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Amtrak breaks out the good china again with new Acela first-class menu 08/05/2021 12:40pm • Chicken tandoori, one of the meal options on Acela's first-class cars. (Courtesy Amtrak) After months of serving prepackaged food with disposable service items as part of its COVID-19 safety protocols, Amtrak has brought back proper plates and serviceware to its meal service in Acela first-class 12 Ways to Stay Safe at the Pool 08/05/2021 12:00am • A little preparation can help you cool off safely. If the heat and humidity of summer have you down, you can find relief by diving into a pool. Swimming pools are a great place to exercise while cooling off from the searing temperatures of the summer months. What could be better than jumping into th How to Give Yourself a Midyear Financial Checkup 08/05/2021 12:00am • Without regular maintenance, financial plans tend to fall apart. Relief benefits are changing, market conditions are evolving and plans made six months ago might not make much sense today if any major life events have since occurred. Enter the midyear financial checkup. A midyear financial checkup Traffic continues to grow on DC-area highways following pandemic plunge 08/04/2021 10:50pm • New data shows traffic on the D.C. region's highways in May was not back to pre-pandemic levels, but it was getting close in some parts of the area. "I'm surprised by how fast, or how much that traffic volumes have recovered," said Tim Canan, Planning Data and Research Program Director for the Me How to ease anxiety — for parents and kids — about return to in-person learning 08/04/2021 10:00pm • A Northern Virginia child psychiatrist reports finding more parents than kids are concerned about returning to in-person learning, and she has advice for students and guardians who may be anxious. “What I'm seeing, a lot, is that parents have concerns about the what-ifs of school and is a full- Bringing back Drinks in the Parks: Montgomery Co. looks at the law 08/04/2021 09:52pm • Good news for those hoping to see Montgomery County, Maryland, bring back the program that allowed parks users to have a beer or a glass of wine while enjoying a meal. Casey Anderson, chair of the Montgomery County Planning Board, had been asked by state and county lawmakers to reinstate the prog Northern Virginia health directors issue joint recommendation on indoor mask-wearing 08/04/2021 06:02pm • The professionals who oversee all five Northern Virginia health jurisdictions agree that indoor mask-wearing should resume regardless of vaccination status. In a joint letter to local leaders, the directors also said masks should be worn "in government and other public settings," and they said th Trinity Washington University uses American Rescue Plan funds to pay down student debt 08/04/2021 04:16pm • Elizabeth Silva, left, and Annissa Young, right, who both had their Trinity student balances cleared. (Courtesy Trinity Washington University) Trinity Washington University announced that it has paid off $2.3 million in balances from over 500 undergraduate students of the university, in part usi Only on WTOP: Fairfax Co.'s top prosecutor on digging out of courts' pandemic backlog 08/04/2021 04:14pm • Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano holds a news conference outside the county courthouse in Fairfax, Va., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Matthew Barakat) Fairfax County courts are slowly reopening, but with the new COVID-19 delta variant on the rise, Commonwealth's Attorney Virginia House passes Democrats' spending plan 08/04/2021 03:46pm • RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia House has given initial approval to a spending plan for billions of dollars in federal coronavirus relief money. The vote Wednesday came a day after the Democratic majority flatly rejected Republican-proposed amendments to the measure. It ultimately advanced on Montgomery Co. poised to reinstate indoor mask mandate 08/04/2021 03:25pm • Officials in Montgomery County are poised to reimpose a universal indoor mask mandate amid rising coronavirus cases, but say they hope that's as far as they have to go in terms of new restrictions in Maryland's most populous — and most vaccinated — county. "We're not looking to shut things do Racine orders COVID-19 vaccinations for all DC Attorney General employees 08/04/2021 02:59pm • D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine has mandated that every employee in his office get vaccinated against COVID-19. The new policy includes all Office of the Attorney General employees, contractors and interns coming into the office, except for individuals with a religious, medical or emergency use Md. official: Rent relief payouts to increase ‘dramatically’ 08/04/2021 01:29pm • Maryland leaders are pushing back on the notion that the state has been too slow to get rent relief money out to residents. The state and its localities got an initial $401 million in federal money that was earmarked for rent relief, with another $352 million on the way. Through July, only about It's your last chance to apply to be a beekeeper in Virginia 08/04/2021 11:28am • An extremely popular program in Virginia that works to boost the state's bee population is back after being put on hold last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. And Wednesday is your last chance to apply. "What we're providing is up to three beehive units per household," said Keith Tigno Gaithersburg, Rockville to require masks in city buildings 08/04/2021 11:12am • As COVID-19 cases rise in Maryland, Gaithersburg and Rockville, in Montgomery County, are again requiring visitors and staff in city buildings to wear masks, regardless of vaccination status. “Masking has proven very effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19," Gaithersburg City Manager City