In Leesburg, all of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s preparation kept the roads passable, even when the temperatures dipped below freezing. By noon on Saturday, light, wet snow had started to fall. Places toward the west like Winchester got a bit more, but treated roads were fine.

And if you were really into snow, you did have to travel a bit to get some. About halfway between Leesburg and Winchester, at the foot of the aptly named Mount Weather in Bluemont, there was just enough snow to make things postcard picturesque. 

Weather Alert 15 hours ago

Weather Alert: Snow to the west, rain to the east as first storm of 2024 hits DC area

Storm Team4 4 hours ago

Storm Team4 forecast: Weather alert for wintry mix of snow, rain on Saturday

“I’ve been wanting to go over Mount Weather for a little while, and I just got impatient,” cyclist Alex Scheets said. 

So he asked good friend Brian Garcia to come along.

“I was like, you wanna do this with me? And he was like, ‘I’ll do it! I’m down! Let’s go!’” Scheets said. “That’s kind of what I had in mind when I was picturing the ride. In my head I was like, I want it to be snowing like this.”

Though they were fully aware of the forecast and didn’t let it stop them, by the time they ridden 23.5 miles to the front porch of the Bluemont Welcome Center, they’d seen enough. 

“Turning around and going back we’ll have to do the same distance, so we got our distance in. I think for safety’s sake we’re gonna avoid going any higher in elevation,” Sheets said. 

Early on, there wasn’t enough snow to shovel, and what was on cars the wipers could handle. So snow-lovers in the DMV will have to wait, like the cyclists headed back the way they came will have to wait to go higher up the mountain.

The winter storm was moving out of the region on Saturday night, but before it did, it left light snow and some sleet before it changed into all rain for much of the area. Highs were in mid- to upper 30s.

“We could see rain and snow coming down at a pretty good rate at times,” Storm Team4 Meteorologist Amelia Draper said.

Areas to the north and west of the D.C. metro area saw the largest effects of the storm and the most frozen precipitation. Loudoun County, Virginia, public schools canceled on-campus activities and announced administrative officers would be closed Saturday.

Fairfax County and Fauquier County schools in Virginia followed suit, also closing on-campus activities for Saturday. In Maryland, Frederick Community College canceled classes and closed its campus for the day.

Storm Team4 predicts:

• Little to no accumulation in the D.C. metro area
• 1-3 inches of snow north and west of D.C., for Warrenton up through Leesburg to Frederick
• 3 to 6 inches of snow and some ice further north and west, in the I-81 corridor.

Here’s where snow and rain are expected

Red zone: Along the I-81 corridor and up to Frederick County, Maryland is where the storm will have the biggest impacts. Snow is expected to arrive in the morning and continue into the afternoon. Even in this zone, the storm will likely end with rain.

But there’s also the chance for some ice in these areas north and west of D.C., including the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Hagerstown area.

Yellow Zone: Between Washington; most of Fairfax, Montgomery and Prince William counties and down through Stafford and Fauquier counties, expect a wintry mix of rain, freezing rain, sleet and/or snow.

“We’re looking at a mix of rain and snow changing over to all rain by the midday and afternoon hours” on Saturday, Draper said.

Green zone: In southern Maryland, central and southern Prince George’s County and up through Anne Arundel County, you’re dealing with mainly rain.

“Could you see a few snowflakes? Absolutely,” Draper said. “But this is just going to be, for the most part, a rainy chilly day for those of you east of I-95.”

Weather radar

Download the NBC Washington app on Apple and Android to use the weather radar on your mobile device.

Timing and snow totals

By 9 a.m. Saturday, we saw a wintry mix across the area, dropping mainly wet snow around D.C. and areas to the north.

By midday, the rain and snow line was in play right along the I-95 corridor. The D.C. area saw a shift to mostly rain in the afternoon.

But residents further west, in places like Purcelville and Clear Brooke, Virginia; Walkersville and Corriganville, Maryland; and Petersburg, West Virginia, snow began to accumulate by lunchtime.

Rain will exit as we head into nighttime, but there could be a lingering shower or some lingering snow showers out there on Sunday.

We’re talking about a lot of moisture: Nearly an inch of precipitation could fall in D.C. and its immediate suburbs.

Unfortunately for snow lovers, most of this precipitation will be rain.

If this storm system was all snow, we’d be talking about nearly a foot of snow across the area. But surface temperatures will be too warm, among other factors.

Winter weather advisory issued for parts of Maryland and Virginia

A winter weather advisory will be in effect from Saturday morning through the evening in areas all around D.C., including:

• Spotsylvania County, VA
• Orange County, VA
• Greene County, VA
• Culpeper County, VA
• Madison County, VA
• Stafford County, VA
• Central and Southeast Prince William County/Manassas/Manassas Park, VA
• Fairfax County, VA
• Rappahannock County, VA
• Northern Fauquier County, VA
• Northwest Prince William County, VA
• Eastern Loudoun County, VA
• Western Loudoun County, VA
• Central and Southeast Montgomery County, MD
• Central and Southeast Howard County, MD

Roads could be slippery in these areas, the National Weather Service warned.

A winter storm watch was issued for the I-81 corridor, including Winchester and Luray.

In Frederick, Maryland, state police activated the county’s Snow Emergency Plan on Saturday afternoon, designating a series of highways as snow emergency routes and requiring drivers to use snow tires.

Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.

Wounded by a bullet that struck her hand and chest and punctured a lung, Zwerner rushed the other first-graders into the hallway before she collapsed in the elementary school’s office.

“I hope that they are enjoying school, enjoying their second-grade year,” Zwerner, 26, told The Virginian-Pilot newspaper. “I hope that they’re still kind to their classmates, kind to teachers. I hope that they still have happiness, and that their happiness wasn’t completely stripped away.”

Zwerner gave a round of local media interviews before the Jan. 6 anniversary of the shooting at Richneck Elementary in Newport News. And while she’s endured an extremely challenging 12 months, both physically and emotionally, Zwerner recalled moments of joy with friends and family and the warmth of strangers who’ve contacted her from across the globe.

“The amount of kindness that people still have, that really resonates with me,” she told ABC affiliate 13News Now. “That helps me remember that, just because something terrible happened to me that should never have happened, there’s still kindness and good left in the world.”

Zwerner said she also has faith in the American court system.

She’s suing Newport News Public Schools for $40 million, alleging that school officials ignored multiple warnings the boy had a gun and was in a violent mood.

The school board has tried to block the lawsuit, arguing that Zwerner is eligible only for workers compensation under Virginia law. But a judge ruled in November that the lawsuit can proceed to trial.

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The school board is in the process of appealing that ruling, which some legal experts said was surprising given Virginia’s strict workers’ compensation law. The school board also filed a claim Friday before the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission seeking full benefits on Zwerner’s behalf, including nearly 10 years net pay and lifetime medical care for her injuries.

A statement from school board attorney Anne Lahren noted that a two-year statute of limitations for seeking benefits would otherwise expire before the trial’s scheduled start date in late January 2025.

“She has recently given interviews expressing worry about medical expenses arising from her injuries, all of which would be covered for her lifetime by workers’ compensation benefits,” the statement said. “We do not want to see these significant benefits jeopardized by letting the deadline for filing lapse. We firmly believe that the Workers’ Compensation Commission is the correct forum to determine this case, not the Circuit Court.”

Meanwhile, the mother of the boy who shot Zwerner, Deja Taylor, has been sentenced to a total of nearly four years in prison for felony child neglect and federal weapons charges. Her son is now in a different school and in the care of his great-grandfather.

Taylor’s son told authorities he got his mother’s handgun by climbing onto a drawer to reach the top of a dresser, where the firearm was in his mom’s purse. Taylor initially told police she secured her gun with a trigger lock, but investigators said they never found one.

Zwerner declined to talk about Taylor or her son. But she told The Virginian-Pilot that the shooting is “always going to be there with me … and it’s always there in the back of my head.”

Zwerner was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. She still endures nightmares of violence. And after spending nearly two weeks in the hospital, she has had five surgeries to try to restore motion to her left hand.

Zwerner no longer works for the school district and has no plans to teach again, telling 13News Now that her career has “been taken from me, stripped from me.”

She hasn’t been in touch with her former students because “it’s still been really hard to think of the last time I was with them,” Zwerner said. “And then I think about their last time that they were with me.”

The former teacher said she’s considering another career path but isn’t ready to share what it is. In the meantime, she’s been sustained by her family, friends and even strangers. A GoFundMe page set up by her sister has raised more than $280,000. The costs of her recovery — from ambulance, hospital and doctors’ bills to ongoing therapy appointments — continue to grow.

She said this year’s holidays were hard. But they’ve always been hard since her father passed away a few years ago.

“So, I feel like it was double hard this holiday,” Zwerner told 13News Now. “But it was really nice to be able to have a holiday again.”

Many residents of the D.C. area could see snowflakes this weekend — but cold rain in the forecast is washing out hopes for a winter wonderland near the Beltway.

Storm Team4 is tracking a winter storm expected throughout Saturday. Some snow is expected Saturday before it changes into all rain for much of the region. Highs will be in the mid- to upper 30s.

“We could see rain and snow coming down at a pretty good rate at times,” Storm Team4 Meteorologist Amelia Draper said.

Areas to the north and west of the D.C. metro area will see the largest effects of the storm. Loudoun County, Virginia, public schools canceled on-campus activities and announced administrative officers would be closed Saturday.

Storm Team4 predicts:

• Little to no accumulation in the D.C. metro area
• 1-3 inches of snow north and west of D.C.
• 3 to 6 inches of snow and some ice in the I-81 corridor.

Here’s where snow and rain are expected

Red zone: Along the I-81 corridor and up to Frederick County, Maryland is where the storm will have the biggest impacts. Snow is expected to arrive in the morning and continue into the afternoon. Even in this zone, the storm will likely end with rain.

But there’s also the chance for some ice in these areas north and west of D.C., including the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Hagerstown area.

Yellow Zone: Between Washington; most of Fairfax, Montgomery and Prince William counties and down through Stafford and Fauquier counties, expect a wintry mix.

“We’re looking at a mix of rain and snow changing over to all rain by the midday and afternoon hours” on Saturday, Draper said.

Green zone: In southern Maryland, central and southern Prince George’s County and up through Anne Arundel County, you’re dealing with mainly rain.

“Could you see a few snowflakes? Absolutely,” Draper said. “But this is just going to be, for the most part, a rainy chilly day for those of you east of I-95.”

Weather radar

Download the NBC Washington app on Apple and Android to use the weather radar on your mobile device.

Timing and snow totals

By 9 a.m. Saturday, we’ll likely have a wintry mix across the area, dropping mainly wet snow around D.C. and areas to the north.

About midday, the rain and snow line is set to be in play right along the I-95 corridor. But the D.C. area can expect a shift to mostly rain in the afternoon.

Rain will exit as we head into nighttime, but there could be a lingering shower or some lingering snow showers out there on Sunday.

We’re talking about a lot of moisture: Nearly an inch of precipitation could fall.

Unfortunately for snow lovers, most of this precipitation will be rain.

If this storm system was all snow, we’d be talking about nearly a foot of snow across the area. But surface temperatures will be too warm, among other factors.

Winter weather advisory issued for parts of Maryland and Virginia

A winter weather advisory will be in effect from Saturday morning through the evening in areas north and west of D.C., including:

• Culpeper County, Virginia
• Fairfax County, Virginia
• Fauquier County, Virginia
• Loudoun County, Virginia
• Prince William County, Virginia
• Spotsylvania County, Virginia
• Stafford County, Virginia
• Howard County, Maryland
• Montgomery County, Maryland

Roads could be slippery in these areas, the National Weather Service warned.

A winter storm watch was issued for the I-81 corridor, including Winchester and Luray.

Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.

For Michael Brosnan, the New Year’s celebration became even better after he found out that his ticket was the winner in Virginia’s New Year’s Millionaire Raffle.

“I almost fell to the ground. It was amazing!” he exclaimed to the lottery officials.

Brosnan’s father called and told him that one of the winning tickets was sold where Brosnan had purchased his — Paddy’s 32 Steakhouse & Pub, located on Center Street in Stafford, the Virginia Lottery said in a news release.

Although he hasn’t specified what he will spend the money on, he stated that his excitement is “hard to explain.”

DID YOU VERIFY YOUR TICKET?

Meanwhile, the Maryland Lottery is still searching for the winner of a million-dollar prize as part of the Powerball drawing on January 1. The winning numbers were 12, 21, 42, 44, 49, according to the agency.

The ticket was sold at the Green Meadows Exxon, located at 6762 Riggs Road in Hyattsville.

According to the Maryland Lottery, winners should sign the back of their tickets immediately and store them in a safe place. They have 182 days from the draw date to claim their prizes.

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THE AWARDS CONTINUE

Prince George’s County wasn’t the only place in the DMV where there were Powerball winners. D.C. resident Pamela V. won $2 million as part of the same lottery.

Pamela told DC Lottery officials that she was shocked to discover on Christmas Day that she and her husband had bought the winning ticket in early December.

Their winning ticket was sold at the Capitol Hill Safeway, located at 415 14th Street SE, for the drawing held on Saturday, December 2, 2023.

“We are elated to find out we won, it’s life-changing,” she said in a press release. “We have kids in college, so this will definitely help with college tuition.”

The couple added that they appreciate spending time with their family, so they are considering taking a trip to the Caribbean. They also plan on trying to save some of the money.

The store will receive a commission of 10,000 for having sold the ticket, executive director Frank Suárez said.

The Alexandria Fire Department responded to the 4400 block of Wheeler Avenue for a fire that started at about 9:20 p.m. The three-alarm fire was so large, firefighters only battled it from outside of the warehouse, the department said.

According to reports, no one was inside the warehouse at the time of the fire. A firefighter was taken to a hospital and treated for a minor injury.

