The local chain’s original restaurant at 1213 U St. has been closed for repairs since July of last year. To celebrate its reopening on May 1, the restaurant is redoing its iconic mural featuring famous African American figures, including former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, Harriet Tubman, Prince and Muhammad Ali.

The mural was last repainted in 2017 by local artist Aniekan Udofia, who removed the face of comedian Bill Cosby and added many more.

Submissions are being accepted through May 10

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Israel Flores Ortiz was found guilty of nine counts of misdemeanor assault and battery in Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on April 10. He was sentenced to 360 days in prison on Tuesday with credit for the time served.

He was initially charged with 13 counts of inappropriately touching girls in crowded hallways. In court last week, surveillance video was played that showed Flores-Ortiz touching the girls.

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said at a news conference after the sentencing hearing Tuesday afternoon that what happened in the case was “unacceptable” and his office decided to pursue prosecution because Flores-Ortiz “systematically” and repeatedly attacked those girls.

Flores-Ortiz, a junior at the high school, entered the country illegally from El Salvador in 2024. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in social media posts that if he’s released, 鈥淚CE stands ready to take him into custody and deport鈥� him.

“Critics think that people in prosecutorial offices have unlimited power and that’s not the case. We are bound by evidence. We are bound by the rules of the law. We’re bound by the Constitution. What we do every day is we try to build community safety, but of course, we have to do that within the law and every decision that we make in every case is driven solely by what the law says we’re allowed to do,” Descano said in response to a question about immigration enforcement.

Demetry Pikrallidas, an attorney representing one of the students in the case, said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon, there is “no place for politics” in the case.

“Every case has its own facts, and in this case, it’s somebody who happened to be, as people say, ‘illegal.’ And when that intersects with illegality, there’s a segment of our population that doesn’t like that. We can’t ignore that. 鈥� Whether it was George Washington or this individual, I’m going to protect my client,” Pikrallidas said, adding that his only goal was to get justice for his client.

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Maryland is seeking penalties and damages for costs associated with the historic sewage spill that sent millions of gallons of untreated sewage sent into the Potomac River in Montgomery County.

According to a news release from the office of Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, the civil complaint alleges D.C. Water was “aware that the over half-century-old Potomac Interceptor showed signs of corrosion yet failed to properly assess the risks and delayed initiating capital improvements.”

In March, D.C. Water CEO David Gadis testified before the D.C. Council that the collapsed portion of the Potomac Interceptor pipe was not at the risk level for imminent failure based on a 2024 assessment report. Two more sections of the pipe near the site of the failure were rated the same or worse, on a one-to-five point scale, than the section that ruptured.

Earlier this month, an investigation by The Washington Post found that D.C. Water had planned to reinforce the aging section of the 6-foot-wide pipe years ago, but delayed construction efforts as environmental agencies looked into some ecological concerns. The repair project fell behind schedule as early as 2019, when it was already recorded as 255 days delayed. The delay stemmed from an ongoing federal environmental review by the National Park Service, which also said D.C. Water repeatedly revised its reconstruction plans 鈥� sending them to restart the environmental review process again.

鈥淭he Potomac River belongs to the people of Maryland, and we expect it to be fully restored to health,鈥� Maryland Secretary of the Environment Serena McIlwain said. 鈥淭he utility must take full responsibility for the damage caused and take immediate and lasting action to prevent future spills. The river is part of our identity, our economy, and our way of life.鈥�

The Maryland complaint alleges D.C. Water violated state water pollution laws through “unauthorized discharges” 鈥� the contaminating pollutants in the river 鈥� and is asking for a penalty of $10,000 per day for each violation. The sewage spill and subsequent emergency repairs took about 55 days, meaning D.C. Water could owe up to $550,000 to Maryland.

The complaint also orders D.C. Water to pay for all the environmental testing done and cleanup costs, cover damages for the lost value of the state’s natural resource and enter an injunction to “permanently stop any future unauthorized sewage discharges.”

The Justice Department, on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, alleging D.C. Water violated the Clean Water Act for the sewage spill.

The complaint seeks financial penalties, among other requests, to help recover from what it called D.C. Water’s “failure” to operate and maintain its sewer system in compliance with the Clean Water Act and “in a manner that keeps untreated sewage out of the Potomac River.”

