Washington, D.C
The Weekend Round-Up: January 26-28
Glide the night away at Canal Park’s Community Skate
Happy Weekend!
Loads of ideas for ongoing activities in these go-to posts:
* Best Outdoors in the DC Area
* Local Hikes with Kids
* The Great Indoors
* Off-the-Beaten-Path Museums
* Active Pursuits Inside
* Kid-Friendly Eats
* Ice Skating
* Baltimore with Kids
* Peaceful Places
Community Ice Skate Night
Where: Canal Park Ice Rink | Capitol Riverfront, DC
When: Friday, 6:30-10pm
Admission: Free – $12/child, $15/adult, $6/rental
In honor of National Ice Skating Month, join a Community Ice Skate Night at the Canal Park Ice Rink featuring DJ CiCi. Plus, FIRST 100 attendees to arrive will get the free entry and skate rental. Note that in order to get free entry, you must check in at the Canal Park Ice Rink skate shop window on the evening of the event (do not pre-purchase tickets online prior to the event). They’ll begin granting admission for Community Skate Night at 6:30 pm, so make sure to arrive early to be one of the first 100 skaters!
Explore a New (To You) Museum
Where: Museums around MD & VA
When: Ongoing
Admission: Varies by museum
In case you missed it, there’s a brand new round-up of museums in Maryland and Virginia. While DC is well known for its many great museums, both on the National Mall and in other areas around the city, there are even more beyond the District lines that are great to explore with kids. Find one to check out with the fam this weekend!
Auto Focus
Where: Washington Convention Center | Mt. Vernon Square, DC
When: Through Sunday
Admission: $20/adults, $8/ages 6-12, free/5 & under
The 2024 Washington Auto Show is in its second and final weekend. If there’s any “grown-up” event that is equally fun for all ages, this is it. More than 600 cars and trucks are on display for guests to check out, plus there are more activities like Ride ‘n Drives with Jeep, an Art of Motion exhibit, exotic car display, and Subaru Love Pets area with dogs from local animal shelters will give guests even more to do and see. Get a glimpse and an idea of what to expect in KFDC posts about it here and here.
Monster Jam
Where: Capitol One Arena | Downtown DC
When: Saturday & Sunday
Tickets: $20+
The world’s largest and most famous monster truck tour featuring the biggest names in monster trucks will thunder its way into DC. Gravedigger, El Toro Loco, Megolodon, Dragon, Wild Side, and more will be tearing up the indoor terrain. Before you go, be sure to read this post with tips for making the most of the experience.
Hill Family Biking: Ride to Canal Park Ice Skating
Where: Maury Elementary to Canal Park | Capitol Hill/Navy Yard, DC
When: Saturday, 10:30am – 12pm
Admission: Free
Join Hill Family Biking for short ride from Maury Elementary down to Canal Park for ice skating. (Anyone that wants to skate should pre-register to guarantee a spot in the 12pm session.) They’ll have volunteers marshaling to ensure the group stays together. MPD bike team will also be participating in the ride to connect officers with the community. If your family’s bikes need some TLC, get there 15 minutes early to get some assistance– bike maintenance tools will be available, as well as some experienced amateur bike mechanics on hand to assist.
Art & Me Preservation Family Workshop: Screen Time
Where: Museum of Asian Art | National Mall, DC
When: Saturday, 11am – 12:30pm & 1:30-3pm
Admission: Free
Art & Me is back in person! Visit the special exhibition Palace Life Unfolds: Conserving a Chinese Lacquer Screen and explore how art and science collide when conservators preserve precious works of art. Then return to the ImaginAsia studio to learn more about the process of repairing a work of art with Smithsonian conservators and educators, and make your own creation to take home. This program is designed for children ages 3–8 with adult participation. Sign up for the 11am-12:30pm time slot or 1:30-3:30pm.
Hot Wheels Champion Experience
Where: Tysons Corner Center | Tysons, VA
When: Throughout the weekend
Admission:
This exciting immersive experience for kids combines exhilarating digital and hands-on play in a 16,000-square foot interactive environment for all ages. Conquer all kinds of digital challenges, create a car and see in in 3D on a bog screen, immerse in AR fun, and more. Get more details and a glimpse of it all in this post.
Disney Encanto x CAMP
Where: Tysons Corner | Tysons, VA
When: Through March
Admission: Starts at $32
Another immersive experience, this one inspired by the beloved Encanto movie is also running at Tysons — and delivers on the magic for kids! Tickets are limited for this weekend, but there were still some available last I checked. If it’s sold out, snag them for another time. And read this post for more about the experience.
