Washington, D.C

Delaware victims lost in Washington D.C. crash remembered at memorial service

Published

1 year ago

February 2, 2025

Delaware victims lost in Washington D.C. crash remembered at memorial service

A solemn memorial service was held on Sunday at the Fred Rust Ice Arena to honor five members of Delaware’s ice skating community who died in a collision between an American Airlines jet and a U.S. Army helicopter last Wednesday near Washington, D.C.

The victims — coach Alexandr “Sasha” Kirsanov, his students Angela Yang and Sean Kay, along with Angela’s mother, Zheheng “Lily” Li, and Sean’s mother, Yulia Kay — were returning from the U.S. Figure Skating National Development Camp in Wichita, Kansas, according to family and friends.

Organized by High Performance Skating Center coaches Michelle Dumler-McKeever and Joel McKeever, the service drew a quiet, respectful crowd that filled one side of the 2,500-seat arena. Mourners from the Delaware skating community gathered to share memories, honor the lives lost and support one another in the face of this tragedy.

Reflections and remembrances

For over an hour, members of Delaware’s skating community walked the long black carpet to the center of the ice to deliver heartfelt tributes to their lost friends and colleagues.

“I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around the fact that I’ll no longer share the ice with him,” said Dumler-McKeever, her voice heavy with grief as she stood surrounded by others who knew and loved Kirsanov.

Sara Papillo, 24, who had trained under Kirsanov since age nine, shared touching memories of her mentor.

“Never in a million years could I or any of us have imagined an accident like this. One that claimed the lives of our loved ones and left our small, close skate community in pieces,” Papillo said with her voice trembling with emotion.

Papillo also reflected on the budding talents of Sean and Angela, describing them as polite, respectful, and full of potential. “Sasha was so proud of them,” she added, recalling how he often spoke of their progress with pride during her training sessions.

Joel McKeever, Kirsanov’s close friend, colleague, and frequent travel companion, spoke fondly of their bond. He recounted Sasha’s sharp sense of humor and their daily interactions both on and off the ice, affectionately referring to him as his “work wife,” a testament to the deep friendship they shared.

The lives behind the loss

Kirsanov, 46, was a high-performance coach at the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club and a coach for the University of Delaware Collegiate Figure Skating Team. A professional ice dancer, he competed for the United States, Azerbaijan, and Russia, earning numerous accolades, including a bronze medal at the 2003 Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany.

Angela Yang, 12, discovered her passion for ice dance after watching her siblings play ice hockey. Known for her dedication and talent, she quickly became a standout in the sport.

Sean Kay, 11, was remembered for his love of Metallica and his playful sense of humor, which he shared with his siblings, who are also figure skaters. His mother, Yulia Kay, worked nights as a nurse to support her children’s skating dreams, often sacrificing sleep to drive them to early morning practices.

According to a GoFundMe campaign organized for Angela’s family, Li was a devoted mother who dedicated her life to raising her three children while managing her own business. She raised them largely on her own in the U.S. while her husband worked overseas, supporting her children’s academic and athletic pursuits with unwavering commitment.

Mourners praised Kay and Yang for their exceptional talent and advanced skating skills for their age.

“I have no doubt they would have achieved many of their dreams,” McKeever said.

Community support and GoFundMe campaigns

In the wake of this tragedy, members of Delaware’s skating community have rallied to offer comfort and support to the victims’ families and each other.

A GoFundMe campaign, organized by family friends, is raising money to support the surviving Kay children in continuing their skating journey in tribute to their mother’s steadfast dedication.

A GoFundMe campaign has also been set up to support survivors in Yang’s family. Proceeds will benefit Yang’s siblings Tiki and Miller Wu and her father, Jianjun “Jacob” Wu who lives overseas.

Dumler-McKeever also organized a GoFundMe campaign in the memory of Alexandr “Sasha” Kirsanov for his wife and daughter’s expenses.

Other members of the skating club flew to the camp but booked flights arriving in Baltimore rather than Washington, D.C. As the Delaware skating community grapples with the profound loss, the memories shared and the support extended at the memorial service reflect the deep bonds forged on and off the ice.