鈥淎s cities grow and infrastructure ages, cities must invest in their wastewater system to prevent such catastrophes. This complaint seeks to secure DC Water鈥檚 commitment to properly maintain its foundational sewage infrastructure,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

In response to both lawsuits, reiterating its commitment to the rehabilitation of the Potomac River, and said that doing work on the pipeline on federal land requires close collaboration with the National Park Service.

“Since 2018, DC Water has worked with NPS on site assessments, environmental reviews, and emergency repairs on portions of the pipeline to ensure environmental protection and public safety. DC Water will renew its requests for streamlined environmental reviews to allow rehabilitation of the interceptor to move forward more quickly,” the statement reads, in part. “DC Water previously requested a categorical exclusion for this section of the pipe previously, but it was not approved.”

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During the nearly 8-hour long meeting, the board of supervisors indicated it would vote to reduce real estate tax bills from 90.6 cents to 85 cents per $100 in assessed value. Combined with a proposed cut to the county’s 3% meals tax, it could reduce the school system’s expected budget by $31.2 million.

Wednesday, the school system said it was aware of the publicly scheduled budget markup meeting, but did not know “a reduction of this scale would be considered.” It said the potential reduction could impact employee pay increases, after-school programs and a reduction in certain services.

The school board presented a $2.1 billion last month 鈥� a nearly 10% increase compared to fiscal year 2026. Based on the county revenue sharing agreement which splits all county revenue between the school system and county departments, it included a 6.3% raise for teachers and staff.

Supervisor Yesli Vega, a Republican representing the Coles District, continuously noted it wasn’t a significant cut.

“I don’t understand how we can sit up here and say that it’s a cut; it’s not a cut,” she said.

The county will raise the data center tax rate from $4.15 to $4.50 per $100 in assessed value, county鈥檚 budget director Dave Sinclair said.

“The schools are still short because they’re not getting that new $4.50,” Chair At-Large Deshundra Jefferson said. “They’re not getting that 35 cents. They are losing money because we cut the meals tax, and they’re losing money because we cut the real estate tax rate. So what we’re going to be giving them will be less than what they expected and requested. So that’s why it is a cut.”

“I don’t want to balance our budget off the back of our students. That’s how I feel,” Jefferson said. “I hate balancing the budget on the backs of our employees.”

As a result of the changes tentatively made by the board Tuesday, the school division鈥檚 revenue from the county will drop to $1.087 billion.

The straw votes are not set in stone, Jefferson noted. The board of supervisors will vote on the proposed reduction and finalize the budget during its April 21 meeting.

‘Steal money from the schools in the middle of the night’

Prince William School Board Chair Babur Lateef said in a lengthy statement to 草莓传媒 that the board of supervisors’ decision to cut funding from the school system is allegedly the first time in three decades that the board has failed to honor its agreement to share county revenues with the school division.

Lateef said the school division receives approximately 57% of county general revenue, which is lower than neighboring regional counties including Fairfax and Arlington counties.

“The Prince William County school board relies heavily on this shared agreement because we make our budget based on this,” Lateef wrote. “We have never had to make cuts to an approved school budget before.”

He noted that Supervisor Chair Jefferson and Potomac District Supervisor Andrea Bailey were the “only two board of county supervisors (that) stood up for schools.”

“The board of county supervisors 鈥� have failed to reign in spending, and so they have decided that they would steal money from the schools in the middle of the night,” Lateef said.

Lateef offered that he would be willing to renegotiate the revenue sharing split with the board later this summer, but noted that the conversation should be “decided well in advance of the budget season.”

Lateef also spoke with regarding the impact the budget cuts could have on the next school year. He said new extracurricular activities including boys’ volleyball, women’s wrestling and robotics would likely be cut first and new initiatives like classroom remodeling and a mobile health van could also be cut.

“The question I, along with the public, is asking: what is the county doing with all of their data center revenues that they feel they still need to take money from the children of the county? One must ask if the BOCS and the county executive understand budgeting,” Lateef told 草莓传媒.

