A judge in Fairfax County, Virginia, has sentenced Brendan Banfield to life in prison with no chance of parole in the 2023 鈥渁u pair affair鈥� murders of his wife and another man.

Prosecutors said Banfield was romantically involved with the family’s au pair and the two plotted to murder Christine Banfield and blame her death on a stranger, Joseph Ryan, who they lured to the family鈥檚 home.

“One would hope that some day you will become tortured by what you have done to Christine, Joe, Christine’s daughter, and their families, but nothing I have seen suggests that you will,” said Fairfax County Circuit Court Chief Judge Penney Azcarate. “The level of cruelty, calculation, and inhumanity in this case reflects something far deeper than anger or impulse. It reflects evil, which is why I carry no burden and find no hesitation in sentencing you to life.”

Brendan Banfield was convicted in February of two counts of aggravated murder. He has maintained his innocence throughout the legal process, including during the sentencing hearing Friday.

In Banfield’s testimony, he claimed to have shot Ryan to stop him from attacking his wife with a knife 鈥� a version of events the jury didn’t buy.

“Christine cared very much for her family and friends, I’m not trying to, I’m not trying to diminish in any way what, what her life, what her life was. She truly was a caring, a caring mother, a caring wife, a loving nurse,” Banfield said. “But I am not responsible for her death. This is not a knife that I ever held in my hand, and I never stabbed her.”

Azcarate, who also presided over his trial, appointed Banfield an appellate attorney after imposing his sentence Friday. Banfield would have 30 days to file an appeal.

Aggravated murder became after former Gov. Ralph Northam abolished the death penalty in 2021. It carries a mandatory life sentence.

Banfield, a former IRS law enforcement officer,聽was also found guilty of using a firearm in the commission of a felony and child endangerment, as his 4-year-old child was home during the killings.

Speaking of Christine’s daughter, Azcarate said, “You did not just take her mother from her, you placed her in the middle of the horror you created. She is young now, but one day she will understand your true self, and she will understand what you took from her, which is everything.”

Before sentencing, prosecutors called three witnesses who provided victim impact statements: Christine鈥檚 sister, Ryan鈥檚 mother and his aunt. All three witnesses shared memories of their loved ones, and gave a window into the grief they’ve experience since their murders.

“Joe wasn’t the disposable caricature he was made out to be,” his mother, Deirdre Fisher, testified. “He had a face, he had a name, he had a life, but Brendan Banfield shot his face, soiled his name, and treated his life as disposable.”

The ‘au pair affair’

According to the prosecution and Magalh茫es, who testified against Banfield after taking a plea deal, Banfield and the au pair created an account on a fetish website impersonating Christine and drew Ryan to the home with promises of rough sex.

During her two days of testimony, Magalh茫es detailed her sexual relationship with Banfield, his desire to 鈥済et rid of his wife鈥� and the plan he developed to do so.

Magalh茫es was initially charged with murder in October 2023, eight months after the killings and nearly a year before Banfield himself was charged.

With her trial date nearing, Magalh茫es accepted a plea deal, in which her charge was downgraded to manslaughter. In February, after testifying against her former lover, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role in the double murder.

On Friday, Banfield and his attorney argued that DNA evidence at the crime scene and digital forensic evidence were not properly weighed by the jury.

Both pointed to blood stain pattern analysis that suggested Christine’s blood was found on Ryan.

They referenced instances where Christine’s laptop was accessed when Brendan Banfield wasn’t home, as Magalh茫es had claimed he was the one to login to the device to message Ryan, not her.

The defense has repeatedly claimed that the catfishing theory was forced onto detectives and that members of the police department who disagreed with the theory were moved off the case.

‘I climbed in her crib’: Families share memories, anger over murders

Christine鈥檚 big sister, Danielle Hocker, gave a window into their memories from childhood, times of catching lightning bugs, backyard haircuts from their barber grandfather and staying up late to watch Saturday Night Live.

