Washington, D.C
Washington Capitals unveil special events, giveaways for 50th season celebration

WASHINGTON (7News) — Hockey returns to Washington, D.C. this weekend. Our Washington Capitals take on the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night and that game will kick off what is going to be a very special golden year.
More than 70+ alumni are in town for Alumni Weekend, with select alumni and USA Warriors participating in an Alumni Game at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Friday, Oct. 11 at 2 p.m.
The game is free and open to the general public.
Five USA Warriors players as well as two members of the TikTok sensation ‘The Hockey Guys’ will participate in the game.
Before the puck drops in Chinatown for the home opener, the Rock the Red Carpet will start at 2:30 p.m. Admission is free.
F Street festivities will also feature a street hockey rink, face painter, tattoo artist and airbrush artist.
READ MORE | Washington Capitals celebrate 50 Fest with fans as season begins Saturday
Fans are also invited to stop by the Caesars Sportsbook booth from 2:30 to 6 p.m. for a special gameday activation including giveaways, meet and greet with alumni and special gameday offers.
The Capitals 2024-25 team will begin arriving in cars provided by Lexus on F Street, between 6th and 7th Streets NW, at approximately 4 p.m. They will be introduced and escorted by preselected fans down the red carpet.
Upon arrival, players will greet fans, sign autographs and pose for pictures. In honor of the team’s 50th Anniversary season, more than 70 Capitals alumni, will also walk the red carpet following the team’s arrival.
All fans in attendance for the game on Oct. 12 will receive a 2024-25 schedule magnet courtesy of GEICO as well as LED wristbands courtesy of Capital One.
The Capitals have announced an exciting lineup of special events and initiatives to celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary during the 2024-25 NHL season. Plans include fan celebrations, community programs, captivating content, storytelling and related merchandise.
The celebration aims to unite fans, alumni and partners to honor the team’s history while setting the stage for the future of Capitals hockey.
New Jersey, who originally entered the NHL as the Kansas City Scouts, and Washington both began play in the 1974-75 season. The Capitals have qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs 33 times in the last 41 seasons dating back to 1982-83, which is tied for the second-most playoff appearances in the NHL in that span. In addition, Washington’s 1,656 wins since 1982-83 are the second most in the League.
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The Capitals enter 2024-25 looking to make the playoffs for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons and the 34th time in franchise history. Washington’s 15 playoff appearances since 2007-08 are tied with the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins for the most in the NHL in that span.
With 853 career goals, Alex Ovechkin needs 42 goals to pass Wayne Gretzky (894g) for first on the NHL’s all-time goals list. Ovechkin, who is signed with the Capitals for the next two years, would need to average 21 goals per season during that span to supplant Gretzky as the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer. Ovechkin has scored at least 42 goals in 13 of his 19 NHL seasons and 21 or more goals in each of his 19 seasons. 2024-25 will be Ovechkin’s 20th season with the Capitals. Ovechkin, who made his Capitals and NHL debut on Oct. 5, 2005, is Washington D.C.’s longest-tenured athlete. In Washington, D.C. sports history, only Walter Johnson (Washington Senators: 1907-1927) and Darrell Green (Washington Redskins: 1983-2002) have played at least 20 seasons with their respective team.
Fifteen of the season’s 20 all-arena giveaways uniquely celebrate the milestone, including duo bobbleheads, pennants, and a viewfinder, among other exclusive items.
Related promotional calendar items include:
- Oct. 23 vs. Philadelphia Flyers – Original Logo Pennant
- Nov. 8 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins – Replica Jersey
- Nov. 13 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs – Screaming Eagle Pennant
- Nov. 23 vs. New Jersey Devils – Ice Resurfacer Gravy Boat courtesy of Capital One
- Dec. 14 vs. Buffalo Sabres – Mike Gartner & Rod Langway Duo Bobblehead
- Dec. 31 vs. Boston Bruins – 50th Anniversary Coaster Set
- Feb. 1 vs. Winnipeg Jets – Peter Bondra & Olie Kolzig Duo Bobblehead
- Feb. 4 vs. Florida Panthers – Viewfinder courtesy of MedStar Health
- Feb. 9 vs. Utah Hockey Club – Capitals Marvel Comic Book
- Feb. 27 vs. St. Louis Blues – Capitol Dome Pennant
- March 7 vs. Detroit Red Wings – Alex Ovechkin & Nicklas Backstrom Duo Bobblehead
- March 9 vs. Seattle Kraken – Weagle Pennant
- March 30 vs. Buffalo Sabres – Retro Corduroy Hat
- April 4 vs. Chicago Blackhawks – 50th Anniversary Photo Book
- April 13 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets – Capitals Poster