The fire was contained as of 11 p.m., the department said. Crews remained at the scene for 20 hours to put out hotspots, completing intensive firefighting by about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The building remains unsafe to enter, and work to make the structure safe for fire investigators will continue Thursday.

The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department assisted in the response. 

Video captured from a nearby high-rise apartment building shows flames and plumes of smoke billowing into the air.

AMi Direct, a marketing and digital printing business, resides in the warehouse with Jeffery’s Catering and the gym Healthy Baller.

AMi Direct appeared to be the only business with physical damage from the fire. Its roof fell in, and it had many broken windows.

Power was cut off to the warehouse, firefighters said. A strong smell of smoke remained in the area long after the worst of the fire was extinguished.

The business owners told News4 that today is not a normal business day and they’ve got their work cut out for them. Employees were seen walking away from the warehouse with belongings.

Alexandria police closed streets in the area in both directions.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.

Here’s a look at some of the changes in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Washington, D.C.

Expanded infertility health insurance coverage: A D.C. law approved in fall 2023 aims to help people who are trying to get pregnant. As of Jan. 1, people who use DC Healthcare Alliance and Medicaid can have their infertility diagnosis covered, along with three cycles of ovulation-enhancing drugs.

In 2025, people who get insurance through D.C. employers or DC Health Link will become eligible, too. Their benefits will include diagnosis, three rounds of IVF, and if needed, an embryo transfer to a surrogate.

D.C. Councilmember Christina Henderson cosponsored the Expanding Access to Fertility Treatment Amendment Act.

“Infertility is a medical issue, and therefore your medical insurance should cover the ability for you to seek treatment,” she said.

Maryland

Minimum wage increase: Maryland becomes the sixth state in the country to enact a $15 minimum wage. The minimum wage for all workers, regardless of company size, is now $15 per hour as of Jan. 1. It was as low as $12.80 for some workers, if their companies had fewer than 15 workers.

Montgomery County workers will be less affected because the county was ahead of the state in raising wages, as News4 reported.

County Executive Marc Elrich said he would like to see the wage go up even more, into the low $20s, and said he plans to make that proposal in 2024.

“What I really think that people realize is that if you really had a proper minimum wage, the amount of money we spend on social programs would significantly drop,” he said.

County Councilmember Will Jawando, who fought to increase wages, said, “It’s a lifeline for over 150,000 families in the state. Raising the minimum wage is about dignity, fairness and building an economy that works for everyone.”

Plastic bags: Plastic bag laws are changing in some jurisdictions.

• Prince George’s County: The county “prohibits all retail establishments from providing plastic carryout bags to shoppers and, with certain exceptions, shall charge at least 10 cents for each paper carryout or reusable bag provided to a customer.”
• City of Frederick: City officials say that “retail establishments will no longer be permitted to provide single use plastic bags at the point of sale. (Some exclusions do apply) Customers are encouraged to bring their own reusable carryout bags or packaging with them when shopping. Businesses may also offer reusable carryout bags to customers.”
• Anne Arundel County: County officials say retailers “will no longer be able to provide plastic bags to customers for their purchases at checkout. Retailers can provide paper bags or reusable bags to customers at checkout for purchase. This law only applies to bags provided at checkout, and does not apply in the City of Annapolis.”

Virginia

Pay raises for teachers: Public school teachers and employees in Standards of Quality (SOQ)-funded positions will get a 2% raise as part of the 2023 amendments to Virginia’s Biennium Budget.

Tax exemptions for military retirees: Age requirements for military retirees to receive tax-exempt status are now repealed. All military retirees now are exempt from state taxes, regardless of age.

Counselor licensing: Virginia has signed the Counseling Compact, which allows eligible professional counselors who are licensed by one Compact member state to practice in other member states.

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Hearing aid coverage for minors: Virginia will require health insurance companies to provide hearing aid coverage and related services for babies, kids and teens up to age 18, as recommended by a doctor. This includes a hearing aid for each impaired ear at a cost of up to $1,500 every 24 months.

Health care out-of-network notifications: Health insurance carriers now must notify policyholders if their current healthcare provider, or one they’ve seen in the past six months, will no longer be in network. The new law, HB2354, also provides for continuity of care, including the right to receive pregnancy care or treatment of life-threatening conditions for certain periods after the provider is removed from the network.

Medical marijuana program oversight: The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (CCA) will take over regulation of the state’s medical cannabis program from the Board of Pharmacy.

“The CCA is committed to the well-being of medical cannabis patients, and our goal is to ensure they experience minimal disruption during this transition,” Jeremy Preiss, CCA’s acting head and chief officer, said in a release. 

Arlington impervious surfaces tax: An Arlington County law aims to fund a stormwater management program. Homeowners now will be charged a stormwater utility fee as a part of their real estate taxes. The fee is replacing the sanitary district tax that has existed since 2008.

The county says the new fee is based on the amount of hard surfaces, or impervious areas, on a property, which better correlates with stormwater runoff. It will be calculated as $0.017 per $100 of assessed value. Homeowners will see the new fee on their real estate bills starting in May. Estimate your fee here.

It’s something Andre Jones and Issac Bumgardner, both basketball referees in Alexandria, have come to learn — and for quite some time.

“I’ve been refereeing since 1996,” Bumgardner said.

“I’ve been refereeing since 1999,” Jones said.

Through the years, the pair have become close on and off the court. Then, in 2020, their friendship grew closer after Jones received word that he had stage 5 chronic kidney disease.

Doctors told Jones that he needed a kidney.

“They immediately put me on dialysis and I was also diagnosed with congestive heart failure, from all the fluid that was being retained, within my lungs and around my heart,” Jones said.

Close to 870,000 Americans are living with kidney failure, and more than 562,000 Americans are on dialysis, according to the American kidney fund. Jones was now part of that number.

“I was doing it 3 or 4 times a week for 5 hours at a time, which was tiring,” Jones said.

“Word got out that, you know, he was in failing health,” Bumgardner said.

Once Bumgardner got word about Jones’s story, he went in for some tests, and later found that he was a perfect kidney match for Jones.

“I was surprised that, you know, I was going to be a match,” Bumgardner said. “It was a pretty easy decision, like the cost-benefit was pretty easy for me to make that decision.”

Last summer, both had a successful surgery and procedure. This year, they’re back on the sidelines together calling games.

Their message for others in their community?

“Ask those extra questions,” Jones said. “Don’t hold back your questions, if you’re ill. Have that dialogue with your doctor, with your medical team.”

“You look out for those people that are in your community, and that’s what it continues to be and that’s what it will be, for some years to come,” Bumgardner said. “Hopefully, we have a few more runs in us, for a couple more years. Fingers crossed.”

They’re important lessons in between the lines, and in the game of life.

The child who died was in the eastern part of the state, according to the Virginia Health Department.

As the weather gets colder, health experts believe flu activity will increase. There’s been a “sharp increase” in the number of flu cases nationwide in recent days, according to the director of the Centers for Disease Control.

The VDH urges everyone six months old and older to get a yearly flu vaccine, and consult their healthcare provider as needed.

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A woman, man and their 5-year-old son were hit by a driver on Herndon Parkway at about 5 p.m. The father escaped with minor injuries, but he told News4 his little boy and wife are seriously hurt.

Armando Verdugo, his wife, Vanessa, and their son, Yahir, had just picked up some groceries and were almost home when they were hit by a driver who rammed into them on the sidewalk, he said.

Speaking exclusively with News4 and Telemundo 44, Verdugo said he remembers the car appearing in front of them as they walked.

“I just remember that the car left the street in front of us. The three of us were walking,” he said in Spanish.

The crash knocked him out. When he woke up, he saw that his wife was trapped.

“I looked at the car again. My wife was under the car,” he said.

Her legs were broken, and she has had to have surgeries on her kidney and liver.

Their son is hurt even more seriously and suffered brain damage, the father said.

“He’s fighting for his life, even,” he said.

Fairfax County police say the driver who hit the family near Summerfield Drive stayed on the scene and cooperated with investigators. No charges were immediately filed, and it’s unclear why the driver hit them.

Verdugo said he’s heartbroken and hopes there’s justice for his family.

He said his son was so happy over the holidays.

“I feel bad seeing him,” he said.

It happened just off of Highway 50 in Chantilly, at 10:30 p.m., just two days before Christmas, according to police.

Dispatchers received a 911 call from the elderly woman’s home on Northwest Place — and when the caller quickly hung up, police were sent out to investigate.

“[The teenager] forced his way into her home, she somehow made her way to a phone,” said Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis. “I don’t know if it was a hardline, or her cell-phone, and she dialed 911.”

Before she could talk to the dispatchers, the 16-year-old suspect took the phone and quickly hung up, Davis said.

News4 spoke with the victim, who asked that her name and face stay concealed because she’s afraid of another attack.

She said the teen told her several times that he was going to “rape her,” and tried to force her into a bedroom.

When police arrived, the first officer to the scene immediately found the woman — who was being followed by the teen suspect.

The suspect told the officer that he was the woman’s grandson.

“They asked a few probing questions. I’m sure all of their police instincts were kicking in,” Davis said. “He was not related to her in any way, shape or form, and [the officer] took him into custody.”

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Police have not released the teen suspect’s name due to his age, only saying that he was charged with burglary with intent to rape, and assault and battery.

Nearby neighbors shared their thoughts about safety in the community. Police said another elderly woman had her home broken into just a few weeks ago.

“Like I can’t even go outside, or stay out a little bit late because I’m scared that something is going to happen to me, that someone is going to try and kill me, abuse me,” said one neighbor.

Davis said the officer’s training was key to assessing the situation.

“I’m just grateful, that these young police officers are trained enough to not turn their back on someone who’s pretending to be someone he’s not, so really good police work last night. It probably saved this woman’s life,” Davis said.

Police ask that anyone with information about the case to call the Fairfax County Police Department.

“He never met a stranger. He was really an upbeat person always,” his son, Kris McCandless, told News4. “Everybody loved him.”

Reston police say a Mercedes SUV hit McCandless while he was crossing Reston Parkway at Market Street about 7 a.m. Tuesday. McCandless was in the crosswalk, but the walk signal wasn’t on, police said.

McCandless was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. The driver of the Mercedes and passengers stayed on the scene, police said.

Detectives ruled out alcohol as a factor in the crash and are investigating whether speed played a role.

‘He would walk a mile a day’

Family members say McCandless was committed to staying active until the day he died.

“He was trying to keep in shape, and he would walk a mile a day,” his son said.

Kris McCandless describes his father as outgoing and a public relations pro who had a huge hand in shaping their Northern Virginia community.

Peter McCandless was involved with Reston from the beginning when the community was developed by Robert E. Simon in the early ‘60s, his son said.

“Reston was born in April of ’64, and dad was in on the ground floor of that, mainly from a promotional standpoint,” the younger McCandless said.

McCandless leaves behind his wife, Susan.

Even though Peter’s family is devastated, Kris says he’s comforted knowing his father died doing what he loves.

“I’m pretty, pretty proud of him, I’m happy with, you know, everything that he’s accomplished.”

The 9 mm handgun was found at a security checkpoint at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in Arlington County, Virginia, just south of the nation’s capital, and never made it onto the plane, the TSA said.

The agency did not identify the woman, who is from Bethesda, Maryland, in a news release.

She was cited by police on a weapons charge, and the gun, which was loaded with six rounds, was confiscated, it said.

She also faces a fine, which can go up to $15,000, the TSA said.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

Early Christmas morning, a few hours before the sun came up, flames were shooting out of the upstairs bedroom window of a Centreville townhome as firefighters arrived.

According to 911 dispatch audio, one of the occupants of that townhome was still inside on the second floor.

By the time Fairfax County firefighters could get inside and upstairs, the woman inside had died.

The red sign on the door on Tuesday marked the burned home a hazard. The bouquet on the front steps marked it as the site of a tragedy.

Now, neighbors like Cecelia Abrego and her young grandson Leo are left to try and make sense of what happened.

“I hope the firefighters took her to the hospital,” Leo said to News4.

“No, baby,” Cecelia said. “She went to heaven now.”

Cecelia told News4 that, as the fire burned right next door in the early morning hours, she didn’t even wake up.

Many people in the community that News4 spoke with didn’t hear the fire, and didn’t even know about it until we told them on Tuesday.

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Neighbors don’t know much about the woman in her 50’s who lived in the townhome.

Cecilia told News4 some relatives had lived with the woman earlier this year, but moved out months ago. In recent months, she’d seen the woman struggling to get around.

Crutches can be through a bedroom window – though it’s not known if that caused any problems getting out during the fire.”

“She was a nice lady – really nice,” Cecilia said. “She love him [Leo], and me, all the time.”

Firefighters did check Cecilia’s home for any evidence the fire spread, but it had not. The fire department hasn’t said what caused the fire, and hasn’t released the woman’s name.

News 4 contacted a man we believe to be her son. There was no call back.

Maybe you clicked on this good news article because you want to keep the warm-and-fuzzy holiday vibes going. Or maybe you clicked it because you still miss precedented times, and this year was another rough one.

No matter why you’re here, just remember that a brand-new year, 2024, is waiting patiently just days away, and ready to greet you with good things you can’t imagine yet.

But before that, take a second to appreciate the good we saw this year, too.

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Plenty of good Samaritans were just waiting for a reason to help their fellow humans in need. More than a few baby animals were born, and a lot of D.C.-area residents celebrated triple-digit birthdays. Some iconic institutions celebrated big anniversaries, too.

Here’s a look back at all the good things that happened around the DMV in 2023.

We saw some warm and fuzzy animal stories

Sometimes good Samaritans help animals, too. In Virginia, back in July, Jeffrey Simpson said he was driving into work when he came upon a troubled skunk trying to navigate the streets with a cup stuck on its head.

