FOX 5 News at 11: October 28, 2026

Public golf courses, the new plan critics say could have effects far beyond the course. Plus the search for three people who broke into a D.C. church. A closer look at the suspects in newly released video and what they were allegedly after. And new numbers coming in tonight showing how many Virginia voters decided to head to the polls early. What this could mean heading into next week's midterms. Fox 5 News at 11 starts now. First at 11, new developments in the legal battle over the historic East Potomac golf links. The Trump administration confirmed the president's deadline of shutting down the course in a matter of weeks. Golfers warned the Trump overhaul could put public access at risk. Fox House Virginia Eureta is in Southwest tonight. Yeah, well, for the first time, the Interior Department is acknowledging in writing that the Trump administration is moving toward closing the East Potomac golf course on November 15th to convert it into a championship-level makeover. but critics say the plan is another attempt by the president to leave his mark on the nation's capital and they're fighting back in court it is just frankly disgusting that they are trying to do this it's it's also disgusting that they're not following the law to actually do this that's what this whole court case has actually been about we haven't even gotten to the merits of the case yet all we've been arguing is about whether there are any merits to this case now federal judge has already issued a preliminary injunction requiring a 10-day notice before any closure. The judge also barred the removal or damage of trees to the park. But according to a court filing, the Interior Department is developing a plan to carry out the president's project and says it will notify the court. It comes one day after President Trump posted on Truth Social about a potential November 15 date and after months of legal battles between golfers and the administration. Just weeks ago, the chief executive cut down more than 400 trees without notice, worrying locals that it was the beginning of renovations. Now, a hearing on the park's future is expected to be scheduled by a judge in the coming days. For golfers and park users, they fear a championship-level course could turn a public recreation space into a destination for the wealthy, putting affordable access at risk. Give something to people that they can afford. Anyone can come here. You've got cyclists out there. You've got mini-golfers. You've got runners. You've got people that just want to come out here and whack golf balls after work. Leave it alone. I don't really want to pay a whole bunch of money to go to a country club when I have such a beautiful park right here. I just don't really like, there aren't really any other free golf courses that are accessible to me. And just to give additional context about the park, Congress created it in 1897, calling it a space for recreation and pleasure for the people. Now critics also say the impacts aren't just limited to the golf course. The space is located on Haynes Point. They warn a closure could also disrupt major community events, including the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-mile and 5K that runs through this area. And we reached out to the Interior Department to get more additional clarification on the potential closure happening on November 15th, but we did not hear back. Back to you. All right, turning to the weather here. A live look outside the view of National Harbor from a Fox 5 sky cam. The weather has been nearly picture perfect for more than a week now. Can we keep this up through trick-or-treating on Saturday? Mike Thomas, the kids want to know. Hey, that sounded like your tease last night. You know what? But at least I'm not wearing the same exact same, you know? No, no, no. That was last week. This week, I've been doing something rather subtle this week. What have you been doing this week that's the exact same? Wearing the same socks. Okay. all week long You're changing your underwear, right? Well, we'll plead the fifth on that one. Those amendments exist for a reason. As we take a look outside at some of our sky cams tonight, sky's actually turning more clear than not across the D.C. region. Now, in the short term, good thing. In the kind of mid-range, as we head towards tomorrow morning, a little bit of trouble in terms of getting some fog across the D.C. region. That will then burn off. We'll have some afternoon sunshine, and temperatures will turn pleasant for your Thursday and your Friday. Both days looking like A-plus afternoons. here in D.C. Even today, 4 degrees above average. If you were out this morning, we did have that sunshine early. It wasn't bad at all. Then clouds rolled in about noon, and you can see your high temperature. We hit it at 11.57 a.m., so it didn't even get that warm this afternoon, as once those clouds moved across, temperatures did cool off a bit. Again, tonight, skies trying to clear just a little bit. Temperature currently Reagan National now reporting mostly clear conditions there, 57 degrees. Dulles down to 50. BWI Thurgood Marshall, 52. Across the rest of the area, looking at about 0.49 in Bowie. Beltsville dropped a degree from last hour to 48, matching Germantown at 48 degrees. Haymarket's at 49. La Plata at 55. Waldorf, 56. Colonial Beach, 54. Clinton, 53. Prince Frederick, 54. Reva, Maryland, sitting at 56 degrees. Satellite and radar showing you the last of those clouds that we had this afternoon. Moving down to the south and east. They'll leave us alone, but again, early tomorrow morning, watch out for a little bit of fog right around sunrise. D.C.'s temperature likely right around 50 degrees to kick things off. And then by the time we get to the afternoon, sun's back. So are the 70s, 72, up to 75 on Friday. We'll talk more about that trick-or-treat forecast coming up in just a little bit. Kevin? All right, Mike, see you in a bit. New tonight, a cyclist struck by