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When you walk into the Teaism teahouse in Penn Quarter, the frantic energy of the downtown D.C. neighborhood melts away on a floral breeze.

Hundreds of pounds of dried tea line the walls in decorative boxes, and for Lela Singh, daughter of co-founder Michelle Brown and manager of the , it has become a kind of second home.

鈥淚 grew up in the tea business with my mom, so I remember when I was really little, someone came to sample a bunch of matcha,鈥� she recalled, making a sour face at the memory of the bitter taste.

Matcha is a centuries-old traditional drink from China and Japan. Once central to the tea has evolved into a bright, popular drink that can be found at many neighborhood coffee shops in North America.

Ground from green tea leaves, the sharp, bitter drink is best known for its bright green color and creamy foam.

Age-old traditions with some unfortunate timing

Singh quickly whisked a bowl of matcha, noting that a traditional tea ceremony contains more choreography than can be seen at your local Starbucks.

鈥淲hat’s been wild about the explosion of matcha on social media is it’s almost like we’ve circumvented that whole tradition,鈥� Singh said. 鈥淭here’s room for machinery, but it also, I think, takes away a little bit from the magic and the human touch.鈥�

Down to the ceramics specifically crafted for making a small cup of matcha, Singh noted how much the ceremony has changed over time. Some tea and coffee shops pre-make their matcha in large batches and keep them in pitchers, while others whisk them by hand for each customer, and some take an easier route and just mix matcha powder and water in a blender.

鈥淭here are a few features that will be 鈥� salient in a matcha bowl that鈥檚 used for a tea ceremony. Because the pottery that goes with the tea ceremony is just as important as the tea itself,鈥� she said.

The virality of matcha in the past few years happened at the worst possible time, Singh said, citing the 15% tariff the U.S. government levied on nearly all imported goods from Japan.

鈥淔or a time for it to be going globally viral, it wasn’t great, but we’re making it work,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e’ve been sort of inundated with this low-quality matcha that’s been served in lattes.鈥�

There are 鈥� ceremonial and culinary 鈥� and the difference in production is noticeable on the palate. Culinary grade matcha is a slightly lower grade and used in lattes and baking, while ceremonial matcha is a high-quality grade that can be consumed on its own with water.

During production, the leaves are shaded for two weeks and then harvested in the spring, which changes the way the plant reacts when brewed.

“That changes the flavor of the leaf itself and gives much more depth of flavor to the matcha when you’re drinking it,” Singh said.

To make a traditional cup of matcha, you use a chashaku bamboo spoon, scooping half a teaspoon of powder into a tall bowl with ridged sides. Then, you mix in a 1/4 cup of hot water with a chasen whisk, making quick “W” and “M” motions without hitting the bottom of the bowl.

鈥淵ou have to understand that matcha, in its truest form, is not a latte,鈥� Singh said. 鈥淵ou’re drinking in about three gulps, if you’re sitting in on a Japanese tea ceremony.鈥�

Make everything matcha

As recently as 2023, matcha was , and it only stands to grow.

Matcha’s trendiness is due largely to young people and social media influencers who鈥檝e found in it the perfect combination of wellness and aesthetics.

Matcha has a lower caffeine content than coffee, at 70 milligrams per serving with coffee鈥檚 100-plus milligrams. It also contains amino acids and antioxidants that ease the body鈥檚 absorption of caffeine, and provide a sustainable, long-lasting boost of energy without the crash when the caffeine wears off.

At in downtown D.C., students from around the area make the most of that long-lasting energy, especially during finals season.

Meri莽 Turhan, a manager at the cafe, said when the coffee shop opened, customers kept requesting that matcha be added to its menu.

鈥淥nce we started doing that, it started getting crazier and crazier,” he told 草莓传媒. “First, we started with strawberry matcha, and we added banana bread matcha, then lavender matcha, everything.”

Though the cafe鈥檚 management is Turkish, Turhan said diversifying its menu to combine different cultures was important 鈥� especially since the cafe sits under the building and around the corner from the White House.

鈥淲e wanted to combine all the different cuisines together, (and) matcha is one of them,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you have a coffee shop, I don’t think you can do without matcha, especially right now.鈥�

Unlike traditional matcha tea ceremonies, Dolphin Caf茅 serves a shot of matcha over milk and ice, like a latte, or with unique flavors like cookies and cream.