After a few minutes of coaxing, multiple harrowing near-misses from cars and several pleas from Simpson to the skunk not to spray him, the animal was freed, and the skunk and its rescuer parted ways.

In Woodley Park, 2023 saw an influx of new, adorable baby animals at the National Zoo. From two fluffy Andean bear cubs to a gorilla baby named over the summer, there was plenty to squeal over.

Though we’re still nursing the heartache that came with wishing the giant pandas farewell, we made a new friend in the form of Basil, the one-eyed opossum. (As if his permanent wink wasn’t enough, he’s also a fan of fluffy blankets and eating pesky, disease-causing ticks.)

And how does the National Zoo keep all those animals warm even as temperatures drop in the District? News4 took a tour behind the scenes back in November to find out.

There was plenty of good news when it came to less exotic, less wild animals around the DMV. Many, many animals were adopted as part of the Clear the Shelters Campaign — 157,000 nationwide in 2023 alone.

But months before that annual campaign kicked off, one whopper of a cat in Richmond, Virginia delighted his internet fans by getting adopted.

Patches, a 40.3 pound cat with white fur and gray spots, finally found an owner “to help regulate his “gloriously gluttonous body,” as the Richmond Animal Care and Control shelter said on Facebook.

We also saw efforts to save the environment around the District

Love for nature wasn’t limited to just your favorite fluffy creatures this year.

Metro invested millions of dollars into a greener transit system in 2023. A whopping $104 million was put toward quieter, more environmentally-friendly electric buses.

It’s just a few pieces in the District’s massive bus fleet, but it’s the first step toward a lofty goal: to have the entire Metrobus fleet — nearly 1,600 buses — to zero emissions by 2042.

Over at Catholic University, officials unveiled plans to open D.C.’s largest-ever solar array. In March of the new year, a 25-acre series of solar panels will help power the university, with any extra energy generated going towards the city.

And down by the Tidal Basin, the National Park Service approved a plan to help mitigate flooding near the iconic walkway.

Rising sea levels have compounded with the sinking Tidal Basin seawall, causing walkways, trees roots and even benches to end up underwater. The most iconic example of the effects is Stumpy, a beloved-if-scraggly cherry tree that still blooms every spring.

The NPS rehabilitation project will raise the seawall by around 5 feet, along with other changes in a construction project expected to start next summer.

Good Samaritans helped others all year long

You never know when the universe will align to make good things happen.

News4 first met Dolly Turner in February, when she was on a mission to recover her late father’s military memorabilia. She’d spent decades looking for the Tuskegee Airman’s belongings, many of which went missing when Turner’s family sold their house.

“We have a great, rich family history and that’s why it’s so important for us to get these items back,” Dolly Turner said.

After News4’s story aired, one viewer saw it all the way down in North Carolina.

“My heart almost stopped. When I saw a picture of the memorabilia that had been lost, it was exactly the photograph of what I had just purchased,” she said. She asked to remain anonymous.

She said she’s an African American history collector and bought the items online. Once she realized Turner was looking for them, she sent it all back to her free of charge.

“There are good people in the world,” Turner said.

Way back in March, Jelani Clayton pulled off Ohio Drive SW just south of the Lincoln Memorial to wait out some frustrating traffic and enjoy the view. Then, he saw something strange in the water.

“I did not realize it was a person,” Clayton said. “I thought it was an animal or some trash, and as I got closer, the person whimpered.”

It was a woman with a jacket zipped up over her face. He jumped into action without hesitation to pull the woman out, and called 911. She was just barely conscious — but thanks to Clayton’s quick action, she survived near-hypothermia.

“Humanity still exists. It could have been easy for me to walk away,” Clayton said. “Nobody was here; nobody was around. I could have left, but the humanity in me said that that’s a person in need, that’s a person who needs help.”

In June, an elderly man was also rescued after his car went into the Chesapeake Bay while he was still trapped inside.

Brent Mints, a retired Prince George’s County sheriff’s deputy, was riding his motorcycle near Kent Island when he saw a group gathered near the water. It didn’t take him long to realize something was wrong.

So he jumped into the water to help guide the car back towards the shallows near the pier, just in time for first responders to arrive.

In September, when Noah Fowler was driving down I-66 on his motorcycle, a powerful thunderstorm descended upon him with little notice.

”I was, like, two miles from my house, so I was, like, ‘Ah, I can make it home; I know where I’m going,’” Fowler said. “And next thing I know, I wake up on the ground with like 20 people or so around me.”

Fowler had been struck by a lightning bolt that traveled through his helmet and down his body. It burned his silver necklace into his skin, set his bike on fire — and sent him flying.

Luckily, Erica Sutherland and her fiancé, who work in the medical field, were heading in the other direction on I-66 and passed by right as Fowler was hit.

The duo stopped by Fowler and began performing CPR. Four minutes and 12 seconds into the chest compressions, Fowler regained consciousness.

In late October, when firefighters arrived at Malcolm Hemphill’s apartment in Southwest D.C., Hemphill was technically dead. He had stopped breathing and entered cardiac arrest, with his heart stopped for four minutes.

But that didn’t deter the D.C. Fire and EMS crew that arrived to save his life.

“[It was] hectic, chaotic,” William Steele, an EMS paramedic with the D.C. Fire Department, said of that day three weeks before. “Like everything else, we’ve found, in this city.”

“We were okay though. We had a really good crew that day,” Steele said.

It was the second time that the crew had saved Hemphill’s life this year. When he had been in medical distress months earlier, D.C. firefighters from Engine 7 responded then, as well.

In late November, Hemphill reunited with the medics who brought him back — and without any emergencies to be seen, everything was hugs and gratitude.

The work of first responders ranges from life-or-death to simple aid that makes a world of difference for people like Olivia Norman.

Norman is blind, and relies on her dog, Tofu, to get around in D.C.’s Cleveland Park neighborhood. Heavy rain and construction on Connecticut Avenue left her disoriented and unsure how to get home one night in September.

So she called 311, and was transferred to 911.

“I kept apologizing for bothering her,” she recalled. “I’m so sorry to be using city resources, but I don’t really know where I am. I’m lost. I just need to get home.”

Lamaya Wade, who had only been a 911 call taker for a few months, sent Officer Michael Jankowski to pick up Norman and Tofu, and safely drop them off at home.

Wade, Jankowski and Norman were reunited at the end of November, and shared their story.

And, good news for all those do-gooders out there: A study from earlier this year found that acts of kindness can ease symptoms of depression and anxiety. They also promote social connection and improve overall life satisfaction.

People made new connections and gave back to their communities

A Fairfax County teenager, Samantha Grayer, has always loved reading. To help increase child literacy and encourage other kids to grow their love of books, she started a nonprofit: Berries for Books.

Grayer has already collected thousands of books, and thanks those who donate to her mission with chocolate-covered strawberries.

In Montgomery County, back in February, 14-year-old Patrick Kaufmann delivered 20,000 Valentine’s Day cards to patients in local hospitals and nursing homes, hoping to reach those who may need some extra affection.

“Many people might not receive a card, and maybe they don’t have family that visit them a lot, or, you know, they’re kind of lonely on that day, so I think that one card, one simple card, can really just change the entire day or just make them feel special,” Patrick said.

It’s the third year he’s been delivering the cards, and he started with just 300.

Some area residents kept their community in mind even after they hit it big: Grammy nominees Michael and Tanya Trotter, better known as The War and Treaty, returned to the House of Ruth in D.C.

It’s the same homeless shelter where Michael Trotter stayed with his mom in the 90s.

The duo hosted a holiday party for kids staying in the shelter, complete with toys and a meeting with a very musical Santa and Mrs. Claus.

And sometimes, Santa doesn’t give the presents — he gets them. One mom decided it was time to say thanks to old St. Nick after her kids stopped by the Tyson’s Corner Center mall in Virginia for almost 20 years to greet him.

“This is my whole babies’ lives, and you were a major, major part of every Christmas, so I want to thank you for that,” said Elaina Ward, as she surprised Santa with photos from every visit.

We celebrated the places that make the DMV great

On U Street in D.C., iconic rock club The Black Cat celebrated its 30th anniversary at the beginning of September. A show full of hyperlocal Washington favorites let club regulars let loose for a weekend.

“Everybody who works here works here because they like music and like putting on shows, and so all the other stuff, it’s neat and it’s creative and it’s fun to do, to change stuff, but mostly, we like putting on concerts and enjoying music and having a fun bar to hang out at,” club owner and founder Dante Ferrando said.

If you thought 30 years was impressive, the story of Mount Jezreel Baptist Church will blow you away: The historically Black church in Silver Spring, Maryland celebrated its 150th anniversary in October.

Though the milestone marks the survival of the church since 1883, the congregation has roots in D.C. that go back to the end of the Civil War.

Their current pastor, Dr. Jamison Hunter, said across all that time, one thing’s been constant: “There’s a community impact. We’re in the community at heart.”

Speaking of community impact, let’s take a moment to appreciate all that Ben’s Chili Bowl half-smokes have done for people around the District: The restaurant has been handing them out for more than 65 years, as of August 2023.

In 1958, NASA was created, the Hope Diamond was donated to the Smithsonian, and Ben and Virginia Ali opened Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street. The restaurant celebrated its big birthday with a block party, and Virginia Ali shared some of the most memorable moments along the way.

“It was always going to be Ben’s Chili Bowl, which included chili and half-smokes. Which was really a breakfast sausage but we thought it would be great on a hot dog bun,” Virginia Ali said. “A nice, steamed hot dog bun with mustard, onions and chili, and it turned out to be the number one seller.”

“Still is today’s. D.C.’s signature dish,” she said.

We celebrated some long-standing community members

Just like her business, Virginia Ali has been around to see it all. The Ben’s Chili Bowl founder turned 90 earlier this December, and celebrated with News4 in the studio.

“The glass is always half full, not half empty,” Ali said. “And when you wake up in the mornings, and you know that you’re gonna put that smile on your face and you’re gonna meet people — it just gives me happiness, being able to live to be 90 years old.”

In Lincoln, Virginia, the entire town came together to celebrate Helen Cook’s 100th birthday. Cook was the cafeteria manager for 50 years, helping make school lunches for three generations of students.

After working into her 80s, many of those former students remembered how she nourished body and soul with her kind words.

And she still has boundless energy after 100 years: Cook had recently renewed her driver’s license before her birthday in June, and still mows her own yard. She credits her faith and her love of the Lincoln community for how long she’s kept going.

In Silver Spring, Maryland, at the beginning of November, 107-year-old Katherine Gains was recognized by the Montgomery County Council for her courage and remarkable life.

Gains lived through the 1918 influenza pandemic, the Great Depression, the space race, the civil rights movement and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“All my life has been special,” she said. “I have really been fortunate and blessed that I have been able to live this long and be in the condition I’m in.”

And we applauded some long-lasting relationships

Way back on Valentine’s Day in 2019, a couple that met in the Navy got married at the Prince William County courthouse — with News4 there to cover the happy occasion.

Four years later, the Masons are still going strong. They celebrated their anniversary in February with their baby daughter, Octavia, and the family is now living in Laurel, Maryland.

Also in Prince George’s County, a Landover couple celebrated a milestone that only .1% of married couples ever reach, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 69 years of marriage.

Lenard Harvey is 93 years old, and his bride Bernice Harvey is 98. They said the secret to their long marriage is faith and appreciation.

“I think it’s a blessing,” Lenard said. “God has blessed us, truly.”

On the other end of the DMV, Dave and Vivian Smith celebrated an impressive 75 years together in Falls Church.

Their World War II era romance started in a pretty typical way: Vivian, then a student at the College of Wooster in Ohio, was out with some girlfriends. The young women spent a night chatting with some young men, stationed at the college for Navy Pilot training.

“My mom with out with some girlfriends and they met,” said one of the couple’s two daughters. “And she was with one guy, but she was like, ‘But who’s THAT guy?'”

But how did the couple stay together so long? A whopping seven-and-a-half decades that included the start and end of the Cold War, the moon landing, the dawn of the information age and a global pandemic?

“It just happens,” said Dave Smith. “I mean, you’re busy doing stuff, you know, all the time. And you’re working and you’re having children, and they’re growing up. It’s a very… It just… happens!”

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Leaving the D.C. area this Saturday? You won’t be alone — AAA suggests you start driving before 10 a.m. that day.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day should be smooth sailing. But traffic will pick up next week. Experts say you should plan to leave your holiday destinations before noon.

Worst times to drive:

As for the worst times to drive, expect lots of company on the roads this Saturday, Dec. 23, between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.

And if you’re heading back to the D.C. area next week, plan for backups during the afternoon and evening rush; AAA forecasts these days and times as the worst to hit the road:

• Tuesday, Dec. 26: 1-5 p.m.
• Wednesday, Dec. 27: 1-7 p.m.
• Thursday, Dec. 28: 2-8 p.m.
• Friday, Dec. 29: 2-8 p.m.
• Saturday, Dec. 30: 5.7 p.m.

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If you’re traveling in Virginia:

All rush-hour tolls on the Interstate 66 Express Lanes inside the Capital Beltway will be lifted on Christmas and New Year’s Day, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) said.

Periods of heavy traffic are most likely on Friday, Dec. 22, and Saturday, Dec. 23, between mid-morning and evening, as well as Tuesday, Dec. 26 through Thursday, Dec. 27, VDOT said. Those estimations are based on pre-pandemic travel and the past two years, VDOT said.

Some of the areas expected to be the most congested, according to VDOT, are:

• Interstate 395 in both directions in the Arlington area
• Interstate 95 in both directions around Fredericksburg (however, VDOT says its historical data isn’t taking the recent express lanes extension into account)
• Interstate 77 in both directions near the Big Walker Tunnel in southwest Virginia, on Friday, Dec. 22
• Interstate 64 In the Hampton Roads area could have heavier traffic due to lane and shoulder closures due to construction projects including Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel

Most lane closures and highway work zones will be lifted in two segments to help drivers with holiday travel, VDOT says:

• from Friday, Dec. 22 at noon through Tuesday, Dec. 26 at noon
• from Friday, Dec. 29 at noon through Tuesday, Jan. 2 at noon

You can get real-time information on work zones and lane closures at 511Virginia.org.

