Washington

A fire wiped out this record store’s vinyls. Then fans banded together.

Published

2 years ago

September 3, 2022

A fire wiped out this record store’s vinyls. Then fans banded together.

Remark

File shops are meant for listening: the crinkling of plastic sleeves as prospects thumb by way of document crates, the oohs and aahs induced by a uncommon discover, the tunes beaming from the audio system.

However when proprietor Sam Lock bought to the File Change in Frederick one night time late final month, the primary sense that flared was the scent: smoke, billowing out of the three-story constructing that had housed the store on North Market Avenue since 2010.

“Once I bought off [Interstate] 270 … I might scent it, like, that distant,” Lock stated of the hearth, which he was informed blazed from about 9:30 p.m. till round 4:30 a.m. “And I might see the smoke, and I used to be like, ‘Holy [crap].’ That’s not only a small fireplace on the bottom.”

The entrance door was already busted open, and firefighters have been pouring torrents of water to extinguish the hearth on the highest flooring. Lock noticed all of it flowing out the File Change’s ground-level doorway, taking a pair information out with it. In a single night time, the store “misplaced just about all the things,” he stated. About 20 p.c of its inventory was left, most of it CDs.

However document retailer lovers from Frederick and across the nation rapidly banded collectively to assist the shop rebuild.

Lock, 55, had come to the world in 1997 to open up 5 outposts of the once-mighty File Change franchise, together with areas in Adams Morgan and Silver Spring. However the 2008 monetary disaster sank three of them, and in 2019, Lock bought the Silver Spring department, leaving Frederick his one and solely.

On Aug. 25, a day after the hearth, he began a GoFundMe to offset transferring prices for a brand new location and what remained of his stock. The objective was $30,000, and only a week later, music followers had helped Lock meet it. “By no means met y’all or been to your retailer, however cities want their document shops as cultural facilities,” learn one donor’s submit from Denver. “The document change is an integral a part of our neighborhood. Frederick wants you!” learn an area’s.

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The help reminded Lock why he’s caught round for therefore lengthy.

“I’ve had children are available in donating 20 bucks, and so they stated they began purchasing right here with their dad after they have been 7,” Lock stated. “Persons are like, ‘I purchased my first turntable and document from you guys, and you actually bought me into it.’ … It’s actually come again to us [with] the GoFundMe. I cry each time I check out it. It’s going to avoid wasting us.”

One other increase adopted at what remained of the bodily store. On Wednesday afternoon, after just a few days of salvaging efforts by Lock and his buddies, the File Change was slinging vinyl once more. Type of.

It was a name-your-own-price sale, with all of the proceeds going to Lock’s lone worker, Zach Willems. Information, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, posters and toys in cardboard crates have been being bought as is on the sidewalk, in entrance of the now-yawning entrance door and the harm inside.

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A lot of the ceiling was uncovered, the remainder draping alongside the correct aspect of the shop. Peeks of sunshine shone by way of holes within the condominium flooring above. Total crates of CDs have been floating in water within the retailer’s cupboard space. Mildew had already begun to dot the information and fixtures alongside the wall.

Out entrance, Willems was dutifully answering questions from passersby out entrance about what had occurred. Willems, 29, had been working on the File Change for greater than a yr however, a daily buyer for a decade. He was on trip when the hearth broke out. Wednesday was the primary time he noticed the shop in its present form.

“I had seen the images,” Willems stated. “I form of knew what I used to be strolling into. But it surely was nonetheless stunning. I completed closing up at night time [on Aug. 19], walked by way of this place, trying round like, ‘Man, what a cool place to work,’ and strolling again into [it] now was, man …”

Fortunately for Lock and Willems, prospects have been excited to increase their help and poke round what was left. Christine Wisniewski, who had a stack of metallic CDs within the criminal of her arm, stated she was “devastated” when she heard concerning the fireplace, which Lock stated remained below investigation.

“I used to come back downtown quite a bit, and this was all the time considered one of my must-go locations,” stated Wisniewski, 27, who was born and raised in Frederick.

“It’s peaceable to me,” she stated. “It’s individuals who like music and recognize it as a lot as I do, and this was a very nice place for folks to really feel welcome irrespective of no matter your style curiosity was.”

And even at this makeshift sale, Willems and Lock have been keen to maintain the spirit of the store alive and dispense record-store-clerk knowledge to regulars who missed it.

For Joseph Romanic, 19, the shop was important in fostering his ardour for music. He grew to become a daily prior to now yr, and introduced his pal Reyna Rabeau to the sidewalk sale. Romanic and Willems ping-ponged suggestions of doom metallic, indie and prog rock to one another, whereas Rabeau snatched up some rap CDs, together with Dr. Dre’s “The Continual.”

