Advocates for the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse say if they can鈥檛 find a new place to put it, it鈥檚 a matter of when and not if it will fall into the ocean.

The lighthouse sits right on the line where the Delaware Bay feeds into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Cape Henlopen in Lewes.

鈥淭he breakwater upon which it sits is gradually sliding into a large scour hole about 140 feet deep, right at the end of the wall itself,鈥� said Ron Parks, the president of the Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation. 鈥淥ver time, obviously, we don’t know how quickly, but depending on how storms, hurricanes come up the coast, it could very easily jeopardize the structure.鈥�

The lighthouse is situated on a 40-foot-wide caisson that sits atop the wall of rocks. But the more those rocks keep moving underwater, the more likely that lighthouse is to eventually tip over.

鈥淭here are actually places where the rocks have fallen off the wall and down into the hole,鈥� Parks said.

It鈥檚 dangerous enough that members of the public can no longer tour the lighthouse anymore.

鈥淭here’s nothing we can do to prevent it because the (Army) Corps of Engineers maintains and is responsible for that rock wall,鈥� Parks said. 鈥淎ll we can do is maintain the lighthouse structure itself.鈥�

That maintenance costs thousands of dollars a year. Repairing the rock wall, Parks said, comes with an estimated cost of $90 million to $120 million. But for $4 million to $7 million, the lighthouse could be dismantled and transported onto land. He said boaters have made clear they don鈥檛 want to see it moved to land.

The problem is, after the city of Lewes recently said no to relocating the structure there, no one else seems willing to take it either.

鈥淚f there’s a threat to its existence, then the only way that we can guarantee its future is to put into place a plan and then execute it to guarantee that it will still stand,鈥� Parks said.

鈥淲e’re really at the mercy of the community to, in effect, help us come up with a place to so that it can have a permanent location,鈥� Parks said.

鈥淏ut if you’re going to restore it, you certainly want to be able to let the public have access to it as almost a museum for that kind of maritime heritage and history,鈥� he continued. 鈥淪o it would require parking or some kind of egress to it, and just like many of the other lighthouses that have been restored, there’s usually some sort of a keeper’s cottage where administration would happen or there’d be some sort of a gift shop.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the lighthouse itself,鈥� he admitted.

As if the situation isn鈥檛 complex enough, the lighthouse is also still in operation. It鈥檚 a navigational beacon in the Delaware Bay waters, so the Coast Guard also has some say over its future.

鈥淭hey operate the light and the foghorn and the solar panels and the batteries that make it go,鈥� Parks said. 鈥淲e own the building, the structure itself. So we would have to come to some kind of a compromise whereby we would move it after they had erected some sort of a tower or replacement for the light itself.”

鈥淚t’s kind of a complicated situation and we knew that it was going to involve many players, many separate conversations going on simultaneously,鈥� he added. 鈥淏ut we have to start with just the vision, just the idea, and why it matters, in order to bring the community up to speed. Then we can hopefully draw together a coalition of individuals, organizations, administrations, perhaps within the city or the county government, and also the Delaware Historical Society.鈥�

Finding a way to preserve the Harbor of Refuge lighthouse, as difficult as that is, isn鈥檛 an insurmountable problem to solve, Parks said. But he knows there鈥檚 only so much time to come up with the right solution.

鈥淭he next big storm could certainly damage the wall even further,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚’m hesitant to suggest that kind of an immediate threat. But on the other hand, it’s irrefutable that the wave action from storms and the ongoing tidal motion has had the effect on the wall that the Corps of Engineers is reporting.”

鈥淚t’s not a matter of if, it’s just a matter of when,鈥� he said.

Source

More than 400 kids participating in summer camps put on by nonprofits throughout Maryland and the District met in Anacostia Park on Friday for a full day of field day fun.

There were about 100 volunteers spread across a giant field, overseeing campers from around a dozen different locations as they played soccer, inflatable sumo, football and tug of war. They also played with slime, did art projects and learned a few things about healthy living.

The 鈥渟ummer Olympics鈥� style of fun was a collaboration between So What Else and Mentoring Through Athletics. They do it every summer.

