So the Post reports in the latest Paul Schwartzman development piece. Is anyone else surprised that the coffee shop has survived this long? I never see anyone in the shop during the week. Only on the weekend is it packed with customers either waiting in line for bad coffee or sitting at tables waiting for kinda gross food.

I’m not sure this has anything to do with Schwartzman’s premise that Mount Pleasant is suffering a downturn because the neighborhood is a) too close to the Columbia Heights big boxes; b) filled with rabid NIMBYs; c) saddled with recovering from that massive apartment fire d) filled with opposing views of residents who either want a Red Derby or a McDonald’s.

Mount P certainly has suffered. It has become way more known for fighting over music than having cool places to eat or shop. The best hangout is still the Raven (which is totally fine) and Heller’s and Haydee’s.There are very few reasons for residents outside of the neighborhood to come visit and spend their money.

In fact, there are very few reasons for Mount P residents to shop on the main drag. There is no doubt that the Target and the shops/restaurants around the Target are drawing residents from Mount P. I see that every weekend. It’s this great migration across 16th.

So what do you think needs to happen in Mount Pleasant?

If you are a reporter with the cop beat, there is no story more loathsome than the cop-gets-transferred story. These stories are boring and usually filled with anonymous hand-wringing and inside-baseball org charts that in the end offer very little consequences for the average reader. The only people who care about police officials getting a transfer slip are other cops.

Write enough of these stories, and you will swear off the police beat. These stories will wreck you.

Bill Myers, a reporter for the Examiner, is the latest victim in the cop-transfer genre with his piece on Asst. Chief Winston Robinson’s taking over the police academy in Blue Plains. Myers was saddled with this grabber headline: “Assistant Police Chief Named To Head Academy.” Who the hell is going to read any further?

So Myers tried to juice his story with one ancient story and some dubious allegations that have gone unproven. What’s his lead graph?

“D.C. police Assistant Chief Winston Robinson has been on the job for nearly 40 years. His behavior has caused him trouble for nearly as long.”

I’m gonna call bullshit!

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At the Yum’s on Kennedy, we set up shop last night to film patrons on the recent Petworth shootings. Things were going just fine. It was after 11 p.m.

Then a lady came running towards us. She had a warning for us.

Something about a dog on the loose.

She ran into the Yum’s. We saw the dog—a pit bull. And yes, I admit, I scurried into the Yum’s. Ted, I admit, played it cool. Even though they were safe inside, people screamed some more. I may or may not have screamed like an eight-year-old.

Eventually, I calmed down enough. Ted got some footage of the pit bull. For City Desk. We are very brave. We should be given an award or a free lunch.

We also captured the musings of one Petworth resident about pit bulls, a recent stabbing, violence in general, the police, and Obama:

Trouble viewing? Try the YouTube version.

Video by Ted Scheinman

Last night, we interviewed a number of Petworth residents about this past weekend’s series of shootings. We’ve been covering it a lot. So we thought we should take the video camera out and talk to real people. We hit 8th and Crittenden and interviewed two residents who provided some interesting details surrounding the shootings:

Trouble viewing? Try the YouTube version.

Video by Ted Scheinman

This past weekend, a series of shootings rattled Petworth. There was a shooting on Marlboro Place causing multiple injuries. A fatal shooting at Georgia and Allison. And a burst of gunfire at 8th and Crittenden (only a bunch of cars were shot up). It provoked a promise from D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier of a devotion of resources, manpower, etc. If you live in Petworth, Lanier asserted you’d see a “saturation” of cops.

Last night, we decided to factcheck Lanier’s promise. We saw one cop on Marlboro Place. He sat in his idling cruiser, his laptop set to his AOL account. Georgia and Allison was quiet. At 8th and Crittenden, we saw only an empty cruiser parked up the block. We decided to wait and see if any real cops would ever show up.

We listened to reggae in our Corolla. We ran out of small talk. We swapped college stories. We got excited when a cab pulled up. We watched neighbors parallel park. And we got real bored and real cold. Watch:

Trouble viewing? Try the YouTube version.

Video by Ted Scheinman

This past Saturday evening, friends, family, citizens, and fellow cops held a retirement bash for Lt. Michael Smith. The event was held at the Reagan Building. The man worked the beat for nearly 30 years. The invite read:

“In honor of Lt. Smith’s retirement to a warmer and sunnier climate, scuba diving, and his wife’s fondness for the occasional fruity umbrella-laden beverage, we’re having a tropical themed retierment party… so don your favorite hawaiian shirt or tropical gear and prepare for a night of dancing, food, friends, and fun - all to celebrate our one and only Lt. Smith!”

The man was one of the hardest working cops we knew. The least we could have done was not be so snobby and accept this theme and put on a tropical shirt. Unfortunately, apologies to the organizers, we do not own any beach wear. Thankfully we were allowed to attend the event, and mingle with a District Court judge (!), police officials, an ANC Commissioner, and a retired police chief (!), among others.

Lt. Smith has long been a fixture in Columbia Heights, Shaw and other neighborhoods. He lived where he patrolled. Most residents know he did very little outside his police duties (except for tons of charity work).