“We wanted to add some small touch 鈥� because the coffee business is kind of hard because everyone modifies their drinks,” Turhan said.

The aesthetically pleasing and intricately crafted drinks look good on social media but can be an acquired taste to some. Nonetheless, the #matcha hashtag has over 10.2 million posts on Instagram alone.

And though the method of drinking matcha has changed 鈥� with less of a focus on its health benefits and the traditional ceremony of drinking it 鈥� it remains an alternative for those who might want to move away from coffee.

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In a news release Monday, the air base said about 22,000 gallons of fuel had spilled into the Piscataway Creek and was discovered by personnel who found a “visible sheen and fuel odors” on March 23. The base was able to capture about 10,000 gallons of fuel before it reached the creek.

The base’s fueling system has since been shut down and the cause of the leak remains under investigation.

The Maryland Department of the Environment is working with a contractor to clean up the spill site and collect soil and water quality samples, according to .

MDE reported the leak was roughly 32,000 gallons of jet fuel.

When asked about the gap between estimates from MDE estimate and Joint Base Andrews, a spokesperson for the base told 草莓传媒: “The 10,000 additional gallons reported by Maryland Department of Energy is attributed to normal fluctuations due to temperature changes for January and February and a faulty valve. The fuel from this fluctuation and faulty valve was contained entirely within the fuel system and was not discharged into the environment.”

The department also said the base “failed to promptly disclose leaks as required by its state oil permit and did not report the full extent of the discharge until April 8, 2026.”

The department said the base’s leak detection system failed multiple times between January and March, but they did not notify the proper environmental agencies in a timely fashion.

鈥淲hile Maryland values its deep ties to federal defense installations across the state, contaminating Maryland鈥檚 land and water is unacceptable,鈥� Maryland Secretary of the Environment Serena McIlwain said. 鈥淭he state and the local community deserve answers and a robust response.鈥�

MDE ordered the air base to conduct emergency soil sampling to find the path of the fuel leak, install “monitoring wells” and provide daily updates about the cleanup process.

Joint Base Andrews wrote in a news release it is “committed to protecting the environment and surrounding community and to partnering with federal and state environmental agencies.”

The department said there is no threat to drinking water but advised residents to avoid swimming and consuming fish in areas of the creek where a sheen or odor is present.

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At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Pirro said the three employees 鈥� Nelson Kuma, 37, Richard Hounnou, 45, and Norma Munoz-Bent, 68, all residents of Maryland 鈥� are charged with one count of criminally negligent homicide and face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Kuma and Hounnou work as psychiatric counselors and Munoz-Bent is a registered nurse.

All three employees pleaded not guilty and were released Tuesday pending trial, according to a news . Pirro said her office will be filing a notice of appeal regarding their release.

In April 2020, the patient, referred to as “GW,” was a 58-year-old man who had been admitted to the Tenleytown facility for two days. He had previously had an “emergency event,” Pirro said, and had to be resuscitated.

Because of his health status, GW was meant to receive one-to-one care, where a health care professional was supposed to check on him every 15 minutes and enter information into a record.

According to video taken inside the hospital, the man can be seen lying nude on a mattress on the floor and having labored breathing.

Pirro said a psych tech enters the room, takes note of the man’s labored breathing but does nothing to help “for four minutes. He walks around, does nothing. A second tech enters the room, they fist bump each other, and for seven minutes, they have a very animated conversation.”

Then, a nurse enters the room, “stares at him” but does nothing to help. She returns with a blood pressure cuff but puts it on his forearm, not above his elbow.

“Here’s the bottom line, this trio did nothing to help this patient,” Pirro said. “They finally turned the man over at 12:56, and they gave him a chest compression, 21 minutes later.”

By the time they attempted the life-saving measures, he’d died.

Pirro said the health care employees “violated the most basic standard of medical care.”

“I also want to be clear this was not a close call. This was not a difficult medical judgment. This was basic, entry-level incompetence. This was completely abandoning the health of a human being. They had a legal and an ethical duty to act, and they chose not to,” she said.