鈥淲e’re bringing kids back to the fun of outside. You won’t see any devices out here,鈥� said Ashley Montgomery, of Mentoring Through Athletics. 鈥淵ou’re going to see good old-fashioned fun. We have limbo. We have tug of war. We have slime making. We’re doing things that we did once as kids, and that our kids can actually experience it as well.鈥�

鈥淥ur camps are very 鈥� in some ways they’re basic,鈥� said Dave Silbert, of So What Else. 鈥淏ut in some ways they’re very holistic and well-rounded. All of our camps are free, so we have to meet kids where they are, and we have to build teamwork and build safety, fun.鈥�

鈥淭hen you kind of get up that pyramid into learning and education and skill building,鈥� he added.

WTOP/John Domen

WTOP/John Domen

WTOP/John Domen

(1/3)

Share This Gallery:

• Share This:
• share on email
• print

As the day goes on and the air gets hotter, collaboration and sportsmanship also become lessons that the leaders here hope to impart.

鈥淭he larger lesson that I would love for kids to see is one: you can make relationships with people that you never met,鈥� said Montgomery. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing wrong with being social again. I think it’s also great to be able to connect with people from other camps, compete and still have fun.鈥�

Some of the kids who were participating all made clear that the fun and activities were the best part of the day. There was as much laughter during inflatable sumo wrestling as there was in tug of war. The social aspects was also something cited by the kids.

The afternoon is spent with a big kickball tournament, and that鈥檚 where the competition can get fierce, and Silbert said the staff can sometimes play a part in that.

鈥淪o you’re able to take those examples and take those lessons each and every day with these kids because every day there’s a there’s a crying child or an upset,鈥� said Silbert. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity to teach them some adversity and teach them how to handle adversity.鈥�

鈥淲hether it’s as an athlete, whether it’s as a student, whether as a parent, whether as a child, you have to be able to overcome adversity,鈥� agreed Montgomery.

Source

During the school year, struggling families can rely on free and reduced cost breakfasts and lunches to ensure their kids are eating well.

But in the summer, it just gets harder. Nonprofits like Brighter Bites try to make it easy.

Since 2018, the organization said it has served more than 60,000 families, 30,000 children, and distributed four million pounds of produce to families in Prince George’s County and D.C.

“In the greater D.C. metro area, the rates of food insecurity have increased. And it’s everybody – it’s the middle class,” said Rajni Sood Laurent, senior program manager for Brighter Bites’ Greater DC Metro team. “Hunger doesn’t go away. The need doesn’t go away.”

Every day, Brighter Bites sets up at 2-3 locations, filling up bags with fresh produce meant for families who find it鈥檚 hard to buy those groceries while dealing with cuts to jobs and SNAP benefits and rising prices in the grocery store.

The nonprofit sources its produce through donations from the Capital Area Food Bank. During the school year, it brings the food directly into school communities, so families can pick it up when they pick up their kids.

In the summer, Brighter Bites shifts to community partners like art centers, libraries, daycares and health centers.

This summer, Brighter Bites is distributing produce from nine sites across the region. On Thursday, it was partnering with another nonprofit, the Creative Suitland Arts Center.

“It almost was the easiest decision we’ve made this year,” Rina Campbell, Creative Suitland’s program director, said of the partnership.

Noting that Suitland is considered a food desert, Campbell said the weekly distributions are a huge help, and one that also aligns with the mission of an arts-focused nonprofit.

“Healthier kids means healthier minds, means whole bodies,” she said. “Fuel means more creativity. More creativity means the arts just never stop.”

Brighter Bites hands out recipes and tip sheets along with the food.

鈥淲e really try to give families a wide variety — things that they’re familiar with, but also things that maybe they’ve never tried before,鈥� said Laurent. 鈥淲e want to get them past some of those, 鈥業 don’t like this. I’ve never tried this before,鈥� and really introduce them to a wide range of fruits and veggies that are going to help them take care of themselves.”

鈥淲e’re really all about just making it easier, especially during this time when we know that it is a lot harder for families in our community,鈥� she added.

Source

The program kicks off this fall, and Monique Alston, chair of Bowie State’s Department of Nursing, said the timing couldn’t be more critical.

“For us to combat the nursing shortage, we need faculty and staff to teach the next generation of nurses,” Alston said.

