But Thursday’s ruling means that the government would first need to consult with Parliament. The government has signaled it will seek to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. Commentators said the legal ruling is unlikely to block Brexit, but it could alter the way it unfolds. Still, Brexit is a highly emotional issue here, and so perhaps it wasn’t surprising that many of those who voted to remain were rejoicing, while some Brexiters were calling the ruling a disgrace. A British court has dealt a blow to Prime Minister Theresa May’s E.U. exit plan. The three-judge panel sided with plaintiffs who contended that Parliament must first weigh in. This could lead to a significant delay to Brexit. So who are the activists who brought the case to court, throwing a giant spanner into the works? 1. Gina Miller Miller, a 51-year-old business executive and philanthropist, was the leading claimant in the case. Her name was trending on social media on Thursday, with many of her supporters dubbing her a “hero” for taking on the British government. Miller was deeply disappointed by the June referendum that saw Britons opt to leave the E.U. in a 52-to-48 percent vote. “I was sick to the stomach on the morning of the vote because I voted to remain,” she told AudioBoom. “But then, as the days went on, I realized that we really can’t look backward, we have to think, how do we make the best of this,” she said. She channeled her frustration


NATO and government forces are increasingly responsible for Afghan civilian deaths

forces and their NATO-led coalition allies. During clashes with Taliban fighters who are trying to recapture the northern city of Kunduz, an errant coalition airstrike killed dozens of civilians. News agencies have been able to confirm 26 deaths, but at least one local government official estimated the toll will reach 100. The U.S. military said that its forces were defending friendly forces and that “all civilian casualty claims will be investigated.” At least 2,562 civilians have been killed this year in Afghanistan, according to the United Nations, which has released only numbers pertaining to the period between January and September. Last year's total was 2,681. Taliban and other antigovernment forces are responsible for 61 percent of that toll, but those numbers are down 12 percent from the same period last year. On the other hand, 623 civilian deaths are attributable to “pro-government” forces this year, up by 42 percent from last year. Many of them were caused by errant airstrikes. The most notable instance also took place in Kunduz, just over a year ago, when the city had fallen into Taliban control. Acting on faulty intelligence, a U.S. airstrike hit a Doctors Without Borders hospital, killing 42 people. Subsequent reports question whether the Afghan army, which provided the intelligence, in fact wanted the hospital targeted as doctors were thought to have treated Taliban fighters there. Doctors Without Borders called the strike a war crime. The civilian death toll provided by the United Nations is unlikely to be comprehensive. It is difficult to gather data on killings that happen in Taliban-controlled areas of the country, and more of the country is falling into their hands. Civilian casualties are a major source of tension between the Afghan government and its NATO allies. With each errant strike, more and more Afghans lose faith in their government, which works hand in hand with its Western allies on intelligence and military operations. In Kunduz, angry relatives of the victims of Thursday's airstrike tried to parade the bodies of their loved ones through the city in a protest caravan to the provincial governor’s residence. They were stopped by security forces. Read More: From a Nat Geo cover to a mug shot: The sad story of the green-eyed ‘Afghan Girl’ Europe wants to deport so many Afghans that Kabul airport might get a new terminal A humanitarian crisis looms in Afghanistan as the number of displaced climbs


The Ebola virus mutated to better infect humans during the 2014 outbreak

the ancestral and mutant Ebola viruses infecting a human cell. (Luban et al./Cell 2016) During the same time, Luban — who normally studies HIV — was conducting an unrelated experiment on an array of viruses, including Ebola. He noticed that one Ebola variant was particularly good at infecting cells. Working with epidemiologists, he identified this variant as a mutant that arose early on during the outbreak, then spread throughout the region. “We think that the mutation is actually an adaptation to humans,” Luban said. “It’s kind of a signal to us that this mutation was selected for by replication of the virus in people, which I would argue is further evidence that this mutation is significant and is not just a coincidence.” It was only after both research teams began writing up their findings for publication that they realized they'd identified the same mutation, which they call glycoprotein mutant A82V (A and V stand for the amino acids that were switched; 82 indicates the site of the switch on the protein). “We feel that the two papers together make a really powerful case,” Ball said. The A82V mutant probably died out at the end of the outbreak. Because it is less effective at entering nonhuman cells, it was unlikely to jump back into the reservoir population of bats. It's difficult to say whether knowing about the mutant sooner could have helped public officials respond to the virus. But both researchers think it's essential to understand how viruses adapt as they spread from person to person. “I think really what it does say is you need to be carefully monitoring what’s happening to viruses as they spill over,” Ball said. “We know that these viruses are causing human infection, we know that they’re evolving, but do we really know what that evolution means?" Read more: Scientists trace Ebola outbreak to a tree where children play This blood test can tell you every virus you’ve ever had Can your genes affect your response to Ebola? That's the case in these mice Zika's structure has been revealed, bringing scientists closer to a vaccine 'Leaky' vaccines could make viruses even more dangerous Correction: This article originally stated that the A and V in A82V referred to nucleotides and the 82 referred to their site in the genome. The letters instead refer to the amino acids and the number to their site in the protein.