“We were each other’s first friends, sleeping in each other’s bedrooms, in sleeping bags, on the floor, or in tents in the den,鈥� Hocker said. 鈥淚 climbed in her crib several times and attempted a solo diaper change unsuccessfully.鈥�

Hocker is four years older than Christine and as children, the sisters were at times mistaken for twins, she said.

鈥淲e both had curly hair, but otherwise I didn’t understand what other people saw,鈥� Hocker said. 鈥淲hen I look into a mirror, I sometimes see her first, my face replaced by hers, and in a flash she’s gone, and I’m left confused by my own reflection. She was her own person, never trying to be me, but always wanted to be by my side, and I hers.鈥�

Hocker also referenced Brendan Banfield’s testimony, during which he said both he and his wife had affairs throughout their 20-year relationship.

“As Christine’s sister, I didn’t just lose her, I had to sit and listen to a version of her that did not exist,” Hocker said. “I knew her in a way that he never could. I knew her honesty, her compassion, her refusal to live with secrets.”

‘I won’t forget you, Joe’

Speaking remotely, Ryan’s mother also described the hurt caused by the way her son was characterized as part of the scheme, as “the intruder, the fetish guy into rough sex, the rapist and the murderer.”

“Over these more than three years since Joe’s murder, my life has been filled with continued loss and with emotional and medical and financial trauma, I have not been able to function normally at home,” Fisher said.

In the time since Ryan’s death, Fisher said she has developed ulcers, a heart condition and had a toe removed.

“Would I have experienced such severe trauma without the brutal loss of Joe? Certainly not,” she said. “When Joe was alive, he would fly or drive to care for me, when I needed, and it included cancer twice.”

Fisher pushed back on accusations against Ryan’s character, saying he was a feminist who cared about women’s rights.

“Although he was chosen as a scapegoat from a website that is considered fetish, he was on that site to find a consenting partner because he believed in a woman’s right to bodily autonomy and in her control over her romantic and sexual life,” she said.

Ryan lived with his grandmother, who he cared for, and had previously moved to Florida to look after his grandfather before he died.

“Joe was a guy who believed in fighting for the underdog, and even actual neglected dogs,” Fisher said. “He would walk into an animal shelter and ask for the oldest, ugliest dogs, bring them home and love them for years. When Joe was murdered, he left behind a dog named ‘Kitty,’ who waited for him at the top of the stairs.”

Fisher said she gave birth to Ryan when she was 16 years old and, without financial or physical ability to raise her son, the two were separated.

When Ryan was 14, he pursued a closer relationship with his mom. Fisher said the two spent holidays and vacations together, and they would speak on the phone often.

Their last phone call was the night before his murder.

“I will choose to live in his fighting spirit and with his voice in my head, ‘Be kind to yourself, Mom. Take better care of yourself, Mom. Love you, Mom.’ I won’t forget you, Joe. I hear you now,” Fisher said.

草莓传媒’s Thomas Robertson contributed to this report.聽

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Banfield faces life in prison with no chance of parole after being convicted in February of two counts of aggravated murder in the killings of his wife, Christine Banfield, and another man, Joseph Ryan, in 2023.

Defense attorney John Carroll told Chief Judge Penney Azcarate that Fairfax County prosecutors made three errors during Banfield’s prosecution, and that those errors influenced the jury’s decision to convict Banfield.

Banfield had conspired with the family’s au pair, Juliana Peres Magalh茫es, with whom he was having an affair. Peres Magalh茫es聽received a 10-year-sentence for her role in the crimes, as part of a plea arrangement.

In a brief hearing Thursday, Carroll argued prosecutors had used Banfield’s unwillingness to speak with police before his arrest against him in trial. Carroll said that violated Banfield’s constitutional right to due process.

Another issue raised by the defense was that some prosecution witnesses hadn’t been declared before trial and presented an unfair surprise. The judge said prosecutors followed the rules.

And, in the third issue presented, the defense said Peres Magalh茫es lied on the stand, when she answered “I don’t know” during the defense’s cross-examination, after testifying for the prosecution against her former lover.

