Washington, D.C
Lawmakers want the Washington Commanders to play in DC, but Maryland and Virginia also are interested
The regional debate over the location of the Washington Commanders‘ next home is intensifying after the NFL team’s first season under new ownership, with Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia each seeking leverage in their bids.
In Washington, D.C., Congress is looking to help the local government draw the football team back to the district for the first time since 1996, when it moved to FedEx Field in Maryland. Considered one of the worst stadiums in the NFL, owner Josh Harris began looking for a new home for his team soon after his purchase of the team was ratified in July 2023. Part of his search includes rebuilding relationships previous owner Dan Snyder burned over the years in the DMV area.
Each jurisdiction could appeal in different ways to Harris, with Washington, D.C., having boosters in Congress. A measure to overhaul the team’s old home area, in a stadium area blocks from Capitol Hill, the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act, came under consideration in a “bipartisan fashion” by the House Oversight Committee in mid-January. That after being stalled since September of last year, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) told the Washington Examiner.
The legislation was first introduced in July last year by an unlikely pair: Comer, known for leading investigations of wayward presidential son Hunter Biden, and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). That happened the same month Harris’s purchase was ratified.
The proposal would require the federal government to lease the RFK land to the D.C. government for 99 years, allowing them to redevelop the land as they choose. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a vocal advocate of the bill, has long had her eyes set on building a new stadium in that area to bring the Commanders home to the district.
The measure last took a markup vote on Sept. 20, 2023, advancing the bill to a full House vote, but it has been stalled since then. Comer said that, following “meaningful discussions” with Bowser and local stakeholders, “it became clear that revitalizing the vacant RFK stadium campus is a top economic priority for the nation’s capital.”
“Congress can help pave a path for local D.C. leaders to create meaningful new jobs, add millions in city revenue, and transform the city’s RFK waterfront site into a lively destination for all,” the Kentucky Republican said. “I remain dedicated to working in a bipartisan fashion and hopeful that we can move legislation as quickly as possible.”
However, Washington, D.C., has distinct disadvantages in the form of adversarial council members, defiant local residents, and the overall burden of a taxpayer-funded sports arena. And one of Mayor Bowser’s biggest blows gave Virginia an edge.
In December, the commonwealth declared victory after the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals announced plans to leave Washington, D.C., for a new sports arena in the Potomac Yard area. The pending moves suggest the district is unable to support national teams, a particularly harsh blow to Bowser’s image.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, said when announcing the deal that it was the culmination of “many years of dreaming” and would be good for the taxpayers in the commonwealth.
“Virginia has a tremendous opportunity to be the home to multiple professional sports teams. The Monumental announcement is a one-of-a-kind sports and entertainment district that will generate $12 billion of economic impact and create 30,000 jobs in Virginia,” Youngkin spokesman Christian Martinez said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Other organizations will have to decide on what they’re going to do but it should be a collaborative effort between our administration, our general assembly and the locality to make sure that it is a good deal for Virginia taxpayers.”
“Governor Youngkin believes Virginia is the best place to live, work, raise a family, and watch your favorite professional team win!” Martinez continued.
In October, Washington, D.C., residents in the Kingman Park area near the RFK Stadium delivered Bowser another major blow: a survey commissioned by the neighborhood’s civic association found two-thirds of the roughly 2,500 people polled opposed the idea of building a new stadium. A large majority of the respondents ranked a new stadium dead last after green space, housing, and playgrounds as options for revitalizing the area.
The top complaint among residents and D.C. council members has been the use of taxpayer funds to lure a team back to the district, bringing traffic, drunk fans, opportunities for crime, and rats along with it, according to Washington City Paper.
Bowser’s office declined to comment to the Washington Examiner about Congress revising the RFK Stadium bill or how bringing the Commanders back to Washington, D.C., could affect the district.
Some D.C. council members have argued that trying to keep the Wizards and Capitals from leaving the district is how D.C. tax dollars are best spent, rather than attempting to lure the Commanders back to a home area that they left nearly 30 years ago.
“I think that’s the responsible thing for us to do is to consider all of our options that are on the table,” Councilwoman Christina Henderson said in September. “But at the end of the day, again, it’s going to be about priorities. … We really have to focus on the teams that we currently have in the district and shoring up to make sure that they remain. The dollars and cents only go but so far.”
Maryland lawmakers seem to agree. Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), motivated by a desire to keep the Commanders in Maryland, had supported a provision from Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) that would block public funds for a new stadium under the RFK Stadium bill. The amendment failed to pass, but it did not ease the worries of those who believe the stadium will ultimately cost more than it’s worth.
Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) arguably has the most leverage and the most to lose. So far, Maryland is the only jurisdiction with an available site and the ability to provide public funding. Harris also owns the land where FedEx Field resides, so even though the lease ends in 2027, the team could stay indefinitely in a modern stadium if one is built. Moore spent the last few months engaging with the Commanders owners and attended four of the team’s games this past season, according to his staff.
“The Commanders have called Prince George’s County home for the last 25 years, and the governor is committed to continuing that longstanding partnership,” press secretary Carter Elliott said to the Washington Examiner.
