Washington, D.C

The Mystics’ surge continues with another victory over the Wings

Published

4 days ago

June 24, 2024

The Mystics’ surge continues with another victory over the Wings

Eric Thibault admitted he has not been angrier at halftime this season. His Washington Mystics put together their best offensive performance of the year Saturday, so he knew the Dallas Wings would be out to redeem themselves in a rematch Sunday afternoon. Through 20 minutes, the coach was right — the Wings led by five.

“I was like a little caged animal this morning because you could see what was coming,” Thibault said. “You could see a team that got blown out yesterday, that’s got pride and great players [and] is going to come back a certain way. I told the team after the game it’s never not going to be hard. … It’s always going to be hard, and we had to have a little bit more maturity about our approach. But to our credit, we played the way we want to play in the second half.”

The Mystics bounced back to grab a 10-point lead after three quarters and never trailed again in a 92-84 victory at Entertainment and Sports Arena. Their 92 points were their second most of the season, trailing only their output from Saturday’s 97-69 win. Those back-to-back outbursts came from the team that ranked last in the WNBA in scoring most of the season, but the turnaround has been in the works for seven games now: The Mystics have averaged 87.3 points in that stretch, which would rank second in the league.

And now the Mystics (4-13), who have won four of five, are out of last place in the league despite a franchise-worst 0-12 start and major injury problems. Sstarting power forward Shakira Austin (hip) has missed the past nine games, starting point guard Brittney Sykes (foot) the past four (and all but three this season) and rookie Aaliyah Edwards (lower back) the past two.

The Wings (3-13) came out with the energy Thibault expected, particularly after an emotional talk from Latricia Trammell. The second-year coach and her players discussed their “why” — meaning why — and for whom — they play the game. Dallas’s losing streak still reached 11 games Sunday, but she wanted everyone to think about why they do this, even in tough times. Trammell spoke about her mother, father and brother, who died in recent years.

“Losing as many as we have in a row, due to our situation, just bringing that energy, the passion back,” Trammell said as tears began to well in her eyes before the game. “I told them my ‘why,’ got emotional. You’ve got to love what we do. … You’ve got to enjoy what we do because you never know.”

That emotion seemed to take root for a Wings team missing Satou Sabally (shoulder), Maddy Siegrist (finger) and Jaelyn Brown (illness). Natasha Howard scored 20 of her game-high 26 points in the first half and Arike Ogunbowale added 15 of her 23 as Dallas outrebounded Washington 22-12. Dallas led by 10 in the second quarter, but a 51-46 halftime lead disappeared, with a 29-14 third putting the Mystics in control.

The Mystics’ Stefanie Dolson had 18 points and eight rebounds, both team highs. Karlie Samuelson and Emily Engstler scored 13 points apiece, and Ariel Atkins and Myisha Hines-Allen (now in the starting lineup) finished with 12 each. The Mystics had a season-high 27 assists, including seven from Atkins, and shot 51.9 percent from behind the arc (14 for 27).

“[Dolson has] taken the challenge,” Thibault said. “We’ve asked a lot of her. We’ve asked for a lot of minutes against a lot of physical players and then also to have legs to make shots at the other end. It’s not easy.”

Dolson has averaged 16 points in her past three games after entering Sunday scoring 8.9 per game. She was 4 for 5 from behind the arc and has made a career-high 35 threes in 17 games this season. Engstler had 22 points all season before she scored a career-high 23 on Saturday.

“At this point, when the team needs you to play a little more minutes and stuff like that, when you go hard in practice, it’s kind of just what happens when you show up ready,” Engstler said. “The past three weeks of practices has really been where my confidence has gotten better.”

Despite having several major contributors sidelined, the Mystics are playing their best basketball of the season. And for the first time, the Mystics don’t have a road trip this week: They close a four-game homestand with games against Connecticut on Thursday and Las Vegas on Saturday.

