Good morning. Sunny with a high around 65 today. A low near 44 overnight. The Wizards open their regular season against Milwaukee at Capital One Arena this evening. D.C. United visit Cincinnati.
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I can’t stop listening to
L7, “Shove.” The LA grunge greats, whose founding member Jennifer Finch died from cancer in July, are on a farewell tour. Say good-bye and thanks at the Howard Theatre tonight when L7 plays with Vial.
Take Washingtonian Today with you! I keep ridiculously long playlists on Apple Music and on Spotify of this year’s music recommendations. Here are 2025’s songs (Apple, Spotify), too.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out
Ukraine/Russia
Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, an American who’s been held in Russia since 2022, following a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff this morning. The move, which President Trump has hinted at for a few days, appears to be a direct result of Trump’s recent abrupt shift away from supporting Ukraine in the war Putin started there. (Reuters) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Witkoff in Oslo yesterday and said the US had begun to share intelligence with his country again after a pause. (France 24) Elon Musk ordered a recent slowdown in the version of Starlink Ukraine uses for military purposes, US officials said. The zillionaire and sporadic Trump ally had suggested the decision was Trump’s. (WSJ)
Midterms mélange
Trump’s super PAC MAGA Inc. has spent more than $244 million to boost Republican candidates since September, according to a new campaign finance report. (Politico) Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has pumped more than $80 million into Democratic campaigns in the same period. (Washington Sun) Could Trump try to force Congress to refuse to seat Democrats should they take the House, as many polls predict they will? Here’s how shenanigans could unfold. (NYT)
Press pools
Trump has revived his first-term idea to replace the White House’s briefing room with a swimming pool, which could become the latest flashpoint in his stepped-up campaign against the journalists who cover him. (NYT) He snapped at a journalist who asked him a question in the Oval Office yesterday. (New Republic) CNN said it would “pursue additional judicial relief” if Trump does not restore the network’s place in the White House’s TV pool, which is not set up for swimming. (CNN)
Administration perambulation
The family of a Venezuelan billionaire who pleaded guilty to a campaign finance charge last year following accusations of bribery offered former Trump lawyer Alina Habba an employment deal worth more than $50 million. A pardon for Julio Herrera Velutini followed. (NYT) The Department of Homeland Security said it couldn’t release documents about former Secretary Kristi Noem‘s late-tenure purchase of five airplanes from a donor due to an “ongoing criminal law enforcement investigation.” (Washington Sun) California officials say a list of 20,000 voters who the Justice Department claimed may not be US citizens included many people who were, in fact, born in the US. (NPR) FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton said states must “handle most disasters on their own, without federal help.” (Politico)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com
• Our reporter spent a day with the Washington Wizards organization in advance of their first promising season in some time. He may have to keep his day job, but Nick Barahona did us proud on the court.
• The new Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial will be dedicated on Saturday.
• The vibe of this August wedding in Virginia? “Classic, effortless, and chic.”
Local news links
• Jerrell Jackson, who prosecutors say shot a National Guard member outside a Barracks Row restaurant and bar on Sunday, will be tried in federal court. (City Cast DC) DC officials temporarily closed the establishment, Cafe 8, which DC Council member Charles Allen says has presented a “clear public safety hazard” for some time. (WTOP)
• New Wizards star AJ Dybantsa will miss tonight’s season opener due to an ankle sprain he incurred in a preseason game last week. (ESPN) Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin is out for the rest of the season because of an injury he sustained during Monday’s loss to San Francisco. (Washington Sun)
• Amazon won’t build data centers on George Washington University’s former Ashburn campus. It will donate some land to Loudoun County as well. (WTOP)
• US Representative Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia wasn’t the only local lawmaker to get a suspicious letter recently—US Senator Angela Alsobrooks and US reps Jamie Raskin and Steny Hoyer have received dodgy mail, too. (Fox 5)
• Cops in Fairfax are looking for people they believe are behind a recent string of restaurant burglaries. (WUSA9)
• Police in Alexandria say a man robbed a Safeway with an airsoft gun. (ALXnow)
• The Crab Claw in St. Michaels, which opened in 1965, will close permanently at the end of next month. (MoCoShow)
• Attention motorists: This Saturday will be a “Fall Driving Day” in Rock Creek Park, when Beach Drive will be open motorized vehicles. (NPS)
• This won’t affect me unless things in my life change a whole lot, but perhaps you’ll benefit from it: Dulles is building a VIP terminal. (NBC4 Washington)
• Has the Five Dollar Bar on U Street closed for good? (PoPville)
• Smithsonian’s National Zoo named its red panda cub Dolly, after the late country singer. (DC News Now)
Things to Do
• LA singer/songwriter Lexi Jayde plays the Atlantis.
See more picks for this week from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
