Washington
“Sunset Road:” New rom-com feature focuses the lens on Washington’s Red Mountain wine country – Northwest Public Broadcasting
Sunset Road is the name of a slice of pavement that cuts up the flank of Red Mountain, in southeast Washington wine country. It’s also where a new queer rom-com, also called “Sunset Road,” was shot.
In the first scene, Etta Campbell, played by the film’s director, Janet Krupin, is found on the roadside talking to a friend working in New York.
Sam Work Bestie: “Remind me where are you now?”
Etta Campbell: “Washington.”
Sam Work Bestie: “D.C.?”
Etta Campbell: “State.”
Sam Work Bestie: “Oh, Seattle?”
Etta Campbell: “Nope. Three and half hours southeast. It’s Washington wine country I guess?”
This queer rom-com is available on Amazon Prime Video. (Courtesy: Janet Krupin)
The film is based on the plot of “Romeo and Juliet.”
Instead of the Capulets and Montagues, the warring families are upset with wine and what to top it with – corks or screw tops. They have it out at a popular Richland restaurant, called Fiction.
Papa Campbell: “Maybe one of you could tell me why you prefer screw tops over natural cork? I’ve always wondered what in the world you’d …”
Oryn Montgomery: “How about them Mariners?”
Mama Montgomery: “Screwtops are wonderful; they’re the wave of the future.”
Spoiler alert: No one dies in this rom-com.
Director Krupin was raised in the Tri-Cities, and moved to New York City.
She was on Broadway, and side-hustled hosting gigs.
“Like, I was loving it,” Krupin said. “Doing the acting thing.”
But, then came the pandemic.
“I think it was Friday the 13th, I will never forget it,” Krupin said. “They shut down Broadway and then they shut down the restaurants, and those were my two forms of income.”
She moved back home to the Tri-Cities. She worked at Hightower Cellars during the pandemic.
And her comedy was born.
Krupin plays the Juliet-inspired character who falls in love with the warring family’s daughter. Under the string lights of her real-life parents’ house, the pair sip a rosé called “Any Other Name.”
Oryn Montgomery: “Great body.”
Etta Campbell: “Why, thank you.”
Oryn Montgomery: “[laugh] The wine.”
Etta Campbell: “Well, maybe you can tell me what a wine having body even means?”
Oryn Montgomery: “Body is how heavy or thin it feels in the mouth. Uh, this has a silky but substantial mouth feel.”
This “queer romp” is set amid conservative agriculture, east of the Cascades.
Traci Gillig is an assistant professor at Washington State University. She studies gender, health and media. (Courtesy: Traci Gillig)
Traci Gillig is an assistant professor at Washington State University. She studies gender and media. She said this film doesn’t spotlight hardships for queer people – a rarity.
“And I think also that a lot of what was seen in the past was sort of struggles,” Gillig said, “not that we need necessarily more media representations of those, that sort of space people are living in now.”
The film cast many local actors and business people. Kelly Hightower co-owns a winery featured in the film. She said unlike the warring families in the new film, they use both cork and screw tops.
“When I first saw the movie it made me laugh out loud … It was just so funny,” Hightower said. “I mean actual quotes that actually happened here at the winery.”
Tim and Kelly Hightower sit with Janet Krupin at Hightower Cellars on Red Mountain, which was featured in “Sunset Road.” (Credit: Anna King / NWPB)
The music from the film is recorded by Krupin’s sister, Halley Greg. “Sunset Road” is now on Amazon Prime Video.
* Kyle Norris contributed to this report.
Washington
18-year-old dies after shooting in Tenleytown
An 18-year-old who was shot and wounded in Northwest D.C.’s Tenleytown neighborhood on Thursday afternoon has died, authorities say.
Brady Flowers Jr., of Southwest, was the victim, police said in an update Saturday.
Flowers was found shot in the 4500 block of Wisconsin Avenue NW, behind the CVS store. Jackson-Reed High School and American University are nearby.
Flowers was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries and pronounced dead a day later, police said.
Police said 10-15 teens were seen running after the gunshots.
An investigation is underway. Anyone with potentially relevant information is asked to contact police.
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Washington
Governor Moore Continues “Delivering for Maryland” Tour in Washington County, Highlighting Transportation Infrastructure, Economic Development, and Early Childhood Education
Updated:
ANNAPOLIS, MD — Governor Wes Moore today continued his statewide “Delivering for Maryland” tour with a series of engagements in Washington County, highlighting vital investments in local transportation infrastructure, manufacturing job growth, and early childhood education. The governor emphasized state contributions to modernize the Hagerstown Regional Airport, toured the state-of-the-art Hitachi Rail facility, and celebrated the opening of a new child care center in the South End of Hagerstown funded by the administration’s historic ENOUGH Initiative.