The University of Delaware Figure Skating Club is offering counseling services to support those affected.

You can contact Anitra Johnson at ajohnson@delawareonline.com.

Source link

Click to comment

Washington, D.C

50 years of DC Metro: A look back in photos

Published

2 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

50 years of DC Metro: A look back in photos

One family, four generations with DC Metro

As Metro celebrates 50 years of service, one D.C. family is marking the milestone with a legacy of their own — four generations who have all worked on the system, helping keep the region moving for decades.

WASHINGTON – D.C. residents got on their first Metro train 50 years ago on March 27, 1976. Here’s a look back at the beginning.

Connecticut Avenue; NW; looking south. evening traffic-jams are aggravated by metro subway construction in Washington D.C. ca. 1973 (Photo by: HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

View of the Metro Center subway station (at 13th and G Streets NW) during its construction, Washington DC, November 16, 1973. (Photo by Warren K Leffler/PhotoQuest/Getty Images)

Standing in the cavernous tunnel, planners wearing hard hats discuss the construction progress of the Metro Center subway station at the intersection of 13th and G Streets in Washington, DC, November 16, 1973. (Photo by Leffler/Library of Congress/In

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 07: FILE, Metro construction miners and blasters on a jumbo drill outside the hole they are working on at Rock Creek Parkway and Cathedral Ave NW in Washington, DC on November 7, 1973. (Photo by James K.W Atherton/The Washin

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 4: FILE, View of the Post Office at North Capital and Mass Avenue NE, and 1st NE where subway tunnels were being constructed in Washington, DC on March 4, 1974. (Photo by Joe Heiberger/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 29: FILE, Workers rig a pipe at the entrance to the Rosslyn Metro Station in Washington DC on August 29, 1974 (Photo by Larry Morris/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 27: FILE, The crowd at Rhode Island Station on opening day of the Washington Metro on March 27, 1976. (Photo by James A. Parcell/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 28: FILE, Reverend Leslie E. Smith of the Episcopal Church, right, and George Docherty of New York Avenue Presbyterian church hold a joint service at the new Metro Center station in Washington, DC on March 28, 1976. (Photo by D

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 1: FILE, An aerial view of metro construction where it crosses the Washington Channel. The Potomac River, the Pentagon and Northern Virginia can be seen in the distance. (Photo by Ken Feil/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 27: FILE, A packed train of commuters on the Silver Spring metro on the Red Line on January 27, 1987. (Photo by Dudley M. Brooks/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 4: FILE, Thousands of people press their way into the Smithsonian Subway station after the Independence Day fireworks in Washington, DC on July 4, 1979. (Photo by Lucian Perkins/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit AuthorityNewsWashington, D.C.

Source link

Washington, D.C

Pop-up museum in DC features the scandal that changed American history – WTOP News

Published

15 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Pop-up museum in DC features the scandal that changed American history – WTOP News

Among the liquor store, barber shop and dry cleaners at the Watergate Complex’s retail plaza, there is a new pop-up museum dedicated to the scene of the crime that toppled Richard Nixon’s presidency.

The temporary exhibit features the work of artist Laurie Munn — portraits of members of the Nixon administration and those connected to the Watergate break-in. The exhibit features members of Congress, the media and some who were on President Nixon’s enemies list.(WTOP/Jimmy Alexander)

Keith Krom, chair of the Board of Directors of the Watergate Museum, told WTOP the exhibit was first featured in the gallery in 2012 for the 40th anniversary of the break-in at the Democratic National Committee.

“When she (Munn) learned about our museum effort, she offered to reassemble them as a way for us to expand awareness of the museum,” Krom said.

Krom, who lives in the Watergate, said his favorite portrait is of one of the special prosecutors, whose firing sparked the “Saturday Night Massacre” in 1973.

“I had the pleasure of being a student of Archibald Cox,” Krom said. “He served as my mentor for my third-year writing project.”

Krom said during this time, at the Boston University School of Law, he spent a great deal of time with him.

“I didn’t realize how much he must have gone through. Here he was, this one man, who was challenging the president of the United States over something pretty serious,” Krom said.

