Sioban Farey, she of the incensed, wordy postings regarding the planned closing of the National Cathedral’s greenhouse, is deep in the weeds on this issue now. Since City Desk broke the news the greenhouse would close June 29, Farey and between 65 and 300 other incensed plant-lovers (her estimates) have been busy organizing to stop the insanity.

They’ve launched a rudimentary Web site, savethegreenhouse.org (upgrades are coming), and Farey has been on the horn with the Washington Post (a weekend story is promised) and NBC 4 (news tonight at 6 or 11, she thinks). It was on the front page of the Northwest Current (can’t link to it, sorry) and, well, they are doing this thing; they are going to keep that greenhouse open.

The Cathedral, which has already handed out virtual pink slips to the greenhouse employees, does not appear to be budging. The associate dean, Margaret Bergan Davis, has said (I’m paraphrasing) that cuts need to be made, new visions have to be realized, the greenhouse is not part of said new visions, so good luck, Sioban Farey. Davis left a message on Farey’s machine about all the other green programs going on that still are a part of the Cathedral’s vision. Farey was not impressed.

Farey has said, well, Farey has said a lot. In a 45-minute conversation late this morning, she brought up Darfur, 9/11, the snipers, the Walter Reed scandal, global warming (natch), and the stress our nation’s decision makers are under. (Plants reduce stress. There are studies. She could find them.) For all of these reasons and many more—including people like to buy plants and herbs at the greenhouse—Farey thinks this is a cause worth fighting for.

“I read the strategic report yesterday. They [the Cathedral officials] want more diverse, younger participants. We’re moving into a more enlightened green period. Even if it’s John McCain, it’s going to be more progressive environmentally. America is rejoining the international community….I’ve been working on planet change the last couple of years out of my own personal interest…This is the nation’s church in the nation’s capital and what they’re doing is cutting the tiny greenhouse loved by lots and lots of people….”

Farey of Chevy Chase, D.C. side, says she has also been enlisting “establishment” people, one of whom calls what’s happening “absolutely disgusting” and another of whom promised to pull $1,000 out of her pocket right then and there “and she said she has a friend who’d be willing to contribute considerably more.”

Yet this is not just a greenhouse for the matrons of Cleveland and Glover Parks, she attests. Latinos shop there for the specialized herbs and people “make pilgrimages” there on a regular basis.

In other words, watch out Margaret Bergan Davis. You’re going to have to deal with this one for awhile yet.

(photo by Just Chaos)

After suffering through the usual bureaucratic delays, restaurateur Mauricio Fraga-Rosenfeld is finally ready to start serving a full menu today at his new Ceviche in Glover Park. The original Ceviche, opened in 2005 in Silver Spring, is the first of Fraga-Rosenfeld’s restaurant/lounges to spawn a second location.

The menu and interior of the Glover Park location will mirror, more or less, the menu and interior of the original. Javier Angeles-Beron will oversee the kitchens at both restaurants, turning out a Peruvian-heavy cuisine that he calls Novo-Andino. Angeles-Beron has hired Jose “Pepe” Luis, former chef at the Peruvian embassy, to serve as chef de cuisine at the Glover Park location.

The main difference between the two operations—well, aside from the obvious problem of trying to find a parking spot in Glover Park—is the brunch menu at the new location. Angeles-Beron plans to introduce a desayuno Latino in Glover Park, and its menu looks push Americans beyond the standard brunch dishes. Among the items: French toast made with pisco-soaked Challah and lomito saltado over toast.

Last year, Metro proposed radical surgery on D.C.’s longest, most-used bus route, the 30 line, which runs from the Montgomery County line in Northwest to the Prince George’s County border in Southeast. The procedure the agency recommended was one of its current favorites: cutting the route in half. The buses now designated 30, 32, 34, 35, or 36 would terminate at 10th and Pennsylvania NW, and riders who wanted to go further in either direction would have been forced to transfer to a renumbered service covering the other half of the journey.

Metro recently performed a similar bisection on the 90 line, which travels from various points in Southeast to Adams Morgan and McLean Gardens. But after a June 27 ridership survey, bus planners backed away from the proposal to sunder the 30, which is 15 miles long and carries almost 20,000 riders every weekday. “Reaction to that plan was negative,” James Hamre, Metro’s planning manager for bus and corridor projects, told a group of about 30 bus users who attended a “listening session” Tuesday night at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Tenleytown.

Divided into four subgroups, the participants were asked to discuss problems with the notoriously unreliable 30s, and suggest fixes. When the conversations were summarized for the entire assembly, it turned out that at least some of the riders had a familiar idea: cutting the line in half.

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8 p.m., Cactus Cantina, Glover Park

LNSer: I didn’t want to be the first one there, so I took a long time picking out my shoes—the boats or the floppers? I went with the boats and was a half-hour late. Of course Hipster was even later. Probably couldn’t decide on an ironic T-shirt.

Hipster: I went with a T-shirt for the date. I mean, I think “Pork Chop Sandwiches” pretty much sums up how I feel about being made to go to effing Glover Park. I hope we see Tucker Carlson.

LNSer: To be honest, she was cute. She had Brenda’s body, but Kelly’s eyes, and not a touch of Donna.

Hipster: Winston was hanging out by the tortilla machine. I think he asked the woman churning them out if she could come over and clean his condo on the weekends. But, seriously? I kind of dug his shoes. My last boyfriend had dress Chucks. The left one only had one hole.

LNSer: She said she likes whiskey. I usually go with an RBV. In the interest of compromise, we ordered two pitchers of margaritas. The small talk was pretty lame until we figured out we both secretly love Dawson’s Creek. I’ve decided she’s more Jen than Joey.

Hipster: He works on the Hill, of course. It turns out, I was just there. But when he started talking about his job with “The Senator,” I poured myself another margarita. And then another. And then he brought up Hillary.

LNSer: I should have known better than to get into politics with Jen/Brenda. I mean, