WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22 , 2021. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 B3
Earlier, the council had
approved much more significant
changes to the city’s ward map,
including expanding Wards 7 and
8, the city’s poorest wards, across
the Anacostia River to include
more affluent neighborhoods.
— Julie Zauzmer WeilMARYLAND3 teens are charged
i n Bethesda slayingThree teenagers were charged
with murder Tuesday in the death
of a man found slain in a stairwell
along a retail stretch of Bethesda,
Montgomery County police said.
The three suspects — ages 16, 17,
and 18 — each face counts of first-
degree murder, armed robbery and
conspiracy to commit robbery,
police said. Police did not identify
them. All three were charged as
adults.
About 8:15 p.m. Monday, police
were called about a suspicious
situation in the 6800 block of
Wisconsin Avenue, which is just
north of Bradley Boulevard. They
found a man “with trauma to his
body” in a stairwell near a Target
store, police said.
The victim was pronounced
dead at the scene. His identity will
be released after family members
are notified.
— Dan Morseto bring that depth of experience
and commitment to” the Freder-
icksburg extension.
Transurban also operates the
495 Express Lanes and is working
on a three-mile extension to the
American Legion Bridge.
VDOT officials said they have
facilitated meetings to identify
construction options that mini-
mize schedule delays.
“VDOT will continue in its
oversight role to ensure the proj-
ect is delivered safely and built to
contract standards,” the agency
said. “We are ready to help clear
obstacles to mitigate schedule de-
lays to bring congestion relief for
the region and all Virginians as
quickly as possible.”
[email protected]Sheres said the area has a
highly plastic clay and silt materi-
al that require a different ap-
proach to construction. Trans -
urban and its contractor are
working to determine the
amount of clay in the area and
trying to understand the impact.
Transurban and VDOT said ad-
justments to the project timeline
and cost should be determined at
the arbitration hearing next
month.
“The construction of mega-in-
frastructure projects is complex
and always comes with challeng-
es,” Sheres said in an email. “Our
Virginia Express Lanes network
along the 95, 495 and 395 corri-
dors were all delivered on-time
and on-budget, and we continuewas supposed to be like 32,”
Driver said. The outreach team
warned people that the
temperature was going to drop
and that recreation centers would
be open as part of the city’s
hypothermia plan.
Smith went off to meet with a
client as Driver and Robey walked
to Washington Circle. People
sometimes sleep there, though it
had been quiet as of late.
“It’s very rare you get a person
saying, ‘Leave me alone,’ ” Robey
said. She treated the
encampments as she wouldif anyone needed anything or
wanted to be tested.
Robey visits various
encampments three or four times
a week. “You have to go
frequently,” she said. “You never
know who you're going to catch.
Life is so chaotic living outside.”
The Miriam’s Kitchen outreach
workers connect clients with
resources, but they also serve as
an informal telegraph, especially
about the weather.
“Last week we had a weird
warm stretch, where it was 66
degrees in the day, then that nightthem to come service it.”
We walked west, toward an
encampment at 25th Street and
Virginia Avenue NW, across from
the Watergate and not far from
the Kennedy Center. A person in
the encampment had tested
positive for the coronavirus and
now a clinic van from Unity
Health Care was parked across
the street offering tests. We were
joined by another Miriam’s
Kitchen outreach worker, Keelyn
Robey.
Together, she and Smith moved
among the tents, checking to seesomeone’s home: introducing
herself, not barging in, being
respectful.
On the east side of Washington
Circle, on the overpass above K
Street, a green tent was pitched
on the concrete. Its ripstop nylon
door was zipped shut and leaves
were mounded against the side.
The tent was probably empty, but
Robey wanted to be sure.
“Hello!” she said, leaning
down. “Is anybody home? It's
Keelyn from Miriam’s Kitchen.”Helping Hand
Robey told me about a woman at
one encampment to whom she
said hello every day.
“She yelled at me every day for
two months,” Robey said.
And then one day she didn’t.
Some day, that woman may share
her story with Robey and be open
to receiving the help she needs.
You don’t have to wait two
months. You can help today, by
making a donation to Miriam’s
Kitchen, a partner in The
Washington Post Helping Hand.
To give online, visit
posthelpinghand.com.
To give by check, write
Miriam’s Kitchen, Attn:
Development, 2401 Virginia Ave.
NW, Washington, DC 20037.
I fear that we’re not as far along
in our Helping Hand campaign as
we should be. So far, Post readers
have donated $87,760.29. That’s
a nice amount, but far short of
our goal of $250,000 by Jan. 7.
Please consider giving today.
Thank you.
[email protected]
Twitter: @johnkelly For previous columns, visit
washingtonpost.com/johnkelly.who oversees the outreach
operation at Miriam’s Kitchen,
explained the aim of these regular
visits.
“We try to get to know a little
more about them,” Driver said.
“We’ll see if they're connected to
anyone. We’ll ask, ‘Do you have
foods stamps or Medicaid?’ We’ll
continue to have them on our
radar, checking on them during
the day.”
A team goes out at night, too.