The three employees will return to court May 29.

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Michael Est猫ve to replace former Mayor Tim Adams, who left the post after being selected to fill the District 4 seat on the Prince George’s County Council in January.

Est猫ve beat out seven other candidates who filed to run for office 鈥� several of which where members of the Bowie City Council.

Est猫ve currently serves as the District 1 representative on the Bowie City Council and is a lifelong resident of the Maryland city. He on a platform based on improving police recruitment, preserving green spaces and navigating challenging budget choices.

The candidates were: Babatunde Alegbeleye, Takisha Brown, Roxy Ndebumadu, Conrad Nkimbi, Rebecca Pearce, Wanda J. Rogers and Remington Tennessee. Dennis Brady withdrew from the race in March.

Alegbeleye, a veteran, nurse and a self-proclaimed “concerned citizen,” ran for Bowie City Council District 3 seat in 2023, losing to incumbent council member Clinton Boyce Truesdale Sr. He ran as a Democrat with including affordable housing, economic and community support and safe neighborhoods.

is an attorney and the branch manager of the Research, Development and Innovation branch at the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space. She received support from Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett and the first African American woman from D.C. to receive the Purple Heart award, Antoinette Scott.

Roxy Ndebumadu, District 4 Council member, Mayor Pro Tem and an artificial intelligence startup founder, ran to succeed Adams on neighborhood safety, tech innovation and improving the community economy. She received support from Maryland District 31 State Del. LaToya Nkongolo.

Conrad Nkimbi, a graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, said one of his campaign priorities was to bring more in business to Bowie.

Rebecca Pearce, a 23-year-old graduate of Howard University, was the youngest candidate to run for mayor. Pearce including addressing affordability, supporting small businesses, economic development and improving city services.

At-Large Council member Wanda J. Rogers formerly worked for the Treasury Department and currently is the president of the Greater Bowie Chamber of Commerce. As a self-proclaimed dedicated public servant, she listed as strategic economic development, increased public safety and open communication with the community.

Remington Tennessee, a graduate of Bowie State University and teacher, of youth engagement, addressing affordability and economic growth among local businesses.

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Carroll told 草莓传媒’s Nick Iannelli that social media posts advertising “teen takeovers” around the nation’s capital informed police about where their attention is needed.

The police department has seen posts promoting underage drinking at the events, which can “sometimes get out of control,” Carroll said.

He cited the March 14 incident at the Navy Yard, where about 200 young people congregated. Multiple people were robbed, a gun was fired into the air and two teens were arrested.

“We deploy officers to the area to be a visible presence,” Carroll said. “Now, the curfew zones still allow juveniles to be in the area; they just can’t be in the area of groups of nine or more,” he said.

He said if officers see a group of teens in violation of the zones’ curfew 鈥� between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. 鈥� they will provide warnings and direct them to disperse into smaller groups, which allows authorities to “manage the crowds much better.”

The five juvenile curfew zones are in effect :

• Euclid Street NW to Georgia Avenue NW Street and 9th Street from 8-11 p.m.
• I Street NW to 6th Street, E Street and 9th Street from 8-11 p.m.
• Interstate 695 Southeast/Southwest Freeway to 8th Street SE, along the Anacostia River to South Capitol Street SE from 8-11 p.m.
• The Waterfront/Wharf from Interstate 396/695 to 4th Street SW, P Street NW and along the Washington Channel from 8-11 p.m.
• V Street NW to the corner of Vermont and Florida Avenues, 9th Street NW, T Street and 13th Street NW from 8-11 p.m.

MPD announces the establishment of five juvenile curfew zones beginning Friday, April 3, at 8 p.m.

Read more:

Learn more about curfew enforcement here:

鈥� DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept)

A citywide curfew, created by emergency legislation in 2025, states those under 18 can鈥檛 be out in public or at a D.C. establishment from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., .

It also allows D.C. police to designate certain areas as juvenile curfew zones, where teens cannot gather in groups of nine or more. Those zones can prohibit minors from gathering after 8 p.m., ahead of the general citywide curfew.

Earlier this week, the D.C. Council delayed a vote to extend the emergency curfew through the summer and into September.