Smith seemed to us like a human perp vacuum. He was also a good source. He was always available for advice on a story and to offer a sweet tip or three. We wrote about him/detail his exploits/or quote him expert-style here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here…. well, you get the idea. The stories date from 1995 to the present. He became more of a fixture in our lives and the lives of residents when he got a cellphone and a laptop. He was terrific on e-mail; residents talk a lot about calling his cell before they’d get around to calling 911.

How many cops are more reliable than 911?

Smith says he has broken too many bones to count. He’s also broken a rule or three. He was no friend to cop brass. I recall interviewing a now-retired detective who told me that at one point he made it his mission to fire Lt. Smith.

Of course, Smith prevailed. He was greeted Saturday night by a room full of grateful citizens and some Jimmy Buffett. Not a terrible way to go out.

Asst. Chief Diane Groomes was on hand to give the man a few plaques. His disciplinary file has now become legendary.

We filmed some of the pomp and managed to get Lt. Smith on record one last time. Watch:

Trouble viewing? Try the YouTube version.

Personal Plea: To all District residents who ran for office last Tuesday, please take down your campaign signs! Some of you lost big time (Dee Hunter, sorry), some of you inexplicably won (Paul Strauss), and some of you didn’t have to bother with signs at all (Kwame Brown). All of you need to remove your signs from city lamp posts, street corners, traffic islands, major intersections, and random tree boxes!

Intangible Arts has a rundown of some crazy-ass show you missed. Let’s focus on the first band:

“BLUE SAUSAGE INFANT: A deliberately short set this time (the audio file clocked in at exactly 13:13, how spooky). A brief sonic buildup followed by a large, stomping, improvised, freeform freakout of distorted electronics and tremolo-chopped wordless howling vocals. It was a childish tantrum of noise, soaked in psychedelic paranoia. It came back down to earth (more or less) with the pulsing Korg and looping chants. So far, the best description of modern-day BSI is “mean-spirited euphoria”… sounds about right.”

Meanwhile at Black Plastic Bag, Intern Bobby has some great photos of this past weekend’s Dan Deacon show.

The Heights Life is reporting that The Heights restaurant has changed its menu and slashed its prices.

Mount Pleasant still can’t sustain a decent blog! Climbing The Mount hasn’t posted since early August. Will its last post really be about selling your art at Tonic? Thanks to this blog for pointing it out.

Congress Heights On The Rise has a rundown of community events for the week.

Pop Cesspool invents some awesome new sign language.

Prince of Petworth responds to a reader question: Why didn’t you write more about the recent series of shootings? PoP mentions City Paper’s excellent coverage–thanks PoP–and then goes on to state something we’ve long believed. People obsess over crime too much!

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Last Thursday, David Kerstetter was shot and killed by a Metropolitan Police Department officer. Kerstetter lived just south of Logan Circle in a condo. Two officers responded to his address after receiving a call that his door was open or that he was suicidal (the stories are conflicting). We wrote about the incident here and here.

Kerstetter was well known to police and neighbors as deeply troubled. He was under 6 feet tall, according to neighbors, and was all skin and bones (he looked like he had stopped eating).

When police arrived, he allegedly had a knife. He and the officers allegedly got into a scuffle. One of the officers shot and killed Kerstetter. Both officers are being investigated for their use-of-force.

One resident saw Kerstetter being taken out on a stretcher. “They had a breathing mask over him and a blanket thrown over the main part of his torso,” the resident says. “People got the idea that they didn’t want us to know that he was already dead.”

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On the evening of October 28, Louis Beamon was found shot to death at 11th and Harvard Streets NW. The crime scene brought together grieving neighbors, friends, and family.

Beamon was 37 years old. His friends called him “Pluck.” He was a standout football player at Cardozo. This past Friday evening, before Cardozo’s home game against Coolidge, coaches and players honored Beamon at the 50-yard line.

A moment of silence was held. Cardozo coaches then presented Beamon’s family with his jersey. City Desk interviewed two of Beamon’s former coaches, a former teammate, and a cousin who was on hand to receive the framed jersey. Watch:

Trouble viewing? Try the YouTube version.

Video by Ted Scheinman

Just on MSNBC: Sally Quinn predicts Obama’s daughters will most likely attend Sidwell Friends….

How predictable.

As you all know by now, a D.C. Police Department veteran shot and killed a suicidal man, who allegedly was brandishing a knife, at 1325 13th Street NW. The incident took place yesterday morning following a 911 call.

David Kerstetter, the man who police shot and killed, was familiar to officers who worked on 13th Street and officers who worked in the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit.

“He had some issues in his life,” says Brett Parson, who oversees all of the D.C. Police Department’s liaison units. “Whether it was mental health or stress in his life, I can’t tell you that….It’s a sad case.”

The incident may eventually be ruled as justified. But it calls into serious question the D.C. Police Department’s continued refusal to adequately deal with mentally-distressed residents.

Just a few days ago, the Department of Mental Health (DMH) launched a new outreach program aimed at preventing such incidents. On November 1, the department started up its mobile crises response teams. The teams have a staff of 20 working 16 hours per day, seven days a week.

