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.

Boese knew the city had rigged expensive cameras equipped with license plate recognition software to some of its street sweeper fleet. What he didn't know was why he'd gotten the warning. Park Place had no signs indicating street sweeping hours---it hadn't, he recollected, for the year and half he'd been camping his vehicle there. Boese says he called the Department of Public Works (DPW) to let them know their robocop was on the fritz.

The response he got from the voice on the other end of the line was simple: We know. The system was being fouled up by human error, he claims he was told. Street sweeper drivers were forgetting to turn their Sweepercams off while chugging by areas not slated for swishing. That meant Sweepercam sometimes photographed cars that were legally parked. DPW was working on fixing the situation; sorry for the inconvenience.

Boese wasn't worried. "I figured that's what the test run was for," he says.

As fans of the McRib know, however, a little market testing doesn't always yield an infallible product. Months after its beta run, Sweepercam mailed Boese a $30 citation for parking in the same spot, and the guy was irked. "Maybe I had a bad day" he says, "but I sat down and wrote an e-mail." The angry message went to Ward 1 Councilmember--cum--Sweepercam advocate Jim Graham.

"OK, who do I contact about a parking ticket I just got in the mail? The street sweeper photographed me on Thursday. HOWEVER, its because they forgot to turn off the camera." the email reads in part."They did this to me last fall when they did the trial and mailed out the warnings. Can we not hire competent city employees?"

Ever the constituent-service monster, Graham replied, "Thanks. Let me with this email ask Dir Howland to look into this. If it happened to you in this way, it probably happened to others."

DPW Director William O. Howland Jr. looked into Boese's citation himself and found the resident was right---the ticket was bogus. "DPW will administratively void the ticket," he wrote Boese.

Graham had a pretty solid hunch, as well: At a minimum, there are hundreds of victims of Sweepercam indiscretions. Of the 22,000 tickets dispensed by Sweepercam so far, DPW says, 500 have been chucked due to "technical kinks."

In an e-mail, DPW spokesperson Nancee Lyons speaks to various scenarios for screwups: "The camera may have captured the wrong vehicle, a duplicate ticket may have been issued, the camera may have been triggered accidentally and a ticket may have been issued during a day and hours when there was no street sweeping..." As for Boese's suspicion that sweeper drivers are leaving their cameras on even when they're not cleaning, Lyons allows there have been cases where a camera "perhaps was not shut off promptly." "But the information that goes to the central computer system is reviewed before it turns to a ticket so most of those mistakes are caught."

The Sweepercam is a fabulous revenue vehicle, considering that its has dished out about $775,000 in ticket fines since March. But given its high-tech bona fides, can it be that hard to turn off?

A source at Affiliated Computer Services, the private outfit that installed the city's Sweepercams, says nah. "There's a pause/record button on the touch screen display in the cab of the sweeper," the source says. All a driver has to do is hit that button.

Howland insists his drivers aren't regularly screwing up Sweepercam use: "There have not been many complaints about the Sweepercam program. If a ticket was issued in error we try to address the issue and correct it. But there have been few errors."

So how did things turn out for Boese? After his fine first doubled, he eventually received a letter from DPW showing the bill had been zeroed out. Though that turned out well for the car owner, not everything did. Not too long ago, his parking space lost some of its appeal when the city festooned Park Place with street-cleaning signs.

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.

As this NBC Washington video shows, the canine trauma victim has physically recovered from being mutilated and dumped. But if you were planning on pestering the Washington Humane Society about the healed animal becoming your pet, she's not ready yet: "She needs her emotional recovery before she can be adopted out," says the WHS's Sabrina Fang.

That's where the clandestine rescue center comes in---it's a spot where animal behaviorists will try to help Trooper get over her past.

WHS Program Officer Scott Giacoppo, who has made a career of busting dog fighters, says the the name and location of the center is well known in humane circles, but is otherwise kept confidential. Why? "They specialize in rehabbing fighting dogs and often times, dogs are taken from big name dog fighters and those dogs are very, very valuable." The officer says there's a possibility a former owner would come after a prized fighter.

"I hate to say it,"  he explains of the rescue center, "but it's almost like a witness protection program for dogs."

In any event,  the dog may end up having it better than some federal witnesses, who often have to find jobs. Giacoppo says the center will be a place of relaxation. "It's a large facility where Trooper is guaranteed to get plenty of play time," he says.  He adds that the privately funded organization also gives dogs their own rooms instead of cages, and has an area where they can swim. The pit may even get some human cuddling: "They'll have an individual assigned to Trooper who might even spend the night with her at times."

The officer tells that once Trooper is given the OK by behaviorists, she can be placed with a family. And what if the experts don't give the OK? That possibility hardly excites Giacoppo. "If they find that she's too aggressive," he says," we'll have to look at other options."

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.

But these days, Richardson has reason to complain again: "We were very successful for like eight or nine months," he says, "but then they came back." Starting in June, Richardson claims, sex workers began reoccupying his block.

Since then, he and other residents have met with police to brainstorm tactics. One plan that's been agreed upon, offers Richardson, is for neighborhooders to start exposing johns by jotting down the license plate number of any car that seems to be in the area looking for paid sex. The police department will then send the owner some mail: "The letter would say your vehicle was seen at this time-- in a high prostitution area," informs Richardson. "it's been done before," he says. "They used it in Logan Circle a few years ago."

Commander David Kamperin of the department's First District cautions via e-mail that the plan is just in the beginning stages. "They are working with it," he writes. Kamperin also makes the letter seem more courteous than exposing. "The concept was to provide a list of tag numbers cruising the area--an informational letter would be sent to the owner saying their car was observed in a high crime area ensuring that they were aware of its whereabouts etc."

Photo courtesy of Oran Viriyincy

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.

Bait dogs are untrained canines (sometimes snatched from the street or people's yards) that dog fighters force to face off with hardened fight dogs. The pairing allows the stronger dog to hone its skills and heighten its confidence. Bait dogs are maimed in training sessions that get repeated over and over until the weakling is either dead or too weak to function anymore. Then they get dumped.

Giacoppo receives daily updates on Trooper and visits with her frequently. Asked why he believes she's a bait dog and not a battler, he cites "a series of things, like the severity of her wounds and the lack of previous scarring." A fight dog, he says, would have plenty of old scars from previous fights.

The reason the severity of her wounds figures into his assessment is because the damage Trooper suffered from another dog implies she didn't know how to defend herself. That's a skill a trained fight dog would definitely have.

Other reasons?

"Besides the fact that she's small," Giacoppo explains, "the dog's demeanor isn't right for a fighter. Generally speaking, if another dog is in the room, a fight dog will have an intense focus, a stare you can't break. They fight in a pit that's surrounded by people yelling and they have to focus in on just the other dog. Anything that breaks that focus can cause them to lose." Giacoppo says Trooper doesn't have that stare---but he also admits he'll have to wait for her to fully heal so he can see what her demeanor is like when she's healthy.

It's all speculation, says Giacoppo, but "I'm willing to bet she's a bait dog."

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:

Dear valued customer,

It's with great sadness that I announce that in a few weeks, murky coffee will be relocating from here in Clarendon to a new location in Washington DC.

The property here at 3211 Wilson Boulevard was sold last year, and market rent is simply more than we can afford.

In the coming months, I hope that you'll join us in welcoming a new coffee shop here, brought by the talented folks at the renown "Liberty Tavern" just up the street. They'll be bringing their years of experience, a full renovation of the building, and top-quality service. We are proud to call them our friends, and plan to support them in setting up their coffee program. That said, we ask that you'll join us in welcoming and supporting them.

Our new home (at 5th & H Streets NW, two blocks east of the Chinatown Gate) will be a brand-new shop (called "Wrecking Ball Coffee") in a new neighborhood. While we're excited at new possibilities, leaving Clarendon isn't going to be easy. We've made many friends here, and we're very sad to leave. All of us here at murky are heartbroken about this move, so please be sensitive to our feelings during the transition.

We've been honored to be a place for you to visit over the last four years--especially our regular customers, but also those who we see less frequently.

Thanks for your friendship, love, and patronage. In so many ways, our customers have inspired us to work harder at providing you the best coffee experience we can, and for that, we cannot than you enough.