If you’re traveling in Maryland:

Non-emergency lane closures on state roads will be lifted in two segments, the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) said:

• Friday, Dec. 22 at 3 p.m. through Tuesday, Dec. 26 at 9 a.m.
• Friday, Dec. 29 at 3 p.m. through Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 9 a.m.

The SHA said it will add more highway patrols to high-volume areas such as Interstate 95/495, Interstate 270 and U.S. 50 to help with traffic control and stranded drivers and clear debris from lanes.

Drivers can check real-time highway information and live traffic cams before heading out by checking the SHA’s incident page.

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Youngkin’s plan for the next two fiscal years also would expand the sales tax to include digital services, such as downloading music, that are already taxed in other states. He described the plan as “closing the big-tech tax loophole.”

“Virginia has always taxed goods,” Youngkin said. “And over the last decade, the definition of goods has evolved into new economy goods like software packages, digital downloads, streaming music and videos, cloud storage and other electronic media, on which today Virginia collects nothing.”

The Republican governor introduced his budget proposal to a joint committee of lawmakers in Virginia’s House and Senate. The plan serves as a starting point for negotiations when the General Assembly convenes in January under a Democratic majority.

Democrats swept November’s legislative elections on a campaign of protecting abortion rights, flipping the House and maintaining a Senate majority after two years of divided power. Democrats will have greater leeway to thwart Youngkin’s policy agenda. But they also must work with him to advance their own goals.

State budget plans typically go through substantial changes before lawmakers send them back to the governor for consideration and possibly more changes.

Some Democratic lawmakers criticized Youngkin’s proposed tax plan, calling it “regressive” and favoring the wealthy. Sales taxes are often considered regressive because low-income taxpayers pay a higher percentage of their income on sales taxes than high-income taxpayers.

“By lowering taxes for the wealthiest Virginians and raising local and state sales tax, the burden is shifted onto those least able to afford it,” said Don Scott, the incoming House Speaker and a Democrat who represents parts of Portsmouth.

Scott called for ideas that protect “the financial interests of all citizens, and uphold the principle that government investment should be a tool for shared prosperity, rather than exacerbating inequalities.”

Youngkin campaigned in 2021 on a promise of cutting taxes, and previously signed about $4 billion in tax relief into law in 2022. He said Wednesday that his proposals will help draw more people and more jobs to the state, while dissuading Virginians from moving away.

“Our neighbors in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida have been growing rapidly,” Youngkin said. “Americans and Virginians were choosing to go there instead of here. Each of these states had lower taxes or had started their journey to lower taxes.”

The governor said his proposed budget would cut state income taxes by 12% “across the board.” For example, he said the lowest tax bracket of 2% would be reduced to 1.75%, while the highest bracket would drop from 5.75% to 5.1%.

Youngkin said the personal income tax burden on Virginians would fall by $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2025 and $2.3 billion in fiscal year 2026.

The cuts would be offset, the governor said, by a 0.9% increase in the state sales tax, from 4.3% to 5.2%. Revenue also would come in from the sales tax expansion to digital services. He stressed that the state would not tax traditional services, such as those provided by barbers or lawn care businesses.

The governor’s budget also would invest more in workforce training, job recruitment and education, including bonuses and raises for teachers.

Youngkin’s plan calls for his previously announced increase in state spending on early learning and child care initiatives. The budget also would pump more money into a program aimed at overhauling the state’s mental health care system, in part by expanding crisis services and tackling substance abuse challenges.

About $500 million is slated for environmental and conservation programs, including efforts to reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and to help the coastal city of Norfolk build a flood wall.

Youngkin said more should be done to combat the rise in antisemitism and other forms of religious bigotry. His budget proposes $375,000 for the Virginia Holocaust Museum, while providing security grants to synagogues, churches, mosques and temples.

“I know we all agree: There is no place for hate in the Commonwealth of Virginia and we must fight it together,” Youngkin said.

In reacting to the overall budget proposal, Democrats were mostly critical.

The Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus said in a statement that Youngkin’s proposal is a “slap in the face of our most vulnerable individuals.”

The left-leaning Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis said Youngkin’s plan was “skewed to mostly helping the wealthy.”

Rodrigo Soto, who leads the institute’s tax fairness and revenue campaign, said the state “should be asking the ultra-wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes to fund critical areas of investment that the governor has left out, like funding public schools, increasing access to affordable housing and more.”

Kathy Tran, a House delegate representing parts of Fairfax County, said the budget shows that Youngkin “doesn’t understand the needs of everyday Virginians.”

“We need a governor and a budget that put working families first,” said Tran, who chairs the House’s Democratic Caucus. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House to do just that.”

​Sean Maxwell, 53, was arrested Saturday afternoon after he allegedly exposed himself on a wooded trail on Coffer Woods Road in Burke. News4 confirmed that he was a DOD employee. 

“[There was] probably about like six police cars in the entryway to our neighborhood, and we had no idea what was going on,” neighbor Carrie Leslie said. “And then the next day, there were probably about three cars, and police officers were going from door to door.”

Fairfax County police said they got a call about a sex offense in the area just after noon on Saturday.

When officers arrived, one victim told them Maxwell had exposed himself while jogging, and they were able to get video of him in the act.

After canvassing the area, authorities said they think Maxwell may have exposed himself multiple times. Now, they’re trying to get the word out to see if anyone else had a similar experience.

​“I guess hopefully, you know, there was nothing anywhere that went beyond simply indecent exposure, not that that’s great to start with, but just you know, so that everyone was safe,” Leslie said. ​

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone who recognizes Maxwell or has information on this or other incidents is asked to call police.

Correction (Dec. 20, 2023 at 6:13 p.m. EST): This article has been updated to reflect that the alleged sex offense occurred on Coffer Woods Road.​

The piece looked old amongst the clutter of measuring cups, candles and other tchotchkes. After adjusting her eyes, Vincent made out the words “Murano” and “Italia” on its base.

“I bought it thinking it would look beautiful in my house somewhere,” said Vincent, 43, a horse trainer who paid $3.99 at a Goodwill outside of Richmond. “I definitely didn’t buy it thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to sell this.’ ”

Her thinking changed after some research. And on Dec. 13, the vase sold through the Wright Auction House for $107,100. The buyer, a top collector from Europe, wished to remain private.

Vincent’s purchase came after years of perusing yard sales and thrift stores with her mother. She loves PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow” and has daydreamed many times of this kind of lottery ticket-level transaction.

“I always felt like I had a good eye,” said Vincent, who visits thrift stores a few times a week with her partner. “But I’m really surprised that nobody picked it up before I did.”

The vase was likely on the shelf for only a couple days given its quality and the quick rate at which products are sold, said Laura Faison, a spokeswoman for Goodwill of Central and Coastal Virginia. Each store averages about 2,000 new pieces a day, and they often come in from a car’s trunk.

“It could have been someone cleaning out grandma’s basement,” Faison said of the vase’s backstory. “We’ll probably never know.”

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Vincent arrived at the Goodwill on a June afternoon with her partner, Naza Acosta, after a day of training horses. The vase felt heavy in her hands. And while Vincent had seen painted glass before, the vase’s swirling colors were different. They came from the glass itself, she said, “and it was just so delicately done.”

Back home, Vincent posted photos in Facebook groups for glass art and soon joined a private one for Murano glass.

The “Murano” on the vase’s bottom referred to the island in Venice that has been famous for its glasswork since the 13th century. Its highly prized creations have included ornate crystal chandeliers and mirror frames, many of which adorn the palaces of Europe’s aristocracy.

The vase was produced by the renowned glass company Venini and designed by Italian architect Carlo Scarpa, who died in 1978. One response on Facebook gave her chills: “Those are very rare. Every collector would love to have that. But most people cannot afford them.”

Vincent was referred to Richard Wright, president of the Wright Auction House in Chicago.

“The minute I saw her email,” Wright said, “I knew what it was and how rare it was.”

Scarpa was the top Italian glass designer in the mid-20th century, while the vase was part of a series he created in 1942. The collection was called Pennellate, which means brushstroke, and was made by adding colored opaque glass to the vase as it was blown.

“It was basically a duet between Carlo Scarpa and a master blower who had to physically translate (Scarpa’s) drawings,” Wright said. “You have to keep rotating this vase the entire time or it’ll slump off the pipe. While at the same time you’re applying these delicate brushes of color that have this absolute lightness to them.”

Few were made because they were so difficult to create. The auction house knows of only one other in this form and color combination. It is in a private collection.

Wright dispatched two Italian glass specialists to Virginia to confirm the vase’s authenticity. Vincent pulled it from a cardboard box encased in bubble wrap and swaddled in a tablecloth.

“Just the look on their faces,” Vincent recalled. “It was incredible to have experts who handle very important pieces of glass who were very excited for my little thrift-store vase.”

Perhaps just as miraculous was its perfect condition, Wright said. A small chip in the glass would have reduced its value to less than $10,000.

Wright Auction House said it will get about $23,600 from the purchase of Vincent’s vase, while she will receive about $83,500.

Vincent said a good chunk of the money will go to installing an HVAC system into an old farmhouse she recently bought. It is currently being warmed by space heaters.

“I’m not independently wealthy, so it’s going to be really good to have a little breathing room,” added Vincent, who, with her partner, trains polo horses, sport horses and trail horses.

As for the vase, Vincent hopes it will be in a museum someday.

“My little 1930s farmhouse is not the right showcase for something so spectacular,” Vincent said. ”It would also make me super nervous to have it in my house. It’s a lot of responsibility when you find out how much something is worth.”

A group called Defend Arlington, affiliated with a group called Save Southern Heritage Florida, filed a lawsuit Sunday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, seeking the restraining order. A hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday.

Work to remove the memorial had begun Monday before the restraining order was issued, but the memorial remains in place on cemetery grounds.

A cemetery spokesperson said Monday that Arlington is complying with the restraining order, but referred all other questions to the Justice Department.

The cemetery had said on Friday that it expected to complete the removal this week. It said the removal was required by Congress, and that it was complying with environmental and historic-preservation regulations.

But the lawsuit accused the Army, which runs the cemetery, of violating regulations in seeking a hasty removal of the memorial.

“The removal will desecrate, damage, and likely destroy the Memorial longstanding at ANC as a grave marker and impede the Memorial’s eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places,” the lawsuit accuses.

The temporary restraining order issued Monday by U.S. District Judge Rossie Alston said that a lawyer for the plaintiffs represented to the court that the work at the memorial involves the disturbance of gravesites.

In a footnote, Alston wrote that he “takes very seriously the representations of officers of the Court and should the representations in this case be untrue or exaggerated the Court may take appropriate sanctions.”

On Friday, the cemetery had said in its statement that “the area around the Memorial will be protected to ensure no impact to the surrounding landscape and grave markers.”

Last week, a federal judge in the District of Columbia dismissed a lawsuit seeking to block removal of the memorial filed by the same plaintiffs. Alston, in his order issued Monday, told the parties to be prepared to discuss how that case affects his decision whether to extend his temporary restraining order beyond Wednesday.

David McCallister, a spokesman for the Florida heritage group, welcomed the judge’s order while acknowledging it is only temporary. He said the current case differs from the one that was dismissed because they now have evidence that the work is being done in a way that disturbs grave sites.

Generally, he said the memorial promotes reconciliation between North and South, and removing it erodes that reconciliation.

The statue, unveiled in 1914, features a bronze woman, crowned with olive leaves, standing on a 32-foot pedestal, and was designed to represent the American South. According to Arlington, the woman holds a laurel wreath, a plow stock and a pruning hook, with a biblical inscription at her feet that says: “They have beat their swords into plough-shares and their spears into pruning hooks.”

Some of the figures also on the statue include a Black woman depicted as “Mammy” holding what is said to be the child of a white officer, and an enslaved man following his owner to war.

Last year an independent commission recommended the memorial be taken down as part of a report to Congress on renaming of military bases and assets that commemorate the Confederacy.

More than 40 House Republicans wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently, arguing that the commission overstepped its authority when it recommended that the monument be removed.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin disagrees with the decision and plans to move the monument to the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park in the Shenandoah Valley, Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter said.

___

Freelance photographer Kevin Wolf contributed to this report from Arlington.

The proposal to send the teams to play in Alexandria instead of D.C. was announced on Wednesday by Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Ted Leonsis, owner of Monumental Sports and Entertainment — the company that owns the teams. The deal would transform a growing Northern Virginia neighborhood and send shockwaves through downtown D.C, which is accustomed to hosting tens of thousands of fans but has struggled with crime.

The public input process got underway on Saturday at Alexandria City Hall, beginning with presentations from Alexandria City Manager James F. Parajon. 

“This opportunity is not about sports franchises. It’s not a single deal where we’re moving a sports franchise from one state to the other,” he said. “It’s also about the creation of a significant economic development anchor in our city.”

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The “world-class” entertainment district would include corporate headquarters with 600 six-figure jobs. Aside from the arena, there would be hotels and housing, corporate headquarters and there are also plans for an additional, smaller entertainment venue, suitable for everything from city events to high school graduations.

The project would mean a $2 billion investment, most of it to be put up by Monumental Sports and Entertainment, city officials say. Additional funds will come from bond sales and on-site revenue. Economic officials say there will be no new taxes applying to any other part of the city to pay for it.

Darlene Vanderbush, a resident of 30 years, said as the public gets more involved, emotion should give way to reason.

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“When I first heard about it, there was an emotional side of it like, oh my God, what is this gonna do?” she said. “There’s a lot of background work, a lot of groundwork that has to be laid before they get to this point. And there’s still a lot more that has to be done.”