These researchers think they have a solution to the global crisis in drug prices

a return. So far, the startup has raised $9 million in its initial funding round and is seeking an additional $50 million to fund the large trials needed to push drugs toward approval. That might seem like a lot of money, but in drug development it's pocket change. One study pegs the cost of developing and launching a drug at $2.6 billion. That work has been critiqued because of questions about the data and the analysis, which was done by a university group that receives funding from the industry. At the other extreme, the non-profit Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative has estimated the cost of developing a drug for diseases that are overlooked because they affect poor people at less than $170 million -- a number that can't be interpreted too broadly because critics argue the model won't work for all diseases and it underestimates some costs. To avoid the cost and uncertainty of challenging behemoth drug companies in the American market, Trek plans to focus on middle-income countries where new hepatitis C drugs have been slow to roll out, such as nations in eastern and central Europe. If they are successful at finding a new balancing point of profit and access -- a true "if" -- they hope their example could inspire companies working on other diseases to experiment with similar pricing models. Ann Kwong, founder and chief executive of Trek Therapeutics (Photo by Josh Reynolds for The Washington Post) “That’s exactly why, when Trek organized, we became a benefit corporation," said Robert Hindes, Trek's chief medical officer, who helped develop Sovaldi. "So we would have the option of not charging as much money as we could charge, or make as much money as we could make, but to take other factors into consideration -- so we could set the price that was consistent with our mission of affordability." Ann Kwong, chief executive of Trek, said the team is working on health economic models to find the right price, based on need and ability to pay, for each country it could distribute to -- although they haven't named where they'll start yet. "We can go into different countries, such as Romania and say, 'This is how much this disease is going to cost you over the next X years; for a fraction of that, you could cure these people and avoid that future cost,'" Kwong said. A unique opportunity


in hepatitis C Trek's leaders are also in a race -- existing drugs are already making their way into these countries, and Trek doesn't expect to have a drug on the market for at least three years. Large drugmakers also are taking steps toward providing treatments in developing countries at lower costs -- and the net price of existing hepatitis C treatments has fallen because insurers have been able to strike deals for deeper rebates from drugmakers. Because Sovaldi's price has received so much attention and scrutiny, drugmakers have also priced their hepatitis C drugs aggressively to compete on price -- for example, when Merck introduced a new drug early this year, it priced it well below competition in an unusual move. Gilead has agreed to make its hepatitis C drugs available as a generic in 101 countries. A spokesman said the company is working with payers -- including governments and health insurers -- and cited a recent scale up of treatment in Poland to enable 3,500 patients to be treated per year. (A recent study estimated there are 231,000 people infected with the virus in Poland, with most unaware of the disease.) Bristol-Myers Squibb licensed its hepatitis C drug, Daklinza, to the Medicines Patent Pool, a United Nations-backed organization that makes the drug available as a generic drug to 112 low- and middle-income countries. A spokesman said the company employs tiered pricing in low- and middle-income countries that takes into account how many people have the disease and the country's ability to pay. AbbVie said that its hepatitis C drug regimens are approved and accessible in more than 70 countries, including most in central and eastern Europe. A Merck spokeswoman, asked about access to its drug, Zepatier, in low and middle income countries said the company was "working on securing market approvals." The nonprofit Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative has also partnered with an Egyptian company, Pharco Pharmaceuticals, to test a new drug combination that could sell for less than $300 in low- and middle-income countries. Trek's business model is based on the idea that these approaches are incomplete. They will provide piecemeal access, Kwong argues, but will leave millions untreated. Danny Edwards, a research program manager at the Access to Medicine Foundation, which ranks and evaluates how well pharmaceutical companies provide their drugs in low and middle income countries, said it was a reasonable strategy. "I think middle-income