Weekend Family Matinee: Trolls Band Together
Where: Avalon Theatre | Chevy Chase, DC
When: Saturday & Sunday, 10:30am
Admission: $10.38
The Avalon Theatre in Chevy Chase, the oldest operating movie house in the area and a non-profit, is hosting a Weekend Family Matinees on Saturday. Trolls Band Together will be screened both Saturday and Sunday.
DC Day: Honoring the End of Street Car Service
Where: National Capital Trolley Museum | Colesville, MD
When: Saturday, 12-5pm
Admission: $8
Celebrate street car history in the DC area! For 100 years, street cars represented the most widely used public transit, moving millions of people and connecting communities. In honor of that, there will be special street car rides, family-friendly activities, and opportunities to explore objects from the archive.
Lunar New Year Celebration
Where: Kennedy Center | Foggy Bottom DC
When: Saturday, 6pm (tickets available at 4:30pm)
Admission: Free
At this Millennium Stage session, prepare to welcome the Year of the Dragon with lion dancing and drumming performances. Advance tickets are sold out, but free tickets will also be available at the Hall of States Box Office on Saturday, beginning at 4:30pm.
Annie
Where: National Theatre | Downtown DC
When: Through Sunday
Tickets: $44-139 (look for discounts)
Holding onto hope when times are tough can take an awful lot of determination, and sometimes, an awful lot of determination comes in a surprisingly small package. Little Orphan Annie has reminded generations of theatergoers that sunshine is always right around the corner, and now the best-loved musical of all time is set to return in a new production – just as you remember it and just when
Mindplay
Where: Arena Stage | Southwest DC
When: Through March 3
Tickets: $41-95
Mind tricks, anyone? Mentalist Vinny DePonto delivers a performance full of them in this one-man (+ a few audience members) show. It’s a fascinating, delightful, and poignant trip down memory lane as he explores the mind’s inner workings and what we hold onto in our heads. Highly recommend for a fun evening out — for teens and older!
Hansel & Gretel
Where: The Puppet Co. | Glen Echo Park, MD
When: Through February 18
Tickets: $15
Join the Puppet Co. for this classic German fairy tale about two kids who get lost in the woods and encounter a witch. Written by Len, Patricia, and Chrisopher Piper, this version of Hansel and Gretel is over 50 years old. Our musical tale, performed using marionettes, is sure to charm you and your little ones. Directed by Danny Pushkin. Recommended for ages 4+.
Finding Nemo Jr. The Musical
Where: Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre | Arlington, VA
When: Through Sunday
Tickets: $12-15
Encore Stage & Studio presents its signature theatre by kids for kids… This beloved story follows Marlin, an anxious and over-protective clownfish, who lives in the Great Barrier Reef with his child Nemo, who longs to explore the world beyond their anemone home. But when Nemo is captured, Marlin decides to face his fears and sets off on an epic adventure across the ocean. With the help of lovable characters such as the optimistic Dory, laid-back sea turtle Crush, and the Tank Gang, Marlin and Nemo both overcome challenges on their journey to find each other and themselves. Recommended for all ages.
tick, tick…BOOM
Where: Kennedy Center | Foggy Bottom, DC
When: Opens Friday through February 4
Tickets: $59-349 (look for discounts)
Before there was RENT… there was tick, tick… BOOM!, Jonathan Larson’s explosive musical about life, death, and the necessity of art. The semi-autobiographical story follows Jon, a composer struggling to break into New York City’s theater scene. Recommended for teens and older. Shows are mostly sold out, but you can look for resale tickets here.
Mozart & Mark Rothko
Where: National Galley of Art | National Mall, DC
When: Sunday, 1pm & 3pm
Admission: Free
The University of Maryland Opera Studio will perform a selection of Mozart’s works, honoring the favorite composer of Mark Rothko, whose works are on display in a special exhibition right now. The artist famously said of Mozart, “I became a painter because I wanted to raise painting to the level of poignancy of music and poetry.” The performances will take place in the West Garden Court; the Rothko exhibit is in the East Building.
NCAA Basketball Around DC
Where: Colleges around the DC Area
When: Throughout the weekend
Admission: Varies by game
We’re in the thick of college basketball season. And with so many universities in the area, there’s always some good hoops action going on around town. Here are some games to catch this weekend:
* Maryland men vs Nebraska on Saturday at 12pm (Go, Terps!)
