The spotlight was on the U.S. House of Representatives today, which voted on rules for an impeachment inquiry. But the Senate holds the final say. We look at how key senators view the goings-on.

Oil-dependent Russia seems to be showing signs of taking climate change more seriously. It marks a shifting of thought, but perhaps not yet a very deep one.

It’s easy to get fixated on the political drama of Brexit. But we’re also trying to focus on potentially overlooked consequences. Today, we look at its effect on Britons in need.

The bookmobile has a history of bringing the written word to people who can’t get to a library building. Queens has taken that ethos further, parking its mobile library at homeless shelters in the borough.

Moviegoers often have a soft spot for gangsters and the actors who play them, especially when Martin Scorsese is at the helm. Film critic Peter Rainer suggests bringing more balance to portrayals of those who pull triggers.

The past has provided some remarkable World Series. Just two years ago, the Houston Astros gave their city a much-needed lift by winning a championship shortly after the devastation of Hurricane Harvey. And before that long-suffering Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs fans were finally rewarded when their teams won titles after waits of 86 and 108 years, respectively.

But this year’s win by the Washington Nationals will surely go down as one of the most satisfying for its loyal fans, as well as among the strangest in the history of baseball.

Until now, Washington took a back seat to no one when it came to baseball futility. In 1924, a team known as the Washington Senators won the World Series. But then came decade after decade of persistent losing. The 1950s Broadway show “Damn Yankees” portrayed a frustrated Senators fan who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for becoming a baseball superstar and guaranteeing a Washington championship. 

But the real Senators kept losing: “Washington: First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League.” This twisting of a saying honoring the nation’s first president became a cruel joke.

In 1961, the Senators left town to become the Minnesota Twins. A new Senators team was created – and itself moved away in 1972 to become the Texas Rangers. In 2005, the Montreal Expos moved south and became the Washington Nationals.

Early on, that team wandered through its own baseball wilderness. But aided by the third-highest payroll in baseball (behind the Cubs and New York Yankees), according to USA Today, the Nats, as their fans call them, slowly assembled the talent needed to compete.

In an oddity that forever will be associated with the 2019 World Series, the visiting team won all seven games. Not only had that never happened in baseball; it had never happened in the championship rounds of professional basketball or hockey, either. 

The Astros had won 107 games, the most in baseball. The Nats had won but 93, barely squeaking into the playoffs as a wild-card team, though they were among the hottest teams in the second half of the season. 

As does every winning team, the Nats bonded with their fans, developing their own lovable traditions. Nationals Park swayed to the children’s tune “Baby Shark,” the team’s unofficial anthem.

Perhaps most important for Americans both inside and outside the Beltway, the Nats provided a welcome diversion from the capital’s roughest sport: politics.

Game after game, they were able to keep surprising – and intriguing – us. How often could they stand on the brink of defeat without falling? 

Their unexpected success can serve as a needed reminder that anything, even political comity, is possible.

This week, we’re adding voices to portraits of those affected by the California wildfires. Meet Bella Hayes. She’s the exhibits coordinator for the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds & Event Center. But this week, she has been serving as the livestock evacuation coordinator for animals in Sonoma County that cannot be housed in traditional evacuation centers. Hear her story below.

– Photo and reporting by Monitor photographer Ann Hermes