Last month, Mayor Adrian Fenty and Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham held a special ceremony heralding the reopening of the Banneker Recreation Center. Prior to the ceremony, neighbors complained that the Georgia Avenue center, which had been closed over a year for repairs, was contributing to an uptick in juvenile delinquency in the neighborhood. They [...]
If you didn't know there was an election today, you're far from the only one. In the special election for District I school-board representative, writer Mary Lord was the only candidate on the ballot, and her campaign for a body eviscerated by Mayor Adrian Fenty's schools takeover hasn't elicited much turnout around Wards 1 and [...]
Regardless of what improvements are made around it, a charred façade of three old storefronts at the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. and Good Hope Road in Southeast has refused to improve. It's been vacant, overgrown with weeds, and even damaged by fire, and business advocates have championed its demolition for years. But [...]
Megachains aren’t always a fitting companion to history, but in the U Street corridor, the two are scheduled to become a package deal.
This fall, a CVS drugstore will open adjacent to the African-American Civil War Memorial at U and 10th Streets NW. The store will occupy the ground floor of the Prince Hall Grand [...]
WUSA-TV's Bruce Johnson posted an old news clip (WMV) a couple of days ago that contained his report on Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene's 1984 death. A version of Petey Greene's story is told on the big screen in Talk to Me, which came out in theaters last month.
After hearing (and writing about) the story of [...]
Those cute Euro scooters and mopeds have been a favorite prey of local crooks for a couple of years now, but a couple of recent incidents indicate that scooterjackers have a new MO: Just hop on for a ride.
Last Thursday evening, Zia Koreishi was in Adams Morgan on his scooter when he noticed a couple [...]
The Department of Parks and Recreation held a special ceremony today to reopen the Banneker Recreation Center on Georgia Avenue. The rec center had been closed for repairs for over a year, and some neighbors had started to get restless, as it looked like it was to remain closed for the second crucial summer season [...]
You've seen the maternal signs: the polite and pleading "Please curb your dog" or the more demanding "Scoop your pets poop!" and all other manner of slogans aimed at reminding dog owners to do something they know they're supposed to do anyway. The signs, like a nagging mother telling you to pick your wet towel [...]
In the last six months, the residents of the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in Shaw have put up with a sudden change in management, threats of eviction, and 54 lawsuits—most eventually dropped—for nonpayment of rent . Now the residents of the single-room-occupancy facility—mostly older disabled and mentally ill women—are getting eaten alive by bedbugs.
"The whole building [...]
In mid-March, residents of the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in Shaw, a refuge for abused and mentally ill women, got a rude surprise. Vision Realty Management, which recently started managing the building, filed suit against 54 residents of the 116-room facility, claiming they owed thousands of dollars in back rent. Most of the women protested, saying [...]
Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans might be returning to his roots as an advisory neighborhood commissioner.
For the past two months, the rancor that's come to characterize the Shaw ANC since the beginning of the year has paralyzed the group's operations. Scheduled public meetings in March and April were cancelled by Chair Doris Brooks—the first for [...]
As a black person, I've developed, somewhat to my embarrassment, a formula to avoid the anxiety-ridden act of hailing a cab: (1) If possible, just catch the bus. The bus does not discriminate. (2) If you're going to be out super-late, just drive. Spending an hour searching for a parking spot beats being alone and [...]
I've never been able to form an opinion on panhandlers. While on a very basic level I just can't embrace the practice of begging, from time to time I put myself in that person's shoes. I think, if things got as bad as that, if I had to beg on the street to get someone [...]
Last night, Norah Jones surprised me. When the show opened, the stage lights illuminated a tiny Jones, clad in a tasteful red dress and strumming a guitar as she purred the lyrics to "Come Away with Me." I didn't know she played guitar, but I guess it isn't so much a stretch given that she's [...]
Earlier this month, the Shaw advisory neighborhood commission was about to start its usual monthly meeting (having moved from the Africare House, its usual location, to the United House of Prayer) when a constituent was singled out for videotaping the proceedings. ANC Chair Doris Brooks asked Brian Smith, proprietor of the OffSeventh neighborhood blog, to [...]