The idea is to take experienced nurses, especially the ones newer nurses turn to when they鈥檙e still learning the ropes, and give them the credentials and tools to do that work in classrooms and labs.

“Some people just have an innate gift that they’re able to connect with others and to share their wisdom,” Alston said. “We want those that are passionate about just having those interpersonal relationships with the next generation.”

Alston said the program can accept as many as 30 students, but acknowledged filling all those slots when it begins isn鈥檛 likely. But for those who would consider it, the school also has 15 available scholarships to help cover costs.

鈥淚t is a great opportunity for our future nursing professionals as we look at the nursing shortages across the country,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e’re identifying that there’s a great need for more nurses, whether at the bedside, whether in advocacy, with telehealth.”

And for Bowie State to increase its enrollment and get more nurses into the pipeline, it needs people who can educate them.

Beyond the Ph.D. launch, Bowie State’s nursing program also received millions of dollars in grants to help improve its simulation center, where nursing students can practice on mannequins and drill for the real deal upon graduation.

Other grant money will help with keeping students enrolled in college through graduation.

Source

Users are able to connect the various health and wellness apps they may already have on their phones and smartwatches and also upload any health records they choose to.

ChatGPT鈥檚 announcement cited the 300 million people who asked health-related questions to its chatbot already and said it hopes to provide one single place that can help people better understand everything from lab results to what their doctor may have told them. But doctors who have studied chatbots and health-related questions aren鈥檛 so sure it鈥檚 a good idea – yet.

鈥淭hey have a specific disclaimer on the website saying that it’s not intended for the diagnosis or treatment of any diseases, but the problem is that people are already using ChatGPT for health advice and for diagnosing and treating diseases,鈥� said Dr. Nick Tiller, a research associate at the Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and聽the author of a new book titled 鈥淭he Health and Wellness Lie.鈥�

鈥淗aving this more personalized system is only going to increase their reliance, not decrease,鈥� he warned.

In April, he led , looking at the ability of artificial intelligence to provide accurate health information. The results then were not reassuring.

鈥淲e found that a third to half the time, AI chatbots will provide either problematic or highly problematic responses to health and medical questions,鈥� Tiller said.

鈥淔or ChatGPT Health, in particular, the most recent data that we have found, that in 52% of genuine emergencies, the chatbot recommended an assessment period of 24 to 48 hours. So that’s a delay that, in a real patient, could mean the difference between life and death.鈥�

However, Tiller also conceded that the AI models he used for the study are by now outdated and inferior to the ones that are being used today. But since he hasn鈥檛 seen the current models audited yet, he鈥檚 still not sure it can be trusted.

鈥淢y concern is that the public are effectively going to be the guinea pigs for this for this new health-specific AI chatbot, and there’s absolutely no indication that it’s going to be able to give reliably good responses,鈥� Tiller said. 鈥淚t could give you a perfectly coherent and cogent response 50% of the time, and the other third to 50% of the time it could be completely way off base. And with health questions, you kind of need to be reliably good.鈥�

The one thing he鈥檚 not concerned about? Privacy. OpenAI said the information you provide won鈥檛 be uploaded to train models or provide you with target ads.

鈥淎I has enormous potential to improve access to healthcare,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut rolling out a system like this before it’s been shown to be safe and effective is frankly irresponsible, and it could end up doing more harm than good.

鈥淚f you think the answer is important, and if you think the accuracy of the answer is important, then I wouldn’t ask an AI chatbot,鈥� he added. 鈥淚n the future, it will absolutely be a very powerful tool, but we’re not there yet, and we need to be patient.鈥�

Source

Darryl Barnes, a former state delegate, resigned after roughly 10 months in his new job, but said the resignation was made under duress and that his first amendment and due process rights were violated.

He also alleges both leaders defamed him as the planning board fought with the county council over budget allocations.

Barnes鈥� lawsuit asks for him to be paid out the rest of his term, which would have gone into 2029. He鈥檚 also seeking attorney fees and punitive damages against Oriadha and Braveboy.

The lawsuit claims Barnes was compelled to leave his job despite there being no statutory violations nor a finding of wrongdoing. In fact, he said he鈥檚 cooperated with an outside investigation that began in March 鈥� an investigation that鈥檚 found no wrongdoing on his part.