Moore said in December that, though two D.C.-area sports teams are heading to Virginia, he is not worried about losing the third, the Commanders, to the commonwealth or anywhere else.
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“I want the Commanders to stay in Maryland,” Moore said in December, also citing the expanding Metrorail line in Maryland. “We have already, as a state, allocated $400 million that’s going towards the Blue Line corridor because we believe in a larger development and creating the live, work, play environment.”
Moore, elected governor in 2022 and known as a big sports fan, added, “My eagerness and aggressiveness in trying to keep the Commanders here in the state of Maryland is not at all impacted by what we saw with the [Capitals] and the Wizards.”
Friday’s event will begin with a solemn Mass celebrated by Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington, followed by an opportunity to venerate the relics.
The major relics of St. Thomas Aquinas, “The Angelic Doctor,” are on tour and scheduled to make a stop in Washington, D.C., next weekend as part of the commemoration of the 700th anniversary of his canonization.
Members of the faithful will be able to venerate the relics, including his skull, on two separate occasions: first at St. Dominic’s Church on Friday, Nov. 29, and then again on Saturday, Nov. 30, at the Dominican House of Studies. The event is co-sponsored by the Thomistic Institute.
“In a time of renewed interest in the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, the jubilees of his canonization (700 years in 2023), death (750 years in 2024), and birth (800 years in 2025) draw our attention to the masterwork of wisdom and sanctity which God wrought in him,” Dominican Father Gregory Pine, assistant director at the Thomistic Institute, said in a press release.
“The opportunity that we have to receive and venerate his relics makes this grace all the more proximate and precious to us,” Father Pine added.
Friday’s event will begin at 12:10 p.m. with a solemn Mass celebrated by Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington, followed by an opportunity to venerate the relics of the revered theologian and philosopher from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. There will also be solemn vespers at 5:30 p.m. and night prayer at 6:45 p.m. with a Marian procession to follow.
On Saturday, the Dominican House of Studies will begin the day with solemn lauds and a votive Mass of St. Thomas Aquinas at 7:30 a.m., and veneration of the relics will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pine will also preach at 3 p.m. that day.
“‘Get wisdom, get understanding’ (Prv 4:5). One way is to study, another way is to pray for it, but an exceptional way is to pray for it in the presence of the skull of St. Thomas Aquinas,” Dominican Father James Brent, an assistant professor of philosophy at the Dominican House of Studies, also stated in the release.
The relic of St. Thomas Aquinas’ skull comes to the U.S. from the Dominicans in Toulouse, France, and is one of two skulls Church officials claim to have belonged to the 11th-century saint. The other is housed in the Italian city of Priverno. The Dominicans in France commissioned a new reliquary for the skull last year to celebrate the saint’s canonization anniversary.
After Aquinas’ death in 1274, his body was kept in Fossanova Abbey in Priverno until 1369, when his relics were moved to Toulouse, a city in southwestern France, where the Order of Preachers was established. Aquinas’ tomb rests in the Church of the Jacobins.
Researchers are currently weighing the possibility of conducting an in-depth forensic analysis of both skulls to determine their authenticity.
Where do the relics go next?
After two stops in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 29 and Nov. 30, Aquinas’ relics hit the road for their U.S. tour:
Charlottesville, Virginia: St. Thomas Aquinas on Dec. 2
Providence, Rhode Island: Providence College on Dec. 4
Cincinnati: St. Gertrude Priory on Dec. 6
Columbus, Ohio: St. Patrick Priory on Dec. 7–8
Louisville, Kentucky: St. Louis Bertrand on Dec. 10
Springfield, Kentucky: St. Rose Priory on Dec. 12
New York City: St. Vincent Ferrer on Dec. 14
Philadelphia: St. Patrick on Dec. 16
Baltimore: Sts. Philip and James on Dec. 18
Two brothers who spent decades in prison after being convicted of a 1984 murder in Washington, D.C., they say they did not commit, are seeking a presidential pardon.
Charles and Chris Turner were convicted as teenagers for the killing of Catherine Fuller in Northeast Washington, D.C. near the intersection of 8th and H Street, Fox 5 DC reported.
They have since been released and are fighting for a pardon that would help restore their rights.
“With the pardon, we get a chance to fix all that and bring a closure to this case once and for all,” Chris Turner told Fox 5 DC.
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Charles and Chris Turner were convicted as teenagers for the killing of Catherine Fuller in Northeast Washington, D.C. near the intersection of 8th and H Street. (iStock)
After decades in custody for a crime which they did not commit, the brothers maintain a positive view on the future and the impact they can have moving forward, stressing that they will not allow their case to mentally hold them back.
“People get upset more that we’re not bitter,” Chris Turner said. “We think if you remain bitter, remain upset about what occurred – even though it was an atrocity and it was injustice – that you stay locked up mentally.”
The case revealed allegations of suppressed evidence, coerced testimony and investigative errors.
Seventeen people were arrested in connection with Fuller’s murder, with eight ultimately convicted, according to Fox 5 DC. The six who are still alive all maintain their innocence after collectively serving more than 200 years behind bars.