“The fellows right here have all the time been so good. It doesn’t matter who has been working,” stated Rabeau, additionally 19. “They’ll be enjoying one thing, and you’ll simply be like, ‘Oh my gosh, that is so cool. I by no means knew I appreciated this sort of music.’ It’s one thing completely different each time, and I adore it.”

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Clients exterior, like on-line donors within the days earlier than, additionally wished to know what was subsequent. Would Lock get a brand new storefront? Would he keep in Frederick?

Lock performed coy; he didn’t wish to jinx it, however he had a lead. A day after the sale, in reality, he signed a lease, with plans to reopen by December.

The File Change’s new location shall be on North Market Avenue, too, only a few blocks away.

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Washington

What Gonzaga’s Mark Few said after win vs. Washington State

Published

7 hours ago

January 12, 2025

Press Room

What Gonzaga’s Mark Few said after win vs. Washington State

The Gonzaga men’s basketball team pulled away from Washington State for an 88-75 victory in the first meeting between the in-state rivals in over a decade.

Graham Ike led the way with 21 points on 8-for-11 from the field, Nolan Hickman added 19 points and the Bulldogs (14-4, 5-0 WCC) earned their fifth straight win to open league play by putting the Cougars (13-5, 3-2 WCC) away early in the second half. After ending the first half on an 8-2 scoring run, the Zags came out of the second half with a sense of urgency on both ends, sparking a 15-5 scoring run to make it a double-digit margin.

Here’s what Gonzaga head coach Mark Few had to say after the game.

On what he told the team at halftime that led to the strong start to the second half:

“I just told them, ‘hey, we’re in a we’re in a battle. It’s a great game. Both teams are competing really hard, and we’re at our best when we’re in attack mode.’ And they did a great job of taking the message and I thought we really went out and turned defense into offense, and we knew that was going to be a big key for us. [The Cougars] are hard to guard, they’re big and they’re physical, and [WSU coach David Riley] does a really lot of nice stuff on on offense that exploits mismatches. But our guys battled tonight, so I was really proud of them.”

On the team’s performance while Ryan Nembhard was on the bench for the final 9 minutes of the first half:

“They played great. I told them that in the locker room that that was huge. We haven’t really had to do that all year. And this guy [Nolan Hickman] stepped up. He was amazing tonight. I mean, seven boards … defensively in there, battling in the post. I mean, he did a lot of stuff that, as I said, he’s now, he set a high standard, so kind of be counting on that moving forward, but he and Dusty [Stromer] both really helped during that stretch and [Khalif Battle] and obviously having Ben [Gregg] and then Graham was rock solid all night.”

On the team’s effort on the defensive end of the floor in the second half:

“I thought our effort and our making plays, I thought it was definitely up there [with the best of the season], and just the physicality that it took. Because, again, they’re so much bigger than us at several of those spots. And again, you just don’t see the post-up thing like this, where your guards are getting constantly posted. But so in that way, we fought, we were physical and kind of had to navigate our way through a lot of different actions. There’s staggers and some curls and some switches and all that. For the most part, we did pretty good.”

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Washington

Washington Nationals Agree to Terms With Former All-Star Reliever

Published

15 hours ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

Washington Nationals Agree to Terms With Former All-Star Reliever

The Washington Nationals have continued to invest into the pitching staff with another free agency move on Saturday.

Shared on social media, the Nationals announced that they had agreed to terms with relief pitcher Jorge Lopez on a one-year contract. That deal will be worth $3 million plus incentives per Jon Heyman.

This is the third pitcher that Washington has signed this offseason, with Michael Soroka brought in as a free agent and Trevor Williams receiving a new deal to say.

They also added another reliever, Evan Reifert, as a Rule 5 draft pick from the Tampa Bay Rays.

Lopez made headlines last year with his infamous exit from the New York Mets. He caused a stir after a loss when he referred to himself as ‘the worst teammate on the worst team in baseball.’

For a lot of players, that might spell an end to the season. The fastball-heavy reliever was able to bounce back. He was released and then signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs.

The 31-year-old came back from controversy as strong as ever, posting a 2.03 ERA over the final 26.2 innings of work.

With the loss of Kyle Finnegan, Lopez makes sense as a potential replacement at closer. He does have some closing experience, but has not been his main role for much of his career.

That season, 2022, was the year he made his first and only All-Star team.

He is a ground ball machine that loves to force bad contact. Keeping him in a situational role could also be a smart idea, given that he struggles against lefties.

No matter how he is used, this is another good signal that the Nationals don’t want to throw any season away.

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Washington

Michigan basketball vs. Washington prediction: Can U-M stay undefeated in Big Ten?

Published

1 day ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

Michigan basketball vs. Washington prediction: Can U-M stay undefeated in Big Ten?