Washington, D.C
DC leaders in budget panic, saying Congress bill would financially devastate the city – WTOP News

D.C. leaders were in a panic on Monday afternoon, sounding the alarm and saying the federal spending bill under consideration in Congress would be financially devastating to the city.
D.C. leaders were in a panic on Monday afternoon, sounding the alarm and saying the federal spending bill under consideration in Congress would be financially devastating to the city.
“It’s like taking a catastrophe and doubling it,” D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said.
Over the weekend, House Republicans unveiled a bill that would keep federal agencies funded through Sept. 30, pushing ahead with a go-it-alone strategy that seems certain to spark a major confrontation with Democrats.
Congress must act by midnight Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Under the bill, D.C. would be treated like a federal agency, and agencies would be required to return to their 2024 spending levels. That means if the bill were to pass as it’s written, the city would need to return to last year’s levels — effectively undergoing about $1 billion in cuts over the next six months.
“I can’t emphasize how serious this would be,” Mendelson said. “We are not a federal agency, we operate like a state. … It’s our money and it’s our revenue. This would not be savings to the federal government.”
Mendelson warned of severe impacts to services, including public safety, policing, fire response, public education and city cleanliness.
According to City Administrator Kevin Donahue, the cuts would likely trigger an immediate hiring freeze and layoffs affecting core services.
“To make the math work on that kind of cut with almost no warning, you have to immediately go to where your spending is, which is on people that deliver service,” Donahue said.
D.C. Shadow Rep. Oye Owolewa said in a statement Monday that residents in the District are at risk of losing crucial public services and “will continue to live under the thumb of the federal government,” until D.C. becomes a state.
City leaders stood outside the Capitol Building and urged Congress to amend the bill.
“Congress can fix this,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said. “They can fix this $1.1 billion problem that we have brought to their attention.”
The bill would provide a slight boost to defense programs while trimming nondefense programs below 2024 budget year levels. That approach is likely to be a nonstarter for most Democrats, who have long insisted that defense and nondefense spending move in the same direction.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., is teeing up the bill for a Tuesday vote, despite the lack of buy-in from Democrats, essentially daring them to vote against it and risk a shutdown.
It was not immediately clear whether Johnson and other Republican leaders were considering any changes in response to concerns raised by the District.
“If Congress goes through with this action, it will work against a priority that President Trump and I share, and that is to make Washington, D.C., the best, most beautiful city in the world,” Bowser said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Washington, D.C
Danny De Gracia: With DC In Chaos, We Need To Assess Local Needs, Pronto