That work includes considering the effects on surrounding neighborhoods.

“We don’t want to look like New York City or Rossalyn. We want to have the charm that so many people come here for,” another resident said. 

There’s also traffic and infrastructure to consider, along with the kind of jobs that will be created and the project’s effect on the city’s public safety profile.

The city hall meeting set up the framework of what’s to come. Like the renderings of the site, it’s still in the earliest stages.

The fire department responded at around 6:30 p.m. for smoke and fire coming from the roof over Matchbox in the 1100 block of South Hayes Street.

The department tweeted at 7:25 p.m. that the fire was out.

No injuries were reported, and people returned to the mall. 

Firefighters found that the cause was “malfunctioning appliance in the duct work,” and the Fire Marshal will investigate further, authorities said.

The restaurant Matchbox was the only space affected. They shut down their woodfire grill and are currently closed.

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A Virginia mother surprised Santa at the mall on Friday and thanked him for being a part of her family’s Christmas for almost 20 years – her daughters’ entire childhood.

This year may be the last Christmas Elaina Ward’s teenagers visit Santa. She showed him photos from every year her daughters have visited.

“This is my whole babies’ lives, and you were a major, major part of every Christmas, so I want to thank you for that,” Ward said as she showed Santa her family photos and gave him a hug.

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Santa estimated he sees about 3,000 children per day, including families who have come from as far as Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles and Dallas.

“It’s just amazing,” he said.

Peter Vlaming, a former French teacher at West Point High School, sued the school board and administrators at West Point High School after he was fired in 2018. A judge dismissed the lawsuit before any evidence was heard in the case. But the Supreme Court overturned that ruling and said the lawsuit can proceed to trial.

Vlaming claimed in his lawsuit that he tried to accommodate a transgender student in his class by using his masculine name and avoiding the use of pronouns, but the student, his parents and the school told him he was required to use the student’s male pronouns.

Vlaming said he could not use the student’s pronouns because of his “sincerely held religious and philosophical” beliefs “that each person’s sex is biologically fixed and cannot be changed.” Vlaming also said he would be lying if he used the student’s pronouns.

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His lawsuit, brought by Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal advocacy group, alleged that the school violated his constitutional right to speak freely and exercise his religion. The school board argued that Vlaming violated the school’s anti-discrimination policy.

All seven justices of the state Supreme Court agreed that two of Vlaming’s claims should move forward to trial: his claim that his right to freely exercise his religion was violated under the Virginia constitution and his breach of contract claim against the school board.

“Absent a truly compelling reason for doing so, no government committed to these principles can lawfully coerce its citizens into pledging verbal allegiance to ideological views that violate their sincerely held religious beliefs,” Justice D. Arthur Kelsey wrote in the majority opinion, joined by three other justices.

But the court was split on some aspects of the lawsuit. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Thomas Mann, joined by two other justices, wrote that the majority’s opinion on Vlaming’s free-exercise-of-religion claim was overly broad and “establishes a sweeping super scrutiny standard with the potential to shield any person’s objection to practically any policy or law by claiming a religious justification for their failure to follow either.”

L. Steven Emmert, an appellate attorney and publisher of the website Virginia Appellate News & Analysis, said the main dispute between the majority and the dissenting justices “is the extent to which the individual’s beliefs can overcome the government’s interests.”

“The majority said only where the public safety and order is at stake can the government restrict someone’s speech and their free exercise of religion, and this case doesn’t rise to that level,” Emmert said.

Vlaming’s attorney, Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Christopher Schandevel, said Vlaming was well-liked by his students and “did his best to accommodate their needs and requests.”

“But he couldn’t in good conscience speak messages that he doesn’t believe to be true, and no school board or government official can punish someone for that reason,” Schandevel said.

During arguments before the state Supreme Court in November 2002, Alan Schoenfeld, an attorney who represents the school board and school administrators, said Vlaming’s speech was part of his official teaching duties and his refusal to use the student’s pronouns clearly violated the anti-discrimination policy.

”A public school employee is not at liberty to declare that he will not comply with a neutrally applicable policy that is part of his duties as a classroom teacher,” he said.

Schoenfeld did not immediately respond to a telephone message Thursday. School board Chair Elliot Jenkins and Vice-Chair Laura Shreaves did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the ruling.

Alliance Defending Freedom has brought at least six similar lawsuits — three in Virginia, and one each in Ohio, Kansas and Indiana.

Deja Taylor’s sentence was much harsher than the maximum six months prosecutors had agreed to recommend as part of a plea deal and also surpassed the high end of advisory state sentencing guidelines. Taylor, 26, pleaded guilty to a single count of felony neglect in August. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to drop a misdemeanor count of recklessly storing a firearm.

Circuit Court Judge Christopher Papile said the sentencing guidelines did not take into account the shooting’s physical and psychological toll on first-grade teacher Abigail Zwerner or the emotional trauma it has wrought on other students and staff at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News.

Zwerner was critically injured when the boy fired a single shot at her, striking her hand and chest, breaking bones and puncturing a lung. She spent weeks in the hospital, had five surgeries, and says she is so mentally scarred by the shooting that she does not plan to return to teaching.

Papile noted that “we are lucky” someone wasn’t killed at the elementary school. In admonishing Taylor, the judge said a parent’s ultimately responsibility is to “protect the child, to keep them from bad influences, to keep them from dangerous situations, to keep them healthy and nurtured. Ms. Taylor has abdicated most, if not all, of those responsibilities.”

The state sentence handed down Friday was the second time Taylor was held to account for the classroom shooting in January, which stunned the nation and shook this military shipbuilding city.

Taylor was sentenced in November to 21 months in federal prison for using marijuana while owning a gun, which is illegal under U.S. law. Her state sentence will be served consecutively, making a combined state and federal sentence of nearly four years behind bars.

Taylor’s son told authorities he got his mother’s 9 mm handgun by climbing onto a drawer to reach the top of a dresser, where the firearm was in his mom’s purse. He concealed the weapon in his backpack and then his pocket before shooting Zwerner in front of her first-grade class.

Moments later, the boy told a reading specialist who restrained him, “I shot that (expletive) dead,” and “I got my mom’s gun last night,” according to search warrants.

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Taylor initially told police she had secured her gun with a trigger lock, but investigators said they never found one.

Following the shooting, the boy was removed from his mother’s custody and spent 227 days in inpatient treatment, during which he was attended to by a team of physicians, psychiatrists and other clinicians, prosecutor Travis White told the judge. The boy, now 7, had problems with “basic socialization” and suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome and insomnia, among other disorders.

“That is the depths of neglect that Deja Taylor inflicted on her child,” the prosecutor said, calling the shooting “a consequence and manifestation of that neglect.”

The boy now lives with his great-grandfather, Calvin Taylor, who told reporters after the hearing that he believes the sentence handed down by Papile is “excessive.” He said Deja Taylor tried to get help for her son before the shooting but child protective services did not follow through on her request.

The elder Taylor said the boy is now doing well in a structured environment. The child told him that he wanted “Santa to bring his mom home for Christmas.”

Deja Taylor did not speak during Friday’s hearing. Her attorney, James Ellenson, said Taylor struggled with addiction and domestic violence. He said Taylor, 26, smoked marijuana “all day, every day” since age 15.

“Who knows what the effects were on that teenage brain?” he said.

Ellenson said earlier this year there were “ mitigating circumstances,” including Taylor’s miscarriages and postpartum depression. She also has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a condition sharing symptoms with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to court documents.

Taylor told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in May that she feels responsible and apologized to Zwerner.

“That is my son, so I am, as a parent, obviously willing to take responsibility for him because he can’t take responsibility for himself,” Taylor said.

During her sentencing in federal court last month, one of Taylor’s attorneys read aloud a brief statement in which Taylor said she would feel remorse “for the rest of my life.”

Zwerner is suing Newport News Public Schools for $40 million, alleging administrators ignored multiple warnings the boy had a gun at school the day of the shooting.

During the sentencing hearing Friday, Zwerner recounted the shooting, telling the judge: “I was not sure whether it would be my final moment on earth.”

She said she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression, and has difficulty sleeping.

“The shooting has instilled many fears in me that will remain forever,” she said.

She said she will not return to teaching because she’s now afraid to work with children.

“Now, at 26 years old, what am I supposed to do?” she said. “My life will never be close to the same again.”

Virginia leaders and Monumental Sports and Entertainment CEO Ted Leonsis announced a $2 billion plan Wednesday to partner on a deal that would send the teams across the Potomac River.

Metro General Manager Randy Clarke said Thursday the Potomac Yard station, which opened in May, would likely need major modifications to handle big crowds.

With only one escalator and staircase on each platform, the station wasn’t designed with a stadium in mind.

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“Clearly, we’d need some type of modification, I think, to handle an event of that nature. It’s kind of, like, one escalator, one stair approach on each platform,” Clarke said

The discussion comes at a time when Metro is trying to close a $750 million budget gap. One of the worst-case scenarios Metro is considering is shutting down some of its stations with the lowest ridership.

Currently, Potomac Yard is one of those stations.

“Our proposal was 10 lowest and based on today’s ridership I believe Potomac is in that top 10,” Clarke said.

Metro is also floating the idea to increase fares to help close the budget gap. A final decision won’t be made until the spring.

Fairfax County police said 29-year-old Antiero Ebai Menyoli went up to a woman in a parking lot as she left the casino in Oxon Hill on Dec. 8. They briefly talked before the woman got in her car and drove home, police said.

Then, while she was driving, she noticed a car that had one headlight that was brighter than the other appeared to be following her.

She tried to lose the vehicle before getting to her home on Poplar Lane near Bailey’s Crossroads, police said. But, as she walked to her home, Menyoli went up to her from behind and assaulted her, according to police.

The woman was able to break free and run inside her house. Police said Menyoli then followed her and broke a glass panel in the woman’s door to try to get inside, but he wasn’t able to and ran off.

Detectives later identifed Menyoli as a suspect through surveillance video, police said.

He was arrested Tuesday and charged with burglary, assault and destruction of property, and he’ll be extradited to Fairfax County.

Police are asking anyone with information about the incident or who might have had unwanted contact with Menyoli to call 703-246-7800 or submit a tip to 1-866-411-8477.

A Salvadoran family says they’re living a nightmare after their 10-year-old daughter was allegedly sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old woman who the family says continues to threaten them. 

The abuse took place in the victim’s home in Alexandria, Virginia. Her mother told News4’s sister station, Telemundo 44, in Spanish that it started when she opened up her home to a family who had recently moved to the United States. 

“I helped them because a relative of my husband and daughters had removed them from their property,” she said. “I felt for them.”

The mother said she trusted her new roommates because they were a woman and her three daughters, one of whom was 19 years old. 

But soon, she says, she noticed changes. 

“My daughter was a bit more aggressive with me, like she’d look at me with a hateful face,” she said. 

That behavior told the victim’s mother that something was wrong. And one day, when she came home, she saw the 19-year-old and a 16-year-old grabbing her daughter, kissing and touching her sexually. 

The victim’s mother said her daughter would pull her face away sharply, and “she yelled for help.”

The victim also spoke to Telemundo 44. 

“The girl that was 19 rubbed my whole body,” she said. “I didn’t feel good.”

The girl’s mother said that day, she kicked the whole family out.

And according to her daughters, the victim’s sisters, ages 6 and 7, were also physically hurt by the suspect on at least two occasions. 

“They’d throw them against the floor, and they said they’d make them even pick up poop,” the mother said. “My daughters of 6 and 7 years old said, ‘Finally, we won’t suffer more mistreatment.’“

Since then, the family has allegedly received threats along with sexually explicit pictures and videos from the suspects. 

Screenshots provided to Telemundo 44 show that the victim received messages from the alleged suspect, saying, “I love you,” “I adore you,” “don’t leave me wanting,” followed by a picture. 

Other messages read, “Your whole family will be dead just like you… I’m going to kill you all… I have people who do that.”

“They started sending threats to my daughter … that they were going to kidnap her, that no matter where they saw her they would take her,” the victim’s mother said. “That I’m going to pay for this … My daughter blocks them, reports them.”

According to the mother, Alexandria police have filed at least two reports related to the case that date back to August. 

But she said police have told her “that they can’t find her … that they’re going to keep investigating. And they were going to assign a new detective, because for the first report, the sergeant handling the case didn’t have a complete report.”

Alexandria police have not responded to a request for comment.

Two people were arrested after seven Virginia elementary school students “experienced a reaction” after eating gummy bears from a bag that was laced with fentanyl, the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.

Central Elementary School in Amherst County called the county School Resource Officer on Tuesday after learning the students had eaten something during lunch and needed medical attention, the sheriff’s office said.

It was later determined that all seven fourth-graders had eaten gummy bears that one student brought to school and shared at lunch, according to NBC News affiliate WSLS.

The student brought the candy in a plastic bag from home, according to WSLS.

Five were taken to the hospital, the sheriff’s office said. Two were transported by EMS, and the other three were taken by their parents.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

The death of Pablo Teodoro III, 57, is the third since 2016 in which a Tesla that was using Autopilot ran underneath a crossing tractor-trailer, raising questions about the partially automated system’s safety and where it should be allowed to operate.

The crash south of Washington, D.C., remains under investigation by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which sent investigators to Virginia during the summer and began a broader probe of Autopilot more than two years ago. This week, the NTHSA announced that 2 million Tesla vehicles were under recall to issue a fix to the Autopilot system.

Jeffrey Long, spokesman for the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office, said Tuesday that investigators determined Autopilot was in use on Teodoro’s Tesla Model Y by downloading information from the vehicle’s event data recorder.

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Sheriff’s investigators used a search warrant to get access to the recorder in late July. Authorities released some of the results this week after an inquiry by The Associated Press.

