Almost symbolically, as it flows through Washington, D.C., the Potomac River carries on its journey to Chesapeake Bay more than 240 million gallons of suddenly spilled raw, untreated sewage. Poop. The smell is so pungent that residents say they can taste the filth just when talking on a street corner. Disease is a worry. Beyond the smell is the regrettable truth that a spring and summer of actually going out on the river is highly unlikely, if not foolishly risky.

The spill occurred on Jan. 19. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls it an ecological disaster of historic proportion. The University of Maryland calls it one of the largest sewage spills in the country.

To corroborate the symbolism, politicians not only have been slow to react, but they are quibbling with each other and repair work is not happening fast enough, on the grounds that no sewage pipe repair can happen fast enough. Maryland’s governor, Wes Moore, says the repair is the federal government’s responsibility. President Donald Trump, possibly suffering a nasal blockage, did not comment on the disaster until Feb. 16, 28 days after the pipe ruptured. According to an NBC News story, the finger-pointing is complicated by the interwoven jurisdictions in the area, where two states, the District of Columbia, the federal government and D.C. Water work in coordination.

Trump posted that if local leaders wanted federal help, they should call him and politely ask for help, presumably calling him sir. Trump’s nose became unplugged when he realized the threat this summer to the nation’s 250th birthday celebration. Federal funds either now have been or soon will be released on a disaster declaration.

The feds apparently have to be on the hook. Many sources point out that the federal government has been maintaining the pipe for 100 years, which makes you wonder what the undersides of our once-great cities must look like. Do you think the new Marxist mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, cares about sewage pipes? No, he cares about free grocery stores. Or here, in Minneapolis, where we are entering year six just to establish a George Floyd memorial. God help anybody in this county if real work needs to be done. We have the workers, but their superiors fight all day about equity and inclusion proclamations, not infrastructure.

The broken pipe is within the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, which is property controlled by the federal government in Maryland. D.C. Water owns the Potomac Interceptor – which broke – and the EPA regulates and oversees it. Authorities claim that drinking water is not affected.

Locals are saying this: WHO CARES WHO FIXES IT? JUST FIX THE DAMN THING!

Because it is horrible and dangerous. The river is sluggish. The smell is unbearable. How many illnesses, how many businesses will suffer, how many fish and animals lost, as the burbling witch’s brew rolls, slowly, to the ocean?

Yes, I am supposed to understand that humans can destroy the Earth with their cars and lawnmowers and that true believers have a period in history they would wish to return to for more agreeable temperatures, which is an insane childish fantasy, but all you young scholars buying into this nonsense are in far more real danger from a ruptured sewer pipe than you will ever be by a gunned minivan on the way to a soccer practice. This is damage to the planet that you can see and touch and smell, not some computer model written by an academic who needs another hit of grant money.

If you really want to worry about something you can impact, start by finding people to run for office because they actually want to do something useful. We keep electing people who merely intend to be important. It’s not working out too well for us, either here or in the nation’s capital.

Every city in the country should right now be examining its water infrastructure to avoid a Potomac sewage catastrophe. But that isn’t sexy. The people we elect don’t even think that’s important.

Joe Soucheray can be reached at jsoucheray@pioneerpress.com. Soucheray’s “Garage Logic” podcast can be heard at garagelogic.com.

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Today is Saturday, Feb. 21, the 52nd day of 2026. There are 313 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Feb. 21, 1992, Kristi Yamaguchi of the United States won the gold medal in women’s figure skating at the Albertville Winter Olympics; Midori Ito of Japan won the silver, and American Nancy Kerrigan the bronze.

Also on this date:

In 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published “The Communist Manifesto” in London.

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In 1885, President Chester Arthur dedicated the Washington Monument.

In 1911, composer Gustav Mahler, despite a fever, conducted the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall in what turned out to be his final concert. (He died the following May.)

In 1916, the Battle of Verdun, the longest battle of World War I, began in northeastern France.

In 1965, civil rights activist Malcolm X, 39, was shot to death inside Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom in New York. Three men identified as members of the Nation of Islam were convicted of murder and imprisoned; all were eventually paroled. (The convictions of two of the men were dismissed in November 2021, when prosecutors said new evidence had undermined the case against them.)

In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon began a historic visit to China, where he met with Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

In 1973, Israeli fighter planes shot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 after it strayed into Israeli-controlled airspace over the Sinai Desert, killing all but five of the 113 people on board.

In 1975, former Attorney General John N. Mitchell, former White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, and former White House Domestic Affairs Adviser John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 2 1/2 to 8 years in prison for their roles in the Watergate cover-up. (Each ended up serving less than two years.)

In 1995, American adventurer Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean by balloon, landing in Saskatchewan, Canada, after a 5,400-mile, four-day flight from South Korea.

Today’s birthdays:

Film and music executive David Geffen is 83.
Actor Tyne Daly is 80.
Actor Anthony Daniels is 80.
Actor William Petersen is 73.
Actor Kelsey Grammer is 71.
Country musician Mary Chapin Carpenter is 68.
Baseball Hall of Famer Alan Trammell is 68.
Actor William Baldwin is 63.
Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona is 62.
Actor Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is 57.
Musician Rhiannon Giddens is 49.
Actor Tituss Burgess is 47.
Actor Jennifer Love Hewitt is 47.
Filmmaker-comedian Jordan Peele is 47.
Singer Charlotte Church is 40.
Actor Joe Alwyn is 35.

The Timberwolves were in the midst of a collapse and heading toward a bad loss Friday at Target Center.

An 11-point lead over Dallas to open the final frame was slowly melting away when veteran guard Mike Conley leaned over to Anthony Edwards on the bench and suggested the 24-year-old superstar check himself back into the contest.