* Catholic men vs Moravian on Saturday at 2pm
* Catholic women vs Moravian on Saturday at 4pm
* George Mason men vs Rhode Island on Saturday at 4pm
* American men vs Colgate on Saturday at 4pm
* George Mason women vs VCU on SUnday at 4pm
***MORE GOOD STUFF***
* The International Spy Museum’s annual Spy Fest takes place next Friday evening, February 2! I can tell you from experience, it’s a very intriguing event. And the website might say it’s sold out, but I may have some intel that more tickets could be released…
* Washingtonian just released its list of the 100 Very Best Restaurants for 2024.
* You can still get (pricey) tickets for the Ravens game on Sunday!
* Latest movie rec (not for kids).
* Ever shop at Everlane? They always have great basics as well as pieces with a little extra something, like this sweater I just ordered.
* How great is this?
Related
WASHINGTON (7News) — Tuesday was the last day the D.C. Council could vote to enact an expanded curfew in time for summer.
7News learned it never even made it on the agenda for a discussion and went to council members to find out why.
For the next two months, it’ll be up to the mayor to declare a curfew until the permanent version kicks in. There is already a city curfew. The curfew that has been up for debate for more than a year is the expanded version of the curfew. The expanded version allows the Metropolitan Police Department to create zones where teens 17 and under cannot gather in groups of nine or more.
RELATED | DC curfews pushed large groups into local neighborhoods, some residents say
Mayor Muriel Bowser currently has her own curfew order in place, which ends Saturday. The mayor can continue issuing an order. Councilmembers against the expanded curfew said that’s why it doesn’t need to come from the council.
In a video posted two weeks ago, D.C Council public safety chair Brooke Pinto said she wanted her councilmembers to vote to fill the gap today. 7News asked her why she never presented it to the council.
“Unfortunately, in working with my colleagues over the last several weeks, we did not have the votes,” said Pinto. “We have to have enough votes to pass the law and make sure that we didn’t have a gap.”
Bowser, in a letter to council Tuesday, said councilmembers Trayon White, Robert White, Zachary Parker, Brianne Nadeau and Janese Lewis-George are “blocking the will of the public and majority of council.”
7News spoke to three of the members she called out about the mayor’s pushback.
“I reject the rhetoric and the political games that are being played, and I’m wanting for us to get to the bottom of how do we stop the teen takeovers and the delinquent behavior we’ve been seeing,” Parker said.
“I stand by my belief that a curfew policy is a failed policy, kind of smoke and mirrors, and what we really needed is investments in our young people, so I’m pretty firm on that,” Nadeau said.
“We have to choose our tools and the time we use those tools. I’ve supported the curfew in the past, but I think with the current surge of more federal troops that have been impending, we’re putting our youth in even more danger by extending that work. I know the executive has put in an emergency executive order that will fill the gap. I hope that comes alongside extended hours, I’ve funded at DPR, extended weekends, and opening more safe spaces for youth here in the city. And that’s the solution that we do agree on,” Lewis-George said.
The mayor has not confirmed if she’ll issue another order, but it is on the table.
Whispers, mysteries still hang in air 50 years after Bolles’ murder
Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles died on June 13, 1976, 50 years ago. There are still mysteries surrounding his death from a car bombing.
A memorial designed to pay tribute to journalists who have died in pursuit of a story — including Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles, who had a bomb explode under his car 50 years ago — will soon have a home on the National Mall in Washington, DC.
The Fallen Journalists Memorial, set to open in June 2028, won’t include individual names of journalists. A rule says that unless Congress makes an exception, a memorial wall can only include a group whose last member died more more than a quarter century prior.
And the number of journalists who die in pursuit of truth continues to grow every year.
The foundation creating the memorial has featured journalists on its website. Included in the first round of those showcased is Bolles.
Bolles was a reporter with The Arizona Republic who investigated the mafia, land fraud and political corruption. He was killed in June 1976 by a bomb planted under his Datsun at a midtown Phoenix hotel, an incident that shocked the nation and shook the journalism community.
Barbara Cochran, president of the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation, said the aim was to remind people of the work done by journalists like Bolles.
“They go as eyewitnesses. They document,” she said. “They dig deep and come up with information that people don’t have time to do on their own.”
Bolles’ legacy was not just forged by his death, Cochran said, but the work his death inspired.
Scores of reporters from around the country descended on Phoenix to continue investigating political corruption as Bolles had.
That collective action sent a message.
“Even if you kill the journalist, you won’t kill the story,” Cochran said. “Don Bolles was really the symbol of that.”