He said the pressure campaign began after he raised concerns about money the county council allocated out of his agency鈥檚 budget and gave to other recipients 鈥渨ithout guidelines, competitive process, or documented need.鈥�

Eventually a state law was passed prohibiting the council from doing that outside of the normal budget process. When the council then transferred nearly $40 million this year, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission sued the council. A judge has put a hold on that part of the county budget, with the matter slated to go to court in the future.

Barnes also alleged that ultimatums and even job offers made by others connected to Braveboy, in and out of county government, were dangled in front of him, and when he resisted, the county council scheduled a hearing to remove him from office. His lawsuit alleges the outcome of that hearing was already decided days before it was scheduled to take place.

The lawsuit also quotes an article published 太子探花, alleging that Braveboy defamed Barnes in June when she responded to a question from WTOP鈥檚 John Domen by saying, 鈥淭hey wanted to give themselves a 99% increase in the director’s office. The chair was asking for a 鈥� over $300,000 salary. So, you were asking me why they wanted to take money meant for residents and give it to themselves?鈥�

It also alleges defamation on the part of Oriadha after her comments to The Banner made two weeks before, saying she falsely accused Barnes of illegal, fraudulent and unethical conduct.

Barnes鈥� lawyer declined further comment. A spokesman for Braveboy鈥檚 office also declined to comment, and Oriadha never responded to a text message asking for her response.

Source

The Prince George’s County Council approved a resolution creating what’s called an Extraordinary Development District at the National Harbor site where the Sphere is going to be built.

The vote was 8-0, and the discussion about the creation of the zone was briefer and far less substantive than discussions surrounding the project that will play out over the coming months.

“It’s just creating the district,” Council Chair Krystal Oriadha said. “It allows for the county executive, park and planning, all of the stakeholders behind the scenes to start working on the framework.”

The creation of the zone will, among other things, allow the county to also create a Tax Increment Financing plan to help finance the project.

“The establishment of the Extraordinary Development District gives us the tools we need to ensure that the financing package that we are proposing moves forward,” County Executive Aisha Braveboy said. “I think today’s unanimous vote shows that we’re all aligned in bringing this very important project to the county.”

Several on the council were clear, however, that certain terms must be met in order for the project to win final approval. While that question wasn’t on the table Monday, leaders from several unions were on hand to address the council at the start of the meeting. They all called on the council to condition approval of the Sphere with a project labor agreement.

“The Prince George’s County Sphere project should include a project labor agreement to ensure this historic development delivers lasting economic benefits to the residents of Prince George’s County,” said Roxy Mejia with the Painters and Allied Trades Union.

“It’s time for the Sphere development team to begin negotiating labor agreements with us,” said Victoria Leonard of the Baltimore-D. C. Metro Building Trades Council. “These labor agreements are essential to ensure that jobs created by this project are quality, family-supporting jobs for county residents.”

Sam Stern, of UNITE HERE Local 25, told the council that union representatives have not yet been able to sit down with corporate officials behind the Sphere to negotiate labor agreements.

When it came time for the council to discuss the measure, members were sympathetic to those causes.

“I’m just so honored that this project is coming to District 8,” said Ed Burroughs, who represents the National Harbor area on the council.

He added he nearly proposed an amendment requiring a project labor agreement before this vote.

“I think it’s so important when we have these large projects that come into the county that we recruit, hire and train Prince George’s County residents on these jobs,” he said after the vote.

“It’s really important to us to have the PLA for accountability,” Oriadha said after the vote. “For me, that’s what I’m looking for.”

During the vote, council members Wanika Fisher and Tom Dernoga also expressed support for the idea, with Dernoga saying he’ll vote no on anything else related to the project unless he’s certain “labor is satisfied” with their role in the project.

Representatives from the entertainment venue said they feel it’s too early in the process to talk about project labor agreements, according to a source involved in talks between the Sphere and the county. The company’s previous projects, including the Sphere in Las Vegas, have employed union workers. Representatives said they plan to work with unions on this project, too.

The company would be reluctant to enter into a project labor agreement if it drove up costs by 10% or more, according to the source.

Braveboy also wasn’t willing to say it’s PLA or bust.

