Stories from surrounding communities, closest first.
Cherry Creek News · Ashburn, VA
Nearby: Ashburn, VASan Francisco’s newly elected congressman is making one thing clear before he even takes his seat: America needs to hit the brakes on artificial intelligence. Scott Wiener, the California state senator who just won the hard-fought race for Nancy Pelosi’s open seat, has spent years authoring legislation aimed at curbing the risks of advanced AI. Now he’s bringing that mission to Washington — and he isn’t mincing words about the stakes. “We need to slow this down,” Wiener told MIT Technology Review just hours after he was declared the victor. “Because it’s moving very quickly, and we could sleepwalk into a disaster.” In a 20-minute conversation, the congressman-elect used the phrase “recursive self-improvement” half a dozen times — a window into how deeply he’s thinking about where AI is headed.
Sentinel Colorado · Arlington, VA
Nearby: Arlington, VAWASHINGTON | There’s a scene in Melania Trump’s documentary in which she enters the room as Donald Trump is rehearsing his inaugural address. When he says the line about how “my proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker,” she offers a quick, verbal edit. “Peacemaker and unifier,” she tells her husband to say instead. But Melania is the Trump who is credited with recently bringing peace, if only for six days, to one war-torn city in southern Ukraine — an unusual intervention into an active war by an American first lady. Two days after Republican losses in the midterm elections knocked the president out of the spotlight, Melania Trump hosted Russian and Ukrainian officials at the White House to celebrate the temporary ceasefire. It’s part of a burst of public activity by a first lady regarded as among the most private women to hold the role, and it comes just before the Nov. 20 release by Prime Video of “Melania: The Series,” a follow-up to the first lady’s documentary from January.
Air Force Times · Arlington, VA
Nearby: Arlington, VAAn Army sentinel guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery reprimanded Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's entourage after a member of the group was heard laughing during a Veterans Day visit Wednesday.
Madison County Eagle · Arlington, VA
Nearby: Arlington, VAVirginia and D.C. have filed suit to stop the Trump administration from beginning work on a 250-foot-tall triumphal arch at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery.
Athol Daily News · Bethesda, MD
Nearby: Bethesda, MDMassachusetts has joined nine other states plus Washington, D.C., without gestational limits on abortion, after Gov. Maura Healey shielded a new state law from an anti-abortion referendum petition that could have prevented it from taking effect. Healey signed an emergency preamble Friday that put the law into effect immediately and protects it from suspension, preventing what she called “two more years of women being denied care.” Opponents can still pursue a repeal question on the November 2028 ballot. Signed into law by Healey over the summer, “An Act prioritizing patient access to care” lifts the 24-week restriction. It eliminates the exceptions that previously governed abortions after that point, which applied when the procedure was needed to preserve the pregnant patient’s life or physical or mental health, or when physicians had diagnosed the fetus with a lethal anomaly.
Vox · Washington, DC
Nearby: Washington, DCThis story appeared in Today, Explained, a daily newsletter that helps you understand the most compelling news and stories of the day. Subscribe here. We’re a week past the midterms now and the dust has largely settled. Sure, you still have some uncalled House races in a handful of states, and we’re still waiting with bated breath to meet the next senators from Mississippi and Alaska. But even without those final numbers, we can say a couple things for sure: First, last week’s blue wave was the largest in more than 50 years. And second, Democrats’ real work has only just begun. This week, the incoming members of Congress — roughly seven weeks out from their official debut — are in Washington, DC, to set up their offices and meet their new coworkers. Democrats still have to choose new leaders or stick with their old ones. And once they’ve reached some sort of consensus on that, they’ll start to confront the final boss: President Donald Trump.
Oakdale Leader · Washington, DC
Nearby: Washington, DCPlease consider purchasing a raffle ticket from a Valley Home School student to help them go to Washington DC.
Washington City Paper · Washington, DC
Nearby: Washington, DCSponsored Pottery on the Hill is a weekend celebrating functional pottery (which can be regularly used, such as dinnerware, drinkware, vases, platters, etc.) featuring top ceramic artists from across the country. Home | The Needle | Fall Arts Guide At Washington City Paper, we’re small and scrappy—and we make the most of every dollar from our supporters. Rather than throwing up a paywall or charging a subscription fee, we believe there is another way to fund local news. Your contribution today powers the reporting our city depends on and ensures we’re ready for whatever comes next. If you value our work, will you support our newsroom today? Count me in! Milkshakes might not be the most obvious postshow tradition for a band, but when Strutman Lane have finished breaking down, the local eight-piece act head to Silver Diner for a dairy-fueled treat.