The memorial will honor journalists who, like Bolles, were targeted for their reporting, Cochran said. It would also honor those who died in pursuit of a story.
That’s the story of at least five more Arizona journalists.
In 1985, Republic reporter Charles Thornton was killed in Afghanistan, which at the time was invaded by the Soviet Union. Thornton was a health reporter and took the trip to cover a clinic set up by Americans looking to save the lives of people injured in the war by bombs and chemical weapons.
Thornton knew the risks of traveling to a war zone. But said he thought it was worth it to bring the story of the injuries suffered by the Afghan rebels to Republic readers.
In 2007, two news helicopters collided while covering a police chase in midtown Phoenix. The helicopters, one from Channel 3, KTVK-TV, and one from Channel 15, KNXV-TV, each carried a cameraman and a pilot. All four men died when the helicopters crashed onto Steele Indian School Park.
Bolles will be the only Arizona reporter among the first to be honored as part of the new National Mall memorial project.
The physical memorial in Washington will be made up of glass rectangles.
On one end of the plaza, they will be laid in an abstract design. The glass rectangles could serve as benches on the plaza.
As visitors walk to the other end, the glass rectangles begin stacking. Visitors will then enter a circle formed by more glass rectangles.
On the ground in the center of the circle will be the words of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Reporter writes ‘the book I wanted to read’ on slain journalist Don Bolles
Axios reporter Jeremy Duda discusses “Murder in the Fourth State,” a book on the murder of The Arizona Republic’s Don Bolles, who died after a car bombing in 1976.
Arizona effort to create a Don Bolles memorial stalls at state Capitol
The DC memorial was introduced in Congress in 2019. It passed both the House and Senate unanimously in 2020 and was signed into law in December 2020 by President Donald Trump.
In contrast, a push to create a memorial for Bolles on the grounds of the state Capitol was proposed at the Arizona Legislature each of the past few years. But every attempt has stalled.
The bill passed the Arizona House unanimously this year. It was bottled up in the state Senate, as has happened since it was first introduced in 2023.
The Bolles memorial bill was assigned to the Senate Government Committee, chaired by state Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek. He did not give the bill a hearing, just as he had declined to do in the previous two sessions.
Hoffman, who has done contract work for the conservative groups Turning Point USA and Turning Point Action, has had an antagonistic relationship with the mainstream press and The Republic.
Rep. Selina Bliss, R-Prescott, the sponsor of the measure, said she is not sure exactly why Hoffman hasn’t given the bill a hearing. She expected it would easily pass if it made it to the state Senate floor.
“I can’t get into the minds of others,” she said, “why they choose to hear or don’t hear a bill.”
Bliss said she recognized the passion that Bolles had for journalism.
“It’s like a line of duty death, if you will,” she said. “People are killed in action doing what they do.”
Bliss said she was a teenager in Prescott at the time of the Bolles bombing. She remembers the experience as searing.
“It shook everyone so dramatically,” she said.
Bliss said she might expand the bill next session to include all fallen Arizona journalists, in hopes of getting it out of the logjam in the Senate.
Tim Eigo, president of the Arizona chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, has testified at the Arizona Legislature in support of the bill to allow a Bolles memorial.
Eigo said it was unfortunate that the bill was caught up in the swirl of current political feelings about journalism.
“I think people can get confused about whether dogged coverage is also advocacy. It’s not,” he said. “Some people get confused by that. So, they hesitate to honor a remarkable journalist like Don Bolles because there are other journalists they don’t like.”
Commemorating reporters who were targeted specifically because of their work like Bolles sends a signal, Eigo said.
“When we are honoring their accomplishments and commitment,” he said, “we are also defeating those who feel they can commit crimes against the press with impunity. … We are speaking truth to that cynical power.”
Shooting that killed journalists in Maryland inspired push for memorial
The idea for the DC memorial came after the June 2018 mass shooting at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland. Five people were killed in the incident, four of them journalists.
The convicted gunman had filed a defamation suit against the newspaper after it reported on his legal troubles. He reportedly sent letters threatening to attack the newspaper’s journalists before he stormed the newsroom with a shotgun.
Retired U.S. Congressman David Dreier sat on the board of Tribune Publishing, the corporate owner of the sister newspapers, The Capital and the Maryland Gazette. Dreier, a Republican from California, worried that by 2019 the memory of the shooting was already fading.
He wanted a public memorial on the National Mall. The idea gained urgency, Cochran said, when the Newseum announced in 2019 that it was closing. That museum had an exhibition honoring slain journalists. Its centerpiece was the blown-out car from the 1976 Bolles bombing.
