Good morning. Sunny with a high around 65 today. A low near 43 overnight.
Sports this weekend: The Wizards host Toronto this evening and visit Chicago Saturday. The Caps host Buffalo Saturday. D.C. United host Cincinnati at Audi Field on Saturday. Loudoun United FC close out their season with a home game against Brooklyn FC at Segra Field Saturday. The Washington Spirit visit the KC Current on Sunday.
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I can’t stop listening to
Beck, “Falling Through My Hands.” If you haven’t yet quite unlocked Beck’s mellow new album “Ride Lonesome,” this Radiohead-by-way-of–Laurel Canyon tune might turn out to be the key. Beck plays the Anthem Sunday with Ioanna Gika.
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
The Musk of it all
Who gave the order to throttle Ukraine’s access to its military version of Starlink? President Trump asked Elon Musk to restore the service in a phone call Wednesday. (WSJ) It’s still not clear what happened, and administration officials—and Musk—are not exactly rowing in the same direction when it comes to explanations. (AP) Musk, for instance, has said the Defense Department makes decisions about Starshield. (NYT) More Elon: Musk has spent heavily to promote Republican candidates during the midterms—more than $445 million. (Bloomberg)
DH-mess
The Justice Department will investigate allegations that Corey Lewandowski, a former close adviser to Kristi Noem, “profited off his top position at the Department of Homeland Security.” (WSJ) Lewandowski “had wide influence over personnel, contracts and department operations” at DHS. (NYT) This whole thing started when DHS’s inspector general began to look into an expensive contract for TV ads that featured Noem. (NBC News)
Midterms mélange
Trump slammed Ohio Governor Mike DeWine for criticizing a brutal attack ad in the state’s gubernatorial race. A Vivek Ramaswamy spot that featured his Democratic opponent Amy Acton‘s estranged mother is “so good,” the President opined, calling DeWine “disloyal” for expressing qualms. (Washington Sun) Others in right-wing media have warmed to the ad, despite it featuring a woman who fled Ohio with her then husband when he was accused of raping Acton as a child. (Bulwark) The commercial has become a new test of “what sort of party does the GOP want to be — and what will the market bear?” (Politico) Trump rallied in Iowa last night. (Reuters) Attorney General Todd Blanche “left open the possibility that the Justice Department could seek to block states from certifying votes in the midterm elections.” (NBC News)
Administration perambulation
A magistrate judge in Florida ordered Trump to sit for questions before December 11 in his $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC. The President recently canceled a planned deposition. (BBC News) Trump advisers James Blair and Chris LaCivita will donate proceeds from their perhaps ill-considered Eastern European consulting gig to Trump’s presidential library. (New York Post) Officials in Minnesota say the administration has stopped sharing information with them as they investigate federal agents’ killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. (AP) Airline CEOs say higher fares are here to stay, even if fuel prices that shot up because of Trump’s war in Iran eventually fall. (Axios) Trump went after LeBron James once again. (ABC News) That didn’t appear to throw the Sixers star last night. (ESPN)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com
• Take a sneak peek at our November issue, which includes our annual list of the region’s Top Doctors.
• Bar Nuestro opens in Navy Yard Wednesday. It’s the latest establishment from Colada Shop owner Daniella Senior.
• Sauna Jungle, a Finnish-style sauna and contrast therapy destination, will open early next year in Arlington.
• Haunted car washes? Sure, why not.
Local news links
• The US Department of Justice indicted Louise Lucas, alleging the powerful Virginia lawmaker and her family “set up a business to sell marijuana before the substance was legalized for recreational sales in the commonwealth.” (Washington Post)
• The feds will retry Trayon White after their first attempt to nail the DC Council member on bribery charges ended in a mistrial. (City Cast DC)
• Construction on Trump’s planned Triumphal Arch near Arlington Cemetery could begin as soon as November 5, “despite a federal lawsuit to stop it.” (Politico)
• The city of Alexandria hired Heather McGaffin, who’s overseen DC’s troubled 911 system for years, to run its emergency comms system. I expect to read a lot more from Dave Statter about this one. (WUSA9)
• Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy said the county had received a refund of some of the millions it granted the Beverly Hills–based Edward Charles Foundation to partner with Community on the Frontlines, “a nonprofit tied to Council Chair Krystal Oriadha.” (WUSA9)
• Cops in Prince William County say a man attacked Quantico’s Iwo Jima statue with a sledgehammer, removing the head of one of the Marines it depicts. (NBC4 Washington)
• Yikes! A car hung off the side of a bridge in Woodbridge after a crash yesterday. (DC News Now)
• Britt McHenry reportedly got kicked out of Wednesday’s Wizards game after an altercation with a fellow fan. (TMZ)
• A Fanatics Washington Capitals sweatshirt is now a collector’s item after fans pointed out it featured an image of Washington state. (Washington Sun)
• Arlington is plagued by big, broken clocks. (ARLnow)
Things to Do
Friday: Jerry Seinfeld plays the Anthem.
Saturday: Turnstile plays a free outdoor concert at the Washington Monument.
Sunday: See lots of cute costumes—and scan the crowd to catch up with recent advances in polar-fleece technology and travel mugs—at Del Ray’s Halloween parade.
See lots more ideas for the weekend 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.
