Finding parking in Kent Boese’s stomping grounds in the Park View/Petworth region often involves some trolling. Boese, however, had a lucky streak on a certain stretch of Park Place NW—his go-to spot. “The space is in front of my neighbors, and we get along well,” says Boese, adding that he liked to park there because it helped protect the neighbor’s curbside garden.

But last fall, something went wrong at his fallback parking space. A letter from the city informing him his car had been photographed there by D.C.’s newest surveillance snitch, Sweepercam, a ticketing camera hoisted to the city’s street sweepers. Boese’s 2002 Dodge Dakota had been parked in the way during a street cleaning. To Boese’s relief, the letter was just a warning, a dry run of sorts for Sweepercam.

Read More “D.C.’s Sweepercam—Or Should We Say “Sweeperscam?” »

Some security guards charged with protecting D.C. schools neglected to show up this morning. Maybe that’s because they were unlikely to get paid.

After all, their employer, Hawk One Security, folded yesterday afternoon. The business provided about 300 guards to D.C. schools.

Education insider and activist Robert Brannum , who last night posted to a Listserv warning DC residents the security guards would be absent today, says via e-mail that he got a call last night, telling him the company was imploding. “Hawk One employees were advised not to report to work because there was not a contract.” he writes.

The Washington Post says the company’s going belly-up is no surprise:

“Hawk One had recently lost a lucrative contract to provide security at District government buildings. It also owes the Internal Revenue Service $4 million in taxes and penalties, records show. The company was also having trouble paying its employees. Hawk One officials said earlier this week that untimely payment from the city was the reason for the payment troubles.”

Preventing any Lord-of-the-Flies scenarios, the D.C. police department has moved in to take up the slack as far as DCPS security is concerned. It has also, according to a recent release from the mayor’s office, already hired two brand new contractors to protect D.C. schools.

If you’re looking to find Trooper, the mangled pit bull ditched in a Southeast Dumpster by dog-fighting operatives last month, you may be disappointed. The dog is going to move soon from the Friendship Hospital for Animals to an undisclosed location.
Read More “Abused Dog To Move to Undisclosed Location” »

If you happen to like cruising down Parker Street NE looking for hookers, here’s a warning: The D.C. police department could end up sending you an embarrassing letter.

Some time ago, ANC Commissioner Tony Richardson complained to the mayor’s office that Parker Street, which is amid the H Street NE corridor, was being overrun by prostitutes. Results ensued: The department declared the vicinity a prostitution-free zone for ten days and then increased patrols. The streetwalkers migrated elsewhere.

Read More “Cruise Prostitutes, Get a Letter” »

D.C. animal lovers have been following the recovery process of Trooper, the swollen and bloodied dog tossed in a Southeast dumpster last month. It’s been assumed the mangled pit bull, given her name by the Washington Humane Society (WHS), was discarded after she lost a bout at an illegal dog-fighting event.

As it turns out, Trooper may not have made it even that far. “I have a gut feeling she was a bait-dog,” says Scott Giacoppo, the chief program officer for WHS and a dog-fighting expert.

Read More “Dog Found in Dumpster May Be Even More Traumatized Than Originally Thought” »

Activists with the PTA of John Burroughs Elementary school had a hectic weekend. Last night, the group issued a press release asking parents of the Brookland school to skip the first day of classes on Monday, lest the students end up breathing bad air. The group believed construction crews were still working Sunday night, pushing to get the Northeast building’s summer renovations finished: “A Dumpster filled with trashed furniture and a large piece of machinery still sit on the Newton Street side of the school. The side doors open every so often and men in construction hats appear, hastily carrying in materials or tools. It’s obvious that construction work is still going on even at this late hour…”

The group thought that such recent construction was likely to leave behind “fine dust and toxins.” As a result, the association promised to meet parents “at the door” of Burroughs and urge them to keep their offspring out of school for the next 72 hours or until the EPA or OSHA conducts an indoor air quality test.

PTA president Clarence Cherry says he and member Maria P. Jones did just that. This morning, they stood outside Burroughs and warned parents. “I wanted the parents to be aware they were taking their children into a unsafe environment,” says Cherry. Cherry says he convinced about twenty to take their kids home and not bring them back until Wednesday. He says he’s not sure how many Jones persuaded, since she was standing at another entrance.

The Washington Post reports city officials claim “the school passed air quality tests.” A suspicious Cherry wants to know just who conducted the tests and wants to see the results for himself.

Despite speculation over at DCist, Nick Cho says it’s not an April Fool’s joke: He’s closing Murky Coffee in Arlington and moving back to the District. He and, he says, most of his remaining staff will move over to a new spot, Wrecking Ball Coffee , at 475 H St. NW.

“We just couldn’t make the business model work in Arlington,” says the barista made quasi-famous for wanting to punch someone on his dick after he was made quasi-famous for not paying his D.C. taxes. The  new shop will have a new owner, thus avoiding that whole lien problem. (DCist says it’ll be Cho’s girlfriend, Trish Rothgeb Skeie.) Cho says he will collect a salary and keep far away from the money end.  “There are some things I’m good at and some things I’m not,”  he says. “This frees me up to do what I’m good at.” Like run for president?