Azcarate said Peres Magalh茫es’s answers were appropriate, and that there was no evidence that she was attempting to deceive the jury.

By denying the defense motion to dismiss the convictions, Azcarate is expected to sentence Banfield to life in prison with no chance of parole on Friday. Aggravated murder became after former Gov. Ralph Northam abolished the death penalty in 2021.

Prosecutors intend to have three witnesses provide victim impact sentences before Azcarate imposes Banfield’s sentence.

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Researchers at the University of British Columbia found that between 1990 and 2023, the average summer grew about six days longer per decade. That’s up from roughly four days per decade found in .

In some cities, the shift is even more dramatic. Sydney, Australia, went from about 80 summer days in 1990 to roughly 130 today 鈥� a gain of 15 days per decade, the study said. In Toronto, summers have grown by eight days per decade.

The researchers didn’t define “summer” by the calendar. Instead, they measured when temperatures climbed above what was historically typical for a given location, using climate data from 1961 to 1990 as a baseline.

“These findings challenge what we believe to be the normal cycle of the seasons,” said lead author Ted Scott, a Ph.D. student in the university’s geography department, in . “When summer happens and how quickly it arrives impact patterns and behaviors in plant and animal life, and human society.”

It’s not just the length that’s changing 鈥� it’s how fast summer arrives. The study found that seasonal transitions are becoming more abrupt, with summerlike temperatures showing up suddenly instead of gradually.

That rapid shift could throw off systems that rely on seasonal timing, the researchers said. Flowers may bloom before pollinators are ready to get to work. Crops may need to be planted further in advance. Faster snowmelt in spring could increase the risk of flooding.

“An expectation in the Northern Hemisphere that June is when summer starts may be ingrained in planning and policy, meaning we could be ill-prepared for earlier heat,” Scott said.

The study also found that accumulated summer heat over land in the Northern Hemisphere has been rising more than three times faster since 1990 than it did from 1961 to 1990.

The in the journal “Environmental Research Letters.”

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Mamta Kafle Bhatt was last seen on July 29, 2024 in a video call with her mother.

Naresh Bhatt was indicted in December 2024 on a first-degree murder charge, as well as defiling a dead body. He was also charged, but not indicted, for concealing a dead body.

Naresh Bhatt’s public defender, Laurel Rodewald, requested and was granted a bond hearing for Wednesday. Naresh Bhatt has twice been denied bond.

In August 2024, a judge in Prince William County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court said Naresh Bhatt was a flight risk and a danger to the community.

On September 2024, after the defense raised questions about inconsistencies in the police investigation, bond was denied. After Prince William County prosecutors laid out a timeline, Circuit Court Judge Kimberly Irving said, “The evidence as proffered by the commonwealth is overwhelming 鈥� certainly at a probable cause level.”

Naresh Bhatt has remained in the Prince William County Adult Detention Center.

“Mr. Bhatt is neither a flight risk nor a danger to himself or others,” Rodewald wrote in the motion for a bond hearing filed Tuesday. “Counsel will provide further argument regarding his change in circumstances and argument for bond at the hearing on June 3, 2026.”

Rodewald did not immediately return a 草莓传媒 request for clarification on the change of circumstances that would merit pretrial release.

Two weeks ago, Prince William County police submitted three human hairs and 13 hair fragments they said was found on a handheld power saw from the Bhatt home after Mamta Bhatt disappeared.

An October 2024 report from Virginia’s Department of Forensic Science indicated blood found on parts of the same reciprocating saw matched a DNA profile created from Mamta Bhatt’s hairbrush. Her body has never been found.

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Since the guard was deployed last August, overall crime dropped about 24%, according to a . But researchers say most of that reduction came from opportunistic property crime 鈥� not violent crime.

“The National Guard was deployed primarily in high-visibility public spaces, exactly the locations where opportunistic property crime tends to occur and where visible deterrence is most likely to be effective,” according to the report.

