Potomac River

7 Stories

Weeks After Arriving in US, Student Dies on Kayaking Trip

Ella Mills got stuck face-down in the water

(Newser) - Ella Mills arrived in New York City at the beginning of September as a student in Columbia University's dual BA program with Trinity College. Weeks later, the college junior from Ireland died during a trip with Columbia's whitewater kayaking club, WTOP reports. The club traveled to Washington, DC,...

Train Plunges Into the Potomac
Train Plunges Into the Potomac

Train Plunges Into the Potomac

Luckily its 7 grain cars were all empty

(Newser) - A freight train went off the rails near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, on Saturday and sent two cars plunging into the Potomac, CNN reports. Luckily the CSX locomotive was just pulling empty grain cars over the Winchester and Potomac Railroad Bridge when the 2:30am EST derailment occurred. But the...

Bikers Found 2 Dogs. They Were Barking a Frantic Message

87-year-old stuck in mud along Potomac River rescued after pups ran for help

(Newser) - An elderly man in Maryland may want to give his pups an extra treat or two after their barks for help rescued him from mud-mired danger along the Potomac. Per the Washington Post and NBC Washington , the 87-year-old was near Little Falls Dam in Montgomery County with his two dogs...

Pollution Turns Male Fish Into Mutant Mommies
Pollution Turns Male Fish
Into Mutant Mommies
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Pollution Turns Male Fish Into Mutant Mommies

Potomac river full of intersexed fish

(Newser) - The Potomac river has become so polluted that most of its male fish have mutated and developed female traits—like carrying eggs in their testes. More than 80% of the river's male bass have some female characteristic, the Potomac Conservancy tells the Guardian , blaming drugs and other chemicals that...

Militia Groups Hold Armed Protest on Potomac

Obama signed law that allowed it

(Newser) - A number of militia groups intend to rally on the banks of the Potomac River today, and they'll be packing heat. It'll be the first armed rally ever held in a national park, which ironically is only possible because of a law signed by Barack Obama. But that doesn't hold...

Coast Guard Exercise Triggers 9/11 Potomac Scare

Ill-timed drill coincides with Pentagon ceremony

(Newser) - In a case of not-so-great timing, the Coast Guard conducted a training exercise on how to handle a rogue boat this morning in the Potomac River—with 9/11 commemorations taking place at the Pentagon and the president's motorcade crossing a nearby bridge, the Washington Post reports. The exercise caused a...

Proposal Sends Woman Over Cliff, Literally

(Newser) - A Washington-area woman is in good condition tonight after accepting a marriage proposal—then tumbling off a cliff, the Post reports. The yet-unidentified couple was hiking along a popular but treacherous trail near the Potomac River when the man popped the question; soon thereafter the woman tumbled about 10 feet,...

7 Stories