The Tesla was traveling 70 mph (112.7 kilometers per hour) on four-lane U.S. 29 near Opal, and was 25 mph over the 45 mph speed limit in that area, Long said. The road has a median and can be accessed at intersections and from driveways.

Long said Teodoro took action in the second before the crash, but he was not sure if that deactivated the system. He did not know what action Teodoro took, but said brakes were applied just one second before impact, slowing the vehicle a little.

He said he could not release the speed at impact or say whether Teodoro or the Tesla applied the brakes because his office is working with NHTSA on its ongoing investigation.

Prior to the crash, the Tesla warned Teodoro to take control of the car because it detected something in the way. But neither the car, which is equipped with Automatic Emergency Braking, nor Teodoro stopped it in time to avoid the crash.

Long said an accident investigator’s analysis of the data recorder “indicated that the system was aware of something in the roadway and was sending messages” to the driver.

“Our investigation also determined that the driver would have had adequate time and distance to avoid the crash had he been traveling at the speed limit,” Long said in a statement. “The full investigation concluded that the driver would have had more than adequate time to brake and even come to a complete stop.”

Initially the truck driver in the crash was charged with reckless driving for creating a barrier to traffic, Long said, but the charge was dropped in October by the commonwealth attorney at the request of the Sheriff’s Office.

Under Virginia law, a driver gives up the legal right-of-way if they violate the speed limit, Long said.

The tractor-trailer was pulling from a truck stop onto the highway at the time of the crash, authorities said.

In October of 2021, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board called on Tesla to limit where Autopilot can operate and to put a better system in place to make sure drivers are paying attention.

Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy wrote to CEO Elon Musk pointing out that her agency’s investigation of a similar crash with a semi in 2016 found that Tesla allows its vehicles to run on Autopilot on roads where it wasn’t designed to operate safety. An NTSB spokesman said Tuesday that Musk has not responded to Homendy’s letter.

Tesla did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Its website says Autopilot and a more sophisticated “Full Self Driving” system cannot drive themselves and are meant to assist drivers who have to be ready to intervene at all times.

With Autopilot, a Tesla can steer, accelerate and brake automatically in its lane, the website says.

In a statement posted Monday on X, formerly Twitter, Tesla said safety is stronger when Autopilot is engaged.

The Virginia crash brings to 35 the number of Tesla crashes under investigation by NHTSA since June of 2016. In all the cases, the agency suspects the Teslas were operating on a partially automated driving system. At least 17 people have died.

Recent crashes NHTSA is investigating include a July 5 head-on collision between a Tesla Model 3 and Subaru Impreza in South Lake Tahoe, California. The driver of the Subaru and an infant traveling in the Tesla were killed.

NHTSA also sent investigators to a March 15 crash in Halifax County, North Carolina, that injured a 17-year-old student. The State Highway Patrol said at the time that the driver of the 2022 Tesla Model Y, a 51-year-old male, failed to stop for the bus, which was displaying all of its activated warning devices.

A message was left seeking comment from the agency, which hasn’t made public the results of its Tesla crash investigations.

Metro has sounded the alarm for months, saying that if a solution isn’t found, it could change the transit system as we know it, with stations potentially closing early and heavy cuts to how many trains run.

We’ve known about some of the potential implications for months, but Clarke gave more specifics in this week’s media briefing on his proposed “balanced but significantly reduced” budget for next year. It lays out a sort of doomsday scenario, showing what would change if the operating budget isn’t increased.

Clarke said service cuts are a last resort and a decision he hopes he doesn’t have to make.

“Every million is going to count. So, we are managing every day, every single dollar to protect service as much as possible,” he said.

The massive budget shortfall is linked to problems with dedicated funding from D.C., Maryland and Virginia; low ridership and rising costs due to inflation. Metro already cut staffing at five stations this month, citing “unprecedented budget challenges.”

“Without a sustainable and predictable funding source to replace federal relief funding, the FY2025 Proposed Budget presents an unrecognizable Metro due to unprecedented service cuts necessary to close the operating deficit,” the GM/CEO’s FY2025 Proposed Budget said.

Clarke said he’s an optimist and that he hopes the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s constant lobbying of jurisdictional partners will secure additional funding. He said the governors of Maryland and Virginia and state legislators are well aware of the budget issues.

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Here’s a look at what could change if Metro doesn’t fill its $750 million budget gap

Metrorail

• All stations would close at 10 p.m. Currently, the earliest Metro normally closes is midnight.
• Ten stations would be shut down completely. WMATA has not decided which stations would close, but the final decision would be based on ridership numbers.
• Metro frequency would be reduced. Right now, the majority of Metro trains arrive every six minutes or less, but without a funding fix come July of next year, the percentage of trains with six-minute service or better would drop to just 10%.

Metrobus

• Metro could eliminate nearly half of its bus lines. Under the proposed budget, 67 of the existing 135 lines would be eliminated. Another 41 lines would see service reductions.
• A third of bus service would be cut across D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Fare increases

• Metro warned of a 20% increase in fares and parking fees. For example, the max fare on Metrorail right now is $6. Under the proposed budget, a Metrorail fare would be capped at $7.20.

Job cuts

• In January 2024, Metro plans to freeze salary and wage increases.
• In July 2024, 2,286 employees would be laid off.

News4 reached out to D.C.-area lawmakers about their Metro funding plans.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s office said in a statement: “Finding a sustainable, dedicated funding source for Maryland’s transportation modes is a top priority. Our administration is committed to working with WMATA in seeking solutions to these complex funding challenges.”

D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen, who chairs the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, said in a statement that he’s been working with District lawmakers and WMATA officials for months on possible solutions. He vowed to push the Council to pass a budget that “fully funds the District’s share for WMATA.”

“The clock is ticking, and there needs to be a solution soon – we can’t be the city we need to be with these service cuts, and we can’t run our city’s transit system with this level of uncertainty,” Allen said in the statement. “Regional leaders have been in conversations for some time, and I’m confident we all agree that this budget can never become reality.”

He described the budget proposed this week as a “worst-case scenario in which DC, Maryland, and Virginia do nothing else” before the WMATA board votes on a budget in April.

What to know about Metro’s budget

The likely solution is that local jurisdictions and states will be asked to contribute more to Metro. Some local leaders, such as Jeff McKay, head of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, cautioned Metro that the transit agency must show where and how the money will be spent.

“I can’t emphasize enough the importance of putting together a package that says if you want more money, tell everyone in this community what they are going to get for that in terms of guaranteeing that money is being well spent,” he said.

Metro is basically the only major transit system that does not have a dedicated source of funding such as a sales tax or gas tax set aside for it.

The agency’s budget has two sides: the capital budget and the operating budget. The capital budget covers costs such as trains, buses, stations and tracks. That budget is in good shape. The operating budget covers costs such as pay for bus operators, train operators and other staff. Metro says that’s where the huge budget shortfall lies.

Metro’s funding problems are multipronged. Ridership hasn’t completely rebounded from the effects of the pandemic, and the agency is set to exhaust COVID-related federal relief funding early in the fiscal year 2025, according to Clarke’s proposed budget.

“I think one of the biggest reasons why the number is so big is because of the pandemic and the impacts of that. You know, the lack of ridership,” WMATA board Chair Paul Smedberg said this summer.

Also, lawmakers in Maryland and Virginia would have to agree through a legislative process to contribute more to a Metro budget that wouldn’t require so many cuts.

Dedicated funding for capital expenses has also become worth less due to inflation, according to the budget documents.

Clarke recently spoke with News4 about the funding issue during a tour of the new Potomac Yard–VT station in Northern Virginia.

“We need to solve once and for all, in my opinion, our operating funding and have a predictable, sustainable source. Because who wants to do these big capital projects that everyone celebrates, and then go, ‘Well, are we not going to run that many trains through there?’” he said.

Fairfax County firefighters were called to the 4000 block of Ridgeview Circle at about 9:15 a.m. They arrived and found a large brick home on fire.

A man was found dead in a bedroom, county police said. Police and the fire department are investigating the circumstances.

Flames and smoke could be seen in the area, which overlooks D.C., near Chain Bridge.

The name of the man who died was not immediately released.

The fire was put out after a short time.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

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An AMBER Alert was issued for the abducted toddler, believed to be in “extreme danger.” She was found safe outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, authorities said.

Deandre Dorsey, 27, was arrested. Police said the suspect has six outstanding warrants in Virginia Beach.

The final access points to the 95 Express Lanes Fredericksburg Extension opened late Thursday night and were ready for the Friday morning rush.

Drivers can now get to the express lanes via a reversible ramp from Courthouse Road/Route 630 in Stafford County, and a northbound exit from and southbound entrance to the I-95 general purpose lanes near Marine Corps Base Quantico. Access is also available at the southern terminus for northbound traffic entering from Route 3 and Route 17, according to Transurban North America, which operates the lanes.

“The access point here at the Courthouse Road Park and Ride lot, as well as the direct acess to Russell Road near Quantico means all of the workers going into the city and coming out everyday have easier travel times and a more reliable trip,” Corporate Communications Manager for Transurban Jacqueline Woodbridge said. “Especially for those 28,000 workers at the Marine Corps base, you know, they have an easier way to get in and out.”

Woodbridge said drivers can save about 30 minutes of their time if they use the express lanes during the evening rush from D.C. to Fredericksburg.

The average cost for a trip on the 95, 395 and 495 express lanes is about $11, according to Woodbridge. Drivers with three or more people in their car can put their E-ZPass into HOV mode for a free ride.

Opening the access points marks the completion of a $670 million project to add 10 miles of express lanes to I-95.

The extension makes the express lanes the longest reversible road in the U.S., Woodbridge said.

Jeff Ryan, chief deputy commissioner of the Virginia Employment Commission, told lawmakers at an oversight committee meeting Wednesday that so-called first-level appeals are the largest backlog pressure point, with an estimated 45,000 cases the agency doesn’t expect to clear until July 2024.

Ryan also said the agency has sped up first-time payments, though he acknowledged continued struggles to provide some core services. Ensuring all customers can log in to an online claims portal while blocking fraudsters remains a hurdle, he said.

“We’re remarkably well on our way to completing the backlog,” he told members of the Commission on Unemployment Compensation.

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin campaigned on a pledge to improve performance at the agency, which officials have said was at an especially low staffing level when the coronavirus pandemic began. Government measures intended to slow COVID-19’s spread led to a surge in jobless claims. The employment commission, like many other state agencies, couldn’t keep up and by some federal metrics, its performance was exceptionally poor.

While some lawmakers said they appreciated improvements the agency has made, they also continue to hear complaints.

After Ryan told the panel that customer service measures like call-back and wait times at call centers were improving, Democratic Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker said she’d heard differently from residents of her northern Virginia district. She said she tried getting through to the call center line just before Wednesday’s meeting and received an error message saying call volume was too high.

Ryan acknowledged the queue is “maxed out” at times, but said he didn’t have numbers detailing how often customers encounter that problem.

Jonathon Brashears told the group he’d traveled from Virginia Beach in “desperate hopes” of finding someone to help him with a claim stemming from a July 2021 layoff. Brashears, whom Ryan pledged to assist, described a series of agency errors and poor customer service, calling the experience “a nightmare.”

“The VEC is not incompetent. They’re just working with limited resources within extremely challenging circumstances,” said Democratic Sen. Adam Ebbin, who leads the legislative panel and has pushed for more agency funding.

Ryan said a bright spot for the VEC and Virginia at large was the strength of the state’s labor market.

The unemployment rate in October was 2.7%, and labor force participation rates have been steadily rising. In October, the rate stood at 66.8%, higher than it was before the pandemic and higher than neighboring and competitor states like Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Ryan also told lawmakers the agency has made significant progress improving the percentage of claims paid within 21 days.

For the third quarter of this year, that rate was 65.8%, the highest in the past two years, Ryan noted, though it’s still below the 87% the federal Department of Labor considers acceptable.

The average wait on the agency’s first-level appeals was 516 days in the same quarter, third-worst in the nation, according to the Department of Labor, which says that number should be 30 days or less.

“What that means in practice is that when that first decision is wrong, it’s going to take 17 months to fix when it should be fixed in a month,” said Flannery O’Rourke, a staff attorney at the Virginia Poverty Law Center.

The attorney general continues to pursue fraudulent unemployment claims, and total court-ordered restitution so far stands at about $360,000, Ryan said. The employment commission has paid out more than $1.7 billion in fraudulent claims, according to figures provided Thursday by a spokeswoman.

About a dozen homes were damaged and residents around the destroyed house on N. Burlington Street have had to find someplace else to stay.

Tracy and David Mitchell, who live across from the house, filled up bags with necessities to take to a hotel.

“Just gotta grab whatever you think you need,” David Mitchell said outside on Wednesday.

He said he felt lucky in comparison to the family who lived on the other side of the duplex now reduced to rubble.

“Considering what the Smith family’s going through, we got it easy. We’ve got to clean things up. They don’t have anything to clean up. They don’t have anything,” David Mitchell said.

The family was evacuated from their home before the explosion. News4 spoke with them by phone and they declined an interview right away.

“Everything they have in their life was in that house,” neighbor Cory Jarvis said.

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Neighbors said they noticed unusual packages at suspect James Yoo’s house in the months leading up to the blast. They said they saw doomsday magazines and what they thought were huge cans of lighter fluid.

Investigators are still working to determine what caused the blast that police believe killed Yoo after an hourslong standoff with police. He is believed to have fired dozens of flare gun shots into the air on Monday afternoon and then to have fired gunshots at police as they entered his home.

Neighbors said they never had any notable interactions with Yoo. He had tin foil or another material blocking all of the windows on his side of the duplex.

The FBI said Tuesday they were aware of Yoo’s social media activity, which included conspiracy theories.

Jarvis said he was once inside the Smiths’ home and they heard something bizarre through the wall, coming from Yoo’s home.

“I can’t explain it. I don’t know if he was running a machine or something. It was weird. This was months ago – six, seven months ago,” he said.

