“We know you don’t like it when we “disappear” so that’s why we’re giving you this heads up. My last day will be March 23, so I’m going to help get you through the winter,” Sue said during the initial announcement of her retirement.

Fox 5 has started its “Salute to Sue Palka” tribute.

The legendary Local meteorologist announced that she will be retiring from her weather duties at Fox 5, where she has been for 36.5 years.

Fox 5’s Chief Meteorologist began her career in Richmond in 1983 before being hired by Fox 5 in 1985– and place she has remained for over three and a half decades.

“Maury Povich and James Adams anchored our only newscast at 10 pm and Ronald Reagan was the President. I’ve been here so long I’ve seen the Brood X cicadas emerge three times!” said Palka in the announcement from Fox 5.

After she steps down from her current role, she’ll continue to make appearances, per the request of Fox 5 general manager Patrick Paolini.

Palka, a longtime Gaithersburg resident, will certainly be missed.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CYp-uhxD69q/?utm_medium=copy_link

The Washington Commanders have found their new starting quarterback. ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported the following trade terms:

Colts get:
2022 third-round pick
2023 third-round pick that can become a second if Carson Wentz plays 70 percent of plays.
2022 second-round pick

Commanders get:
QB Carson Wentz
2022 second-round pick.

The 29 year old quarterback was drafted by the Philadephia Eagles with the 2nd pick of the 2016 NFL Draft. He played for the Eagles for five seasons before the Indianapolis Colts traded a 1st round pick for him last year. He went 9-8 with 28 total touchdowns and just 7 inteceptions.

Per the CommandersFBnews instagram, here’s why this is a better move than some would think:

• He is 44-40-1 as a starter and has thrown 140 touchdowns compared to just 57 interceptions. Has also rushed for 9 additional touchdowns.

• A lot of people will say he’s injury prone, and while he has been hurt and has missed games, he has still started 85 out of a possible 97 games in his 6 seasons in the league.

• His two worst years were his rookie season in 2016 and his last year in Philly in 2020 (a combined 10-17-1 record with 32 TDS and 29 INTs). His other 4 seasons, including last year: 34-23 record, 108 TDs and 28 INTs.

• Last season he threw for 27 TDs with just 7 INTs and ran 1 in.

• McLaurin would arguably be the best receiver he’s ever played with

www.commandersfbnews.com

Per the Smithsonian Museum:

Calling all citizen scientists, do-gooders, plant lovers, activists, advocates, dreamers, and creators! Join us in March 2022, when the Smithsonian shakes up Women’s History Month with a new Women’s Futures Month: a forward-looking celebration of the power of women and girls in STEM to shape a better world.

From March 5 to 27, the Arts + Industries Building’s FUTURES exhibition, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Air and Space Museum, and Smithsonian Gardens will partner to host the Smithsonian debut of #IfThenSheCan – The Exhibit, the largest collection of statues of women ever assembled together, to be installed on and around the National Mall. The 120 life-size 3D-printed statues are of a diverse coalition of contemporary women STEM innovators and role models leading a variety of fields, from protecting wildlife, discovering galaxies, building YouTube’s platform, to trying to cure cancer.

IF/THEN® is an initiative of the Lyda Hill Philanthropies designed to activate a culture shift among young girls to open their eyes to STEM careers. From tagging sharks, searching for extraterrestrial life, fighting superbugs, to choreographing robots, these STEM innovators were selected through a rigorous process with a commitment to inspire the next generation. Lyda Hill Philanthropies partnered with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to select and manage the AAAS IF/THEN® Ambassadors program: engaging high-profile role models to inspire middle school girls.

Kicking off a month-long Women’s Futures Month festival, #IfThenSheCan – The Exhibit will be unveiled to the public March 5 with a weekend of exciting programs at the Arts + Industries Building (AIB) that will invite visitors of all ages and gender expressions to dream big and see themselves as scientists-in-the-making. Visitors can meet the women scientists and inventors behind the statues who are changing the world during a free Work It! FUTURES Career Day on March 5, and enjoy inspiring activities for future-makers of all ages during a Spark the FUTURES: Science Family Day March 6.