For Michigan basketball, the recent West Coast trip went about as well as hoped.

The No. 24 Wolverines (12-3, 4-0 Big Ten) picked up a pair of double-digit wins against the Big Ten’s Los Angeles-based teams — topping USC, 85-74, last Saturday and then defeating No. 21 UCLA, 94-75, Tuesday night as wildfires raged a few miles away — and now return home looking to make it three consecutive wins against league newcomers, welcoming Washington (10-6, 1-4) to Ann Arbor on Sunday afternoon (2 p.m., Big Ten Network).

The Huskies’ first trip to the Midwest hasn’t started well; they were dog-walked by Michigan State in East Lansing, 88-54, on Thursday. U-W trailed by 29 points at the half (42-13) and by more than 40 points in the second half (82-41 with less than five minutes to play) in an utter annihilation.

After two tight wins in conference play — by three points over Wisconsin and two over Iowa — U-M has won four games in a row by double digits and could make it five straight, with one of the bottom teams in the Big Ten coming to town.

Great Osobor with not-so-great help

U-Dub forward Great Osobor made headlines this offseason when he transferred from Utah State to Washington (following head coach Danny Sprinkle) for a then-record NIL deal worth $2 million.

Apparently, money doesn’t buy wins, because while Osobor has been decent, it hasn’t been nearly enough for the Huskies.

The senior leads the Huskies in scoring (13.8 points per game) and rebounding (8.4) but his efficiency has taken a large drop, as he has shot just 45% from the floor on 3s after hitting at least 57.7% in each of his first three college seasons. Some of that might be attributable to his increased 3-point tries — after attempting just 18 3s (and making four, for a 22.2% success rate) in his first 104 games, he has 14 3-point tries in 16 games this season (with only two makes, a 15.3% rate). More concerning is his 2-point shooting percentage: After hitting 59.1% last season, he’s at 47.7% inside the arc this season.

He has scored in double figures in 11 games with the Huskies, though much of his success came in a weak nonconference schedule. Though he put up 20 points and 14 rebounds vs. Maryland, he had just nine points and three boards vs. USC and a combined 15 points and eight rebounds vs. Illinois and MSU.

Sophomore guard Tyler Harris (Portland) is next at 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while freshman point guard Zoom Diallo, a top-50 recruit according to 247 Sports’ composite rankings, averages 10.8 points per contest for Sprinkle’s team.

Overall, U-Dub is simply not up to Big Ten standard. On defense, the Huskies are No. 7 nationally in limiting 3-pointers (28%) and No. 69 in efficiency (99.9), per KenPom, but on offense, the Huskies are No. 149 in efficiency (107.4), No. 201 in 2-point shooting (50.1%) and No. 240 on 3s (32%).

Depth on display

The Wolverines, meanwhile, continue to flex their depth and balance with each passing game.

Michigan just defeated UCLA by 19 on the road and did so by scoring 94 points (the most a Mick Cronin team has ever allowed at home) without perhaps its most proven guard: Roddy Gayle Jr. (knee bruise) missed Tuesday’s game vs. the Bruins. U-M coach Dusty May said then it was too early to say if he’d play Sunday.

“Long-term health is priority No. 1 for us,” May said. “But I would say he’ll be back relatively soon.”

Gayle is one of five U-M players scoring in double figures for May in his first season in Ann Arbor. After putting up a career-high 36 points vs. the Bruins, center Vlad Goldin now leads the Wolverines at 15.8 points per game. Point guard Tre Donaldson (13.1 points) is next while Danny Wolf, Goldin’s frontcourt partner, averages a double-double at 12.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.

All three had standout games on the trip; Wolf started the L.A. double-dip becoming just the third NCAA player in more than 20 years with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and six blocks, and Donaldson made a career-high four 3-pointers vs. USC, then topped it with six vs. UCLA.

And then there’s Gayle (12.4 points) and Nimari Burnett (10.5 points), who are both shooting better than 50% from the floor. Every starter has led the team in scoring at least once this season, a major reason U-M leads the country in 2-point shooting (62%) and effective field goal percentage (60.2%).

“I mean numbers don’t lie,” Donaldson said. “We’re shooting over 60% inside the arc, I mean just continuing to do that. We got big guys out here … with Danny doing what he does in and out. It’s hard to guard. Nobody’s seen nothing like that before.”

Prediction for Michigan basketball vs. Washington

The Wolverines’ outlook is worlds away from a year ago, when it was often U-M on the wrong side of the talent and coaching ledger. U-M is better than Washington in every facet. As long as the Wolverines don’t have a horrendous shooting night, or commit an egregious number of turnovers (they’re 16th nationally, at 15.2 per game), they just have too much talent and depth for U-Dub to slow down. The pick: U-M 88, Washington 68.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

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