“It’s important to have labor at the table,” she said. “I’ve always put labor at the table. I think it’s also important to have our minority business community at the table as well and the community that is going to be impacted. So everyone and everyone’s issues and concerns and their support too for what they want to advocate for should be a part of the conversation, and it will be at the appropriate time.”

Asked directly if she would be OK if the project didn’t have a project labor agreement, Braveboy said what was important was a community benefits agreement.

“Those individuals who own businesses here should have an opportunity to benefit,” she said, adding that those who live in Prince George’s County should have the opportunity to work in the county. “There should be some concessions given to the impact that it will have to the residents who live closest to National Harbor. It’s what we did when we established National Harbor to begin with.鈥�

Source

One of the bills would see the property tax rate jump to five times the normal rate for properties left vacant and dormant.

Council Chair Krystal Oriadha, the lead sponsor of the legislation, said the current system gives property owners little reason to act. Some of the current fines for code violations can be as low as $1,000 a year, which in her words is 鈥渘othing鈥� for the banks that might own the property.

A second bill increases penalties for owners whose vacant properties become run down or blighted.

Oriadha gave two examples of blighted properties in her own district.

In Temple Hills, a former bar has been vacant and boarded up for a decade despite its proximity to a Metro station.

“But they are not motivated to do anything with it to sell it, to renovate it,” Oriadha said.

And across from her own home, she said a fire-damaged, boarded-up house has attracted drug activity for years.

“There’s nothing anyone can do about it,” she said.

The goal of the legislation, Oriadha told WTOP, isn’t to collect more tax revenue. It’s to push owners to sell, renovate, or find tenants for properties that drag down surrounding home values and leave commercial corridors looking neglected.

“Sometimes we understand that we need to have stricter rules, regulations and laws to move the businesses in that way and motivate them to be partners in the community,” Oriadha said.

Another bill seeks to reward county residents who take a picture of code violations and alert the Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement to problems.听They would receive a share of the fines collected by the county on that property.

Source

Nearly 100 acres of woods and parking lots near the Bowie State MARC station are about to get a dramatic makeover aimed at reshaping Maryland’s oldest historically Black university and the surrounding community.

Area leaders gathered at the train station Tuesday to to remake the county- and state-owned land next door.

“New housing, retail and future commercial development adjacent to the Bowie State MARC station means more affordable places for Marylanders to live and work and more ways to grow the state’s economy,” Maryland Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller said.

鈥淏ut the greatest impact won’t be measured in dollars alone,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淚t’ll be measured by what becomes possible. Local economies will grow, communities become more connected, emissions decline, less time is spent stuck in traffic. So that means Marylanders will have more time for family, more time for life.鈥�

The project is split between two parcels. Mosaic Development Partners will lead the redevelopment of nearly five acres of state-owned land west of the MARC station.听

That site alone could support more than 400 new housing units, officials said, and will include space for businesses, generating an estimated $108 million in state and local tax revenue.

D.C.-based developer Gragg Cardona Souadi is leading the build-out of the other parcel, a 93-acre “campus village” between the railroad tracks and Laurel-Bowie Road.

Renderings released by the state show new buildings on the Bowie State campus and significant development on the west side of the train tracks, where a small parking lot and not much else sits now.

鈥淵ou’re going to see a whole new innovative community bringing businesses here, small and larger scale businesses, to partner with our university on research, on keeping our curriculums current,鈥� Bowie State President Aminta Breaux said. 鈥淏ut most importantly, you’re going to see a number of amenities connecting us to the larger community.”

Breaux said she has been pushing for this development since her 2017 arrival. She called the housing component especially critical.

“We hope that it will provide housing for our students, especially for our graduate students who need more apartment-style housing,” Breaux said. “But also, we hope it will serve the community because affordability and housing 鈥� these are issues that we are facing today.”

“This is about investing in our long-term economic future, expanding housing opportunities, creating new jobs, attracting private investment and growing our commercial tax base,” Prince George鈥檚 County Executive Aisha Braveboy said. 鈥淏owie State will be cemented as the epicenter for progress, innovation and economic empowerment.鈥�

Source

At the Insp墨r on Embassy Row in Northwest D.C., residents of the hotel-turned-senior living apartments get their meals delivered by Ralph, who wears a tuxedo 鈥� sort of.