During opening weekend, visitors will be able to explore all 120 statues placed in AIB, the Smithsonian Castle, and the adjacent Enid A. Haupt Garden. Starting March 7, select statues will spread out to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and the National Air and Space Museum along the National Mall through the end of the month.

An array of other #WomensFuturesMonth in-person and virtual events throughout the month will bring to life inspirational stories of women making a difference in their fields.

D.C. United kicks off the 2022 MLS season against Charlotte FC this evening at 6pm. 

Hey @CharlotteFC, since it's your first game you should know that visiting team brings orange slices for halftime. It's a league rule you don't have to look it up.

— D.C. United (@dcunited) February 26, 2022

When Washington announced the team’s new name earlier this month, many were already privy to the fact that the name would be Commanders.

While many would complain about any new name chosen, the team admitted to making a mistake with the crest that debuted alone with the new name– the Super Bowl years on the perimeter of the crest reflected the year the game was played and not the year of the actual NFL season, as seen below:

Washington initially tried to fix it by removing the outer circle of the crest, which contained the dates, but the crest didn’t quite look the same, as seen below:

Fans weren’t too happy with that look, so the team wanted to use Roman numerals to depict the Super Bowl won instead of the year. The NFL doesn’t allow the use of Roman numerals, so that was also out of the picture.

Earlier today, the team tweeted that they heard the fans loud and clear, changing the years in the crest to reflect the year the season was played rather than the year the Super Bowl was played in.

We heard you loud and clear

Going forward, our crest will reflect our Super Bowl victories using the year from that regular season pic.twitter.com/irndw0DyaK

— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) February 22, 2022

Two of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Twitter accounts were hacked early this morning, leading to obscene tweets by someone who claimed they were fired as the social media manager for the accounts.

The hacker sent obscene and profanity laced tweets on Metro’s official Twitter page and its Metrorail page in the early morning hours Monday morning. Metro’s main account, @WMATA, was changed from “Metro” to “Blueface Da Bus.” The @metrorailinfo account was also hacked.

As of 8:20 AM the tweets have been deleted, but a few retweets remain, some containing profanity.

Metro officials have released the following statement, acknowledging the hacked accounts and are working to figure out who is responsible:

“We are aware that Metro’s Twitter accounts @WMATA @MetrorailInfo were hacked and obscene posts were made that do not represent Metro’s organization or culture. The posts will be removed, and our account will be secured. We are working to understand who may be responsible for this breach.”

SportsLine oddsmakers have released their odds on who will be the Washington Commanders’ first-ever starting QB.

• Taylor Heinicke +300
• Jimmy Garoppolo +400
• 2022 draft pick +500
• Deshaun Watson +700
• Teddy Bridgewater +800
• Jameis Winston +900
• Marcus Mariota +900
• Russell Wilson +1000
• Aaron Rodgers +1500

Incumbent Taylor Heinicke is leading the way at +300. That’s based on the belief that the Commanders will draft a quarterback with the 11th pick of the 2022 NFL Draft who is likely to not beat Heinicke out for week 1 starting duties. Heinicke is familiar with offensive coordinator Scott Turner’s offense and now has a full year of starter’s reps under his belt. Oddsmakers aren’t certain Heinicke will beat a newly drafted quarterback out for the position, as the odds for the 2022 draft pick starting are at +500, which is the third most likely situation.

Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers are working together to find a trade partner for the veteran quarterback who is coming off of a loss in the NFC Championship game. While his stats don’t jump out of you, his win/loss record as a starter is hard to look past, as he has gone 33-14 in his 47 NFL starts (2-0 with the Patriots in 2016 and 31-14 with the 49ers in the last 5 seasons). He is listed as the second most likely option at +400.

