Washington
Washington Commanders could part ways with former Alabama All-American
The Washington Commanders have given defensive tackle Jonathan Allen permission to look for a new team.
The former Alabama All-American joined Washington as the 17th selection in the 2017 NFL Draft. The two-time Pro Bowler ranks second in franchise history in tackles for loss and quarterback hits and 10th in sacks.
But in 2024, Allen missed nine games because of a torn pectoral muscle sustained on Oct. 13. He made it back to the field to start all three of the Commanders’ playoff contests as Washington reached the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1991.
“These decisions and things you have to come up with are always tough,” Commanders general manager Adam Peters said on Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. “With Jon, who’s been a great player as a Commander, a Football Teamer and a Redskin, he’s been a great person for this franchise for a long time, so you have to weigh everything. We looked at it internally, and: OK, what decision do we want to make that’s best for the team but also best for that player? Those are tough conversations to have. You always want to have them civilly. We have. His agent’s been really good with us, and I look forward to coming to a resolution.”
Allen is entering the final season of a four-year, $72 million contract extension that will pay him $15.5 million in 2025. But none of that money is guaranteed. Allen will count $22.471 million on Washington’s salary cap for the 2025 season, and releasing Allen would slice $16.471 million of that off the cap obligations.
“He’s going into the last year of his deal,” Peters said, “and wanted to give him and his representation, Blake Baratz, who’s a really good agent, just talked about it and said wanted to be able to explore opportunities. And so we let them do that. We’re staying in contact with them every day. Just texted with them this morning.
“Really, everything is still on the table in terms of whether it’s a trade or staying here or whatever, so we’re still going through that. It’s still kind of early in the stages. We haven’t done a lot of exploring yet. But that’s kind of where we’re at right now.”
If a trading partner is found to take Allen, the Commanders would have Daron Payne and Jer’Zhan Newton as their top defensive tackles. A former Shades Valley High School and Alabama standout, Payne has two seasons remaining on a four-year, $90 million contract extension. A second-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, Newton started 11 regular-season games and played 587 defensive snaps as a rookie.
“The two main things is we’re always going to do what’s best for our organization,” Peters said, “but we also want to do right by Jon, too. And so those things are important to us.”
At Alabama, Allen swept the national Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2016 by winning the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Chuck Bednarik Award. He also won the SEC Defensive Player of the Year Award, the Rotary Lombardi Award as the nation’s best lineman and the Ted Hendricks Award as the nation’s best defensive end. Allen was a unanimous All-American in 2016, when he earned All-SEC selection for third season in a row.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.
Washington
Bellevue vs. Renton: Watch Washington boys high school basketball tilt live tonight
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Bellevue travels to Renton High School on Friday night for a nonleague matchup that pits two surging programs coming in on win streaks. The Wolverines (12-2) enter riding momentum from last season’s state quarterfinal appearance, while the Red Hawks (7-8) look to build consistency under head coach Rashaad Powell.
Head coach Warren King returns a deep senior class led by Jackson Skaggs, Max Harrity, Eduardo Molina, Kenny Shin, Trevin King and Nick Norrah. The Wolverines also feature junior Tayten Jones, giving them a balanced roster capable of competing with any team in the state.
The Red Hawks counter with their own weapons. Senior Isaac Elegan anchors the lineup, while junior scorer Sudan Luok provides offensive firepower. Junior co-captains Julius White-Kelly, Nick Jarvis and Jalen Taylor round out a core that has shown flashes this season.
Opening tipoff is set for 8 p.m. PT on Friday, January 16 with a live TV broadcast on NFHS Network.
• WATCH: Bellevue vs. Renton basketball is livestreaming on NFHS Network
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How to watch Bellevue vs. Renton basketball livestream
What: Wolverines, Red Hawks set for Friday night Showdown in Renton
When: Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. PT on Friday, January 16
Where: Renton High School | Renton, Washington
Watch live: Watch Bellevue vs. Renton live on the NFHS Network
Washington
National Guard troops to stay on Washington, DC, streets through 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — National Guard troops will be on the streets of Washington, D.C., until the end of the year, according to a memo reviewed by The Associated Press.
The memo, signed by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and dated Wednesday, said “the conditions of the mission” warranted an extension past the end of next month to continue supporting President Donald Trump’s “ongoing efforts to restore law and order.”
Meanwhile, Trump said this month that for now he was dropping his push to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, which had provoked legal challenges. He also backed off a bit Friday from his threat a day earlier to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy troops to quell protests in Minnesota.
In Washington, troops have been charged with patrolling the streets and picking up trash. Trump has asserted repeatedly that crime has vanished in the city.
Two National Guard troops from West Virginia that were part of the mission in D.C. were shot the day before Thanksgiving. Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her injuries.
The National Guard has about 2,400 troops in Washington, with about 700 from D.C. and the rest from 11 states with Republican governors, including Indiana, South Carolina, Alabama and Oklahoma.
Washington
Skeletal remains that washed up on Washington beach identified as Oregon mayor who vanished 20 years ago
Skeletal remains that washed up on a Washington beach have been identified as those of a former Oregon mayor who vanished in 2006, ending a 20-year mystery with the help of genetic genealogy.
Edwin Asher, who previously was mayor of Fossil, Oregon, disappeared while he was crabbing in Tillamook Bay, on the northwest coast of Oregon, on Sept. 5, 2006, the Grays Harbor County coroner and Othram, a forensic genetic genealogy lab, said in news releases this week.
He was presumed to have drowned and was legally declared dead that same year, officials said.
In November 2006, skeletal remains washed ashore in Taholah, an unincorporated village on the Quinault Indian Reservation in Grays Harbor County, Washington, the coroner’s office said.
Taholah is about 124 miles north of Tillamook Bay.
The local sheriff’s and coroner’s offices responded and collected evidence.
It was determined the remains were those of a man estimated to 20 to 60 years old or older, 5 feet, 9 inches tall and an estimated 170 to 180 pounds.
However, the man was never identified, and he became known as the “Grays Harbor County John Doe (2006).”
Last year, the Grays Harbor Coroner’s Office and the King County medical examiner submitted forensic evidence to Othram to try to identify John Doe.
Scientists used genome sequencing to build a DNA profile for the man and genetic genealogy search to develop “new investigative leads.”
Investigators were led to potential relatives of the man, and reference DNA samples were collected from a relative and compared with those of John Doe.
Finally, it led to a positive identification: Grays Harbor John Doe was Clarence Edwin “Ed” Asher, born April 2, 1934.
He was 72 when he died.
Asher was born in Salem and raised in Astoria, and in 1952 he moved to Fossil, where he was a lineman technician for the Fossil Telephone Co. until he retired in 1995, according to his obituary. He also opened his own shop, Asher’s Variety Store, in 1965.
He loved antique cars, fishing and boating, the obituary said.
He had served as mayor and also volunteered as a local fireman and ambulance driver.
He was survived by his wife of over 20 years, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. NBC News has reached out to the city of Fossil for comment.
Forensic genetic genealogy has grown in popularity in recent years and has helped solve decades-old cold cases.
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