You see, Ralph is a robot, and the tuxedo is a design on a screen where the torso would be on a human. Four shelves on its back hold food and drinks from the kitchen, which it carries to dining rooms separated by a long hallway.

鈥淚 think it’s cute,鈥� said Joel Hirsch, one of the many residents who have taken to the robot, according Insp墨r staff.

鈥淚t’s actually very helpful, however, because it saves the serving staff a lot of having to go back and forth themselves. So they’re able to take care of the people in the dining room without having to go back and forth to the kitchen,鈥� he said.

Residents named the robot Ralph, but the idea of having the robot server came from chef Richard McCreadie.

鈥淚 actually had gone to a Chinese restaurant and they had a fleet of robots and they were doing exactly the same,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey were picking it up from the expediting station, taking it to the table and let the waiter know that they were there, and the waiters would come and serve it to the table. And I thought it was a great idea.鈥�

That鈥檚 how it works at Insp墨r too.

鈥淚t saves me a lot of running because usually if there’s nobody to spare, I have to run back and forth,鈥� McCreadie said.

Ralph’s “face” is a touch screen with different table numbers. When a cup of coffee or bowl of yogurt is ready to go out, McCreadie or someone else on staff labels the dish and tap the table or room it鈥檚 being delivered to.

The robot begins to play classical music as it rolls down the hallway 鈥� with the occasional 鈥渉ere comes the robot, pretty and smart鈥� coming from the speaker too.

Ralph moves at a little less than half its top speed, but the audio warnings are a necessity.

鈥淲e have residents who may have low vision, and if they hear something coming, they know to move rather than just see the robot,鈥� Insp墨r General Manager Amanda Glendinning said.

When the robot reaches its programmed destination, it announces itself by saying, 鈥淵our delicious meal is here. Please take the dishes on the first tray.鈥�

Once it senses that something has been picked up off its shelf, it begins to go back to the kitchen area, saying 鈥淓njoy your meal. I’m leaving to complete a new task.鈥�

Insp墨r began using the robot last fall. Early into the two-month trial period, the staff realized this was something that would work.

鈥淭he residents just get such a kick out of him,鈥� Glendinning said. 鈥淭hey were the ones who really pushed for us to keep Ralph 鈥� chef did, but also the residents. So that’s where I really saw 鈥極K, let’s keep him. Let’s make it work.鈥欌��

Hirsch said the first time he saw it, he thought it was just like R2-D2. Even a year ago he never would have imagined seeing such a thing.

鈥淓verybody loves the robot,鈥� Hirsch said. 鈥淚t’s cute, but it actually does fulfill a useful function.鈥�

Source

The agency tasked with overseeing the design and aesthetics of buildings 鈥� a board filled with appointees by President Donald Trump 鈥� is particularly interested in the Commanders鈥� new stadium in part because of its location along East Capitol Street, with renderings showing the U.S. Capitol and Washington Monument both part of the visual backdrop.

The last time the team presented its designs, they were told to make improvements to the entrances along the east and west sides of the stadium.

鈥淲e’re framing the opening for this entry for the thousands of people that are coming into this stadium,鈥� said Lance Evans, of HKS Architects. 鈥淲e are breaking the colonnade at this framed entry and this symbolically aligns with that monumental axis.

鈥淲e’ve also added a series of horizontals replacing the concave arches,鈥� he continued. 鈥淲e did this, one, to signify the strength of the entry at the west end of the monumental axis. We did it in a series of elements up at the top of the roof fascia. We also added a projected balcony that’s tied back into a fantastic space on the inside of the stadium.鈥�

The balcony looked out to the west with a view of the U.S. Capitol straight ahead. The vice chair of the commission, James McCrery, still wasn鈥檛 satisfied.

鈥淚’ll repeat what I said to you last time, is that your building is weakest where it needs to be its strongest,鈥� he said.

鈥淚t doesn’t hold up to your neighbors,鈥� he added, before making clear he didn鈥檛 mean the D.C. Armory or the row houses nearby. 鈥淵our neighbors are the United States Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial.鈥�

McCrery called it 鈥渁lmost great鈥� before encouraging the team to do more to the entrances on each side. He said inspiration might be found from the likes of Soldier Field in Chicago or the stadium known as The Horseshoe where Ohio State University plays football.

