Washington

The reign of the trophy kitchen is officially over. The dream kitchens of today aren't about the sexiest six-burner range or the most exotic countertop material. As cooking has returned to center stage and remodeling budgets have sobered, the kitchen island is nurturing family togetherness and reviving casual entertaining. In kitchens with a small footprint, glass tiles, quartz counters and dish drawers are adding sparkle and practicality. The kitchen of 2013 has soul. "That industrial, commercial style was looking a little cold," says...

Alex Ovechkin didn't have to buy into the change Washington Capitals rookie Coach Adam Oates asked for at the start of training camp in January — shifting from left wing to right to revitalize his all-around game. On Saturday night, months after making the transition his coach requested, Ovechkin's reemergence as one of the NHL's elite talents was recognized when he was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player. "They put me on the right wing,"...

Chris Paine is a filmmaker whose documentaries include "Who Killed the Electric Car?" ,"Charge" and "Revenge of the Electric Car. " The troubles of electric-car-maker Fisker Automotive have fueled another round of debate about whether plug-ins can live up to their promises. The California start-up, which had already halted production and laid off most of its employees, missed a federal loan payment Monday and told a congressional hearing on Wednesday that bankruptcy may be unavoidable . This is likely the end of the road...

Fever at Mystics When: 2 p.m. Where: Verizon Center. Records: Washington 3-1; Indiana 1-4. Fast start After winning consecutive games for the first time since 2010 — scoring surprising victories over Connecticut and Minnesota last week— the Mystics are off to their best start in three years under new Coach Mike Thibault. They already have more road victories (two) than last season. Latta looking good Thibault's marquee free agent acquisition this offseason, point guard Ivory Latta, has wasted...

Linda Davidson The Washington Post Mark and Jackie Barden hug their 11-year-old daughter, Natalie, before she goes to school in Newtown, Conn., in May. T hey had promised to try everything, so Mark Barden went down into the basement to begin another project in memory of Daniel. The families of Sandy Hook Elementary were collaborating on a Mother's Day card, which would be produced by a marketing firm and mailed to hundreds of politicians across the country. "A difference-maker," the...

Do you have refinance envy? Come on, you can admit it. You've been at an event or to church or having lunch with co-workers and someone brags about the interest rate she just got when refinancing her mortgage. You stay silent, grieving that you can't take advantage of the low interest rates for mortgages. You grumble when you read news stories like this one from The Associated Press on April 18: "Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages fell closer this week to their historic lows, making homeownership more affordable...

The defendant was an immense man, well over 300 pounds, but in the gravity of his sorrow and shame he seemed larger still. He hunched forward in the sturdy wooden armchair that barely contained him, sobbing softly into tissue after tissue, a leg bouncing nervously under the table. In the first pew of spectators sat his wife, looking stricken, absently twisting her wedding band. The room was a sepulcher. Witnesses spoke softly of events so painful that many lost their composure. When a hospital emergency room nurse described how the defendant...

PHILADELPHIA — Less than an hour before the 8 p.m. tipoff, Philadelphia 76ers employees are scurrying around the Wells Fargo Center, hoping this Saturday night unfolds as planned. It's late March, and the team is handing out Allen Iverson bobblehead dolls. Iverson himself is scheduled to attend, a rare public appearance for the 37-year-old former NBA superstar. He'll be introduced during a pregame ceremony and then watch the game from Sixers chief executive Adam Aron's suite.

The National Security Agency and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets, according to a top-secret document obtained by The Washington Post. The program, code-named PRISM, has not been made public until now. It may be the first of its kind. The NSA prides itself on stealing secrets and...

T-Mobile is taking a new approach to wireless billing by charging separately for devices and data and doing away with the traditional two-year contract. In a major media event Tuesday, T-Mobile chief executive John Legere said that the new T-Mobile plans could save consumers a whole lot of money compared to other carrier plans. But how does that claim match up? It can be a little difficult to do an apples-to-apples comparison — features such as hotspot capabilities or unlimited talk and text differ from...

PITTSBURGH — More than 1,000 bicyclists have ridden single-file along the last mile of a Pittsburgh-to-Washington trail to mark the full trail's opening. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/12NqhGy ) that the cyclists celebrated Saturday in Pittsburgh, including a group that had ridden from Washington starting Friday. Ground was broken in October on the final mile of the Great Allegheny Passage, a 141-mile trail from the Pittsburgh area to Cumberland, Md. From there, the trail...

WASHINGTON — Police in Washington say they've made an arrest in a fatal shooting in northeast Washington from earlier this month. The Metropolitan Police Department says police arrested 24-year-old Allen Culver of southeast Washington on Friday after a warrant was issued for his arrest. Culver has been charged with second degree murder while armed in the shooting death of 31-year-old Robert Plight on June 1. Police say they arrived at the 4400 block of Benning...

Saturday, 8 a.m.-noon: "Our Local Bounty" farmers market opens again, offering a variety of locally grown fruits and vegetables. St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 14300 St. Thomas Church Rd., Upper Marlboro. 301-627-8469 or www.stthomascroom.org/ourlocalbounty . Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.: A rummage sale with bargains galore, great food, a bake sale and door prizes. St. Hugh's Catholic Church, 135 Crescent Rd., Greenbelt. 301-474-4322. Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.: The Evelyn Underhill...

Hannah Thoburn is a Eurasia analyst based in Washington and is one of the Foreign Policy Initiative's 2012-2013 future leaders. Anything Russia can do, you can do, too. That is the message Washington is sending to repressive, power-hungry governments around the world. With each step that President Vladimir Putin takes to restrict the freedoms of the Russian people, like-minded leaders watch U.S. (and European) reactions and, seeing weak responses, are emboldened to abuse human rights in a similar manner.

NEW YORK — The Chicago Cubs added reliever Henry Rodriguez to their 25-man roster Friday and optioned left-hander Brooks Raley to Triple-A Iowa. The hard-throwing Rodriguez was available out of the bullpen for the opener of a three-game series against the New York Mets. Cubs manager Dale Sveum said he planned to use the right-hander in a middle relief role at first and the team hopes to build up his endurance because he may be needed to pitch two innings at a time. ...

Washington Spirit vs. Western New York Flash Where: Maryland SoccerPlex, Boyds. When: 7 p.m. Live video: www.youtube.com/NWSLsoccer. Records: Spirit 1-4-3, 6 points; Flash 4-2-2, 14. Outlook: The Spirit returns from a three-week layoff without three key players: D Ali Krieger is with the U.S. national team for two friendlies against South Korea and D Robyn Gayle and MF Diana Matheson rejoined Canada for a friendly at Germany. Flash F Abby Wambach, the NWSL's scoring leader...

A 29-year-old man who says he is a former undercover CIA employee said Sunday that he was the principal source of recent disclosures about ­top-secret National Security Agency programs , exposing himself to possible prosecution in an acknowledgment that had little if any precedent in the long history of U.S. intelligence leaks. Edward Snowden, a tech specialist who has contracted for the NSA and works for the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, unmasked himself as a source after a string of stories in The Washington...

In 1961, Phyllis Richman applied to graduate school at Harvard. She received a letter asking how she would balance a career in city planning with her "responsibilities" to her husband and possible future family. Fifty-two years later, she responds. June 9, 2013 Dear William A. Doebele Jr., I'm sorry it has taken me so long to respond to your letter from June 1961 . As you predicted, I have been very busy. Recently, as I was cleaning out boxes of...

According to a large graphic on the front page of the June 8 Sports section, the Nationals bullpen's earned-run average ranks 22th in the majors [" A painful slog "]. Ah, I think that is 22nd. Dan Giosta , Washington