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The Turner brothers have become involved in their community and remain hopeful about their futures, although limitations in areas such as career prospects remain due to their felony records.
“We’ve actually said we might join the police force if we didn’t have this on our record … I used to want to be in the Navy. I can’t serve my country because I have a record,” Charles Turner said.
The brothers’ fight for a pardon represents a crucial step in restoring their reputation and rights lost in the convictions.
The case revealed allegations of suppressed evidence, coerced testimony and investigative errors. (iStock)
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Charles Turner said he believes a pardon would bring validation to himself and the other five convicted men, as well as to his family, friends and others who have supported him.
“It would also validate – help to validate – what they know, not what they believe, but what they know. There’s a big difference there,” he said.
Most presidential pardons have been granted between Election Day and Inauguration Day.
November 23 vs. New Jersey Devils at Capital One Arena
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Caps Radio 24/7
New Jersey Devils (13-7-2)
Washington Capitals (13-5-1)
When the Caps and Devils first met this season on Oct. 12 here in Washington’s home opener, New Jersey was playing its fourth game of the season. Six weeks later, the Devils are back in town for another Saturday night Metro Division tilt, and the Caps still hold three games in hand on New Jersey.
And in a fun scheduling quirk, the Caps and Devils are starting their second set of “back-to-back” Saturday home-and-home contests in as many months. After the Devils spoiled the Caps’ season opener here last month, Washington won 6-5 in New Jersey a week later, on Oct. 19. The Caps and Devils will conclude their season’s series next Saturday night in Newark.
The Caps come into Saturday’s game on the heels of regulation loss, 2-1 to the Avalanche in the opener of this quick two-game homestand. Thursday’s loss to Colorado was Washington’s first setback at the hands of a Western Conference opponent this season (7-1-0) and also its first regulation defeat in a one-goal game (3-1-1) in 2024-25.
Last weekend, the Caps started a successful three-game road trip out west with a 5-2 win over the Avalanche in Denver, a victory fueled by staunch defense and an opportunistic offense that feasted on transition. Six nights later in Washington, the Caps were still able to generate some transition opportunities, but they had much less success in solving goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, who came off injured reserve to make 26 saves, winning his fourth consecutive start.
And while Washington got another strong goaltending performance from Logan Thompson, the Caps spent more time defending in their end of the ice than they did in the earlier meeting in Denver, leaving less time and energy for attacking.
“I think we played pretty well,” says Caps’ defenseman John Carlson. “We got some chances we didn’t capitalize on, that have seemingly been going in for us. And with kind of a tough bounce against us, too, the game could be a lot different.”
The bounce to which Carlson refers occurred late in the second period with the Caps clinging to a 1-0 lead. With Colorado on the power play against the excellent Washington penalty killing outfit, Mikko Rantanen attempted to thread a seam pass from the right circle to Nathan MacKinnon at the opposite dot. The pass never got through; it clicked off Caps’ defenseman Matt Roy and bounded into the net, knotting the game at 1-1. Miles Wood tipped home a Cale Makar shot early in the third, and that was all the offense Georgiev needed.
“We were very average, and I thought their top guys were very noticeable tonight,” was Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery’s assessment of Thursday’s loss. “They controlled play, and they could have had three or four [goals]. They were on us pretty good.”
Playing without injured captain Alex Ovechkin for the first time this season, and with a couple of new line combinations as a result, the Caps weren’t as polished with the puck as they’ve been recently, so once again, they’ll be seeking to bounce back successfully from a setback, something they’ve done five times in five opportunities to this point of the season.
In the midst of the Caps’ recent offensive upswing and Ovechkin’s remarkable early-season heater – right up to the point of his injury in Utah on Monday – the team’s defensive consistency has gone a bit under the radar.
As they forged a 7-2-0 record in October, the Caps averaged 4.11 goals for (tied for third in NHL) and they surrendered an average of three goals against even, per game (tied for 10th). Ten games into November now, they are 6-3-1 while averaging a League-leading 4.2 goals per game. The Caps have trimmed their goals against per game to 2.5 in November, tied for eighth in the League. Washington has permitted two or fewer goals against in seven of its 10 games this month.
Last season, when the Caps managed to hold their opponent to two or fewer goals, they rolled up a 29-2-3 record. After Thursday’s loss, they are 9-1-0 in such games this season.
While the Caps tangled with the Avalanche on Thursday, the Devils earned a 4-2 home ice victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. When Washington skated away with the aforementioned 6-5 overtime win over New Jersey in Newark on Oct. 19, the loss started the Devils on a small 0-2-2 spiral. Since then, New Jersey has played to an 8-3-0 record, getting blanked in all three of its losses over that stretch.
New Jersey has been a well-balanced bunch in the first quarter of the campaign. The Devils are averaging 3.45 goals per game (eighth in NHL) and they are giving up just 2.64 goals against (seventh). They’ve yielded two or fewer goals against in seven of their last 11 games.
In 21 of the last 39 meetings between these two Metropolitan Division rivals, one or both teams have scored five or more goals.
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