“Just paying attention to details and the little things because we all know how to play basketball,” Dolson said. “It’s just a matter of can we get open? Can we make that hard cut? Can we set a really good screen to get our teammate open? And I think in the first half tonight we weren’t doing as good of a job of that. And we kind of turned it around. … It’s just time that we’ve gotten to play together and starting to learn each other a little bit more.”

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Washington, D.C

Look inside the home of some high-powered D.C. dinner parties

Published

27 mins ago

June 28, 2024

Press Room

Look inside the home of some high-powered D.C. dinner parties

This French Colonial-style house at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in D.C.’s Massachusetts Avenue Heights neighborhood is somewhat deceiving. Its out-of-the-way location, two miles from downtown Washington, helps camouflage the role it has played as a gathering spot for high-powered business, political and sports leaders.

Seclusion is part what attracted owners Michelle Fields and Jamie Weinstein to this white, painted-brick house, built in 1966, as the venue for their much-discussed (in some circles) off-the-record dinner parties.

Weinstein, a journalist and political commentator, runs the flagship podcast for conservative digital media company the Dispatch. He began hosting soirees at his Ritz-Carlton Georgetown corner unit in 2012, pairing young reporters with their sources — and subjects — for evenings of privileged discussion. Since 2020, the parties have been held at 3115 Normanstone Terr. NW, now on the market for $3.29 million.

The get-togethers, Weinstein said, sometimes last four or five hours. There are no planned topics of conversation for the reporters and notable guests, who recently have included New York Mayor Eric Adams, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, businessman and TV personality Mark Cuban and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Weinstein declared the dinner with Sanders “particularly fiery” in an Instagram post.

Such parties were “top of mind,” Fields said, when she and husband Weinstein bought the house. They wanted one that had plenty of entertainment space and that was removed from the bustle of downtown.

“It helps [guests] open up a little bit more because you’re not in the center of the work world in a certain way,” Weinstein said. “When you’re in D.C., you see the buildings all around and feel work, work, work, work, work. And when you’re here, you feel like you’re in the country.”

Another consideration favoring a larger house was their growing family. The couple had a year-old child, and Fields was pregnant with a second. They made some child-friendly renovations, including closing off a spiral staircase.

Before Weinstein and Fields lived here, the house was owned for decades by Stanley Rabinowitz, a long-serving rabbi at the Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, where he led services attended by members of Congress, White House officials and visiting Israeli prime ministers.

The house was built in 1966 and has two floors above a finished lower level and more than 5,000 square feet of living area. The front door opens to a foyer with marble floors. On one side is a dining room with hardwood floors and crown molding. The other side has a living room with a fireplace and French doors that open to a rear terrace. The kitchen — with an island, wine storage and a breakfast area — connects to a family room with oversize paned windows and a vaulted ceiling. This level also has a powder room and a gym.

The second floor has a primary bedroom suite with a fireplace, a balcony, a walk-in closet and a bathroom with a two-sink vanity. There are three more bedrooms on this floor, one with an en suite bathroom and two that share a bathroom, one of which has a balcony.

On the lower level, a recreation room with a fireplace connects to an office. This level also has a bedroom with an en suite bathroom, and it has a laundry room and access to a covered terrace.

The property includes a detached two-car garage across the street.

3115 Normanstone Terr. NW, Washington, D.C.

Bedrooms/bathrooms: 5/6
Approximate square-footage: 5,000
Lot size: nearly half an acre
Features: This 1966 house has several fireplaces, crown moldings, French doors, paned windows and several outdoor spaces. The property includes a detached two-car garage.
Listing agent: Michael Rankin, TTR Sotheby’s International Realty

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Washington, D.C

Fireworks injuries on the rise, report warns ahead of July 4th celebrations

Published

8 hours ago

June 27, 2024

Press Room

Fireworks injuries on the rise, report warns ahead of July 4th celebrations

DC ranked 8th best place to celebrate Fourth of July

Washington, D.C. is the eighth best place in the country to celebrate the Fourth of July, according to a new study by WalletHub.

