73° Overcast
Your Community
Virginia Teacher Spends Last Day Stepping Up For Students Before Immigration Delay Forces Exit Virginia Teacher Spends Last Day Stepping Up For Students Before Immigration Delay Forces Exit Virginia Teacher Spends Last Day Stepping Up For Students Before Immigration Delay Forces Exit
Virginia Teacher Spends Last Day Stepping Up For Students Before Immigration Delay Forces Exit Darwin De La Cruz spent one of his last days as a Virginia teacher making sure his students would have instruments after he was gone. On Thursday, Sept. 3, the Herndon orchestra teacher drove to a warehouse in Springfield, loaded up 100 instruments for young musicians at Dranesville and Herndon elementary schools, hauled them back and prepared them for students, according to colleague Allison Devereux. Then he went to Back to School Night. By the next day, De La Cruz could no longer work for Fairfax County Public Schools. "He could have said I’m done, but he went. He always goes abov…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Your Community
Virginia Family Loses Home To Falling Tree As Little League Community Steps Up Virginia Family Loses Home To Falling Tree As Little League Community Steps Up Virginia Family Loses Home To Falling Tree As Little League Community Steps Up
Virginia Family Loses Home To Falling Tree As Little League Community Steps Up One Virginia family came out of the latest round of storms without a home. A massive tree came crashing down on the Clark family's house in the Riverheads area, destroying the home and forcing the family to find somewhere else to stay. The damage left them facing the loss of their house and many of their belongings, according to Megan Jeffers, who has since organized a fundraiser to help them get back on their feet. But the Clarks aren't facing it alone. Their son plays flag football, and their daughter plays softball for Riverheads Little League, where the family has become part of a you…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Your Community
Maryland Grandmother Steps In To Raise 11-Year-Old After Mother's Sudden Death At 31 Maryland Grandmother Steps In To Raise 11-Year-Old After Mother's Sudden Death At 31 Maryland Grandmother Steps In To Raise 11-Year-Old After Mother's Sudden Death At 31
Maryland Grandmother Steps In To Raise 11-Year-Old After Mother's Sudden Death At 31 Everything changed for a Maryland family in an instant. Ashley Marie Lewis died unexpectedly on Monday, Aug. 3, leaving behind her 11-year-old son, Karter, who is now being cared for by his grandmother, Angela Fernandez. Lewis was 31. Fernandez says she lost her only daughter that day. At the same time, she suddenly became responsible for raising her grandson. “Since losing his mom, Karter has come to live with me, and I have taken on the responsibility of providing him with the stable, loving home he needs as we both navigate this unimaginable loss,” Fernandez wrote in a GoFundMe launche…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Your Community
'That's Right, I Saw You': Virginia Mom Says Rock Hurled From Overpass Nearly Killed Family 'That's Right, I Saw You': Virginia Mom Says Rock Hurled From Overpass Nearly Killed Family 'That's Right, I Saw You': Virginia Mom Says Rock Hurled From Overpass Nearly Killed Family
'That's Right, I Saw You': Virginia Mom Says Rock Hurled From Overpass Nearly Killed Family A few inches may have been all that separated a late-night drive through Virginia from a family tragedy. A massive rock came crashing down onto an SUV traveling along the Dulles Greenway at around 12:40 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 7, near the Sycolin Road overpass in Loudoun County, according to Christina Martinez, who was inside with her husband, two children, and two friends. The rock first slammed into the hood before smashing into the windshield, leaving behind a deep dent and a sprawling web of shattered glass directly in front of the driver's seat. Martinez says that first bounce may ha…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Your Community
Where Is Empress King? Search Intensifies For Missing, Endangered 12-Year-Old Girl In Virginia Where Is Empress King? Search Intensifies For Missing, Endangered 12-Year-Old Girl In Virginia Where Is Empress King? Search Intensifies For Missing, Endangered 12-Year-Old Girl In Virginia
Where Is Empress King? Search Intensifies For Missing, Endangered 12-Year-Old Girl In Virginia Seen her? Police in Virginia are asking for the public's help finding Empress Imani King, a 12-year-old girl who has been reported missing and endangered. Fairfax County police issued an alert for King on Tuesday, Sept. 8, one day after she was last seen at the L'Enfant Plaza Metro Station in DC. King was last spotted at approximately 4:55 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 7, according to investigators. By Tuesday morning, police had turned to the public in an effort to track her down. King is 5-foot-2, weighs approximately 130 pounds, and has brown hair and brown eyes, police said. She was wearing…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Your Community
Maryland Father Shields Trapped Son After Tree Comes Crashing Through Family Home Maryland Father Shields Trapped Son After Tree Comes Crashing Through Family Home Maryland Father Shields Trapped Son After Tree Comes Crashing Through Family Home
Maryland Father Shields Trapped Son After Tree Comes Crashing Through Family Home Adrenaline kicked in for a Maryland father who is being hailed as a hero after a tree crashed through their home, putting his family in danger. The lives of the Carter family changed forever during the recent round of storms that caused devastation shortly after midnight on Friday, Sept. 4, in Kettering. Prince George's County Fire and Rescue crews were called shortly after midnight to the 300 block of Wren Court when a tree crashed through a single-family home, leaving a child trapped inside. What first responders found upon arrival was equal parts unexpected and miraculous. Andrew Carte…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Your Community
Best, Worst Places To Retire In US Revealed In New Ranking: How VA Fared Best, Worst Places To Retire In US Revealed In New Ranking: How VA Fared Best, Worst Places To Retire In US Revealed In New Ranking: How VA Fared
Best, Worst Places To Retire In US Revealed In New Ranking: How VA Fared A new report shows which cities offer the best affordability, activities, and other benefits for retirees. WalletHub released its 2026 Best & Worst Places to Retire ranking on Monday, Aug. 31. The personal finance website compared 182 US cities across 45 measures covering affordability, activities, quality of life, and health care. The study evaluated cities using factors including adjusted cost of living, taxes, recreation and senior centers, museums, weather, crime rates, access to health care providers, hospital quality, and life expectancy. The analysis assumes retirees ar…