鈥淚 think they鈥檙e providing a really thoughtful review,鈥� said Brian Hanlon, who is the project lead for the city. 鈥淭he design of the stadium and the concept is, in their words, it鈥檚 almost great, it鈥檚 almost there.鈥�

The board did manage to give the stadium concept approval, though only for the stadium itself. Hanlon also said the team and the city were looking at ways that the site of the D.C. Armory can be redeveloped after the National Guard vacates that facility.

鈥淚t鈥檚 being looked at now,鈥� said Hanlon. 鈥淚t鈥檚 too early to right now say what it might be but there鈥檚 multiple things that we can consider. I think it just makes the site stronger and more exciting.

鈥淚t鈥檚 opened up new possibilities,鈥� he added.

Source

The county council unanimously passed a bill Tuesday that doubles the first fine for non-residential property maintenance violations from $1,000 to $2,000. After that, the county can fine a property owner up to $5,000 every day the violation continues. In a month鈥檚 time, the fine could end up reaching six figures.

The new law takes effect at the end of the summer.

District 2 Council member and bill cosponsor Wanika Fisher said she was inspired in part by persistent problems on land owned by utilities and private companies on University Boulevard near Riggs Road in Hyattsville.

“I’ve been dealing with a homeless encampment for years, and it’s really, really difficult. And one of the things that would help us sort of clean up that area is fencing that off,” Fisher said of the University Boulevard property.

Fisher said she also gets complaints about a shopping center in Hyattsville where open green space has become a spot for public drinking and dumping.

“You can’t have people bring actual furniture, drinking and public urination all day right near single family homes,” Fisher said.

She also said the old $1,000 fine gave property owners little incentive to act.

“You have to almost fine, sadly, some of our stakeholders to a point that they’ll actually step up and put their property correctly,” she told WTOP.

“And those two properties are not owned by the county at all. All we can do is fine them into compliance.”

The county’s Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement will need to consistently show up and issue the daily fines for the law to have real impact, she said.

The agency has come under criticism for a number of reasons, including its enforcement efforts, but Fisher said she thinks it will respond to this law.

“When something doesn’t have teeth, it’s hard for people to want to do it because they don’t see the result,” Fisher said. “With this, they will actually see the result.”

Source

A former Prince George鈥檚 County, Maryland, firefighter who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing four boys in the 1990s, was sentenced Tuesday in an emotional hearing that left a judge angry about the terms of the plea deal.

Under the deal reached with prosecutors, John Inman’s 45-year sentence was suspended, meaning the time he served after his arrest is the only time he would spend behind bars.

John Inman, who spent decades working with the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Station, pleaded guilty Friday.

During the sentencing hearing, Inman faced forward and never acknowledged the victims who spoke. At the hearing’s conclusion,聽Judge Gladys Weatherspoon said she regretted accepting the plea deal.

After the hearing, Prince George’s County State鈥檚 Attorney Tara Jackson defended the deal, which was agreed to by the victims in the case, though one said this wasn鈥檛 justice.

鈥淎ll of the circumstances in this case are circumstances that the prosecutors had to analyze, and they had to make a decision,鈥� Jackson said. 鈥淚t’s not unusual for victims to have mixed feelings in cases like this, and to not feel like justice was served 鈥� that’s not unusual. But I can tell you that the prosecutors did their very best with the evidence that they had.鈥�

Asked if she thought this was justice, Jackson said it was accountability.

鈥淗e has pled guilty to four charges, to include felony charges,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 been placed on five years supervised probation, and he’s a lifetime sex offender. So I feel like we were able to hold him accountable.鈥�

Two of the four victims, who were abused between 1990 and 1996, addressed the court.

The first ripped a group of retired firefighters, which included a current Maryland state trooper, who were there in support of Inman. He asked, rhetorically, how many more victims there were, and he wasn鈥檛 the only one to suggest there were more than four victims.

鈥淚 hope you see your victims’ faces every night,鈥� he told Inman, who stared straight ahead and never looked at the victim. 鈥淗ell has a special place for you.鈥�

Jackson addressed that matter outside the courthouse.