At Arlington’s central library, support is available for families who need it, including care packages for pets and children.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts announced in a news release Tuesday that it had “safely delivered” the pieces to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York, which it said had conducted an inquiry into the artworks as part of a broader investigation, along with the Department of Homeland Security. The DA’s office will facilitate the return of the objects to Italy, Egypt and Turkey, according to the Richmond museum.

“The clear and compelling evidence presented to VMFA left no doubt that the museum does not hold clear title for these 44 works of ancient art,” Michael R. Taylor, the museum’s chief curator and deputy director for art and education, said in a statement. “Stolen or looted art has no place in our galleries or collection, so we are delighted to return these works to their countries of origin.”

Among the returned works was a bronze Etruscan warrior that the museum said was stolen from an archaeological museum in Bologna, Italy, in 1963.

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The other 43 works were looted as part of an international criminal conspiracy that is currently under investigation involving antiquities traffickers, smugglers and art dealers, according to the news release.

Jan Hatchette, a spokesperson for the museum, said by email Wednesday morning that she was not permitted to answer questions from The Associated Press that pertained to the investigation.

Col. Matthew Bogdanos, the head of the DA’s antiquities trafficking unit, did not immediately respond to an emailed inquiry from the AP.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office has worked in recent years to repatriate hundreds of objects it has said were looted from countries including Turkey, Greece, Israel and Italy.

The VMFA said that in May, it received a summons from DHS and the DA’s office regarding 28 ancient art objects in its collection. The agencies asked the museum for documentation related to the pieces, ranging from invoices and bills of sale to import and export documents and provenance research.

The VMFA complied, and authorities then added another 29 works to the summons list in June, according to the news release.

The museum said it also submitted information of its own volition about four additional works, bringing the total number under investigation to 61.

In October, museum officials met with Bogdanos and the special agent handling the investigation from Homeland Security, the news release said. The two officials provided the museum then with “irrefutable evidence” 44 works had been stolen or looted.

The museum has since been told the other 17 works are no longer under investigation and can remain in the institution’s collection.

According to the VMFA, no evidence linked “current employees with any criminal activity” related to its acquisition of the pieces, which mostly occurred in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.

Whether any former employees have been implicated was among the questions Hatchette said she could not address.

Separately on Tuesday, the DA’s office announced the return of 41 pieces valued at more than $8 million to Turkey. The news release made no mention of the office’s efforts in connection with the Virginia museum.

Lloyd R. Felder, 69, was driving a black Toyota Tundra on northbound I-95 shortly before 9 a.m., when he pulled to the right shoulder at the 158 mile marker, Virginia State Police said.

Felder then got out of the truck and stepped into the northbound lane, where an oncoming tractor-trailer was unable to avoid striking him, police said. He died at the scene.

Three left lanes were blocked for hours as police investigated, and traffic was backed up 9 miles at about 1 p.m. All lanes have since reopened.

Stay with News4 for updates to this developing story.

There are 11 snow days built into the 2023-24 school year calendar, FCPS said in a release on Monday.

During the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years, the school district’s policy was to hold virtual learning days for day six and beyond of inclement weather.

Students will still have access to educational resources on snow days, the school system said.

“They can utilize Tutor.com, complete supplemental learning opportunities recommended by their teachers, and tune in to educational programming available virtually and on public access television channels,” the release stated. Those channels include: Red Apple 21 for elementary school, channel 25 for middle school and channel 99 for high school.

Superintendent Dr. Michelle C. Reid is encouraging the community to contribute ideas for discovering and learning during the winter break and potential snow days. Suggestions can be sent to WinterDiscovery@fcps.edu.

“I go to my first job, that’s from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.,” he told News4. “After that, I go to my second job, that’s from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.”

The Fairfax County teen — who asked that we not show his face or identify him out of safety concerns — has been working 40 hours a week, while in school, to support his family. He works the front desk at a gym, and is also a manager at a Dollar Store.

The student, his mom, and his two siblings recently escaped domestic violence. His mom and brother both have health issues, and they were nearly evicted last week.

Through all of this, the student has been juggling the course requirements of his senior year of high school.

“My family, they need me right now,” the student said. “So I just get strength from that. And I make it happen.”

The students’ brother has epilepsy and heart problems. His mom’s health issues caused her to lose her job in October.

“My son has been trying to provide for our family,” she said. “He’s a teenager trying to play the role of an adult. It is my responsibility, but even though I have been desperately trying to get a job, I haven’t been able to.”

They owed several months of rent, and faced eviction the first week of December.

But the McLean High community came together to help the student and his family in time for the holidays. The McLean High School PTA put out a note on Giving Tuesday, sharing their story.

Parent donations came pouring in — enough to keep the family in their home.

“I’m surrounded by nice people here with the staff at McLean,” the student said. “It’s awesome, I’m so thankful with all of them.”

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He’s on track to graduate in the spring, despite everything.

“I’m proud of my son, and happy that we’re going to be able to spend Christmas at home and together,” his mom said.

Once he graduates, the student’s goal is to be an FBI agent, and continue supporting his family.

“We went through a lot of difficulties, so I still need to help them so that way they never go through that again,” he said.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.

James Yoo, 56, fired a “flare-type gun” from inside the duplex more than 30 times, Arlington County Police Chief Andy Penn said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Penn said police responded to the duplex where Yoo lived on North Burlington Street about 4:45 p.m. Monday after reports of shots fired. After attempts to communicate with Yoo were unsuccessful, police obtained a search warrant.

Officers tried to make contact with him by telephone and loudspeakers, but Yoo stayed inside without responding, police said.

Then, multiple gunshots were fired at officers as they tried to breach the front door of the home and execute the search warrant, Penn said.

“Despite the ongoing threat to themselves, ACPD staff continued to try and engage with the suspect to safely bring them into custody,” Penn said.

Penn said officers couldn’t locate the source of the suspected gunfire or its intended target. They began to deploy nonflammable, less-lethal chemical munitions to multiple areas within the residence where they believed the suspect was hiding.

Then, about 8:30 p.m., the house exploded, shooting flames and debris two stories into the air.

Three police officers suffered minor injuries, police said. Penn said there were no serious injuries.

Assistant Fire Chief Jason Jenkins said authorities turned off the gas service to the home and evacuated nearby residents about 90 minutes before the explosion.

“I’m not going to speculate on cause or origin,” he said of the blast.

“The fire department personnel absolutely saved lives” by evacuating residents of the neighborhood, Jenkins said.

Suspect has history of complaints, lawsuits

While Yoo is presumed dead, Penn said a medical examiner would work to identify human remains found at the scene and determine the cause and manner of death.

Yoo lived on one side of the duplex, and first responders helped his neighbors get out during the hours-long standoff that preceded the explosion, authorities said.

Penn said an investigation into the circumstances of the explosion was ongoing, and his department was looking into Yoo’s history on social media.

“We are aware of concerning social media posts allegedly made by the suspect, and these will be reviewed as part of the ongoing criminal investigation,” Penn said.

Yoo publicly aired grievances against multiple people in his life. On LinkedIn, he recently posted paranoid rants about his neighbors and a former co-worker.

He also filed multiple federal lawsuits that were dismissed as frivolous against his ex-wife, younger sister, a moving company and the New York Supreme Court.

Each of four lawsuits filed between 2018 and 2022 case were dismissed, while some were described by judges as “convoluted” or “confused.”

In 2018, Yoo filed a 163-page federal lawsuit in New York against his then-wife, younger sister and a hospital after he said he was committed against his will. Yoo alleged conspiracy and deprivation of his rights, among other crimes.

The sprawling complaint included biographical details, such as who was at his wedding, but also wove in facts about who was president of the United States at the time. Yoo described how his then-wife drove him to Rochester General Hospital in November 2015 “against his will.”

Yoo denied having any thoughts of suicide or prior depression. He cited hospital records that reference a suicide note that he left for his wife, which he said he never wrote.

Yoo also referenced many attempts to contact the FBI. He wrote that he believed that a New York Times reporter he saw on television was someone who had claimed to be an FBI agent and came to his house in 2017. He said the person warned him against further attempts to communicate with a U.S. Attorney in western New York or face a harassment charge.

David Sundburg, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, said Yoo had previously communicated with the FBI via phone calls, online tips and letters over a number of years.

“I would characterize these communications as primarily complaints about alleged frauds he believed were perpetrated against him,” Sundburg said. “The information contained therein and the nature of those communications did not lead to opening any FBI investigations.”

‘It felt like we got attacked’

Stunning video shows the home bursting into flames and collapsing.

Police vehicles could be seen outside the brick house. A blast suddenly erupts and blows away the front porch. The roof flies into the air and debris and sparks rain down as flames grow and car alarms blare. People can be heard shouting in disbelief as clouds of black smoke billow.

Sam Kim, whose backyard is nearby, captured a video of a SWAT team trying to coax the suspect out of the house.

“Come to the front door with your hands up,” someone can be heard saying in the video.  

Kim said he heard the police talking to the suspect with a megaphone. They told him to come out peacefully, and they weren’t going to leave.

He also heard them use a battering ram on the front door, gunshots and then the blast.  

“Then we fell back. My housemate and I like fell backwards, and it knocked down a couple of windows,” Kim said.

Many neighbors said they heard and felt the huge explosion.

“I was in the back of my house, and I had been hearing prior to this some sort of firecracker sorts of sounds, and then suddenly there’s a loud boom, and my entire house is shaking,” neighbor Ann-Elise Quinn said. “All the lights went off immediately.”

One resident said she and her roommate had just arrived home nearby when they heard “gunshot-sounding things.” Moments later, “it felt like we got attacked. I got pushed forward” Sarah Wilhoite said.

They ran outside and saw flames. “It was really scary,” she said. “It really did feel like something was attacking us.”

“You could feel the sound concussion,” resident Bob Maynes said. “I’ve been here for 50 years and I never experienced anything like that.”

Quinn said she saw flares coming from the house in the afternoon and initially thought someone may have been “goofing off on an afternoon.”

“But then after about 20 of them, I start to think, ‘This is concerning. Maybe somebody should call the police,'” she said. “There was a police unit that was going down the street and then took a turn around the corner down to the cul-de-sac where he was, and it looked like they gave him a talking to.”

Arlington County firefighters had control of the fire and were battling small spot fires as of 10:40 p.m. The scene is about a half-mile west of the Ballston-MU Metro station, north of Wilson Boulevard.

The FBI Washington Field Office and the ATF’s Washington Field Division are assisting in the ongoing investigation.

The White House monitored developments on the house explosion, a spokeswoman said.

“Our thoughts are with the police officers that were injured in that explosion,” Olivia Dalton, the White House principal deputy press secretary, told reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday. “We’re grateful to law enforcement that handled that situation very swiftly.”

Streets in the area were still shut down Tuesday.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A home exploded in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday night and rocked a neighborhood with a powerful blast after police say a suspect fired a flare gun into the neighborhood dozens of times.

Stunning video shows a home exploding into flames and collapsing as debris flies more than two stories into the air. The blast occurred as police investigated someone shooting flares into a residential area near Ballston.

The explosion turned a duplex into a pile of rubble.

The suspect accused of firing the flare gun is presumed dead, authorities said in an update on Tuesday.

Three police officers received minor injuries but were not taken to hospitals, the department said. Officials are unaware of anyone else who was hurt, they said at a news conference.

The suspect, whose name was not immediately released, is still unaccounted for. An investigation into the cause of the explosion is ongoing.

An hourslong standoff in a quiet neighborhood preceded the explosion.

Police received reports of a man firing a flare gun from a home in the 800 block of N. Burlington Street at about 4:45 p.m. The suspect fired the flare gun 30 to 40 times, Arlington police said.

Officers tried to execute a search warrant shortly before 8:30 p.m. The suspect allegedly fired multiple rounds, “from what is believed to be a firearm,” according to authorities.

Police obtained a search warrant for the home and tried to make contact with the suspect by telephone and loudspeakers, but he remained inside without responding, police said.

Then, the home exploded.

Video footage shows the moment fire bursts through the home and its roof.

Police vehicles could be seen outside a brick house. A blast suddenly erupts and blows away the front porch. The roof flies into the air and debris and sparks rain down as flames grow and car alarms blare. People can be heard shouting in disbelief as clouds of black smoke billow.

‘It felt like we got attacked’

Sam Kim, whose backyard is nearby, captured a video of a SWAT team trying to coax the suspect out of the house.

“Come to the front door with your hands up,” someone can be heard saying in the video.  

Kim said he heard the police talking to the suspect with a megaphone. They told him to come out peacefully, and they weren’t going to leave.

He also heard them use a battering ram on the front door, gunshots and then the blast.  

“Then we fell back. My housemate and I like fell backwards, and it knocked down a couple of windows,” Kim said.

Many neighbors said they heard and felt the huge explosion.

“I was in the back of my house, and I had been hearing prior to this some sort of firecracker sorts of sounds, and then suddenly there’s a loud boom, and my entire house is shaking,” neighbor Ann-Elise Quinn said. “All the lights went off immediately.”

One resident said she and her roommate had just arrived home nearby when they heard “gunshot-sounding things.” Moments later, “it felt like we got attacked. I got pushed forward” Sarah Wilhoite said.

They ran outside and saw flames. “It was really scary,” she said. “It really did feel like something was attacking us.”

“You could feel the sound concussion,” resident Bob Maynes said. “I’ve been here for 50 years and I never experienced anything like that.”

Quinn said she saw flares coming from the house in the afternoon and initially thought someone may have been “goofing off on an afternoon.”

“But then after about 20 of them, I start to think, ‘This is concerning. Maybe somebody should call the police,'” she said. “There was a police unit that was going down the street and then took a turn around the corner down to the cul-de-sac where he was, and it looked like they gave him a talking to.”

