Archive for the ‘Angst’ Category
Our Morning Roundup: Washington Times “Owns” Chas Freeman Story
Good morning, City Desk readers. The one and only Ted Scheinman is chilling in the tropics this week, and yours truly has been tasked with turning regular Wednesday roundup into WTF?! Wednesday roundup. How about this weather, huh? Huh? The boss (as in, my boss) knows what I'm talking about. News and commentary about Phish, pot, Metro, and taxes, after the jump.
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Winners And Losers Along Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue NE
For the last two days, I've had the pleasure of driving around Ward 7---specifically in and out of the Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue NE corridor.
I had spent a ton of time there four years ago for a story about a father who got burned out of his house after he started fighting the local hoodlums. The hoodlums had great nicknames and a terrible alibi. The father had amazing kids, an antique shop on 14th Street NW (that's no more), and a failed dream to turn that home into a real home (it had a pool in the backyard).
Without a huge investment in development, it was interesting to see what has survived, what is boarded up, and what has overcome serious obstacles.
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Just How Many D.C. Police Department Officers Are There?
I got a lengthy D.C. Police Department document today which includes a bunch of charts and stats on its rank and file. If the figures are correct, the doc goes a long way toward clearing up one issue that has plagued this reporter (and, well, the police union): How many officers does the police department actually have?
It's a simple question. I called the department's public information office three times this week to get answer. The first response: "Approximately 4,000" cops. Approximately just doesn't cut it. Two more calls to 202-727-4383 and still nothing.
Police Chief Cathy Lanier told me at the Levy press conference that the department has seen an increase in officers and resources. This was news to me. She said this was the reason for a new change in their approach to mentally-ill residents. So I wanted real numbers.
This document has the real numbers. Or at least seems to.
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D.C. Police Seize More Guns
The D.C. Police Department continues its sly campaign to make everyone---especially Republicans---aware that there are guns, guns, guns floating around the city. In today's edition, a handgun gets turned in to 2D, a BB gun is recovered, and plenty of ammo is found.
Park Service Seeks To Destroy Reflecting Pool, Sylvan Theater
Eventually, somebody will speak up and say: Stop Messing With The National Mall. In recent years, we've had to endure the WWII memorial monstrosity (it's memorial as clip art!). Now comes the news that the National Park Service has issued a planning document which calls for the removal of the U.S. Capitol's reflecting pool and the obliteration of the Sylvan Theater. These are not pieces on a game board!
The reflecting pool would be replaced by some other kind of water entertainment. I'm guess a fountain. What else could it be? A Michael Phelps Memorial Bong? The Sylvan would be replaced with a bigger entertainment center or something. You know the new one will be tagged with all manner of corporate crap. Red Bull will finally get a presence on the National Mall. Thank G-d.
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Mystery Blood Found Outside DCUSA
Does anyone know what happened? Maybe it's not blood. Could be ketchup.
*photo courtesy of one of our intrepid readers.
Guess Who’s Hiring? ANC 4B
So no one can find a job. Well there's one government entity that has announced it's hiring: Advisory Neighborhood Commission 4B. It posted an ad on the Shepherd Park listserv:
The pay seems OK. But it's part-time work. Full details after the jump.
City Lights Public Charter Closes Tomorrow
The City Lights Public Charter School closes tomorrow. And when the school for at-risk youth closes, I wonder: will that mean the end to getting a straight answer as to why it shut down. Last Wednesday, the Post's Bill Turque did a solid job trying to suss out a reason:
"The collapse of City Lights, housed in a former Catholic elementary school on T Street NE, has triggered a round of finger-pointing and second-guessing among school and District officials over alleged mismanagement."
Turque pointed to a set of numbers that don't add up. And we're never adequately explained. A lot of kids are going to get dumped into the public school system. These kids are going to need specialized help. How many of these kids will graduate?
Nickles: All Bluster And ‘Falsehoods’ On D.C. Jail Issue
Last week, as part of our average day coverage, Mike DeBonis reported that Councilmember Phil Mendelson was "appalled" at AG Peter Nickles' interest in rescinding a law that requires the D.C. Jail to release inmates before 10 p.m.
Mendo has every reason to be appalled. As chair of the Judiciary Committee, he knows all too well the troubles that the D.C. Jail has had in releasing inmates on time. There have been two class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of inmates not released on time. These are not inmates who were released a few hours late. We're talking days late. The problems stemmed from the jail's inadequate records office. The legislation was an attempt to hold the Jail accountable and protect inmates who were released in the early morning hours in their jumpsuits.