SHARE

by Chris Spiker
Your Community
DoorDash Driver Was Almost Done For The Night When Everything Went Wrong DoorDash Driver Was Almost Done For The Night When Everything Went Wrong DoorDash Driver Was Almost Done For The Night When Everything Went Wrong
DoorDash Driver Was Almost Done For The Night When Everything Went Wrong One last delivery was supposed to end a night of work for a Maryland DoorDash driver. Instead, William Koroma says it ended with his car totaled in a serious crash on Church Road in Bowie, leaving him without the vehicle he depended on to make a living. Koroma said he was on his way to make his final delivery of the night when his brakes failed, and he crashed. Photos shared after the wreck show the devastating aftermath, with the front of Koroma's vehicle crushed and mangled. Still, he walked away. Koroma said he was grateful to have survived and that nobody else was seriously injured i…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Your Community
Thief Steals Landscaper's Livelihood As Community Steps Up To Help Business Recover Thief Steals Landscaper's Livelihood As Community Steps Up To Help Business Recover Thief Steals Landscaper's Livelihood As Community Steps Up To Help Business Recover
Thief Steals Landscaper's Livelihood As Community Steps Up To Help Business Recover A thief picked the wrong landscaper to mess with in Maryland. Doug Halloran makes his living keeping lawns around the Bowie community in shape through his aptly named Lawbusters Lawn Service, but now he's the one looking for an assist after his mower was stolen. The theft left Halloran without a piece of equipment he depends on for work and prompted a friend to launch a fundraiser to help replace it. Halloran is a familiar face beyond the lawns he maintains. He's also a member of the Bowie Lions Club and has earned a reputation for giving his time back to the community, according to GoFun…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Your Community
'Second Home' Closing: Beloved Maryland Coffee Shop's Team Faces Heartbreaking Goodbye 'Second Home' Closing: Beloved Maryland Coffee Shop's Team Faces Heartbreaking Goodbye 'Second Home' Closing: Beloved Maryland Coffee Shop's Team Faces Heartbreaking Goodbye
'Second Home' Closing: Beloved Maryland Coffee Shop's Team Faces Heartbreaking Goodbye The coffee was never really the point. For nearly seven years, a Maryland coffee shop has offered something harder to find than a good cup of joe: a place where people with intellectual and developmental disabilities could work, grow, belong, and be seen for what they could do. Now, that chapter is coming to an end. Bitty & Beau's Coffee is set to close its downtown Annapolis location on Sunday, Sept. 13, leaving behind a team that supporters say turned the City Dock shop into far more than another stop for caffeine. Since opening in February 2020, it has become a second home for many…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Your Community
Dog Kills Aggressive Raccoon That Tests Positive For Rabies In Maryland, Officials Say Dog Kills Aggressive Raccoon That Tests Positive For Rabies In Maryland, Officials Say Dog Kills Aggressive Raccoon That Tests Positive For Rabies In Maryland, Officials Say
Dog Kills Aggressive Raccoon That Tests Positive For Rabies In Maryland, Officials Say This dog picked a fight with the wrong raccoon. An aggressive raccoon killed by a dog in Maryland later tested positive for rabies, prompting health officials to warn that other pets or people may have encountered the infected animal before its death. Carroll County Animal Control was called to the area near York Street and the Route 140 crossing in Taneytown on the afternoon of Thursday, Aug. 27, after the dog killed the raccoon, according to the county Health Department. Testing later confirmed the raccoon was rabid. Now health officials are trying to determine whether anyone else cross…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Your Community
Rabid Raccoon Confirmed In Maryland: Here's Where Officials Say It Was Found Rabid Raccoon Confirmed In Maryland: Here's Where Officials Say It Was Found Rabid Raccoon Confirmed In Maryland: Here's Where Officials Say It Was Found
Rabid Raccoon Confirmed In Maryland: Here's Where Officials Say It Was Found A rabies alert has been issued in Maryland after a raccoon tested positive for the virus. The raccoon tested positive on Monday, Aug. 31, near Mary Drive and Shirley Boulevard in Port Tobacco, according to the Charles County Department of Health. Now, officials are looking for anyone who may have encountered it. Anyone who recently had contact with a raccoon in that area, or whose pet may have encountered one, is being asked to call the health department. Rabies is spread through the saliva of an infected animal, typically through a bite or scratch, health officials said. The virus can a…

SHARE

by Zak Failla