We hope that you'll be sure to visit us at our upcoming location. Dates for this move are yet to be specifically determined, but renovations will begin soon, starting with the upstairs.

I welcome your questions or comments.

Sincerely,
Nick

Flickr photo by cerbuside.

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:

"I called 311 and they say there is nothing that can be done at this point, and that there will be need for charter bus space, [so] those signs will likely be enforced. I'm pretty upset that the neighborhood was never notified..."

Replying, poster Sarah Becker wondered if "DDOT messed up and put the signs on the wrong streets?"

The question of whether a mistake had been made was put to rest once Ward 6 Outreach and Service Specialist Chris Taylor joined the conversation. He told the listserv: "This was a street just added by Secret Service, not in the original plan. I apologize for the inconvenience."

Gonzales fired back:

"Chris, I know you are just doing your job, but the best you can do is say you apologize for the inconvenience? Do you know how many cars park on that street from Potomac to East Capitol Hill where signs were put up? Why don't you walk down that street and count. Do you know how many residents this impacts? From people who park close to home because of their disabilities to the folks who left their cars parked and left town to avoid the next few days. It is outrageous that residents were not provided with any warning, and are now reading in the paper that cars will be ticket[ed] and towed! With all the other street closures in the neighborhood where do you propose we move our cars?You are putting the interests of commercial charter bus services before the NEEDS of the citizens on this city and neighborhood."

Another poster, Frank Zampatori, offered that Taylor shouldn't worry, the parking conflict was already being creatively resolved:

"On Sunday evening I noticed some folks (I believe residents or maybe Secret Service employees or maybe employees from EOM or maybe employees from [D]DOT) tearing down some of the emergency no parking signs on 18th St. SE. No need to trouble yourself Mr. Taylor..."

Gonzales says that as of tonight there are still cars parked on the street.

Photo by Aaron Escobar

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.

Just find the line of people with bikes (WABA volunteers will be working very hard to keep that line short) and wait for a turn. Black-vested attendants will take both bike and biking-stuff, like trailers and panniers-- and assign a numbered ticket to the gear. Half the ticket will go with you, the other half with your bike, attached to its handlebars by a twist tie.

The last step is to visit the sign-up table and write name and cell-phone digits (supplying a cell-number isn't required, but encouraged ) in WABA's binder. If there's some sort of emergency, like heavy snowfall, the valets will buzz people's phones to let them know to pick-up early.

Try not to lose the ticket. If it happens anyway, be sure to have I.D. so the valets can link name and bike.

Art by  Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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:

There are no special bike parking spots besides the valet stations, but bicyclists can park where they normally are allowed to park: bike racks and other ‘stanchions’ in public space (like parking meters, streets signs, etc) EXCEPT for fire hydrants, poles in bus stop areas, within 25 feet of an intersection, and trees under 10 feet in diameter.

Sebastian said he doesn't know what Commander Kamperin meant by cyclists being "prohibited from securing to official signs, posts, etc."

photo by modomatic

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.

Photo by Decadent

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?The inaugural address of Barack Obama's stand-in: "My fellow Americans. God bless America," and the benediction of the substitute Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery: "Let us pray. Amen." There was a loud band screw-up involving a xylophone, and also what must have been an organizing snafu: There were a multitude of porta-potties surrounding the Capitol building, but they all seemed to be locked, which meant quite a few rehearsal attendees got into engrossing conversations about where to pee.

Oh, and then there was the uncomfortable moment when Rick Warren's stand-in came out to deliver the invocation, and almost everyone in the cold January morning groaned, and some guy from Virginia (I asked him) said pretty loud, "Did you hear some people booing over there? Must be from Dupont Circle."

Photo courtesy of NewsHour

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.

According to the thief, as long as the famous lock's metal loop is attached to a bike frame (and whatever immovable object it's been latched to) and not either of the bike's wheels, it's easy to bypass. Just thread a foot-long pipe between frame and bike lock, he explained, and crank it until the security device pops.

Russell Langley of Capitol Hill Bikes says it sounds like that method would work, especially with some of the cheaper U-locks. "Nothing is ever completely secure."

Photo by Aaron Michael Brown

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.