Deshaun Watson has been dealing with 22 civil suits claiming sexual misconduct against the quarterback. A grand jury has been investigated whether Watson’s alleged misconduct violates any relevant criminal laws. Watson remains under contract to the Texans, but did not play at all in 2021. The unresolved legal issue continues to be an impediment to any trade and the resumption of his NFL career. He is listed as the fourth most likely at +700.

Teddy Bridgewater (+800), Jameis Winston (+900), and Marcus Mariota (+900) are the next three in line. Bridgewater has started 29 games in the last 2 seasons, going a combined 11-18 for the Panthers in 2020 and Broncos last year. Winston started strong for the Saints, going 5-2 with 14 touchdowns and 3 interceptions before suffering a season ending injury in week 7. Mariota hasn’t started a game for Las Vegas since joining the team two seasons ago, but showed enough in his time in Tennessee to be in the conversation for a starting job in 2022.

The two biggest names that could potentially be available are perennial Pro-Bowlers Russell Wilson (+1000) and Aaron Rodgers (+1500). Wilson threw for 25 touchdowns and 6 interceptions in a “down” year while Rodgers once again dominated the league with 37 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Though these are the two least likely in the Sportsline odds, they are also the two most likely to make the biggest impact for the newly rebranded franchise.

In July 2020, Washington Football Team owner Dan Snyder announced the team was going to officially change its nickname and logo.

A little over a year and a half later, the Washington Football Team will be revealing it’s new name– live on the Today Show, which starts at 7am on Wednesday morning.

So what’s it going to be? Last week we explained why it likely wouldn’t be the Red Hogs, despite a couple tweets making the rounds. Tonight, we’ll explain why all signs point to Commanders– the favorite going into tomorrow morning’s announcement.

On January 5th, the team released another episode of their Making the Brand series on YouTube. In the video, Jason Wright shows Coach Rivera a helmet with the new logo, which is blurred out, but many were able to catch it by zooming in on the reflection in the window.

Then, NBC Sports Washington displayed an unedited version of a clip from Making The Brand, which showed a patch that not only included Commanders, but also DCFC (presumable football club). Nothing else we have seen has included the DCFC part of the patch.

On January 26th, Twitter account @LarryLegendBTW tweeted that commanders.com transferred from Namecheap to MarkMonitor, which is supposedly the company the NFL uses for all of its domains.

Washington Commanders = confirmed.

The https://t.co/yrU1fTNObC domain was transferred from Namecheap to MarkMonitor (same company NFL uses for all their domains) as of 7:34pm EST today.

@WashingtonNFL | #WashingtonFootball | #WFT pic.twitter.com/ru53FDSqR4

— Larry Legend (@LarryLegendBTW) January 27, 2022

Earlier this week, Washington legend Joe Theismann seemingly confirmed the name would be Commanders.

Did Joe Theismann just leak Washington Football Team’s new name? The official release is scheduled for Wednesday.

How you feeling about the Washington Commanders?

(🎥: @CBSSportsRadio) pic.twitter.com/OZx2vWvoHk

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 31, 2022

Today, a bunch of apparel leaks can be found all over Twitter. The two shirts below seem to be made by Nike.

These are the two images that seem to be the most real looking. pic.twitter.com/tWjRbyj9vs

— Washington Commanders (@CommandersFB) February 1, 2022

Late this evening, NBC4’s Brad Freitas spotted the Commanders logo through the window at Fed Ex Field.

#SpoilerAlert: Hail to the #WashingtonCommanders #WashingtonFootball #HailYeah #BREAKING #NFL #washingtonfootballteam pic.twitter.com/ibajnDNHL1

— ʙʀᴀᴅ ꜰʀᴇɪᴛᴀꜱ (@Chopper4Brad) February 2, 2022

All signs point to Commanders unless the Washington Football Team has masterfully misdirected the world…which is highly unlikely.