Cho’s public announcement, posted to his site, after the jump:

Read More “Nick Cho Show Moving to H Street” »

Apollo Gonzales, a Capitol Hill listserv poster is upset his neighborhood wasn’t warned that a portion of 18th Street SE would be lined with “No Parking” signs come inauguration-time.

Upon first spotting the signs on Jan. 16, Gonzales was completely perplexed:

“Can someone explain to me why Emergency No Parking signs went up today on both sides of 18th SE north of Mass and south of Independence? They are randomly placed up and down both sides of the street. Does this mean that from today until the 23rd, when the city is more crowded than ever in history, I’m gonna have to go somewhere else to find parking?”

The resident soon figured out that despite 18th St. SE not being mentioned on a DC government Web page that spells out parking restrictions and road closures for the inaug…yes, he would have to find alternative parking. He writes in another post:

Read More “Inauguration Parking Wars” »

Tomorrow, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association will be running Inauguration Day bike valet stations from 7 am to 5 pm.

If you’re interested in having the cycling-supporters park and guard your ride while you hang with Obama, one of the two stations will be located north of the National Mall at 16th St. NW between K St. & I St., the other south of the Mall in the Jeffersonian Memorial parking lot. These spots are just outside the inauguration’s hard security zone, so after you drop off your two-wheeled loved-one, it’s an easy stroll to a “general public entry point,” as  WABA’s google map, replete with bike-routes you can take to the area, illustrates.

Though they’re bound to have quite a few bikes to park, considering the response the organization got from riders hoping to use the service, don’t worry, they’ll find space for your ride. If the bike racks donated to the group by Dero Racks fill up, WABA will start dragging over surplus crowd control barriers.

Handing over a cycle will be easy.

Read More “How to Use the Inagural Bike Valet” »

In an article about ways in which people are trying to beat inaugural transportation hassles, the Washington Post mentions the situation at Cap Hill’s Capital Segway:

“Calls have flooded Rep Burks’s Segway rental store in the District. “People get excited about taking a Segway to the inauguration,” he said. A Segway is one of the few private vehicles that will be allowed, like bikes, on city streets and across bridges. “But then they find out they can’t get inside the secure zone with it, and they realize it’s not such a great option.” Segways, like bikes, strollers and other wheeled vehicles, are not allowed near the Mall or parade route.”But even if they were, Burks’s Segways have all been snapped up by Obama’s people.”

Capital Segway General Manager Steven Orr says yes, the phone has been ringing a lot and yes, “Obama’s people” have reserved the business’s thirty electric chariots.”They may or may not need all of them.”

Orr assumes inauguration volunteers asked to travel long distances will be mounting the vehicles.

Obama’s peeps are scheduled to pick up ten machines today. Won’t it be a cold ride? Obviously it’s going to be a little colder on a Segway, Orr says, but the vehicle only goes up to 12.5 miles an hour, so there’s not a lot of wind.

Photo by PetroleumJelliffe

Yesterday, the Washington City Paper’s own Darrow Montgomery asked an important question in the comments section of a post focusing on the flood of RSVPs (as of now, over 1,300) the Washington Area Bicycle Association has received for its Inaug-Day bicycle-parking service: “What happens to bikes locked up outside these areas?”

Seeking an answer, City Desk contacted Kevin Griffis, spokesman for the Presidential Inaugural Committee. “As long as [a parked/locked bike isn't] obstructing traffic, it should be fine,” Griffis said, but suggested we contact MPD to be sure.

D.C. police spokeswoman Traci Hughes had this to say about the subject via email: “If your readers want to park and lock outside the parade perimeter as they would on a normal day that is fine.” Hughes then added that bikers should, “Keep in mind there may be theft issues considering the number of people.”

An email from First District Commander David Kamperin was similar in nature, except the officer had his own keep-in-mind. “Keep in mind [bikers] are prohibited from securing to official signs, posts, etc.”

James R. Sebastian, the District Department of Transportation’s bike program manager, also offered up some advice on inaugural bike parking: Read More “Not Using the Inaugural Bike Valet? You Can Still Park Your Cycle” »

Update: How to Use the Inaugural Bike Valet

WABA program-assistant Henry Mesias, who has provided City Desk with all sorts of timely scoops regarding the free bike valet service the association will offer on Inauguration Day, says the non-profit is fully prepared for a “bikepocalypse.”  And why might he predict one?  Around this time last week, the organization had received some 650 RSVPs, whereas, by yesterday, it had received over 1,100 (a jump of 450 cyclists).

Considering RSVPs aren’t required, and the inauguration is still seven days away, you can bet there will be more than eleven-hundred two-wheelers rolling into stations on Jan. 20. (Back in December, WABA imagined there would be a max of just a thousand.) No sweat. WABA can handle it. “We’re prepared for the worst, I mean…er…the best,” Mesias says.

