Washington, D.C., is one of many areas across the country preparing for major energy bill increases this summer. Washington Gas, which serves more than a million residents in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area, is proposing a 12% rate increase for customers, or almost $200 more a year on gas bills for the average customer, starting in August. Pepco, which is part of the PJM Interconnection, raised electricity rates for more than a million customers in Washington and Maryland in January. Washington customers saw a 5% increase while Marylanders experienced an average spike...

David Ng held back tears as he approached the stone steps of North America’s largest Roman Catholic Church, its bells tolling in the Monday midday gloom. The news of Pope Francis’s death had reached him hours earlier in a message from his family in the Philippines. He’d spent the morning rewatching videos of the leader’s visit to his country a decade ago, praying with typhoon-battered residents. “He’s the pope of the people,” said Ng, 44, before joining the stream of people flowing into the Basilica of the National Shrine of...

For more than a decade the D.C.-born musician Nick Hakim has been wading deeper and deeper into a mind-bending sonic vortex. While studying at Berklee College of Music, the singer and multi-instrumentalist débuted fully formed, in 2014, on “Where Will We Go,” a two-part EP that outlined a rich neo-soul sound, robust yet seemingly out of focus. Hakim then released his opus “Green Twins,” in 2017, establishing himself as a purveyor of foggy psychedelic music. The albums that followed, including one with the jazz saxophonist Roy Nathanson, only furthered a...

On the eve of Easter, on the next-to-the-last day of Passover, Nature provided the District with a Saturday that may have lacked the sparkle of spring, but one that seemed reassuringly warm — warm enough for any pursuit, indoors or out. In the capital, the mercury reached a high of 82 degrees, which was one degree warmer than Friday, which was 81. The contribution of the sun to such warmth can never be dismissed. On Saturday, however, solar input may not have been noticed, for gray overcast covered the sky...

D.C. taxpayers would pay more than $800 million toward the major redevelopment of RFK Stadium in a preliminary agreement with the team, according to D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), who said he was briefed by the mayor about the details this week. While the city and the Washington Commanders are close to a deal, two people familiar with negotiations told The Washington Post earlier this week, it has not been finalized and it’s unclear how or if numbers may change. Mendelson and some residents oppose the use of public...