Daily Republic · Washington, DC
Nearby: Washington, DCMITCHELL — Elementary school art projects often find themselves hanging on classroom walls or find a spot of honor on the family refrigerator. But come December, students at L.B. Williams Elementary School in Mitchell will see their art hanging in a different kind of display. The art of 23 third- and fourth-graders at the school will adorn the South Dakota state Christmas tree on display in Washington, D.C. “What a special thing for not only our entire community, but especially the 23 student artists that are a part of this. So we're really excited for them and their families,” Becky Roth, principal at L.B. Williams Elementary School, told the Mitchell Republic. The student art will be part of a display of smaller state and territory Christmas trees surrounding the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. As part of the Pathway of Peace display, the collection of trees adorned with student-designed ornaments is called the America Celebrates display.
Washington City Paper · Washington, DC
Nearby: Washington, DCSponsored Pottery on the Hill is a weekend celebrating functional pottery (which can be regularly used, such as dinnerware, drinkware, vases, platters, etc.) featuring top ceramic artists from across the country. Home | The Needle | Fall Arts Guide At Washington City Paper, we’re small and scrappy—and we make the most of every dollar from our supporters. Rather than throwing up a paywall or charging a subscription fee, we believe there is another way to fund local news. Your contribution today powers the reporting our city depends on and ensures we’re ready for whatever comes next. If you value our work, will you support our newsroom today? Count me in! It’s been nine months since 43-year-old Julian Bailey was shot and killed by U.S. Marshals. Despite FOIA requests, news coverage, and the support of local activist groups, Bailey’s family still doesn’t understand what led to his death or why he was shot nine times.
The Diamondback · Washington, MD
Nearby: Washington, MDTonya Sweat’s first gig in Washington, D.C., was entangled in the 2000 presidential election recount controversy. Decades later, she finds herself at the center of her own ballot dispute. Then an Air Force attorney, Sweat advised the task force organizing the 2001 inauguration. The committee had to coordinate with two viable presidents-elect until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a month after the election to end a recount in Florida, granting former President George W. Bush a razor-thin victory over Democrat Al Gore. “I watched that in real time, and I thought we had learned a lesson,” said Sweat, who ran as an unaffiliated write-in candidate for Prince George’s County executive this year. “And now, here we are, 26 years later, and I’m standing in the middle of it.” On Nov. 3, voters reelected County Executive Aisha Braveboy over Sweat much more conclusively. Still, Sweat spent Veterans Day on Wednesday protesting the midterm results outside the county’s elections board office.
Daily Republic · Washington, MD
Nearby: Washington, MDMITCHELL — Mitchell was lit up with Christmas spirit to greet the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree on its 19th stop on the way to the nation’s Capitol. Mitchell residents, greater Mitchell area elementary students, and the Dakota Wesleyan University Jazz Band welcomed the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree in front of the Corn Palace on Thursday morning. The tree is on a 21-day journey from the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests in Idaho to the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Community members signed the wrapped banner enclosing the tree, met Smokey the Bear and peered through the protective plexiglass of the semi-trailer to take a look at the tree. The tree remains enclosed during the entire transport. The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree made its last appearance in Mitchell in Nov. 2015. This year’s tree is a 110-year old 76‑foot Engelmann Spruce from the Lochsa-Powell Ranger District.
Kinston.com · Washington, MD
Nearby: Washington, MDSen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., walks through the Capitol basement, Monday, in Washington. Allison Robbert | AP WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Monday advanced bipartisan legislation aimed at speeding up permitting reviews to power data centers and other infrastructure projects, in the first major action since last week’s election that soundly repudiated President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.The Senate voted 73-25 to formally take up the bill, which senators and the president have pushed as a way to meet growing demand for electricity and other forms of energy that now face yearslong delays in getting to the grid.The legislation’s sweeping changes would shorten the timeline to get big energy projects started — both for clean energy and fossil fuel projects — and make sure data centers pay for the energy they use.