Gentle persistence is key. The
hope is that a person
experiencing homelessness will
eventually choose to work with a
Miriam’s Kitchen case manager to
find housing.
“If that's what they prefer,”
Driver said. “Not everyone wants
housing or wants housing in the
same way. Some individuals don't
trust the system.”
And that gets to what the
outreach team doesn’t do. Said
Driver: “We can never force
anybody to work with us, even
though we know they need so
many things.”
They can’t remove a person or
take down their tent. If someone
is having a mental health crisis,
they can contact a community
response team from the city’s
Department of Behavioral
Health.
While overall homelessness
has dropped in the city, the
number of tent encampments has
risen. When an encampment has
grown to six or more people, the
city erects a portable toilet a nd a
two-sink hand-washing station.
Smith checked the hand-
washing station.
“No soap,” she said of one side.
“They have water on this side, but
just a little bit. We’re going to callA tent has no door
to knock on, no
doorbell to ring.
And so when
Angela Smith
visits the
encampments
that dot the
sidewalks, traffic
circles and pocket
parks of
Washington, she announces
herself with a loud, friendly voice.
“Hi! I'm Angela from Miriam's
Kitchen,” she said the other
afternoon as she walked along a
row of tents in a park at 21st and
E streets NW. “I'm just making
sure you're okay.”
Smith is part of the outreach
team at Miriam’s Kitchen, a D.C.
charity that works to eliminate
homelessness. To handle the
increasing number of
encampments, the city is divided
into sections that are served by
different organizations. Miriam’s
Kitchen is responsible for 33
square miles, mostly in
Northwest Washington. Each day,
team members such as Smith
head out to connect with the
people who live there.
“Hi, Miriam’s Kitchen is out
here; checking on you guys,”
Smith said. The tents — in shades
of gray, red, green, orange and
blue — resembled deflated hot air
balloons.
“Is anyone home? Hello!”
A man emerged from one tent.
He was young, in his stocking
feet, rubbing his eyes.
“You okay?” Smith asked.
“Tired,” he said.
“Is anyone working with you?”
“No.”
“We'll send someone.”
Juanita Driver, the person
Miriam’s Kitchen reaches the unhoused where they live: On the s treets of D.C.
John
Kelly's
Washington
JOHN KELLY/THE WASHINGTON POST
Juanita Driver, left, and Keelyn Robey of the outreach team at Miriam’s Kitchen, a charity that works
to end homelessness in the District. Driver oversees the teams that visit tent encampments in the city.THE DISTRICT
New ward boundaries
head to mayor’s deskThe D.C. Council approved new
boundaries for the city’s eight
wards on Tuesday, sending the
decennial redistricting bill to
Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) for
her signature.
After months of discussion and
debate, the final vote Tuesday
included only one change to the
boundaries initially approved by
the council two weeks ago: The
council settled a conflict between
Ward 1 and Ward 5 leaders over
which ward should include the
mostly unpopulated area
surrounding the Armed Forces
Retirement Home and several
hospitals, voting in favor of
keeping the parcel in Ward 5.
The vote went the other way in
the council’s previous vote on
Dec. 7. The deciding member,
Ward 2’s Brooke Pinto (D),
changed her vote after lobbying
from Ward 5 residents who
insisted that their lower-income
ward ought to benefit from future
development planned for the
parcel, not Ward 1. Ward 1 leaders
said the site is cut off from most of
Ward 5 by high-speed North
Capitol Street, whereas Ward 1
residents garden there and
volunteer at the retirement home.LOCAL DIGEST
Results from Dec. 21
DISTRICT
Day/DC-3: 3-9-4
DC-4: 5-4-9-4
DC-5: 6-1-9-4-7
Night/DC-3 (Mon.): 8-8-4
DC-3 (Tue.): 1-9-5
DC-4 (Mon.): 6-9-2-2
DC-4 (Tue.): 1-0-0-6
DC-5 (Mon.): 7-1-2-3-0
DC-5 (Tue.): 6-6-9-1-5MARYLAND
Day/Pick 3: 6-1-2
Pick 4: 1-1-0-0
Night/Pick 3 (Mon.): 0-1-1
Pick 3 (Tue.): 1-5-8
Pick 4 (Mon.): 1-2-8-8
Pick 4 (Tue.): 6-8-8-4
Multi-Match (Mon.): 2-20-23-27-31-36
Match 5 (Mon.): 1-7-14-16-38 *10
Match 5 (Tue.): 3-4-19-33-36 *35
5 Card Cash: 9D-7C-8D-2S-2CVIRGINIA
Day/Pick-3: 6-6-5 ^9
Pick-4: 4-0-6-0 ^8
Night/Pick-3 (Mon.): 2-7-0 ^2
Pick-3 (Tue.): 5-8-2 ^2
Pick-4 (Mon.): 5-1-2-9 ^2
Pick-4 (Tue.): 5-0-1-9 ^3
Cash-5 (Mon.): 7-9-10-27-30
Cash-5 (Tue.): 13-21-27-32-3 7MULTI-STATE GAMES
Cash 4 Life:3-17-30-40-45 ¶1
Mega Millions: 25-31-58-64-67 **24
Megaplier: 3x
Lucky for Life:2-10-18-26-31 ‡14
Powerball: 2-13-23-34-66 †2
Power Play: 4x
Double Play: 8-26-36-37-47 †19*Bonus Ball **Mega Ball †Powerball
‡Lucky Ball ¶Cash Ball ^FireballFor late drawings and other results, check
washingtonpost.com/local/lotteryLOTTERIES
has created additional traffic
headaches for drivers in the corri-
dor, although lighter traffic vol-
umes during the coronavirus
pandemic helped to minimize the
effects.