Council Chair Phil Mendelson said in an email to 草莓传媒 the vote was moved because some members of the council voiced their concerns over the legislation. The council鈥檚 next legislative meeting is April 21, six days after the legislation is set to expire.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser criticized the council and said she was “deeply disappointed” by the legislative body’s decision to delay the vote and allow the curfew to expire. On Wednesday, Bowser told reporters she was measuring her options to overrule the curfew vote, and would be putting all her “options on the table.”

鈥淚 can鈥檛 be the only one speaking up for public safety in D.C.,鈥� Bowser said.

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Two teenagers have been arrested and charged with shooting a man inside a Giant Food grocery store in Germantown, Maryland, last month.

Wednesday they had arrested Marcus Isaiah Jovon Braithwaite, 19, of Germantown, and a 16-year-old boy from Montgomery Village.

The pair walked into the grocery store in the 18300 block of Leaman Farm Road on March 20 around 8:40 p.m. About a minute later, police said, a man walked into the store and the two suspects began running through the store and chasing him.

Braithwaite and the 16-year-old allegedly chased the victim to the front of the store and fired several shots at him. They left the store after the victim had been shot.

The two are both charged with attempted first-degree murder, first and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and the use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime.

Police released from the grocery store that shows two individuals running through the store with weapons in their hands and opening fire near the checkout lines before running out of the store.

The 16-year-old is being charged as an adult. He is awaiting extradition from Sterling, Virginia, to Montgomery County.

Braithwaite is currently being held without bond in police custody and will appear in court Thursday for a bond hearing.

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On Tuesday, D.C. police announced the arrest of Rico Rashaad Barnes, 36, of Northwest D.C., in connection with the case. On Wednesday night, police announced additional charges against a second suspect, 39-year-old Alphonso Walker, also of Northwest D.C., who was already in police custody on separate charges.

During the early morning hours of Feb. 11, emergency personnel were called to the 1400 block of Rhode Island Avenue NW for reports of smoke. Firefighters entered one of the building’s units to find it engulfed in flames.

After putting out the fire, they found an unconscious man lying face down with his wrists and ankles bound with neckties, according to court documents. The man, identified as 40-year-old Syed Hammad Hussain, of D.C., was pronounced dead on the scene.

Officials also saw blood around Hussain’s head, on the floor and on the wall next to him. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled his cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head and ligature strangulation, and said the fire was started after he’d died.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, D.C.’s Interim Chief of Police Jeffery Carroll announced the arrest, calling it “a particularly heinous case.”

Cmdr. Kevin Kentish with the Criminal Investigations Division said video evidence from inside the apartment building showed Hussain was followed into the building by two suspects, who assaulted him in the lobby and then forced him toward his apartment unit.

“We do not believe Mr. Hussain had any prior relationships with our suspects before the day he was deceased,” Kentish said.

The suspects also took multiple items, including a bicycle and coats, from inside Hussain’s apartment.

“In this case, it was just an innocent person who was walking home who was taken advantage of, which is very, very scary,” Carroll said.

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A spokesman with the FAA confirmed with 草莓传媒 that air traffic was temporarily stopped after a strong smell was reported at the Potomac Consolidated Terminal RADAR Approach Control facility in Warrenton, Virginia.

According to the Fauquier County Fire Rescue System the source of the smell was an IT cabinet housing an overheated UPS battery backup in a breakroom on the first floor of the facility located at 3699 Macintosh Drive.

The facility was deemed safe and all personnel were able to reenter the facility and resume work duties at 7:30 p.m., according to the statement.

罢丑别听聽site provides air traffic control services to the Baltimore-Washington and Richmond-Charlottesville areas.

Reagan National Airport, Dulles International Airport and BWI Marshall Airport were all impacted by the ground stop, as well as Charlottesville-Albemarle and Richmond International airports. Delays remained at Reagan National for a period of time.

Tom Roussey, with 草莓传媒 news partner 7草莓传媒, told 草莓传媒’s Nick Iannelli from inside Reagan National on Friday night that the departures board showed mostly delays and cancellations.

“They’ve had some other sort of evacuation that led to all this,” Roussey said of the TRACON facility.