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Councilmembers Thomas And Alexander Make Fools Of Themselves
D.C. Councilmembers Harry Thomas Jr. and Yvette Alexander are elected officials. People must have seen something in them that they liked. Maybe in Thomas' case, it was his famous name. Maybe in Alexander's case, it was her sunny personality. But since joining the council, both have gained reputations as lightweights.
Last Wednesday, on February 18, Thomas and Alexander earned their reps.
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We Feel You Colby
On Saturday, Colby King wrote another column addressing youth violence and the problems with DYRS. In his column, he spoke for journalists all over---but especially here in the District---about all those columns getting zero respect from the people that could actually fix the juvenile justice system. In other words, he's spilled a lot of ink on a pretty worthy crusade and no one in power seemed to care.
This does not bode well for the rest of us (citizen bloggers, alt-weekly vets, Legal Times interns). King is a big-time powerhouse journalist. His columns are must-reads every Saturday. And he has people who agree with him on this issue (those people all seem to work at D.C. Superior Court).
The Dipper Man Faces The Judge
The Dipper Man has nodded off. Dante Dickens is sitting outside Courtroom 321. His belly is full of Burger King. His eyes are closed. His shiny head tilts off to the left against his jacket color. He is wearing his work boots, dark blue work pants, and a work shirt with his name sewn on his chest. In a few minutes, he gets to see the resolution of his drug case. Prosecutors and police alleged that he was found asleep in his idling car, a dipper in his hand on August 22, 2008.
Dickens had gotten to D.C. Superior Court at 8:30 a.m. He says he works as a maintenance man in a White Oak apartment building.
Dickens had to wait on the prosecution's last witness, the chemist. Judge Harold Cushenberry Jr. decided to call for lunch. The proceedings are set to begin in a few minutes at 2:20 p.m. Dickens wakes himself up and walks into the empty court room. He takes a seat in the back.
Judge Cushenberry appears.
"Where's the chemist?" he asks from the bench.
Prosecutor Matthew Kluge goes and gets her from the witness room just outside the courtroom. It's 2:27 p.m. and that dipper has to be examined.
Sweating Out A Simple Drug Case
It is 12:30 p.m. and Officer Harris is sitting outside the courtroom with a fellow cop. Harris is reading an Examiner. The other cop is tearing through James Patterson's Violets Are Blue. Both just testified in the case of the dipper man who fell asleep at the wheel. But there's been one snag.
A prosecution witness---the chemist---hasn't shown up. The judge wants to give the chemist five more minutes. The prosecutor stands by Harris and dials the chemist on his cellphone. Judge Harold L. Cushenberry Jr. seems patient enough.
Harris and the other cop can't quite believe this case went to trial. The dipper man was caught asleep at the wheel holding a PCP-laced smoke. Case closed. Well, almost.
The dipper man has a name: Dante Dickens. And Dickens has an attorney. They had just called a witness who was in the car shortly before the arrest. The witness is a cousin. Dickens had driven him and a female friend to another residence.
The prosecutor uses up his cross-examination on what kind of relationship the cousin had with Dickens. It's way off topic but necessary.
Lost In An Elevator
For a big part of the morning, one woman rides up and down the elevators in D.C. Superior Court. Sometimes she's careful to plot her course, pacing the banks of elevators before choosing the right one. She will look up and consider the various floors, the various possibilities. Other times, she just darts inside.
The woman doesn't know where to go. Volunteer greeters stand near each elevator bank on every floor. They are extremely friendly despite the growing crowds, despite the setting. Close to the main entrance, the bright information desk is also open.
The woman sees all this and then doesn't. She is wearing an old light gray coat stained from knee to waist and soiled at the cuffs of her sleeves. Her blond hair is greasy. Her blue eyes are empty. She smells bad.
By the second-floor elevators, she says she is here because Amtrak banned her from ever using its trains. She is here because she would like to ride Amtrak again.
"If you killed the right one, you could interview me," she says.
A Cop, A Dipper, And Courtroom 321
Officer Harris takes the escalator up to the third floor inside D.C. Superior Court. He then does what all officers must do every morning in the courthouse: check in on his case. He walks over to courtroom 321 and scans the printout case list taped to the door. His case is there.
It's almost 9 a.m. This morning, he skipped breakfast and coffee, and took the Green Line from Camp Springs. Officer Harris says he had to be at Superior Court by 8:30. It's his day off. "Unfortunately," Harris says, "if we don't come we get in trouble."
Harris is stuck standing outside courtroom 321 because of some other guy's troubles. This past summer, he arrested a guy for possession of PCP. One of the easiest arrests he's ever made.