But those aren’t the high-crime neighborhoods where violent crime takes root, researchers said, and the deployment hasn’t changed the dynamics in high-poverty areas where that violence is concentrated.

The report says D.C. police had been making significant inroads in high-crime areas before the guard arrived.

Between 2022 and 2025, narcotics arrests were up 150%, traffic stops and violations were up 100%, and release violations and fugitive charges were up approximately 50%.

“These are arrests that require officers to go looking for crime before it happens 鈥� stopping cars, executing warrants, sweeping for drugs and illegal weapons, pulling people with outstanding violations off the street,” according to the report. “They signal a deliberate strategy of getting guns, drugs, and dangerous people off the street before violence happens.”

There’s also a cost question. The Niskanen Center said the daily cost of a National Guard member 鈥� who doesn’t have full police powers 鈥� is almost twice that of a D.C. police officer.

The study concludes the guard has been an expensive way to reduce property crime, but hasn’t substantially reduced violent crime.

“Preventing a murder in Congress Heights, a high-crime neighborhood in the city’s Southeast quadrant, produces social benefits orders of magnitude greater than those of preventing a vehicle theft from a tourist corridor near Union Station at the foot of the Capitol complex,” according to the report. “Any cost-effectiveness analysis that treats crimes as homogeneous misses the most important dimension of the comparison.

The findings come as President Donald Trump announced plans to double the National Guard presence in the District ahead of America’s 250th birthday celebration.

In 2023, named the Niskanen Center as the most interesting think tank in American politics, noting “its unorthodox policy ideas that can bridge left-right divides.”

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With one-pill-a-day targeted therapy, her EGFR-mutated lung cancer is “in check.”

Now, she’s raising awareness about radon, which is and the No. 2 cause overall, according to the National Institutes of Health.

“I didn’t see this one coming at all,” Hatch said; she had no symptoms. After her diagnosis in 2024, she and her husband bought an inexpensive radon monitoring kit. It came back with double the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended safe threshold.

“Many people don’t know it’s a radioactive gas that’s naturally occurring,” said Hatch, making it “tricky because you can’t see it, smell it or taste it 鈥� but you can test for it, inexpensively and easily.”

Hatch is pulling together a public awareness coalition, called “People vs. Radon,” in an effort to make radon testing as routine as changing the batteries in a smoke detector.

Radon testing and mitigation

Radon testing kits are available at hardware stores, and are often provided free by jurisdictions, Hatch said.

“You put it in the lowest part of your home, most likely in a basement or the lowest level, close to the slab,” she said. Even in an apartment building, Hatch said, “I would encourage people to do testing, just to make sure.”

Depending upon the test, after a period of time “you’ll get a reading, and if your home levels are over four, you definitely want to have that eradicated in a way that can make your air safe again, because you’re breathing radioactive gas, potentially,” Hatch said.

After living in her current home for 25 years, she had a reading of 8 picocuries per liter, .

“You have to have a certified examiner come in and look at your home to see where this could be coming from,” Hatch said. “This gas can come in through any avenue 鈥� it could be cracks in your foundation, it could be through plumbing, there’s gas that comes out in your shower water.”

If a home tests high for radon, Hatch said mitigation in the D.C. area costs between $800 and $1,500 鈥� a fraction of the human and financial cost of a late-stage lung cancer diagnosis.

Hatch recommends going to an online resource, and consulting your jurisdiction “to see a map with the hot spots.”

The and also provide resources about radon.

“Get a test kit,” Hatch said. “You have to test your home in a way that allows you to take action.”

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Court records show Jing Sheng Dong, 48, of Staten Island, New York, was scheduled to stand trial Tuesday, June 2, in Annapolis, Maryland.

On March 9, 2026, at 1:20 a.m., Dong was clocked driving 72 miles per hour in a 50 mph zone on Route 3 southbound at Charles Hall Road in Anne Arundel County, Maryland State Police said.

In Friday’s crash, Dong was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, according to Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Olsen.

The crash on Interstate 95 southbound killed five people and injured dozens.