a car in front of Howard University Hospital. The victim has several and serious injuries. It was in and out of consciousness when police responded to the scene on Georgia Avenue around 6.30 p.m. the driver was questioned that crash is still under investigation new tonight a dc church hit by burglars newly released surveillance video has police hunting for three suspects fox five Shamari Stone is in northwest for the look at who they're looking for and what was stolen tonight the suspected chapel crooks are accused of breaking into this church this one right here formerly known as the Lincoln Congregational Temple United Church of Christ people who live in this Shaw neighborhood are disgusted. Let's show you the suspects. Take a look at this guy, long hair, eyeglasses, unshaped beard, walking upstairs inside the church Wednesday night on September 30th. This was once the historic Lincoln Congregational Temple United Church of Christ that opened in the 1920s, closed in 2018, and is now used by La Iglesia Ebenezer on the 1700 block of 11th Street northwest the long-haired suspect goes to the front entrance holding a bag joined by his alleged partner in church crime, a woman with long hair apart down the middle holding a bag and then a third suspect shows up. The suspects according to the police report stealing three bass and acoustic guitars valued at three grand, 10 cordless microphones costing two thousand dollars and a $500 Sony camera, and then police tell me on October 1st, one of the suspects returns to the church with two other people stealing more stuff getting away tonight, people hope police catch the suspected sanctuary sneaks, it is just so terrible, I don't know why you would steal from a church and God is gonna get you, he's gonna get you, you're gonna have to pay it back, I hope the police catch them, I hope they get all the time that they deserve because you don't steal from the church you don't steal from God. It's the God of the Holy Church. Everybody go pray and they just trying to grab this stuff out of the church. It's so sad. I hope they catch them. And tonight, police urge anyone with information about this burglary to give them a call. There's a reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest and a conviction. In Northwest, I'm Shamari Stone. Back to you. Shamari, thank you. A missing person search in Alexandria has ended with the man's neighbor in custody tonight charged with murder. Police say Joshua Cochran was found dead yesterday inside an apartment closet on Merton Court with severe head trauma. Cochran was reported missing over the weekend after failing to answer calls from his family. Investigators say surveillance video led them to the suspect, John Stapleton III. When they opened that door, the suspect gave an immediate confession. They brought him back here to our police station to find out additional details. What I can tell you is I don't fully know their relationship, but they were drinking at an Alexandria restaurant. They went to several other locations and purchased some alcohol and ended back up in that apartment. Detectives are still trying to figure out what happened and the alleged murder weapon. Staying in Alexandria, the city is shutting down all 61 flock cameras by tomorrow night following months of public backlash and privacy concerns. The city plans to remove the license plate readers by December and require council approval for any future surveillance technology. Police say the cameras helped lead to 72 felony and 65 misdemeanor charges over the past year. Damning new digital evidence introduced in day 13 of the Naresh Bott murder trial in Prince William County. Bott is accused of killing his wife, Mump Takovle, and disposing her dismembered body in 2024. Today, a digital forensic investigator testified that Bott did online searches months before for how to get rid of his child and what happens if a spouse disappears. One was meat cutter. There was one knife sharpener at Dollar Tree. Can I divorce if wife lost? Can I change my mind after selling my car at CarMax? Were there any searches talking about donations? Can I donate my baby to my friend? There were searches also related to applying for a baby's passport. An expert also walked jurors through images of Bod in his home and at several trash compactors where prosecutors say he was dumping small bags. The trial continues tomorrow. Four men arrested accused of burglarizing fire-damaged and condemned homes in Fairfax County. Police say the homes in Lorton, Reston and Fair Oaks have been condemned. The crimes date back to last fall through the summer. Investigators say Damon Murray, Christian Webb, Timothy Lowe, and Emmanuel Thomas are also suspected in similar burglaries from Connecticut to North Carolina. Through our evidence, through multiple videos, through digital evidence, and working with our regional partners, and those being Loudoun County, the state of Maryland, the state of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, we were able to link all five of our burglaries and these four suspects. All of those regional partners experienced similar burglaries involving these four individuals. One suspect has bonded out in Fairfax. The other three are in Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, awaiting extradition. Tonight, 15 men now charged in a transnational drug trafficking operation that allegedly brought meth and a date rape drug to D.C. and other East Coast cities. Four of the suspects were taken down yesterday. Prosecutors say the latest arrest stemmed from a major bust five months ago. Federal authorities arrested 11 people accused of helping run the operation with drugs coming from as far away as South Korea. These were, relatively speaking, well-educated individuals trafficking massive amounts of dangerous narcotics in our nation's capital and bringing them directly to the streets to do business now what's interesting is methamphetamines in the nation's capital are rising that is a fact that we take extremely seriously right now we see the trend and it is real prosecutors say the suspects face a mandatory minimum mandatory 10 years in prison if convicted when we come back here at 11 if you've been holding off on buying those plane tickets for the holidays you might want to go ahead and take care of that soon we'll tell you why next the latest early voting numbers are in and a lot of Virginians are not waiting until election day to head to the polls more early ballots cast so far this year in the commonwealth and for the entire 2022 midterms Fox Five's Josh Rosenthal is in Fairfax speaking with voters in person early voting has been happening inside for weeks out here you've got the campaign signs all over the place and keep taking a look down there that official ballot drop box has been seeing a lot action. Let's talk about just how much. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, as of Tuesday, more than 1.2 million early ballots have been cast in the Commonwealth. That's compared to just shy of a million for the entire election in 2022. So we're talking about close to a 30% increase in early ballots, and we've still got time for that number to rise. Looking at specific localities, again, all according to numbers from the Virginia Public Access Project, more early ballots have already been cast this time around to varying degrees in Loudoun County, Arlington County, Fauquier County, and Fairfax County, which is where we talk to voters tonight. We ask about what issues are bringing them out, also why they think so many people may be voting early. As you might imagine, especially given that this is a traditionally very blue jurisdiction, we heard a lot about President Trump. I think there's been a lot of grumbling and people are a little tired of the economy and the way things are going and so I'm not surprised actually that people are stepping up. I'd like to like protect the rights of like immigrants and women and queer people especially during this super aggressive immigration or sorry administration. I think a lot of people are fed up with certain things that are going on in this country and people are kind of ready for some change what are the issues that are especially important to you this time around definitely abortion i am displeased about tax money being squandered not once twice but more than that the ballroom the squandered 250th birthday him renaming the entire like places after himself and taking money for his own campaign advertisement in virginia early in person voting runs through Halloween. Yes a In a new response today, D.C. Council Member Robert White confirmed he may have to resign before Election Day. We reported last night the candidate for D.C. delegate is being impacted by a little-known provision that bans office holders from taking that role. White says he reads the law differently and is looking for a way to stay on the council until after the election. But if he can't find a legal fix, White says he will step down by Monday. The Federal Reserve is leaving interest rates unchanged this month. this after a quarter percentage point rate hike last month. The benchmark rates staying in the 3.75% to 4% range. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh says the central bank will vote on rates at seven of eight meetings next year. Airfare has hit a 10-year high before we get to weather. The booking app Hopper reports domestic Thanksgiving flights are up 39% from last year. Christmas is worse, Averaging $452 round trip, up 22%. Rising fuel prices tied to the war in Iran have driven up fares for 10 straight months. Airlines are cutting flights and piling on extra fees. They say they expect fares to remain high into the new year, even if fuel costs start to drop. And now we turn our attention to the weather. And this just in, the Milwaukee Brewers are World Series champions. Yes, they just clinched in Game 5 against the Tampa Bay Rays. Some would say it was a kind of boring series, just like the weather is right now. Who would say that? Well, the Brewers and their fans definitely not saying it. No, absolutely. No, everybody. And you know what? It's their very first one, so congrats to them. Right now, either team, it would have been their very first World Series win. But the Brewers, well, they were pretty dominant through that World Series, no doubt about it. So congrats to them. Here in D.C., he's not lying when he talks about boring weather. But folks like boring weather, right, especially when it's like this. Sunshine temps in the 70s. We don't want this to extend too much longer, though. Otherwise, we'll start chipping away at the drought that we've done so much work to improve here in the D.C. region through the second half of summer and early fall. A little pause isn't a bad thing, but weather days are certainly coming back as we head into November. It just looks a little delayed compared to those first few days of November, like it was looking like early this week. Fifty-seven degrees, mostly clear skies now around D.C. Winds are light to calm, and you notice the dew point's hitting at 50, and our temperature 57 as we continue to cool and our temperature approaches that dew point with winds remaining light to calm, that's just a recipe for some fog. We dealt with it this morning in some neighborhoods. We'll do it again tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow we're kind of right around the I-95-DC corridor and then clearing into the afternoon will bring more comfortable conditions. More 40s on the map now. Frederick down to 45. Winchester 48. Culpeper and Manassas sitting at 49 degrees each. Fredericksburg hanging on to 52. Leonardtown 53. And Annapolis, Maryland, 60 degrees for you right now. You're hanging on the 60, but you too will fall through the 50s as we head into these overnight hours. Last of the clouds kind of heading down across southern Maryland. Still some on the lower eastern shore, but they'll continue to clear overnight. Here's the fog tracker. We're tracking visibility for you when it's white like that. That means clear conditions, no clouds, no fog out there. Now we get into early tomorrow morning. 