D.C.-area floods and power outages followed the hot, stormy weather this weekend, WTOP reports. Thousands of people in Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, and Montgomery counties lost power, according to Dominion Energy. Many are still without power this morning. Two Alexandria City schools also lost power and moved to virtual learning today. These blackouts came on a record-breaking day: The high temperature of 91 degrees at Washington/Dulles broke last year’s record of 89, according to the National Weather Service.
Heavy rains yesterday caused flooding and on low-altitude roads and streets in the D.C. area, the Post reports. At one point, a driver was trapped in a car amid rising water on Brighton Dam Road in Montgomery County. Rescuers from the Montgomery fire department extricated the driver just as water started to rush into the passenger side, said Pete Piringer, the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service’s spokesperson.
In the District, response crews have been working to clean up after the storm, WUSA9 reports. One of these efforts was near Lincoln Park in Northeast D.C., where a large tree split in half and fell on a vehicle on the 100 block of 12th Street NE. In Georgetown, officials closed a street for hours last night after a fallen tree blocked much of 31st Street NW and N Street NW.
As of this morning, Reagan National Airport has the greatest number of flight delays and cancellations of any airport nationwide, according to a flight-tracking website, WTOP reports. Staff at major airlines cited the “strong thunderstorms” this weekend for cancellations and lack of available gates at the airplane terminal for delays after the storms.
In Other News …
If you, like many of us, have thought twice before taking a Megabus (long notorious for delays and crashes) to and from the DMV, you might give it yet another thought. Just before 7 a.m. yesterday, a bus carrying 47 people crashed and rolled on I-95 north of Baltimore and near Kingsville, Maryland, NBC4 reports. More than half of the passengers suffered minor injuries. Officials transported 15 of the 27 injured passengers to nearby hospitals, including the bus driver. No other vehicles were involved in the incident. Maryland State Police are investigating the cause.
—Ambar Castillo (tips? acastillo@washingtoncitypaper.com)
- To see today’s COVID-19 data, visit our coronavirus tracker.
- A group of 17 Jewish and Muslim dentists treated D.C.-area Afghan refugees free of charge at a Northern Virginia clinic. [NBC4]
- Special Police Officer Shawn Minor, 33, a resident of Forestville, was found fatally shot in the 2500 block of Elvans Road SE after midnight on Sunday. [Post, WTOP]
- Most DMV schools won’t restore COVID protocols such as masks despite rising cases. [Post]
- Excluded Workers DC Coalition and allies held a caravan-style press conference ahead of the second and final D.C. Council vote on the budget, scheduled for June 10. [Facebook]
By Ambar Castillo (tips? acastillo@washingtoncitypaper.com)
Mary Cheh Backs Tricia Duncan to Replace Her in Crowded Ward 3 Council Race
Tricia Duncan just picked up perhaps the biggest prize possible in the crowded Ward 3 […]
- The D.C. Council is still pushing Mayor Muriel Bowser’s health officials for more COVID data, noting that the city has stopped reporting important information, such as how many first responders have contracted the virus. Bowser’s team argues that compiling the data is too burdensome for staff, and wants the public to make decisions “holistically” rather than by looking at daily case counts. [Post, DCist]
- Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh is among those undesirables recently banned from entering Russia, likely due to her work to rename a stretch of road in front of the Russian Embassy for a political opponent of Vladimir Putin. [DCist]
- The process of redistricting advisory neighborhood commission boundaries is finally wrapping up. But messy debates over how to draw the new lines, particularly in Ward 7, has At-Large Councilmember (and Redistricting Subcommittee Chair) Elissa Silverman begging for a little less “vitriol.” [HillRag]
By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)
- A New Yorker gives downtown dive Post Pub a second chance at life. [Post]
- Ward 3 is getting yet another grocery store: Lidl will open on the 4000 block of Wisconsin Avenue NW, just one block away from a Wegmans that will open this summer on the 3900 block of Wisconsin. Meanwhile, residents of wards 7 and 8 are living in a food desert. [WTOP]
By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)
Show Way Connects the Threads of Black Liberation
A “show way” is a quilt that often contains coded maps or instructions for enslaved […]
- Spooky Action Theater’s artistic director, Richard Henrich, is accused of creating a toxic, misogynistic, and racist work environment, and the theater’s board is accused of inadequate response and oversight. [DC Metro Theater Arts]
- This week, AFI Silver remembers the ground-breaking, award-winning actor Sidney Poitier, following his January death. [Twitter]
- Arlington’s Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant held its annual Miss Freddie’s drag pageant on May 20 and the Blade was there with a camera to capture the Baltirmore-based winner. [Blade]
By Sarah Marloff (tips? smarloff@washingtoncitypaper.com)
- NFL owners are “counting votes” for whether to remove Dan Snyder as owner of the Commanders. It would take 24 of the 32 team owners to force him to sell the organization. [USA Today, WJLA]
- No. 1 Maryland men’s lacrosse beat Virginia to advance to the final four. [SB Nation]
- Late last week, a consular officer visited Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia since February, after such requests were denied three times this month, the U.S. State Department announced. [ESPN, Blade]
By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)
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