Speed played a role in the bus failing to slow for traffic approaching a work zone on I-95, according to preliminary findings from the National Transportation Safety Board.

The bus in Friday’s crash was operated by E&P Travel Inc. of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, the NTSB said. A compliance snapshot from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration showed one injury crash involving the company’s vehicles in the previous two years and listed its safety rating as satisfactory.

According to Virginia court records, Dong had previously been cited for speeding. In November 2024 he was charged with driving 73 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone in Colonial Heights, south of Richmond. He paid $219 in fines and costs.

Driver remains in hospital, in custody

Two felony warrants for involuntary manslaughter were served on Dong in the hospital, according to Olsen. A magistrate has determined that Dong will be held without bond, in the hospital, until his first court appearance.

According to the NTSB, Dong’s bus failed to slow down while approaching a work zone and struck a Chevrolet Suburban, causing a chain-reaction where the SUV crashed into an Acura and other vehicles. The bus, which was carrying 34 people from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina, then hit additional vehicles.

Four of the people killed were inside the Acura: Dmitri Doncev, 45, a nurse who worked at Holyoke Medical Center; Ecaterina Doncev, 44; and their children, Emily and Mark. They were from Greenfield, Massachusetts.

Priscilla R. Mafalda, a 25-year-old woman from Worcester, Massachusetts, was inside the Suburban that was struck by the bus and died in the collision, according to the NTSB.

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Ryan Bos, CEO and president of the Capital Pride Alliance, said the theme is a direct response to what many in the LGBTQ+ community are facing now.

“It is really a nod to the times and the struggles that many folks in our community and many intersectional communities are dealing with,” Bos said.

He pointed to efforts to roll back diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives, book removals from libraries and what he described as attempts to “erase history.”

The festivities kick off with the Capitol Pride Honors, which was rebranded this year as Sunday, June 7, at the Four Seasons. The Pride parade follows Saturday, June 20, with the festival and concert on June 21.

Bos said the word “audacity” went through some debate before landing in the theme. He originally considered “audaciously” but said “audacity” was easier to grab onto 鈥� and carries a double meaning.

“How dare we exist,” he said, describing it as a kind of pun. “Really encouraging folks to live audaciously, to just have the audacity to be you.”

He also acknowledged that not everyone can show up safely 鈥� and said that’s exactly why those who can, should.

“It’s important for those of us who have the privilege to be in places where we can show up, to show up for those who don’t feel safe to do so,” Bos said. “It can be done in the big ways, but it can also be done in the small ways, just by saying ‘hi’ to somebody, thanking somebody, acknowledging somebody.”

Bos noted that the relevance of Pride has always shifted with the political climate, pointing to moments like the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the legalization of marriage equality as times when some questioned whether Pride was still necessary.

“It can be related to political cycles, to policies, to so many things that can impact our own safety, our own existence,” he said.

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Peter Maer covered the White House for CBS 草莓传媒 Radio from 1998 through 2015, and before that for Mutual Radio, going back to presidents Carter and Reagan. He said the contrast between then and now is stark.

“It really all seemed so quaint compared to what’s happening now,” Maer said, recalling the George H.W. Bush years, when he began covering the White House for CBS.

Maer detailed his White House experiences, and what led him to cover the occupants of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, in his new book, “”

Maer said H.W. Bush, who had served two terms as Ronald Reagan’s vice president, followed what he described as a very traditional approach to news coverage and media access 鈥� a far cry from how President Donald Trump operates.

“We have to acknowledge how much Trump’s media strategy is really driven by his own, self-centered social media activities,” Maer said. “He really is his own communications director. He’s his own press secretary.”

Maer said Trump announces major domestic and foreign policy decisions, and puts out “feelers” at all hours of the day and night on his Truth Social platform.

He said he takes issue with how Trump personally attacks reporters, saying he’d like to see the press corps collectively push back.

“I would very much like to see other reporters come to the defense of reporters who are attacked in such a highly personal and unseemly way by this president,” Maer said. “That just is not acceptable.”