WiFi on Amtrak’s Acela Express trains shifts into faster gear

A worker takes a photo of a scale model of the next generation high-speed Amtrak train after an unveiling event at Amtrak’s Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station on Aug. 26, 2016, in Wilmington, (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images) Amtrak officials say a recent upgrade will mean faster WiFi for passengers on its popular Acela Express trains. “This advanced technology solution shifts our onboard WiFi experience into high gear, providing our Acela Express customers with a more satisfying and productive experience throughout their journey,” Lenetta McCampbell, senior director of passenger experience at Amtrak, said in a news release announcing the change. “After thorough testing, we are confident this upgrade will provide a significantly improved service from the moment our customers board the train to the moment they arrive at their destination.” Amtrak officials said speeds will be up to six times faster. As part of the shift, officials said they’ve replaced technology put into place in 2010. They said upgrades also are coming to all Northeast Regional trains, although they did not offer a timeline for when those would be complete. Spotty WiFi service has been a longtime beef for travelers along the busy Northeast Corridor. As one frustrated passenger told the New York Times, “It’s like dial-up pretending to be WiFi. You almost expect to hear that sound that AOL used to make when you logged in.” Officials said the second phase of the project will involve continued construction of a dedicated trackside wireless network, which will mean trains will have to depend less on cellular-based networks. Upgraded WiFi is just one of a number of upgrades the passenger railroad service has planned for the busy corridor. In September, Vice President Biden announced that Amtrak had received a $2.45 billion loan to help pay for new trains, stations and track upgrades. The loan was the largest single loan given by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Demographers project that between 2010 and 2040, the population in the corridor will grow to 64 million, an increase of roughly 23 percent. Six of Amtrak’s busiest stations are in the Northeast Corridor, considered the crown jewel of the railroad’s operations, with New York and Washington ranked first and second for passenger traffic.


13 things to do in the D.C. area on the weekend of November 4-6

It feels like fall out there right? You'll find plenty of ways to make the most of this weather this weekend, and you'll get an extra hour to enjoy it — just don't forget to turn your clocks back Saturday night. With that in mind, are this weekend's best bets in nightlife, festivals, museums, music and much more around the Washington area. - The HotList: 13 things to see, eat, drink and do this month - Eight years later: See how Washington has changed - Election inspired: Vote with cookies, cocktails and chocolate Lewis Black: Black to the Future - The Longest Election Cycle Thursday-Friday: Through Sunday: Friday: Friday: Friday: Friday-Saturday: Saturday: Saturday: Saturday: Combine the symphony with video games at the Warner Theatre with "The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses." Saturday: Saturday: Saturday-Sunday: Sunday:


Could polio drugs treat children with a mysterious paralyzing disease?

A child receives an oral polio vaccine. (Yahya Arhab/European Pressphoto Agency) Researchers developing drugs against polio and other polio-like viruses say those drugs could potentially be effective against a mysterious, polio-like condition called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 89 cases of the paralyzing disease in the United States through September. A 6-year-old boy suspected of having AFM died in Seattle on Sunday, the first death believed to be caused by the disease. One of the drugs in development, pocapavir, was used briefly on a few patients during a 2014 outbreak of AFM under a compassionate-use exception that allows extremely sick patients to be given unapproved drugs without the usual kinds of placebo-controlled trials required by the Food and Drug Administration. “There were a couple of kids who got pocapavir in the Colorado outbreaks,” said Benjamin Greenberg, a neurologist who has treated children with AFM at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. “It had relatively weak but measurable impact on viral replication. A larger study would definitely be warranted. We'll take anything we can get.” Although the CDC says no cause has been conclusively linked to AFM, many researchers suspect a family of viruses known as enteroviruses. “I have been studying enteroviruses for 40 years now,” said John Modlin, deputy director of the polio eradication program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “If I had a child with acute flaccid myelitis, I would be on the phone in a second to the companies making these drugs.” None of the drugs is approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Even pocapavir is currently unavailable on any basis because the FDA has required the small company studying it to submit a New Drug Application before it would consider allowing the drug to be offered on a compassionate-use basis again, said Marc Collett, president of the company, ViroDefense of Chevy Chase, Md. Even if the drugs could reach patients, Modlin said, they would be effective — if they work at all — only in the few days or hours when the condition first strikes. Despite those considerable drawbacks, not to mention the fact that no enterovirus has been proved to cause AFM, the CDC official in charge of its polio research says he understands the logic in trying to make the drugs available on a compassionate-use basis. “It is true there are a number