“There is nothing in Washington that talks about the sacrifices of journalists or that talks about the First Amendment, which is such a unique contribution to freedom and free expression for people everywhere,” Cochran said.
The location cited for it is a triangular plot of land about three blocks from the U.S. Capitol. The site, about a quarter-acre, was formed by the intersection of Independence Avenue and Maryland Avenue, which runs on a diagonal to the U.S. Capitol.
“The site has a clear view of the Capitol Dome,” Cochran said. “It’s a connection to journalism and a symbol of democracy. It reinforces the idea that journalism is a pilar of democracy.”
The memorial will not carry the names of any of the fallen journalists.
Cochran said a federal regulation governing memorials on the National Mall has a rule about those being honored in a group needing to have been deceased for more than 25 years.
“This is a memorial for which there would never be an end time,” she said.
Threats to press freedom are on the rise across the globe
The anniversary of Bolles’ death and the memorial underway come as journalists around the world face increased threats.
Reporters Without Borders, a global nonprofit advocating for independent journalism, has tracked press freedom around the world since 2002. The organization scores countries based on how free journalists are to report, evaluating the legal, political, economic and cultural constraints. It also looks at journalists’ safety working in the countries.
The organization’s 2026 World Press Freedom Index returned the lowest average score among all countries in 25 years.
The United States ranked as the 64th freest country in the world, dropping seven places from its ranking in 2025. The organization cited Trump’s continued attacks on journalists who cover him, as well as his administration’s pressure on networks and news outlets as part of the ranking.
Trump has made attacking the press and sowing distrust in traditional news media a hallmark of his agenda since his first run for higher office in 2015. He has threatened to ease libel laws to make it easier to sue news outlets.
Trump himself sued the CBS and ABC networks based on their journalists’ work. The networks settled despite legal experts saying the cases were weak.
U.S. presidents have long had an antogonistic relationship with the press.
George Washington, the first president of the United States, referred to journalists as “infamous scribblers.” Vice President Spiro Agnew called the press “nattering naybobs of negativism.” President Barack Obama used the Espionage Act to plug what he perceived were leaks from his administration to the press, according to the Cato Institute.
The Freedom of the Press Foundation, a nonprofit news advocacy group, has tracked more than 2,500 anti-press incidents in the United States since 2017, with nearly 1,400 assaults making up the majority. The tracker records non-physically violent threats, too, such as subpoenas and legal interventions, or chilling statements.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has recorded 17 journalists and reporters killed in the United States since 1992.
In Arizona, 28 anti-press incidents were recorded since 2017, including arresting reporters and denying them access to government events.
The Arizona incidents over the past decade include an interview subject who pushed and shoved an Arizona Republic reporter before stealing her cell phone during the interview, the detention by Phoenix police of a Wall Street Journal reporter who was talking to customers outside a bank, and the detention of an Arizona Republic photographer who was covering protests outside the state Capitol in 2024.
Taylor Seely is a First Amendment Reporting Fellow at The Arizona Republic / azcentral.com. Do you have a story about the government infringing on your First Amendment rights? Reach her at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or by phone at 480-476-6116.
Reach Richard Ruelas at richard.ruelas@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-444-8473.
WASHINGTON – Authorities in Washington, D.C. are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man accused of stabbing a dog in Southeast, an incident that left the animal seriously injured but now recovering.
What we know:
The case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department after officials say they received an anonymous report that a man attacked a dog on the 2300 block of Nicholson Street SE around 9:30 Saturday morning.
Responding officers located the injured dog, identified as Edward, a pit bull who was later taken into care by the Brandywine Valley SPCA, according to police.
The suspect fled the scene before authorities arrived, and a search of the surrounding area did not turn up any leads.
What they’re saying:
At the shelter, officials say Edward is now in stable condition and continuing to recover.
“We’re very happy to report after receiving care from our medical team, at our facility, that he is in stable condition, and he’s doing well,” Erin Johnson with Brandywine Valley SPCA said.
She added that anyone with information about the incident should contact the Humane Rescue Alliance, which handles animal cruelty investigations in the District.
What you can do:
Officials say they are continuing to investigate what led to the attack and are urging anyone with relevant information or video to come forward. The goal, they say, is both to identify the suspect and to ensure accountability in the case.
Once fully recovered, Edward is expected to be placed for adoption through the shelter system.
The Source: Information from FOX 5 D.C. reporting.
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