When crises occur, our institutions are often ill-suited to respond due to excessive pedantry, navel-gazing and an overall lack of initiative. The best way is to just start figuring out what needs to be done.
We now have a president who issues on-the-fly directives that no one understands how to implement, and even fewer understand the implications of what these policies will mean for state and local governments.
I get the sense that Republicans and Democrats alike are taking a wait-and-see approach to the second Donald Trump administration’s policies, at least with respect to how they will deal with the effects of reduced (or completely cut) federal funding, reductions in federal agencies, and even how tariffs will affect everyone’s bottom line.
What does this mean? Elected Republicans may or may not personally agree with the blitz of executive orders, but you can bet all of them are going to pretend in public that they do, saying at best, “I have some concerns about (fill in the blank issue)” if their conscience or their constituents are giving them flack over it.
For the elected Republican, the game theory likely works like this: Perhaps, for example, they want the U.S. Department of Education and other agencies functionally gutted by DOGE; perhaps not. But they’ll let it happen anyway because they don’t want to be attacked over it, and they may even revel in it the whole way.
If this results in a beneficial outcome, they’ll claim to have supported it the whole time. If it doesn’t, and their constituents start revolting to the point they are endangered for reelection, they’ll claim that they had “concerns” the whole time. How do I know this? Just look at the manic way that legislators like Sen. Lindsey Graham flip-flop constantly.
Will Democrats Be Part Of The Solution?
And let’s not get started with the Democrats. If John F. Kennedy were alive today, he’d likely write a book entitled “Profiles in Cowardice” as an inglorious sequel to his “Courage” book.
Democrats are in the unique position of having a moral hazard where they can do one of two things: A) Do their constitutional duty in both federal and local government to “check” perceived abuses by the president, but in doing so, mitigate the effects of bad policies; or B) Allow the Republicans to succeed at everything on purpose so that they produce the obvious chaotic outcomes that will incense the American public against them, thus leading to a Democratic wave in the next election.
Mr. and Mrs. Hawaiʻi, you’re sandwiched between two useless factions in Washington, D.C., who are thinking more about their careers than they are about your safety, security and future prosperity. The good news is, all across America, the real rubber will meet the road in days to come with state legislatures and city councils who can (and should) fill the gaps left by the federal government.
If I were the president of the state Senate or the speaker of the House, the first thing I would do right now would be to get a full-spectrum policy perspective from 60,000 feet to ground level in Hawaiʻi about potential gaps and oversights that need to be addressed.
I would suggest the immediate creation of a “State of Hawaiʻi Next Steps Needs Assessment” in which, over the course of a narrow two-week period, the Legislature solicits qualitative data in the form of key interviews. Talk to everyone from residents who are in underserved and vulnerable communities, to people and organizations who will be affected by changes in federal funding or staffing, all the way up to subject matter experts in highly technical fields who have strategic concerns about public safety or regulatory moral hazards. The responses, with the help of artificial intelligence, can then be coded.
Do It Before The Session Ends
This is a little more advanced than your ordinary “information briefing” where legislators sit and watch PowerPoints and ask a question or two, because it would be structured specifically at getting as much information in the shortest amount of time possible and turning it around to reprioritize legislation before the current regular session ends.
In cases where the state constitution does not allow us to modify viable existing bills to fit new needs, a special session can be held to allow for follow-up. This can also include partnership with county councils, for even more local support for closing gaps.
We need to know, for example, if there’s a report someone wrote warning about a critical local safety risk, that’s now going to be sat on or ignored because their agency has been gutted. Or we need to know if there’s a program that was funded and is no longer that is going to result in a cliff effect that causes something in our local economy to flounder.
This information can then be organized and uploaded to a publicly visible website where all Hawaii residents, and especially community-based organizations, could read the key informant interviews and see the various trends. For example, maybe a nonprofit might see a list of people who they could personally help offset the termination of a grant, or they may be able to provide a service that is no longer available.
In either case, knowing what’s out there will be essential to preventing a crisis in the days to come where the current administration’s approach of “cut it all off, those people will figure it out” leaves too much to chance.
In closing, I would also like to make a personal appeal to our congressional delegation to try and talk offline to our new director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. Say what we may about her now, as someone who is close to the president, we should attempt to appeal to her previous, earlier virtues as a progressive and mention that the “old” Gabbard would have thrown previous presidents under the bus for doing (and saying) the things that our current president is doing.
I don’t remember the first DNI, John Negroponte, having as much time, post-9/11, as Gabbard does now to do TV interviews and social media posts, so she should have the scheduling freedom to be able to meet with her Hawaiʻi peers.
This is not about party anymore. This is about what can we do to ensure that things work for as many people as possible, without leaving gaps that invite chaos or harm upon our nation and states. Let’s get on that, ASAP.

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