The project is more than
50 percent complete, with the
second of two major bridge re-
constructions scheduled to start
in the spring, said Transurban
spokeswoman Tanya Sheres.
Crews have put in more than
900,000 work-hours on the job,
while removing more than
750,000 cubic yards of dirt, she
said.bottleneck at the Occoquan
Bridge.
Virginia transportation offi-
cials say the Fredericksburg ex-
tension will increase lane capac-
ity — by 66 percent in the peak
direction — along one of the most
congested stretches of I-95. When
the lanes open, carpoolers will be
allowed to ride free. Solo drivers
can use the lanes at a cost. Even
those who choose not to pay can
benefit, officials said, because
having more people in the toll
lanes should relieve congestion in
the general lanes.
Construction since June 2019to ease congestion created when
the express lanes end and traffic
merges into the general travel
lanes.
North of the project zone, Tran-
surban is advancing a plan for a
new reversible ramp — a $50 mil-
lion project — connecting the
95 Express Lanes at Opitz Boule-
vard to enhance access to the
Potomac Mills shopping center.
Groundbreaking is expected this
summer, with completion in- And VDOT is building a
new southbound auxiliary lane, a
$30 million project, on I-95 in
Woodbridge to address a traffic
section that carries an average of
150,000 vehicles daily. The new
toll lanes will connect to a newly
opened three-lane crossing over
the Rappahannock River that
doubled capacity along south-
bound Interstate 95. Another
bridge over the Rappahannock is
under construction to create the
same capacity for the northbound
lanes, which is scheduled to open
in 2024.
That project is just south of
where crews are working on the
10-mile extension. It should help
LANES FROM B1
Extension of Va.’s 95 Express Lanes slowed by clay
experts said.
Experts at the Baltimore
aquarium said the sea turtles had
pneumonia, dehydration, emaci-
ation and lesions on their skin,
eyes and shells, along with blood
infections — all common illnesses
from being cold-stunned. They
are getting care 24 hours a day
from a team that hopes to return
them to their natural habitat in
about three to four months.
Officials at the aquarium said
they have named some of the sea
turtles after musical instruments,
including Cornet, Tuba, Trom-
bone, Trumpet, Kazoo and Viola.
Officials said that since 1991,
the Baltimore facility has rehabil-
itated and released 270 endan-
gered sea turtles.
[email protected]hard for them to navigate “out of
the cold waters,” she said. Be-
cause sea turtles are exothermic,
they get their body temperatures
from their surroundings, like air
or water. “If they’re in water that’s
too cold for too long, their bodies
slow down,” Shaffer said.
“They stop eating, and they’re
at the mercy of the tide,” she said.
Every year, the Baltimore aquari-
um takes in about 30 sea turtles
who are cold-stunned, she said.
The latest rescued sea turtles
include 26 of a species called
Kemp’s ridley, and four others are
green sea turtles, aquarium offi-
cials said.
Both Kemp’s ridley and green
sea turtles are considered endan-
gered species due to poaching
and destruction of their habitat,swim, causing them to float to the
surface,” NOAA said. Eventually,
the wind and tides wash the
cold-stunned sea turtles ashore;
if they’re not rescued, they devel-
op other more serious health con-
ditions and can die.
The 30 sea turtles b rought to
Baltimore were rescued in No-
vember from Cape Cod, Mass.
Officials said they were cared for
at the New England Aquarium in
Boston, then transferred to the
aquarium in Baltimore for reha-
bilitation.
Kate Shaffer, rehabilitation
manager at the National Aquari-
um, said sea turtles migrate up
and down the Atlantic Coast.
They go to Cape Cod for the
summer, but when the tempera-
ture drops in the fall, it becomesBY DANA HEDGPETH
More than two dozen sickened
sea turtles are undergoing long-
term rehabilitation at the Nation-
al Aquarium in Baltimore after
being rescued in New England.
Officials with the facility said
the 30 sea turtles suffered from a
condition called cold-stunning —
becoming weak after being ex-
posed for too long to cold temper-
atures. Sea turtles can’t regulate
their body temperatures the way
mammals can, and they get cold-
stunned in the Atlantic Ocean
and the Gulf of Mexico, according
to the National Oceanic and At-
mospheric Administration.
When sea turtles are cold-
stunned, they “become lethargic
and are eventually unable to
MARYLAND
30 endangered sea turtles get rehab in Baltimore
THERESA KEIL/NATIONAL AQUARIUM
Cold-stunned sea turtles rescued from Cape Cod have been transferred to the National Aquarium in Baltimore for round-the-clock care.