Stephen T. Baron, DMH’s director, says that mobile crises response team may not have been called over a technicality. His agency is still waiting for the police department to sign a memorandum of understanding.

“I don’t know all the details,” Baron says of the Kerstetter incident. “I spoke to Chief (Diane) Groomes briefly about it. It’s a tragedy for everybody all around.”

Would his new crises team have responded to such a case? “I’m sure it would have,” Baron says. “I’m sure they would have shown up. But who knows where they were in the process? The police are handling it. They can’t stop.â€�

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This was the worst-case scenario.

Yesterday morning, the D.C. police department received a 911 call for a reported suicide attempt at 1325 13th Street NW. Two officers, a 20-year veteran and a rookie fresh out of the academy, took the call.

When they arrived on the scene, the officers found a man clutching a knife, according to a Washington Post story. It is yet unknown how much training the officers had in dealing with suicidal residents, in tamping down a volatile situation involving a citizen with extreme mental distress.

According to the Blade’s more definitive account, the man, David Kerstetter, “had been suffering from bipolar disorder and had become severely depressed when his domestic partner died last year.” The Blade goes on to report that police were familiar with Kerstetter. They had gone to his house many times.

No one is saying publicly what the officers told Kerstetter or how they initially reacted to him when they first arrived. But apparently a scuffle ensued between the officers and Kerstetter. Suddenly, an already difficult situation became a deadly one.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier told the Post that at some point during the struggle, one of the officers, the veteran cop, fired his weapon. Kerstetter was shot. He was then taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

This is the scenario that police watchers have long dreaded. The Office of Police Complaints (OPC), in particular, has lobbied—for years—then-Chief Charles Ramsey, Lanier and the D.C. Council about upgrading the police department’s abilities to handle mentally-ill residents. We wrote about the problem this past April.

Philip Eure, OPC Executive Director, told City Paper that he saw enough citizen complaints related to mishandling a mentally-distressed resident that he made it a priority. “What I know is based on reviewing the complaints and the narratives,� Eure said at the time. “You have a variety of reactions to people who are mentally ill. There are some officers who have the natural empathy.…And you have other officers [who] because of a lack of good training don’t know how to respond. Some officers make fun of these people, laugh at them, mock them. Much of that is based on ignorance.�

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At Prince of Petworth, a reader worries over the aftermath of a stabbing at 11th and Otis:

“Part of what makes me really sad about this is that there are kids that live right near that intersection. Like right abutting the intersection, the coolest kid in Columbia Heights lives there and I hate to think of her being scared because of this happening. When I was a kid living in a pretty good neighborhood, someone broke into my dad’s car in our drive way. Anyway, it really scared me… I can’t imagine what it does to a kid to know that someone was stabbed (and most likely killed) right there.â€�

Pop Cesspool boasts that it has the most essential election-night clip from 14th and U. Sexist has some pretty great video too. And yet… 14th & You has no footage! Where were you? Instead, it has an update on the redevelopment of an old Whitman-Walker building.

Intangible Arts as an update on the record store that will not die.

Finally a local blogger cleans out their blogroll. Bloomingdale (for now) clears out the dead blogs and added a few great ones.

Life in Mount Vernon Square remarks on the changes to ANC 2C. Theresa Sule writes:

“Thank you to everyone who voted to bring about change to ANC2C. We have prevailed now the work must begin. We must work hard to make this a well functioning ANC….

I am glad a change has come to ANC 2C and I am even happier to be a part of it. I will do my best to represent my Single Member District and make sure that the voices of our citizens participate in all issues that affect our neighborhood.

Now let’s hope that President Obama will give full voting rights to Washington, DC as he has voiced on multiple ocassions. It will be interesting to see what impact if any this decision will have on on Washington, DC’S Advisory Neighborhood Commission.”

Southwest…The Little Quadrant That Could reports that a zoning analysis of SW will begin very soon: “The DC Office of Planning will kick off their analysis of zoning in Southwest in January 2009 with a community-wide public meeting. It was originally scheduled to begin in late Summer, but apparently has been delayed.”

Critic John Leonard dies.

On Monday, November 3, D.C. police responded to a report of gunshots along the the 1200 block of Brentwood Road NE.

“Upon arrival, they located a juvenile male in the rear of 1287 Brentwood Road suffering from a gunshot wound. The victim was transported to an area hospital and admitted in critical condition,” according to a department release.

Yesterday, the victim, LaDonta Longshore, was pronounced dead. Longshore was 15 years old. Homicide detectives have now been assigned to the case.

Two officers (one fresh from the academy, the other a veteran) responded to a call for a reported suicide attempt in an apartment building located at the 1300 block of N Street NW. The call came late this morning. The officers approached a man who was clutching a knife, the Washington Post is reporting.

A scuffle ensued.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier told the Post that it appears the veteran cop was the one who fired his weapon. The man was critically wounded. The man has been taken to an area hospital. The Post writes:

“Based on the initial interviews and other information Lanier has received, she said that it appears the officers responded appropriately to a real threat.

‘I feel real comfortable . . . that these officers did act in defense of their life,’ the chief said.”

Update 2:50 p.m.: The shooting took place at 1325 13th Street NW.