Maer said Trump’s approach amounts to a bullying strategy that puts reporters on the defensive. And, he said, it “desecrates the office itself, but if that’s the way he wants to do it, he’s the president.”

While he acknowledged there has always been what he called “healthy tension” between the White House press corps and the presidents they cover, Maer said today’s climate is something different entirely.

He said the work reporters do has never mattered more.

“I think reporters are needed more than ever, and that’s not an overstatement,” Maer said.

His view of the job hasn’t changed: give people context, not conclusions.

“It’s really not the reporter’s job to make a decision for a reader or listener or a viewer,” he said. “It’s the reporter’s job to put it into context 鈥� the classic who, what, when, where, why and how 鈥� and really to explain how these decisions can ultimately affect their own lives and how it can affect society, broadly.”

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Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets this week showing 62 pedestrians and cyclists were killed or seriously injured along the Richmond Highway 鈥� also known as Route 1 鈥� over the past nine years. Of those people who were struck, 22 died.

The group said the most dangerous stretch runs about 6.6 miles between Belvoir Road and South Kings Highway 鈥� accounting for 58% of all crashes, the report said.

If you’ve driven Route 1 at night, the lighting situation may not surprise you. The report found 77% of all serious crashes and 95% of fatalities happened in the dark. More than half of those nighttime crashes happened on segments that were lit 鈥� which the group said suggests the existing streetlights are ineffective.

The report found roughly 65% of serious crashes and 82% of fatalities happened outside a marked crosswalk or intersection. And 58% of crashes happened within 200 feet of a bus stop, where people often cross midblock rather than walk to a distant controlled crossing.

The report found alcohol was involved in 47% of all serious crashes along the corridor, a rate that has climbed above 51% since COVID, Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets said. The intersection at Richmond Highway and Huntington Avenue had an 80% alcohol involvement rate in serious crashes, with the group pointing to nearby motels, a Virginia ABC store and a homeless shelter as contributing factors.

The number of deadly crashes has also jumped sharply. The group said the number of crashes where someone was killed or seriously injured grew from 3 in 2018 to 11 in 2024, roughly a fourfold increase.

With Bus Rapid Transit stops planned for the corridor, Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets is urging local and state officials to carry out a dedicated pedestrian and cyclist safety study before construction begins. Bus Rapid Transit is a public transportation system that moves riders across the D.C. area, according to the .

According to the analysis, two proposed stops sit next to existing crash clusters, and current designs use landscaped medians without physical pedestrian barriers.

The group is calling on the Virginia Department of Transportation, Fairfax County and WMATA to upgrade lighting at the five highest-priority crash sites, redesign four bus stop intersections to allow single-crossing pedestrian access, and install pedestrian refuge islands and HAWK signals at high-volume midblock crossing locations.

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In a statement, the diocese said the alleged misconduct by Rev. Patrick Posey happened between 1992 and 1993, outside of the Arlington diocese. Posey came to Arlington in 1999, according to public records.

“Fr. Posey denies the accusation,” said the diocese, and no determination has been made about the validity of the allegation.

“In accord with diocesan policy, upon receiving the allegation the diocese reported it promptly to law enforcement,” according to . “The diocese is fully cooperating with law enforcement and will continue to do so.”

The diocese said Posey has had several background checks: “Like all priests, diocesan employees, and volunteers who work with children in the Diocese of Arlington, Fr. Posey has undergone regular criminal background checks during his service.”

Before working in Arlington, Posey previously served locally in Winchester, Purcellville and Falls Church, according to online records.

The diocese encouraged anyone who knows of any misconduct or abuse on the part of any cleric or employee to contact police and the diocesan victim assistance coordinator at (703) 841-2530.

“The Diocese of Arlington asks for prayers for all affected by this allegation,” according to the statement.

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In a directive sent to Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Betsy Fox Tolentino, Moore wants DJS to collaborate with state police and corrections officials to develop a summer enforcement and intervention plan, to assist high-risk young people.