The Fourth of July is commonly associated with food, fun, and of course, fireworks – but the number of injuries caused by fireworks may catch some Americans by surprise.

According to a report released this week by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), there were eight deaths and an estimated 9,700 injuries involving fireworks in 2023.

“Many people just aren’t aware of the risk involved with fireworks, and we want to help change that to help keep people safe,” explained CPSC Public Affairs Specialist Thaddeus Harrington.

The report also said that between 2008 and 2023, injuries from fireworks increased overall. And while teenagers ages 15-19 had the highest rate of emergency room visits due to fireworks injuries in the four weeks surrounding last year’s holiday, kids between the ages of 5-9 had the second-highest rate.

“Really there is no such thing as safe fireworks,” Harrington said. “Even sparklers burn at about 2000 degrees, as hot as a blowtorch. So if you wouldn’t let your child run around with a lit blowtorch, same goes for sparklers.”

More information about the report – as well as safety tips – can be found here.

Here’s more information about which fireworks are – and are not – legal in DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

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Washington, D.C

Washington D.C. YSA Stake plans charity event to help 1,500 families

Published

15 hours ago

June 27, 2024

Press Room

Washington D.C. YSA Stake plans charity event to help 1,500 families

The second annual Stock the Block drive-through distribution event on June 22 drew more than 1,500 families near Washington, D.C., to receive donations and other services from local nonprofits.

Stock the Block committee members, made up of local young adult congregations from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Lazera Ministries, organized this year’s community distribution event.

“We partner with local nonprofits to help provide both services and needed items to help families in our community,” said Tiffany Osborn, chair of the Stock the Block Committee.

Based on an average household size of five people, the Stock the Block committee estimates that 7,700 men, women and children will benefit from the donations distributed.

Volunteers hand out hygiene supplies on June 22, 2024, to recipients at the Stock the Block community distribution event in Alexandria, Virginia. | Rebecca Lane

“When people are in the midst of poverty and in the midst of being marginalized, their children are experiencing that,” said Yolonda Earl-Thompson, executive director for Lazera Ministries. “We just want to bring a little joy in a little moment so that the kid can be a kid.”

The donations were primarily provided by Good360, a product philanthropy nonprofit based in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, and by the Church. Donation items included personal hygiene items, cleaning supplies, diapers, socks, school supplies and toys for children.

Romaine Seguin, CEO of Good360, said that the organization’s mission is to close the need gap between what goods and services people do and do not have.

The Stock the Block community distribution event “gives [community members] hope,” said Seguin. “This is a day of giving our communities sustainable support, and they can move on and better their lives.”

Donation recipients drove through a corridor of supplies on either side while volunteers helped load their cars. For those without access to a vehicle, a walk-up center was available to receive aid. A free shuttle also traveled through neighboring communities, picking up individuals, driving them through the lines and delivering them back to their homes with their donations.

Members of the Stock the Block Committee pose for a photo on June 22, 2024, near their donation site in Alexandria, Virginia. | Provided by Stock the Block committee

The Stock the Block committee partnered with the Fairfax County Police Department and other Fairfax County community services and other organizations to provide additional services and spread the word about the event to the local communities.

The more than 300 volunteers helping at the event were primarily from the Washington D.C. YSA South Stake with about 60 area missionaries from the Washington D.C. South Mission. They braved temperatures reaching into the high 90s to help direct traffic, distribute goods and provide translation services to those who needed it.

“While today’s event was largely run by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it wasn’t an incredibly religious experience,” Osborn said. “But for us, it was still a sacred experience because we were able to lift and serve in the way our Savior would serve. We not only saw miracles, we also felt His presence and His love on behalf of the people around us. We do this because we love Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ loves us, and we embrace our responsibility to reflect that love to all of God’s children.”

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