8+ hour, 31+ min ago (617+ words) November 29, 2025, 8:19 PM Right between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is Small Business Saturday." For a lot of shoppers, it's a way to get away from the hustle and bustle of shopping malls and return to mom-and-pop stores with more of a personal touch. WTOP spoke to many people in Takoma Park, Maryland, who enjoyed a pretty but chilly day browsing stores on Carroll Avenue. "Takoma Park is all about small businesses," said resident Diana Coats. "So much cute stuff, coffee shops, little shops with cute trinkets." Two people who were beaming as they walked by K&B Bridal and Tux were Claire Sleigh and her mother, Ann Greiner. "Was just trying on some wedding dresses," Sleigh said. It was important to Sleigh to return home from Ithaca, New York, and pick the dress that she will wear for her "I…...

10+ hour, 54+ min ago (768+ words) LOCAL ALERT: DC Police issue juvenile curfew zones in Navy Yard and U Street for Sat., Sun. nights. November 29, 2025, 5:56 PM Jerry Fleming drives a green-and-yellow John Deere tractor around Butler's Orchard, circling the rows upon rows of Christmas trees " planted in fields he personally pulled the stumps from years ago and hand-sheared by him and his co-workers recently as they prepared for the holiday rush. "It's never cold here " the weather might be cold, but the way we work, it's never cold," said Fleming, sporting overalls, a black-and-yellow flannel and sunglasses perched on his hat Fleming is one of the many workers at Butler's Orchard in Germantown who work months, and years, for a couple of weeks of sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas " when they start all over again. Ben Butler, the farm's finance and farm manager, calls the Christmas…...

13+ hour, 20+ min ago (501+ words) LOCAL ALERT: DC Police issue juvenile curfew zones in Navy Yard and U Street for Sat., Sun. nights. November 29, 2025, 3:30 PM " Watch Video: National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom dies after D.C. attack, officials say Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, the 20-year-old West Virginia National Guard member who was shot and killed in an ambush-style attack in Washington, D.C., is being remembered by former co-workers as energetic, funny and quick to laugh. "Her co-workers would tell you she had a great sense of humor," said Marcie Vaughan, CEO of Seneca Health Services. "She loved being part of the community. She would frequently go to events, engage others, and share resources that might positively impact their lives." Beckstrom was one of two members of the West Virginia National Guard who were shot in an ambush-style attack in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. The second victim, Air Force Staff…...

13+ hour, 41+ min ago (271+ words) November 29, 2025, 3:09 PM Detectives in Frederick, Maryland, said an untested section of bedding held the key to identifying who killed a 23-year-old woman in her apartment more than 37 years ago. Delores Marie "Mooda" Thompson was found dead in her apartment in the 100 block of S. Market on Feb. 1, 1988, according to a Frederick Police Department news release. Police said she died of "ligature strangulation" and that the case included evidence of a sexual assault. At the time of her death, police said DNA testing was "in its infancy" and samples of evidence failed to find an "identifiable suspect profile." For nearly four decades, "her family has lived without answers," said Frederick Police Chief Jason Lando. "Today, we can finally give them closure." This year, detectives looked again at the evidence in the case using updated DNA equipment and techniques on a small area…...

18+ hour, 49+ min ago (909+ words) November 29, 2025, 5:00 AM Washington (CNN) " Fasil Regassa wipes away tears when he talks about Sarah Beckstrom, the 20-year-old National Guard member who was shot Wednesday just a few feet away from his store. "I cried when I heard she died," Regassa told CNN. For nine years, Regassa and his wife, immigrants from Ethiopia, have managed a 7-Eleven convenience store just across the street from the shooting scene. When the shooting started, Regassa said, he locked the front doors of his store and rushed the three or four customers inside to a back area for safety. In the bustling downtown area of Washington, DC, blocks away from the White House and packed with tourists, chain restaurants, cafes, banks, stores and corporate offices, business community members are still processing the violence and chaos they experienced near the Farragut West Metro Station. Beckstrom and…...

22+ hour ago (167+ words) Ceoli Jacoby, Bethesda Today November 29, 2025, 6:50 AM Montgomery County police officers now have new patches on their ballistic vests to help the public differentiate between their law enforcement agency and others active in the area, such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a'social media post'on Tuesday, the Montgomery County Department of Police'wrote that some patrol officers currently wear outer ballistic vests with a cloth badge on the front and "POLICE" on the back. Going forward, all vests worn by'county patrol officers will have a patch on the back that reads "MONTGOMERY COUNTY'POLICE." As of Wednesday,'all county police officers had received the new patches, police spokesperson Degan Bartels wrote in an email to Bethesda Today. Goff said some county officers have been harassed by residents who wrongly assumed they were with the federal immigration agency. Bethesda Today, and its print publication…...

23+ hour, 10+ min ago (614+ words) November 29, 2025, 5:40 AM Unlike the commonplace flavors of vanilla and chocolate and longstanding toppings like rainbow sprinkles, Snow Crane " a new ice cream shop set to open in the spring in Hyattsville, Maryland " plans to take your taste buds on a trip. Founder Takeshi Nishikawa, who grew up in central Japan, concocts unique flavors using ingredients like kinako, or roasted soybean flour, and kuromitsu, a syrup made of unrefined black sugar. One flavor he'll be featuring is a Japanese Mont Blanc-inspired ice cream that is processed through a noodle press in the same way the French pastry is. Nishikawa said each flavor tells a story, and the one he wants customers to understand when they try his ice cream is that the world is much more vast than we often think about. "I try to wrap Central Japan around my concept…...

1+ day, 6+ hour ago (1545+ words) November 28, 2025, 10:40 PM (CNN) " President Donald Trump is blaming the Biden administration for this week's shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC, in part by insisting that the suspect, a 29-year-old Afghan, was among millions of foreigners Biden allowed into the US without proper vetting. Details about the alleged shooter's background, including his previous work for the CIA in Afghanistan, and conversations with sources familiar with the vetting process, paint a far more complicated picture. While investigators have yet to establish a clear motive for the shooting, the incident is likely to rekindle concerns over the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the haste with which thousands of evacuees were brought to the US. Trump officials have suggested a breakdown in vetting is likely tied to the attack, while the president is already using it as a reason to further…...

1+ day, 6+ hour ago (285+ words) November 29, 2025, 4:00 AM Groups of protesters blocked or tried to block roads in and around the city of some 93,000 people in the early morning. Police said they used pepper spray after stones were thrown at officers at one location. The new youth organization of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is to be set up in a meeting at Giessen's convention center. Its predecessor, the Young Alternative " a largely autonomous group with relatively loose links to the party " was dissolved at the end of March after AfD decided to formally cut ties with it. AfD wants to have closer oversight over the new group, expected to be called Generation Germany. The party finished second in Germany's national election in February with over 20% of the vote and is now the country's biggest opposition party. It has continued to rise in polls…...

1+ day, 11+ hour ago (432+ words) NEWS ALERT: A suspect has been charged with first-degree murder following the death of one of the National Guard members he's accused of shooting, WTOP has learned. November 28, 2025, 11:59 AM The cold, dry air of winter can make your skin drier than usual and make skin conditions like eczema harder to keep under control. But there are strategies to help winterize your skin and combat the weather changes. Dr. Adam Friedman, professor and chair of dermatology at George Washington University School Medicine and Health Sciences, said there are certain things you can be doing to keep your skin hydrated. "Your moisturizer needs a winter upgrade," Friedman said. "Lotions will not cut it this time of year. I recommend creams and ointments to actually trap and hold moisture in the skin, giving the skin a time to repair and actually stay calm....