The pop-up opened in October and was recently extended to stay open until April 25. Krom said the hope is to find it a permanent location within the Watergate Complex, where they can “present the history of Watergate, but with two perspectives.”

The first would be on the building’s “architectural significance to D.C.,” he said.

“You may not like the design, you actually may hate it,” Krom said. “But you cannot deny that it changed D.C.’s skyline.”

The secondary focus would, of course, be on the mother of all presidential scandals that changed the course of American history.

“That’s where that suffix ‘-gate’ started and continues to be used for almost every scandal that comes out today,” Krom said.

The inspiration for the museum spawned from an interaction from a tourist outside the Watergate.

“He says, ‘This is the Watergate, right?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s one of the buildings,’” Krom recalled.

The tourist then asked Krom, “So where’s the museum?”

“I was like, ‘Oh, we don’t have a museum.’ And he literally just looked at me and said, ‘That’s so sad.’ And he got on his bike and rode away,” Krom said.

While the self-proclaimed political history nerd said he “still gets goose bumps” when he drives by the Capitol at night, Krom hopes that when people leave the museum, “they’ll walk away with a new appreciation for how our government works, the guardrails that are in place.”

“Maybe an understanding that those guardrails themselves are kind of frail, and they probably need our collective help in making sure they last — that’s what we hope to accomplish,” Krom said.

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

Source link

Washington, D.C

Cherry Blossoms Hit Peak Bloom in Washington DC

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Cherry Blossoms Hit Peak Bloom in Washington DC

Almost at peak! A view of the cherry trees in Washington DC show they’re about to burst into peak bloom very soon. Image: NPS

According to the National Park Service at the National Mall, famous cherry blossoms around the nation’s capital have hit peak bloom conditions. The National Park Service X account for the National Mall proclaimed this morning, “PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM!”

It became apparent yesterday that the bloom would be at peak today. “Despite a sunny afternoon and patches of blue sky, the cherry blossoms remain at Stage 5: Puffy White,” the Park Service wrote on X yesterday. Stage 5, “Puffy White”, is the final stage blossoms go through before being in full bloom. They start at Stage 1 as a “Green Bud”, grow into Stage 2 with “Florets Visible”, and then florets become extended at Stage 3. In Stage 4, there is “Peduncle Elongation” which sets the stage for the puffy blossoms to appear in Stage 5. Puffy White and Peak Bloom are defined as when 70% of the blossoms on the trees reach that stage.

An explosion of blooming flowers is about to hit Washington DC's parks. Image: NPS — An explosion of blooming flowers is about to hit Washington DC’s parks. Image: NPS

Peak bloom varies annually depending on weather conditions; the most likely time to reach peak bloom is between the last week of March and the first week of April. According to the Park Service, extraordinary warm or cool temperatures have resulted in peak bloom as early as March 15 in 1990 and as late as April 18 in 1958.

Cherry blossom in Washington DC. Image: Weatherboy

The planting of cherry trees in Washington DC originated in 1912 as a gift of friendship to the People of the United States from the People of Japan. In Japan, the flowering cherry tree, or “Sakura,” is an important flowering plant. The beauty of the cherry blossom is a symbol with rich meaning in Japanese culture.

Dr. David Fairchild, plant explorer and U.S. Department of Agriculture official, imported seventy-five flowering cherry trees and twenty-five single-flowered weeping types from the Yokohama Nursery Company in Japan. After experimenting with growing them on his own property in Maryland, he deemed that the cherry tree would be perfect to plant around the Washington DC area. This triggered an interest by a variety of individuals to plant the tree around Washington. In 1909 the Mayor of Tokyo, Yukio Ozaki, donated 2,000 trees to the United States on behalf of his city. When the trees arrived, they were riddled with disease and insects and to protect other agriculture, they were burned. The Tokyo Mayor made a second donation of trees in 1910, this time amounting to 3,020 trees. This started the forest of cherry trees that now line the Potomac basin around Washington DC. In a gesture of gratitude back to Japan, President Taft sent a gift in 1915 of flowering dogwood trees to the people of Japan. Thousands of trees have been added since, including another gift of 3,800 trees from Japan in 1965.