“I was like, ‘Nah, he’s going to put me in,’” Edwards said of Wolves coach Chris Finch.

The call to action came with seven minutes remaining after a Tyus Jones’ bucket tied the game at 103-103.

Edwards knew what he had to do. He had to be aggressive.

On his first possession back on the floor, he drilled a step-back triple, which set the table for a mini explosion down the stretch.

Edwards also drove to the hoop, pulled up for mid-range jumpers and buried shots along the baseline. His full arsenal was on display as he scored 14 points down the stretch on 6 for 8 shooting to lift Minnesota to a 122-111 home win over Dallas.

“Ant was awesome,” Finch said. “He finished the game like he can. I thought his shot selection was really good for the most part. He took the right shots. In clutch time, he got to his spots pretty simply.”

That’s long been Finch’s message to Edwards when it comes to end-of-game scoring: Don’t find dribble combinations to get to shots, find simple ways to get to spots. Once you establish your spots you will consistently cash jumpers from, you become infinitely harder for defenses to stop.

Edwards has had the top-of-the-arc triple since the start of last season. But he’s since added the elbow jumper as well as the mid-range, turnaround on the baseline as go-to shots he can generate against essentially any defensive scheme.

“I think Finchy is a big part of my success,” Edwards said. “He’s been preaching that to me for the last two years, so he’s a big part of that.”

It’s why Edwards is shooting 60% from the floor in clutch time this season — segments of the final five minutes of games when the margin is within five points. That’s the best mark in the NBA among the 65 players with north of 25 clutch-time field goal attempts.

Edwards said the development of his 3-point shot in recent years has opened up much on the offensive end.

“I think teams really don’t want me to shoot the step back going left, so they be pressed up,” he said. “They kind of let me go by them, honestly. It’s starting to feel like they just let me go to the rim. So just trying to pick my spots – when to shoot the three, when to get to the pull up, when to get to the rim, just reading the game.”

And choosing correctly more times than not.

“Year after year, I think his decision-making is the key,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. “For him to pick his spots and not settling every time and be able to attack and make the right play when they put two on him – find his teammates, trust his teammates. I think he’s been getting better and better, and this year is the best I’ve seen him. It’s huge. We need it. The ball is in his hands, so we need him to be able to make the best decision and to be the best offensive player in the world in those clutch minutes.”

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Friday wasn’t the best of evenings for the Minnesota and St. Thomas women’s hockey teams. Both were upended in WCHA play and now head into Saturday looking to gain series splits.

Minnesota-Duluth 3, Minnesota 2 (OT)

The Gophers battled back from a 2-1 deficit midway through the third period to force overtime at Minnesota-Duluth.

Unfortunately, Minnesota’s rally only delayed the result as the Bulldogs prevailed 3-2 in the extra session.

Tova Henderson’s unassisted tally at 1:41 of OT iced the result and handed the Gophers a fourth consecutive defeat.

Minnesota took the early lead as Madison Kaiser’s goal at 16:33 of the first period gave the visitors a 1-0 edge at Amsoil Arena on the shore of Lake Superior.

The advantage didn’t last long. UMD evened the count at 1-1 with a strike at 10:21. The hosts staked their claim to the game at 12:36 of the middle frame on a goal from Maddie Burr.

Duluth’s 2-1 lead carried well into the third period before Ava Lindsay breathed new life into the Gophers at 9:30 of the stanza to send the game into overtime knotted at 2-2.

With the prospect of a shootout ticking ever closer, Henderson closed the door on Minnesota’s comeback. Bulldogs goalie Eve Gascon made 31 saves as her Gophers counterpart, Hannah Clark, made 29 stops. The loss dropped Minnesota to 24-8-1 overall and 18-8-1 in conference play.

The Bulldogs, as locked into fourth place in the WCHA standings as the Gophers are cemented to third place, improved to 18-12-3 overall and 14-10-3 in the circuit with one game remaining in the regular season.

Minnesota and UMD will take the ice for that final pre-playoff contest at 2 p.m. Saturday inside Duluth’s lakeside arena. The game is scheduled to be televised on BTN+.

Minnesota State 5, St. Thomas 2

An exciting first period was followed by two more that didn’t go the Tommies’ way at the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena in a 5-2 loss.

The opening frame set up well for a big day in St. Paul. St. Thomas gave up the opening goal, but followed with two of their own in scintillating fashion to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

After the Mavericks drew first blood at 6:56, Rylee Bartz struck back for the Tommies just 24 seconds later to make the score 1-1. Then, just as fans began to head to get concessions, Ella Boerger had them standing up for a different reason as she scored with just four ticks left on the clock.

Minnesota State got down to business in the second period, scoring the lone tally of the frame at 15:26 to draw even at 2-2.

That’s how the score remained until 16:09 of the third, when the visitors took their second lead of the game at 3-2. Unlike their brief first-period edge, this one proved to be permanent.

The Mavericks added a power play goal at 12:25 and a final tally with 2:15 remaining to skate away with the three-goal win.

St. Thomas goaltender Julia Minotti made 27 saves in the game, while MSU netminder Hailey Hansen saved 23 of 25 attempts.

The loss ended any Tommies hopes of leapfrogging the Mavericks in the WCHA regular-season standings. MSU (14-17-2 overall, 8-17-2 WCHA, 27 points) took a four-point edge on St. Thomas (12-20-1, 7-19-1, 23 points) in the conference with the win and just one game left to go before the playoffs.

The two teams go at it one more time at 2 p.m. Saturday inside Anderson Arena.

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