鈥淚f there are victims,鈥� she said, 鈥淚 want them to come forward and reach out to the police department, and we’ll handle those cases accordingly.鈥�

When Inman鈥檚 lawyer started speaking, reading off statements of praise from a list of people who were inside and outside the courtroom, victims who had already poured out their hearts were left bewildered. When Inman himself refused to say anything, the judge took her turn.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 care at all,鈥� Weatherspoon said. 鈥淚 wish I hadn鈥檛 taken this plea.鈥�

She also warned him that if anything happened to any of the victims, she would assume he had something to do with it.

She then apologized to the victims. She was the only person at Tuesday’s hearing to do so.

Source

“It’s not easy when it’s either really hot or it’s really rainy, or anything in between, to get kids outdoors, getting them excited about doing non-digital activity,” Dr. Anisha Abraham, chief of adolescent medicine at Children’s National Hospital, said.

But summer is actually a great opportunity to reset your family’s relationship with technology, she said. And that doesn鈥檛 have to mean throwing devices out the window.

鈥淢any young people use screens during the school year because there’s an educational purpose, and then a lot of young people during the summer lose that structure,鈥� Abraham said. 鈥淚t’s really thinking about what are those devices doing right now and how we can be more thoughtful.鈥�

The bigger concern, she said, is what screens are replacing. If they’re crowding out sleep, exercise, sports or face-to-face time with friends, that’s when it becomes a problem.

鈥淭hink of it as a wellness check for your family when it comes to their digital life,鈥� Abraham told WTOP. 鈥淜ids that are on screens a lot could have higher rates of things like depression or anxiety or sleep-related issues.鈥�

Her advice? First, carve out screen-free moments during the day. She suggested it could be easy to make meals or car rides screen-free events.

Second, and especially important, is to keep devices out of bedrooms at night. Abraham said some kids are staying up late during the summer because they’re on their phones at the expense of sleep. Charging the devices outside the bedroom can help.

And if the kids complain, so be it.

鈥淎 little bit of boredom isn’t going to hurt someone,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t does, I think, help in terms of creativity.鈥�

It鈥檚 also a chance for you to engage with your kids. Alternatives like camp-like activities, volunteer work, family game nights or cooking together can fill that space.

And then there’s the part parents might not want to hear 鈥� your kids are watching and emulating what you do.

鈥淚f parents and adults are on their devices, guess what? Kids are more likely, too,鈥� Abraham said. 鈥淲e need to make that change ourselves.鈥�

Source

Anthropic announced the creation last week of its new Claude Science tool, which aims to help scientists conduct research and experiments faster than before.

The company also said it will be using the tool.

鈥淲e’ve decided to start running some drug programs ourselves,鈥� Eric Kauderer-Abrams, head of life sciences at Anthropic, said.

鈥淲e’ve chosen to do this by running drug programs in the preclinical stage, so the earlier stages of discovery, and choosing indications for neglected disease.”

By neglected, Kauderer-Abrams said he meant diseases considered less attractive targets for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries because drugs to treat them would be less profitable.

A spokesman for Anthropic told WTOP the company is starting with a small number of early-stage, preclinical drug programs.

鈥淲e have two primary objectives that we’re pursuing,鈥� Kauderer-Abrams said.

鈥淭he first is accelerating scientific discovery as an end in itself, pure pursuit of basic research, and the second is accelerating, alleviating the burden of disease and aging.鈥�

By engaging in the research, Anthropic said the company can assess and evaluate its new Claude Science tool and provide instant feedback about what will work and what won鈥檛 for scientific customers.

鈥淲e’re doing this because we believe, first and foremost, that to build the right models and products and tools that accelerate the whole industry, we need to live it along with all of you,鈥� Kauderer-Abrams said.

He also said Anthropic鈥檚 business classification means it can do things that big drugmakers might not be able to. Because Anthropic is considered a public-benefit company, it鈥檚 able to balance profits with the public good.

鈥淲e are fortunate due to our public benefit mission to be able to go after these neglected diseases that otherwise wouldn’t be addressed,鈥� Kauderer-Abrams said.

The Anthropic spokesman told WTOP that the company could not yet provide specifics about its research since it was in the early stages.

Source