“Summer is a critical time for our young people,” Moore wrote. Since he took office, Moore says Maryland has seen a 44% decrease in homicides and a 40% drop in non-deadly shootings.

“These results are not by accident,” Moore said. “It is the result of our all-of-the-above approach to public safety.”

The directive comes one day after Moore signed a juvenile justice reform bill that limits the crimes in which teenagers are automatically charged as adults.

Among the summer safety goals, Moore wants the strategy to prioritize prevention and interventions for high risk young people and their families.

In addition, the governor is seeking “expanding education and workforce development programming for young people to create pathways to opportunity and long-term success.”

Moore said he wants to see targeted intervention measures for repeat juvenile offenders that are “proportionate, timely and effective.”

While the state has already been working to stem the growing number of chaotic gatherings of young people, the governor wants the summer strategy to develop “collaborative solutions to address ongoing community concerns like illegal street rallies and ‘teen takeovers,’ and other criminal activity.”

Moore also hopes the task force will identify opportunities for legislative or policy fixes to address gaps in the law that limit the state’s ability to intervene effectively.

In the directive, Moore assures DJS that his office and other agencies “stand ready to provide whatever support DJS needs to move quickly and ensure that it continues providing world-class service to the children of Maryland and their families.”

A status report is due in June.

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For any commuter or vacationer who’s done the calculations of whether it takes longer to drive somewhere or travel to the airport, go through security and wait for their flight, a Manassas, Virginia, company is reimagining regional travel.

The Federal Aviation Administration is encouraging development of next-generation aircraft and how they’re used. In December 2025, it released “.”

A shows there’s an existing market for their in-development EL9 Ultra Short, a nine passenger hybrid-electric airplane capable of taking off and landing in just 150 feet.

Standing next to a life-sized model of the plane in the company’s hangar, located at Manassas Regional Airport, Donn Yates, vice president of government programs at Electra Aero, said the EL9 is at the center of what the company calls “direct aviation” 鈥� regional air travel designed to meet passengers where they are, not at a major airport miles away.

“You would go to Tysons Corner, go park your car at a parking garage, go right outside to what we call an ultra short access point 鈥� which would look almost like a small road or a flat top on top of a parking garage 鈥� take off, fly directly to the Manhattan heliport,” without ever setting foot in an airport, Yates said.

The EL9 uses eight electric motors mounted on its wings (four on each side) that generate extra lift and essentially make the aircraft “think it’s going faster than it really does,” Yates said. That’s what allows it to take off and land in as little as 155 feet, he said.

Instead of navigating airport parking, shuttles and terminals, passengers would use those “ultra short access points,” rooftops, piers, open clearings, even soccer fields. The company said the aircraft could also serve general aviation airports, which tend to be closer to where people actually live.

The target range is 50 to 250 miles 鈥� think D.C. to Richmond, or D.C. to Blacksburg, Virginia, where Virginia Tech is located. Those trips currently take up to four hours by car.

According to the market study, there are 6,249 routes across the country where more than 1,000 people travel every day in that distance range. Right now, only 1% of those trips go by air, and 85% of those routes have no air service within 40 miles of where travelers start or end their journey, the report said.

Yates pointed to the I-95 corridor between Richmond and D.C. as a prime example of where the demand exists.

“All you have to do is go spend some time on the I-95 corridor between Richmond and D.C. and you see all kinds of possibilities that could potentially pop up,” he said.

Noise is a factor the company said it has addressed. Yates said the EL9 can switch off its turbo generator on approach and fly in on battery power alone, producing about 55 decibels of sound, roughly equivalent to a hairdryer.

“It’s significantly more quiet than a helicopter or a comparable aircraft in its class,” he said.

The market outlook prepared for Electra describes hybrid-electric propulsion as having “unlocked transformative capabilities that piston and turbine technologies could never achieve.”

The report said many of the targeted routes run through areas where travelers are willing to pay business-class airfare if it means saving time and avoiding the hassle of traditional air travel.

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All throughout May, 草莓传媒 is celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with聽stories about the people and places shaping the D.C. region.