We’ll know tomorrow morning soon after 7am.

It was announced in a press release this morning that the House Committee on Oversight and Reform will hold a round table with several former Washington Football Team employees to discuss issues of workplace misconduct and the National Football League’s (NFL) failure to take steps to prevent sexual harassment and verbal abuse within the WFT under the leadership of owner Dan Snyder.

Full Press Release Below:

Washington D.C. (January 27, 2022)—On Thursday, February 3, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. ET, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, will hold a hybrid roundtable with several former Washington Football Team (WFT) employees to discuss issues of workplace misconduct and the National Football League’s (NFL) failure to take steps to prevent sexual harassment and verbal abuse within the WFT under the leadership of owner Dan Snyder.  The roundtable will be an opportunity for Committee Members to hear firsthand accounts of former employees and will inform potential legislative solutions to better protect all workers from harassment and discrimination.

“For more than twenty years, employees of the Washington Football Team were subjected to sexual harassment, verbal abuse,and other misconduct,” said Chairwoman Maloney.  “It is becoming increasingly clear that not only did the team fail to protect employees, but the NFL went to great lengths to prevent the truth about this toxic work environment from coming to light.  The NFL’s decision to cover up these abuses raises serious questions about its commitment to setting workplace standards that keep employees safe.  I commend these victims for their bravery in coming forward to share their stories.  No organization is above the law, I am committed to getting to the bottom of these abuses and ensuring that every American—no matter where they work—is safe from workplace harassment and discrimination.” 

“We launched this investigation because the NFL has not been transparent about the workplace misconduct issues it uncovered within the WFT,” said Chairman Krishnamoorthi.  “These victims are bravely coming forward with their stories, sharing details of despicable abuse in their workplace.  The WFT and NFL had a responsibility to protect these employees, and they failed.  Our investigation will continue until the perpetrators of sexual harassment are held accountable.  No person deserves to be harassed or abused at work, and this Committee will do everything in its power to protect employees at the WFT and beyond.”

Over the past several years, multiple reports have emerged from employees who either witnessed or experienced the toxic work environment inside the WFT, including reports of rampant sexual harassment and secret videos featuring lewd outtakes from cheerleader photoshoots.  However, the team failed to adequately address the concerns raised when it was brought to their attention.

In July 2020, the WFT hired attorney Beth Wilkinson to conduct an internal investigation into these allegations but just over a month later, the WFT announced that it was turning over the investigation to the NFL.  In a break from previous practice, the NFLhas not publicly disclosed the findings of that investigation.

On October 21, 2021, Chairwoman Maloney and Chairman Krishnamoorthi sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell requesting all documents and communications obtained in connection with Wilkinson’s investigation as well as the underlying findings.

On November 5, 2021, the Chairs released a statement calling on the NFL and the WFT to release all individuals from non-disclosure agreements preventing them from speaking out about Dan Snyder and the WFT’s toxic work environment.  The Chairs issued another statementin December 2021 following a reportthat detailed Snyder’s efforts to obstruct the internal investigation.

In Congress, Chairwoman Maloney has been a leader in the fight against workplace discrimination and harassment, sponsoring the Ending Secrecy About Workplace Sexual Harassment Act, and co-sponsoring the Bringing an End to Harassment by Enhancing Accountability and Rejecting Discrimination (BE HEARD) in the Workplace Act, and other legislation. Additionally, she is a cosponsor of the Ending the Monopoly of Power Over Workplace Harassment Through Education and Reporting (EMPOWER) Act, which aims to prevent and respond to workplace harassment by prohibiting the use of NDAs to keep workers from speaking out about workplace misconduct.

The NFL has one of the most prominent platforms in America and the lack of transparency about its handling of decades-long allegations of harassment and discrimination within one of its teams sets a dangerous precent for other workplaces.  To ensure real accountability, the NFL must end its cover-up, honor its commitment to cooperate with Congress, and release Wilkinson’s investigative findings.