“From investing $1.5 million to update Hagerstown Regional Airport’s aging control tower to supporting 1,300 jobs at Hitachi Rail, the Moore-Miller administration is delivering for Hagerstown, Washington County, and Western Maryland,” said Gov. Moore. “Through our administration’s ENOUGH Initiative partnerships and investments, we’ve tripled child care capacity in the South End of Hagerstown — because no parents should be forced to pick between staying in the workforce or securing quality care for their kids.”
The governor began the day at the Hagerstown Regional Airport, touring the Air Traffic Control Tower and airport grounds. During the visit, Governor Moore highlighted the State’s $1.5 million Fiscal Year 2027 investment to complete the design for a critical replacement of the airport’s aging air traffic control facility. As a primary airport in the Maryland Aviation System Plan, the Hagerstown Regional Airport is a vital economic engine for Washington County, supporting more than 1,800 jobs and generating over $140 million in local business revenue.
Following the airport tour, Governor Moore visited the Hitachi Rail STS facility alongside Congresswoman April McClain Delaney, Senator Mike McKay, Senator Paul Corderman and state transportation leaders. The governor toured the factory floor and rode a test train to observe the manufacturing process. Opened in September 2025 with the support of a $1.6 million state conditional loan, the 307,000-square-foot, carbon-neutral facility is a $100 million capital investment by Hitachi. The factory supports 1,300 jobs — including 460 newly created jobs — and is actively manufacturing railcars for both the Maryland Transit Administration and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
“Hitachi Rail has built a cutting-edge model for advanced manufacturing here in Western Maryland which is focused on delivering clean, safe, efficient regional transportation across our state and the rest of the country,” said Congresswoman April McClain Delaney. “This facility is powered by Maryland’s second-to-none workforce and world-class innovation environment. I’m proud to work with Governor Moore and our public, private, and philanthropic partners to drive global investment that supports jobs and economic growth along our I-270 Tech Corridor.”
Governor Moore concluded the day at the Children’s Learning and Empowerment Center in the South End of Hagerstown, where he met with parents, children, and community leaders. During the visit, the Governor highlighted the administration’s ENOUGH Initiative, which provided critical support for the center’s opening. The new facility is a major win for the community, tripling local childcare capacity with 24 new slots and generating six new early childhood education jobs.
The Children’s Learning and Empowerment Center’s opening was accelerated by a $100,000 investment from San Mar Family & Community Services, the ENOUGH grantee in Hagerstown. ENOUGH grant funding was also supplemented by a $100,000 philanthropic contribution from the Bainum Family Foundation — a member of the ENOUGH Alliance — to complete necessary facility upgrades. The center’s completion underscores the strength of the ENOUGH Initiative’s public-private partnerships to deliver on community priorities and work towards ending child poverty.
Governor Moore’s visit to Washington County follows the third stop of his “Delivering for Maryland” tour in Montgomery County, where he marked a historic milestone by installing the final segment of rail for the Purple Line. This installation completes the 16.2-mile light rail corridor connecting Bethesda and New Carrollton, with passenger service expected to begin in late 2027. The governor also visited Max’s Best Ice Cream in Bethesda, a local business dedicated to creating meaningful employment opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through the Best Buddies Jobs program.
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Washington
Washington shooting suspect seeks to bar DoJ officials from prosecution role
A man charged with attacking the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is seeking to disqualify top justice department officials from direct involvement in prosecuting him because they could be considered victims or witnesses in the case, creating a potential conflict of interest.
The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, and US attorney Jeanine Pirro were attending the 25 April event at the Washington Hilton hotel when Cole Tomas Allen allegedly ran through a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun at a Secret Service officer.
In a court filing late on Thursday, Allen’s attorneys argued that it created at least the appearance of a conflict of interest for Blanche and Pirro to be making any prosecutorial decisions in the case.
“As this case proceeds closer to trial, the country and the world will continue to wonder – how can the American justice system permit a victim to prosecute a criminal defendant in a case involving them?” defense attorneys Eugene Ohm and Tezira Abe wrote.
Ohm and Abe, who are assistant federal public defenders, suggested that the appointment of a special prosecutor might be warranted. They urged US district judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee assigned to Allen’s case, to disqualify Pirro, Blanche and possibly other justice department officials from direct involvement in the investigation and prosecution.
“Both heard gunshots, which presumably forced them to duck below the tables with the rest of the occupants. They were quickly evacuated. Shortly thereafter, they learned that law enforcement believed the target was certain administration officials,” Ohm and Abe wrote.
Pirro said her office would respond to the defense lawyers’ arguments in its own court filing.
“We will not tolerate people who come to the District of Columbia to engage in antidemocratic acts of political violence; and we will prosecute all such acts to the fullest extent of the law,” Pirro said in a statement.
Allen is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday on further charges in an indictment handed up Tuesday by a grand jury in Washington.
The charges include attempting to assassinate Donald Trump, who is a longtime friend of Pirro. Blanche served as a personal attorney for Trump before joining the justice department last year. Blanche, through a spokesperson, referred a request for comment to Pirro’s office. Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, is also charged with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon and two additional firearms counts.
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