Co-founded by friends who grew up watching kung fu movies, a Northern Virginia lion dance team is keeping Chinese and Vietnamese cultural traditions alive 鈥� one loud, energetic performance at a time.

Andy Huynh, who grew up in Alexandria, is one of the co-founders of the Hung Vuong Lion Dance Team, a group that traces its roots back to a Vietnamese-American Boy Scout troop. Huynh said the troop was led by refugees from the Vietnam War era, who wanted to preserve the traditions and culture, here in the United States.

It was in that troop where Huynh and his friends 鈥� teenage boys obsessed with kung fu films like “Once Upon a Time in China” starring Jet Li 鈥� first spotted lion dancing on screen and thought: Why not try it ourselves?

“Our first thought as young teenage boys was like, ‘Oh, we like kung fu, and lion dancing is unique and cool and it’s part of our culture,'” Huynh said.

They started out just having fun, not entirely sure what they were doing. But as they got older and learned more, the team grew to about two dozen members.

Now, the Hung Vuong Lion Dance Team is an extracurricular activity of a joint Boy and Girl Scout troop, Troop 612, based in Fairfax.

Lion dancing, Huynh said, is more than a performance 鈥� it’s a cultural tradition meant to symbolize luck, prosperity and positive energy while driving away evil spirits. The team performs most often around Lunar New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival, but also dances at weddings, grand openings and other celebrations where people want to bring good luck.

The lion itself has two parts: the head, which features the mouth, eyes and decorative details, and a cloak-like section the team simply calls the tail. Two performers work inside the costume in sync 鈥� one controlling the head, the other holding onto the belt of the person in front and using slight tugs to communicate direction.

“You can’t just simply go in and shake the costume and say that’s lion dancing,” Huynh said.

The movements range from playful and catlike 鈥� leaning into the idea that people find lions and cats adorable 鈥� to strong and powerful, reflecting the lion’s role as a guardian against negative spirits. Acrobatic moves are also part of the show, including lifting the head so the lion appears to stand on two legs.

A drummer, gong and cymbals provide the soundtrack, with specific rhythms that are, Huynh said, universal in lion dancing. The team also uses certain drum beats as internal cues, signaling when to return to the front, prepare for a bow or start wrapping up.

Firecrackers are sometimes part of the tradition too, used to scare away spirits while the lion runs and weaves and interacts with them.

“It’s fun, it’s festive,” Huynh said. “It’s usually associated with festivals and it’s just a great atmosphere.”

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Nasire Best, 21, pulled a gun from a bag, and fired several shots toward the security checkpoint near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, according to the Secret Service and D.C. police.

A male bystander was hit, and was reported Sunday to be in serious condition. In a statement posted on social media, Secret Service Director Sean Curran said “The Secret Service is hopeful he will make a full recovery.”

According to D.C. Superior Court records, Best had been arrested in July 2025 for unlawful entry, after using an exit turnstile to get into a restricted portion of the White House grounds.

The arresting officers said Best “claimed he was Jesus Christ, and wanted to get arrested.”

At the time of the arrest, agents said a check of the FBI-maintained National Crime Information Center database “came back clear, no wants, no warrants.”

The affidavit said Best was known to the Secret Service “for walking around the White House complex inquiring how to gain access at various entry points.”

According to the arresting officers, a few weeks before the July 10 arrest, Best had been involuntarily committed on June 26 for obstructing vehicle entry to the White House complex at the 15th Street and E Street NW checkpoint.

The day after his arrest, Best pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor count. He was ordered to stay away from the White House complex, bounded by 18th Street NW, I Street NW, 14th Street NW and Constitution Avenue NW.

However, court records show less than two weeks later, on Aug. 1, a notice of noncompliance with the stay-away order was filed.

When Best failed to appear for an Aug. 7 hearing and his attorney had no explanation, the judge issued a bench warrant with no bond. The warrant was still in effect early Saturday evening when Best opened fire and agents returned fire. He later died at a nearby hospital.

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