Not only is the group ready for the worst-er- best, they’re ready to supply the multitudes who stream into one of two (plans for a third were scrapped) stations–located north and south of the National Mall respectively– with snazzy commemorative claim tickets and spoke cards. The spoke card design is pictured below. Read More “Inaugural Bike Valet Station RSVPs May Be Sign of Bike-pocalypse” »

Mrs. R.D. McCray took the train from High Point, North Carolina to D.C. Nine hours. Back home she told everyone she was going to a rehearsal for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. An inauguration rehearsal? No one she talked to knew there was any such thing. She hadn’t known about the inaugural practice-run either, until her nephew Juan Dunlap and his wife, Brenda C. Siler–both longtime District residents–told her about it. How, you know, the inauguration was going to be crowded, millions, “so maybe I wanted to come out for the rehearsal instead.”

At the rehearsal, there were only about 150 onlookers, and she could get as close as the green chain link fence surrounding rows of brown folding chairs would let her. When Inauguration Day comes, she said, “I’ll be sitting in front of the television, and I’ll be able to say I was there. I stood right there.”

“I’m glad to be able to live history,” she added.

Even though it was all pretend, Mrs. McCray got to experience some interesting moments at the dress rehearsal: As the names of various politicians were announced (and their stand-ins took on-stage seating) everyone got a cheer except for the stand-ins of (guess who) President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. “Evidently, there are a lot of Democrats here,” a guy in the crowd joked.

Other highlights? Read More “Notes on the Inauguration Rehearsal” »

Think a U-lock is enough protection for a D.C. bike? While being interviewed for the article “Bike Theft: A Victim, a Cop and a Thief on Capitol Hill,” which appears in this week’s dead-tree version of City Paper, an experienced bike thief suggested: “There’s no lock that can’t be broke,” including the all-mighty U-lock.

Read More “How to Bust a U-lock” »

Read Scott Martin says he never left his bike—a silver Specialized Rockhopper he bought used– untended or unlocked until, one afternoon, he did. Stopping off at a friend’s Capitol Hill office building for a quick chat, Martin left his bike outside, behind a wrought iron gate and leaned into the storefront’s doorway. The bike was in full view of the office’s bay window, so he figured it was safe.

Loquacious in a Harvard-math-professor kind of way, the sandy-haired 43-year-old was unlikely to keep his tète-à-tète brief.

After talking over a “business matter” for about 30 minutes, Martin left the office, planning to hop on his mountain bike and pedal four blocks to his house on A Street NE. Not a chance. The bike had vanished.

Despite feeling “dumb” for neglecting to use his U-lock (it was attached to the bike, so the thief got that too) the marketing consultant called 911. “A squad car was there in 10 minutes,” Martin says. “The thing that stood out was the officer was very familiar with the problem.”

The other thing that stood out for Martin was that the cop didn’t blame or criticize him. “I kept waiting for her to roll her eyes and say ‘You stupid turkey,’…she didn’t.” In fact, she did the opposite, assuring him it wasn’t his fault.

Though District cyclists might think a dude like Martin, naive enough to leave his bike unprotected while he runs an errand, got what he deserved, Sgt. Christopher Micciche of the D.C. Police Department’s Crime Reduction Team doesn’t see it that way: “If you leave your car unlocked while you pump your gas, you probably do not want someone coming along and stealing your laptop out the passenger side door. And if you run into 7-11, it would be nice if you didn’t have to worry about someone coming along and riding off on your bike.”

That’s one of the reasons he and the CRT plant bait bikes on D.C. streets. Micciche explains in an e-mail that the unlocked, decoy bikes are leaned “in a plausible location, such as in front of an occupied home, or on the porch, or outside of a business establishment-where one might likely find that an individual left their bike to transact their business momentarily.”

When a bike hustler tries to wheel away the bait, the officers swarm.

The stings have produced 13 arrests so far, and have yielded some odd moments: Micciche remembers how two bike thieves were warned by officers to not take the bike, but then moments later “did so anyway” and how another “waited until his Metro bus arrived, then hustled over and grabbed the bike, placing it into the bus bike rack and boarding the bus.”

He also remembers how most of the perps saw nothing wrong with what they did.  Almost every person who stole a bike “could not understand the concept of not taking property that didn’t belong to them,” Micciche says.

Some consider it their occupation.

An admitted bike thief, who would not allow his name to be printed, is likely the guy who stole Read’s bike for two reasons: He operates exclusively in Capitol Hill and Georgetown and his favorite  boost is an unlocked bike. “If a bike is unlocked,” he says, “how’s that stealing? It can’t be stealing–you just found a bike.”

The thief, a middle-aged guy built like an ex-athlete, stakes out a dimly-lit spot on a curb. This is where people can find him if they’re in the market for a stolen bike. Some he’s sold over the three or four years he’s been at this retail for thousands, but the thief has never let a hot cycle go for more than $75, he says.

He’s never been yelled at or chased, much less arrested by the police. Really, he says, he’s providing a service: When he takes someone’s wheels, it encourages people he robs to register their bikes next time.