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning, start to see the first of the fog develop. And then notice right around D.C., it's heaviest concentrated because of that D.C., Baltimore, Northern Virginia corridor here. Doesn't last too long. By lunchtime, it's out of here. Skies are clear and should remain that way. A little bit windier kind of Thursday night and Friday should keep fog from redeveloping on Friday morning. Storm way up to the north and west. Not really going to bother us, but everything's helping shift winds out of the south and out of the west. So we'll have a mild day on your Thursday once we get rid of that morning fog into the 70s. We'll go western zones where we're not expecting as much fog. You'll be back to the sunshine faster. So that'll get your temperatures into the low to middle 70s. So warmer temperatures tomorrow, likely west of town. You can see that there on the tracker. Martinsburg 74, Culpeper and Manassas 72. D.C., Gaithersburg, really no complaints at 72. Leonardtown, 70 degrees. We get into the day on Friday, even warmer sunshine. How about 75, D.C.? 77, Quantico, Manassas, Fredericksburg and Culpeper at 78, getting dangerously close to the 80 degree mark which we do not do often here during the end of October high pressure then moves in for the weekend this is a new zone coming out of central canada so this will bring down some cooler air with it not extreme cold but compared to the 70s we'll get knocked back into the lower to middle 60s here for the halloween holiday once the sun sets a bit of a halloween chill for you but not overly chilly i think it's perfect costume weather to be completely honest with you and kind of a change into early next week at one time it looked like this guy was going to get on the move it's not going to get on the move at nearly as fast anymore it's going to sit here for another four to five days and because of that sunday's trending towards a little bit more sunshine and much of next week actually trending a bit drier so vampire barns they're bringing you 63 degrees on saturday sunday don't forget we fall back so sun setting earlier temperature of 66 degrees so when's that next chance for rain there's your High pressure zone sitting there through much of the early part of next week. You've got to get all the way to the end of the next work week before the next storm system possibly comes our way, maybe bringing us a good soaking rain. But we'll have to watch it because that's still over a week away now. So as we check on that seven-day forecast for you, temperature 70s next couple of days, 63 on Saturday for Halloween. Next week with the drying and more sunshine, guess what? Those 70s come back for early November. Kenneth? Yay. All right, Mike, thank you. Reynolds Wrap revealing this year's trending turkey. It's called a big deal. Brined in pickle juice, rubbed with dill butter, then served with pickle-infused gravy. Yum. This comes as sales of pickle-flavored snacks have jumped 30% in the last year. Reynolds has been bringing trends to the Thanksgiving table for 10 years now. Past trending turkeys include a Flaming Hot Cheetos turkey, an Espresso Turkey Teenie, and a Dubai chocolate turkey when we come back no school for a group of Prince George's County students and it's all because of an illness that has been spreading throughout the building we've got those details next DC judges sounding the alarm tonight warning that thousands of people in the court system are having to represent themselves because enough lawyers are providing free legal services they say people in civil courts don't have a legal right to an attorney so many have been left to navigate the legal system alone. The legal system is a system designed by lawyers for lawyers, and it's very difficult for individuals to navigate without help of representation. And these are your neighbors in the district. We all come from families. People are in court alone with their most sacred parts of their lives at issue. Judges tell Fox 5 they're trying to get help from D.C.'s legal community. Our Prince George's County school is closed for the rest of the week. Dozens of students and staff at Princeton Elementary and Camp Springs reported flu-like and gastrointestinal symptoms. Officials say the closure will allow time for the illness to run its course. And for crews to deep clean and sanitize the building, the specific cause has not been identified. It could be flu. It could be norovirus. We don't know yet. But what we do know is that, number one, infections are going to run rampant in schools. They're really efficient at doing that. And we really have to go back to the same strategies we already learned during the pandemic. Health officials have raised concerns about a new mutation of the flu virus and urged residents to get vaccinated early. New details tonight on a hiring freeze at Loudoun County Public Schools. The district is pointing to declining enrollment. And officials say the drop is due to multiple factors, including higher housing costs and lower birth rates. Enrollment numbers are expected to fall about by 1,500 students next year. It's a similar situation in other major school districts in our region, like Montgomery County. When we come back, at least you know they're loyal. Two Eagles fans getting hitched moments before watching their team lose their fifth game in a row. Ooh, stay with us. A wedding with a whole lot of team spirit. The Philadelphia Eagles fans, these one right here, got married during a tailgate outside Lincoln Financial Field before the Eagles hosted the Cowboys on Monday Night Football. Former Eagles star Jason Kelsey got in on the action, handing out beers as the bride and groom made their way down the parking lot aisle. And get this, the bride's name, Lindsey Carl. The groom...