“They schedule these flights so close together (nowadays), that one thing could just throw everything off. Expect this to potentially affect flights even into tomorrow.”

A similar incident occurred at the Potomac TRACON facility two weeks ago when a circuit board overheated.

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Jose Ulises Aguilar-Martinez, 23, appeared in Loudoun County Circuit Court on Thursday for sentencing on a first-degree felony murder charge, as well as robbery causing death, attempted grand larceny and hit and run charges.

On July 28, 2024, Aguilar-Martinez tried to steal a vehicle that was left running outside the 7-Eleven at Town Center Plaza in Sterling. An adult and two children were in the backseat.

Court documents said his intent was to steal a car so he could drive to California. The adult in the running vehicle stopped Aguilar-Martinez from taking the vehicle.

Aguilar-Martinez then left the parking lot area and changed clothes to try to hide his identity, a said.

Melody Waldecker pulled into the convenience store parking lot a few minutes later. The Maryland woman was in Loudoun County to visit her sick mother, the news release said. She left the vehicle running while she entered the store.

Aguilar-Martinez had returned to the parking lot and got into Waldecker’s vehicle. She spotted him and tried to keep him from stealing the car by pulling on the door handle.

As Aguilar-Martinez began backing up, Waldecker lost her balance and fell to the ground.

“Aguilar-Martinez turned the wheel of the car, accelerated to a high rate of speed, and then drove over Melody鈥檚 body,” the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said. She died at the scene.

Police located and arrested Aguilar-Martinez, still in Waldecker’s vehicle, about 45 minutes later.

鈥淭his brutal crime was a senseless tragedy against Melody Waldecker and the community. Mrs. Waldecker was a caretaker in her professional career and for her family. She was killed because this individual wanted to steal a car to drive to California at any cost,鈥� Commonwealth鈥檚 Attorney Bob Anderson said in a statement.

草莓传媒’s Abigail Constantino contributed to this report.

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Around 8:40 p.m. Thursday, an officer conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle near 23rd Avenue and Ager Road at East-West Highway. The driver was asked to exit the vehicle as an officer stood with him and a second officer began searching the vehicle.

“As the search progressed, the driver jumped back into his vehicle and began to drive away with the officer still partially in the vehicle,” police said in

The officer standing outside the vehicle was “knocked to the ground,” Police Chief George Nader said at a news conference Thursday night.

The other officer was “partially in, partially out of the vehicle” when the driver attempted to flee, Nader said.

That’s when the officer fired and struck the driver, who crashed into a pole. He was transported to a hospital where he later died from his injuries.

鈥淚 was just inside doing homework, and then, all of a sudden, my brother goes, ‘I heard something,’ right? ‘Pop, pop, pop,鈥� then he said he heard gunshots,鈥� said Marvin Arias, who lives on 23rd Avenue. 鈥淎nd then, all of a sudden, everything just went dark.鈥�

Power in the neighborhood went out after the car hit the pole.

鈥淭hen, all of a sudden, a bunch of police came in. There are police cars coming from this way or from that way over there,鈥� Arias said, pointing in either direction. 鈥淭hey came out with their guns and then later on, they also took out the rifles, because I’m assuming that they thought that they were in danger.鈥�

The two officers sustained “significant but non-life-threatening injuries” and were transported for treatment at a hospital.

Nader said a “large amount of marijuana” was found inside the car in a laundry bag.

The Maryland Attorney General Office’s Independent Investigations Division will investigate the incident. No further details were confirmed from requests from 草莓传媒.

Below is map of the area where the shooting happened:

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The smoke and flames reached the Outer Loop overpass and drivers on the Beltway reported seeing smoke billowing out from the underpass.

Firefighters with Prince George’s County Fire and EMS Department requested that the Outer Loop be closed for emergency bridge inspection.

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An emergency work zone was cleared ahead of Exit 11; delays remain. All northbound laned of Pennsylvania Avenue, where the vehicle burned, reclosed around 9:30 p.m.

The vehicle burned for a while around 6:30 p.m. before firefighters arrived and extinguished it.

The Outer Loop was closed around 6:50 p.m. with all northbound traffic sent southbound on Route 4.

Below is a map of where the fire broke out:

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