Good morning. Mostly sunny and humid with a high around 90 today. Storms and showers are likely this afternoon. Rain and storms are likely to continue overnight, with a low near 70. The Nationals wrap up a four-game homestand against Colorado this evening. The Mystics visit the Phoenix Mercury. How well do you know the District? Play our new geography game and test your local knowledge. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below. This roundup is available as a morning email newsletter. Sign up here. I can’t stop listening to: Chatham County Line, “Living in Raleigh Now.” The North Carolina bluegrass group plays Jammin’ Java tonight. Take Washingtonian Today with you! I keep ridiculously long playlists on Apple Music and on Spotify of this year’s music recommendations. Here are 2025’s songs (Apple, Spotify), too. Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out: Russia job: CIA Director John Ratcliffe warned Russia not to launch any attacks on NATO countries during a surprise trip there this week. US officials worry that Russian President Vladimir Putin, perhaps emboldened by the US weapons shortage exacerbated by President Trump‘s war on Iran, could “launch an assault ranging from a cyberattack to a small-scale land incursion, likely on a Baltic nation.” (WSJ) Ratcliffe also urged the Russians “to reduce military and economic support for Iran.” (Politico) Post tense: US District Judge Indira Talwani lifted an injunction she’d placed on Trump’s new mail-in-voting rule, citing a recent Supreme Court decision that said states could not sue before the US Postal Service published it. (Axios) Talwani said Trump’s executive order that preceded the rule is “likely unconstitutional.” State election officials say the rule “will be impossible to implement before the first wave of mail ballots are sent out next week.” (AP) Administration perambulation: US Army General Chris LaNeve warned now-former Army Chief of Staff General Randy George to abandon a probe into a helicopter flyover of Kid Rock‘s house, saying Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wanted the investigation quashed. Hegseth, who later took a helicopter ride with Kid Rock, fired George in April. (Washington Post) Health Secretary RFK Jr. suggested the office of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro “may have fabricated two deaths from measles in an attempt to score political points.” (Politico) An LA County judge paused criminal charges against Jeanine John Taele, a California man the feds say was surveilling Trump’s golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes and had a loaded gun in his vehicle. Taele will undergo a mental health evaluation. (NBC News) Trump signed a proclamation enshrining his plan to remove tariffs from some imported beef in an attempt to lower prices. US cattle producers are not especially jazzed about this initiative. (Politico) Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will finally face trial in 2028. (NBC News) US carmakers are “taking a soft touch approach to lobbying the Trump administration to abandon its trade war” with Canada. (Politico) Hidden Eats. by Ike Allen: Photograph by Ike Allen. Yesterday was the last day of Onam, an annual Hindu festival celebrated in the south Indian state of Kerala with a blowout vegetarian harvest feast called a sadya. Without quite realizing that, I stopped by Shree Ganapathi Kitchen, a new South Indian vegetarian lunch counter in the wonderful food court at Chantilly’s Lotte Plaza Market. The special sadya or “Grand Lunch” was a kaleidoscope of various curries, lentil sambar, tart rasam, vegetable kootu, green bean poriyal, fried banana chips, and sweet payasam, arrayed around white rice, a piece of chapati, and a miniature banana. Don’t fret about missing the holiday: the place serves veggie lunches nearly as elaborate all year. Take Hidden Eats with you! Our wildly popular map will show you which Hidden Eats—the out-of-the-way mom-and-pop eateries Ike highlights in this newsletter and in our print magazine—are nearby. Recently on Washingtonian dot com: • Here are some ways you can celebrate Dolly Parton‘s life in the coming days. • A ruff guide to the official dogs of DC-area sports teams. Local news links: Social capital: The District of Columbia will receive at least $90 million and as much as $130 million from Meta’s $17 billion settlement deal. (NOTUS) Virginia will get at least $353 million. (Virginia Mercury) Maryland could get as much as $327 million. (Baltimore Banner) Commanders corner: If you’re not spending 10 percent of your day worrying about the Commanders’ offensive line, please block out some time on your calendar. The team struggled to protect Jayden Daniels at a joint practice with the Ravens in Maryland yesterday. (Washington Post) Daronte Jones, the team’s new defensive coordinator, urges his players to think like Denzel Washington when trying to fool other teams’ offenses. (NOTUS) The team is selling merch with its old name. It says it needs to do so to protect trademarks. The Association on American Indian Affairs is dismayed. (DC News Now) • The Virginia Department of Transportation is studying how it could answer the prayers of many by making express lanes on I-95 run in both directions. (NBC4 Washington) • The beloved Mount Pleasant cookbook shop Bold Fork Books will close at the end of September. (City Cast DC) • A kitten named Magnolia who was used in a bank robbery last month has a new home. (Washington Post) Thursday’s event picks: • Therapy Gecko—aka podcaster Lyle Drescher—takes your questions at Miracle Theatre. • Tony Fletcher discusses his new book, “Pow!: When UK Punk Went Pop, 1980-84” with Seth Lorinczi at Politics and Prose’s Union Market location. See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.The post DC, Maryland, and Virginia Will Get Millions from Meta; the Kid Rock Helicopter Story Returns; Kitten Used in Local Bank Robbery Finds Home first appeared on Washingtonian. ...read more read less