Arlington County firefighters had control of the fire and were battling small spot fires as of 10:40 p.m. The scene is about a half-mile west of the Ballston-MU Metro station, north of Wilson Boulevard.

Information was not released on how many homes were damaged or how many residents needed to evacuate their homes.

The FBI Washington Field Office and the ATF’s Washington Field Division are assisting in the investigation.

The White House is monitoring developments on the house explosion, a spokeswoman said.

“Our thoughts are with the police officers that were injured in that explosion,” Olivia Dalton, the White House principal deputy press secretary, told reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday. “We’re grateful to law enforcement that handled that situation very swiftly.”

Streets in the area were still shut down Tuesday.

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.

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Stoney, 42, made his formal announcement in a video that highlighted his modest upbringing and the struggles he overcame to become the first in his family to graduate from high school and college.

“That’s why I’m running for governor. For families like mine that just need an opportunity. For kids like me, who will thrive in school if they just get the right chance,” he said. “And for parents like my dad, who work multiple jobs and still struggle to live a secure, middle-class life.”

Stoney’s entrance into the race sets up a Democratic nomination contest with U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer who has cultivated an identity as a bipartisan consensus builder over three terms in Congress. Spanberger, who if elected would be the state’s first female governor, announced her bid last month, and others could still enter the field.

No Republicans have announced campaigns yet, though Attorney General Jason Miyares and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears are seen as likely contenders. Under state law, GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin cannot seek a second consecutive term.

In his video announcement and an interview Monday morning, Stoney criticized Youngkin’s leadership as out of step with voters’ values.

“I think many Virginians are sick of a governor who was out there focused on banning abortion and banning books and making it harder for people to vote instead of actually focused on how do they climb the economic ladder into the middle class,” he said.

Youngkin’s press office defended his record in a statement that noted his solid approval ratings. And the Republican Party of Virginia criticized Stoney as a “far-left radical,” saying he failed Richmond as mayor and would be a “a disaster for Virginia.”

Stoney, who has two decades of experience in Virginia politics, served as the first Black Secretary of the Commonwealth — a cabinet position — under former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, with whom Stoney is close.

In that role, Stoney oversaw the process of restoring the voting and other civil rights of felons who had completed their sentences, an effort that McAuliffe accelerated and called the most important legacy of his term.

Stoney went on to win a competitive race in 2016 to become the youngest person to serve as mayor of the state’s capital city. He was re-elected in 2020.

In his gubernatorial campaign launch, he also touted his efforts to improve Richmond residents’ lives by tackling what he called “generational problems” — improving the city’s finances, fixing its roads, building new schools and reducing the poverty rate.

He also emphasized his role in directing the removal of Richmond’s enormous collection of Confederate monuments amid the racial justice protests that followed George Floyd’s killing in 2020.

Stoney, who is Black and if elected would be the second African American person to serve as governor, said at the time that the statues’ removal would send a message that the onetime capital of the Confederacy was no longer a place with symbols of oppression and white supremacy.

“Those statues stood high for over 100 years for a reason, and it was to intimidate and to show Black and brown people in this city who was in charge,” he said in the summer of 2020.

Stoney has been involved in Virginia politics since his college days at James Madison University. He worked as a fellow in the office of then-Gov. Mark Warner, then joined John Kerry’s campaign for president. He’s since worked on several other statewide campaigns and at the Democratic Party of Virginia, serving as political director and then executive director.

While Stoney said he sees his current base of support in the central Virginia African American community, he thinks his work, executive experience and life story will help him connect with voters around Virginia, arguing he’s the “only candidate that can campaign everywhere.”

“I truly believe that the voters, the Democratic voters, want someone who has run something, and I’m going to lay out that record at that vision over the course of the next 18 months” ahead of the primary, he said.

Connor Joseph, a spokesperson for Spanberger, said in a written statement that “Virginians know and trust Abigail’s record of public service, her commitment to bringing people together, and her track record of getting things done against tremendous odds — while winning tough races.”

Stoney lives in Richmond with his wife, Brandy. The two are expecting their first child in March.

Simmie A. Adams, 62, was trying to land the 1975 Beechcraft plane just before 4 p.m. when it collided with several trees, causing the plane to crash into a field and catch fire, the Virginia State Police said.

Adams was the only person on the plane, and he died at the scene, police said.

The crash site is less than a mile from the Warrenton-Fauquier Airport, near the intersection of Midland and Ebenezer Church roads.

Adams, of Bealeton, was practicing approaches at the airport, which is very routine, the NTSB said. He was a licensed pilot and was working toward a commercial certification.

Investigators with the NTSB said they’re looking into whether the cause of the crash was weather-related, a pilot error or some type of malfunction on the plane.

The plane was a single-engine Beech C23, the NTSB and FAA said.

No one on the ground was injured, officials said.  

The NTSB said it planned to visit the crash site Monday to begin its investigation. Anyone who saw the crash, or who has surveillance video or other information that could be relevant, is asked to contact the NTSB at witness@ntsb.gov. 

The Udvar-Hazy center first opened back in Dec. 2003, and it features nearly 2,000 aviation artefacts and 931 space artefacts. Among those artefacts are the space shuttle Discovery, the Apollo Mobile Quarantine Facility used in the Apollo 11 mission and the Mars Pathfinder Lander prototype.

Now, 20 years later, the center is celebrating the wonder of human flight with its visitors.

“That’s why we’re here,” said Bob Van Der Linder, the aeronautics curator for the Center. “Inspiration is a big part of it. We’re telling the story, and hopefully it’s such an interesting story and is a compelling story both for aviation and spaceflight that it inspires future generations.”

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Visitors were able to take a behind-the-scenes look at the restoration work that takes place in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar, as well as participate in talks with curators and hands-on activities for all ages.

Since the center opened two decades ago, it has welcomed 24 million visitors, according to the Smithsonian.

The Udvar-Hazy center is open in Chantilly, Virginia every day from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free, but parking costs $15 for vehicles entering before 4 p.m.

Myah, who did not want News4 to use her last name or show her face on camera, says a burglar broke into her home on Tralee Woods Court in Springfield and stole her dog, Queen, on Monday.

“She’s very friendly, very sweet, very playful. She loves people, she loves dogs,” Myah said.

The suspect tried to take all three of Myah’s French bulldogs but was only able to get away with Queen, Fairfax County police said.

Surveillance cameras captured video of the suspect before and after the crime. It shows him holding Queen over his shoulder as he leaves the house.

“You broke into my house and you took something that means very much, like, a lot to me. I guess like my child. So it’s just, like, you took her from me,” Myah said.

“I’m worried if she’s getting any type of sleep, if they’re abusing her, if they’re doing anything to her. Like, it’s hard to not think the worst because she’s not in my care,” she said.

The D.C. area has seen a string of French bulldog thefts in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, three suspects stole three of the dogs from their owner at gunpoint in a D.C. alley.

On Saturday, another French bulldog was stolen from its owner before being reunited on Tuesday.

The American Kennel Club Reunite is a nonprofit organization that tracks stolen pets with microchips. It says French bulldogs have been the most common dog breed to be stolen since September of last year. Other breeds on the list include the Yorkshire Terrier, Labrador Retriever, German Shepard and Siberian Husky.

Money is the motivation for the dognappings, police said.

“We look at these trends, we look what we see individuals try to do with these, and these French bulldogs can go for a significant amount of money,” said Lt. James Curry, commander of public affairs for the Fairfax County Police Department.

Myah said she was preparing to sell Queen before she was stolen, and she feels violated.

“The starting price for her – $4,000, and that’s just the starting price. And she’s a girl. Girls will always be worth more than males, but for me it’s not about the price, it’s not nothing like that. I just want her to have a good home,” she said.

Police described the suspect as a Black man who is 5 feet 8 inches tall. He was wearing a white T-shirt, gray shorts and blue Crocs.

The suspect got away in a four-door Nissan, possibly an Altima or Sentra. They’re asking anyone who has seen the car or Queen to call 703-644-7377 or submit an anonymous tip to 1-866-411-8477.

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The vote will allow developers to build multi-family homes on lots that previously were for single-family use. It also will add high-rise rentals and condos to industrial areas. The plan has been met with fierce debate.

Vice Mayor Amy Jackson testified that many residents did not receive adequate warning of the potential zoning change.

“They’re not gonna go to our city website automatically to go, ‘Oh, I wonder what’s going on in our city,’” she said. “[…] Our diversity in this city is our strength – I will say it again and again and again. But we didn’t reach everybody when we should have.”

Supporters of the zoning change say it will make living in Alexandria within reach for more people. Critics say the plan won’t necessarily provide housing for those it was intended to help.

The median home price in Alexandria is close to $1 million.

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Xuan-Kha Tran Pham, 49, of Fairfax, was charged in May with assaulting federal employees after the FBI said he struck an employee in the head with a metal bat, and hit an intern in the ribs.

A staffer said in court Monday that she was near the office entrance that day training the intern, who was on her first day at the job.

“A man … burst through door … took a couple of steps toward me, lifted a bat and swung and hit me in my arm,” the staffer told the judge.

She said she fell to the ground as the intern screamed, and the man repeatedly struck her in the head.

“As he was hitting me, he kept repeating, ‘You’re going to die’ over and over again,” she said.

A postal worker arrived and yelled at the attacker to get off her, which allowed her to escape, she testified.

City of Fairfax Police Sgt. James Lewis arrived soon after. He testified he ordered Pham to drop the bat.

“I had my serivce weapon pointed at him. I tased him and he dropped the bat,” Lewis said.

Police body camera video shows Pham falling to the ground as several officers handcuff him.

The staffer said she was treated for a concussion and she is still receiving occupational and physical therapy six months later.

A judge ruled Monday there was enough evidence to move forward with the aggravated malicious wounding charge for the bat attack on the staffer.

Pham allegedly hit the intern in the ribs, but prosecutors didn’t call on her to testify, therefore, that charge was removed.

Before the attack at Connolly’s office, Pham allegedly chased and threatened a woman with a bat in a Northern Virginia neighborhood. Prosecutors dropped two other charges connected to that attack.

“Prosecutors made a strategic decision regarding which witnesses to call at the preliminary hearing to best preserve the success of the case. Today’s hearing went according to plan: the most serious charge against the defendant has been bound over to Circuit Court,” a spokeswoman for the Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney said in a statement.

Prosecutors have the option of later restoring the other charges with a direct indictment.

Since his arrest, Pham has primarily been held in a state psychiatric hospital.

His defense attorney said if the case goes to trial, she will seek to show Pham should be found not guilty by reason of insanity

There is also still a pending federal case in which Pham is charged with assaulting a U.S. government employee.

D.C. police confirm to News4 that Officer Peter McCauley, from the Fourth District, was off-duty and driving his own vehicle when he crashed at Interstate 395 and Seminary Road just a couple of minutes before midnight, officials said.

A state trooper had attempted to stop McCauley for driving 95 mph in a 55 mph zone on southbound I-395, Virginia State Police said. The Tesla sped away from the trooper, then exited I-395 at Seminary Road in Alexandria.

At the end of the exit ramp, the Tesla failed to stop at a red light and struck a Honda Civic, sending the Tesla into a jersey wall and the Honda into a jersey wall and a light pole, state police said.

McCauley, 25, and a 28-year-old female passenger were taken to a hospital, state police said. Both had been wearing seatbelts.

A 22-year-old woman driving the Honda was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, state police. She also was wearing a seat belt.

McCauley’s police powers have been revoked and the incident is under investigation, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

McCauley joined the force in June of 2020.

McCauley is charged with a felony count of eluding police.

It’s the start of a years-long process that would ultimately fall to voters, not the state governor. But with uncertainty around how lax restrictions would be under the Democrats’ plan, and vehement objections from state Republicans, there’s a long road ahead.

The state Democrats are heading into the new year in lockstep, with control of both chambers of the General Assembly.

Party members in the House and the Senate have filed identical versions of a resolution to add the right to abortion into Virginia’s Constitution.

“The voters have spoken, and they care about things like reproductive freedom and abortion rights,” said state Sen. Jennifer Boysko, who represents Fairfax County.

Democrats tried a nearly identical constitutional amendment last session, but Senate Republicans killed it, calling it extreme.

As of 2023, Virginia allows abortions through the second trimester — and, in limited instances, in the third trimester.

The new constitutional amendment doesn’t have any language related to trimesters, and says an abortion could only be restricted “by a compelling state interest.”

Virginia Republicans, this session and last session, said the amendment would “enshrine a right to unrestricted late-term abortion on demand,” calling it a “far more radical policy than the existing limit of 26 weeks.”

But Boysko said that the state GOP is fear mongering.

“The state currently limits abortion after the second trimester in Virginia,” Boysko said, when asked whether the new amendment would supersede or enshrine the current law. “We would not expect the amendment to change that.”

“However, it’s important to remember, as I just said, there are instances where a healthcare provider’s determination is that an abortion is needed to avert a risk to a person’s life or their health,” Boysko continued. “And when that happens, at any point in the pregnancy, it’s important to remember that the patient has immediate access to necessary healthcare.”

Amending Virginia’s constitution is a long process.

Any amendment must pass both chambers of the General Assembly to even begin the process. Then it sits until after the next election, when the next legislature must pass the same bill again. Only then does the amendment go to voters as a ballot question.

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But even that might make the amendment more likely to cross the finish line than ratification inside the Commonwealth’s state houses.

“One of the realities that we sometimes see in politics these days is that popular ideas don’t necessarily reach a consensus across party lines,” said Stephen Farnsworth, political scientist at the University of Mary Washington. “So going to the voters might be a way to resolve, once and for all, some of these issues.”

Farnsworth says it’s possible the version of the amendment that’s already been filed could change a few times before Democrats start the process of trying to make reproductive healthcare and rights more accessible.

The earliest a constitutional amendment on abortion rights could appear on your ballot is November 2026.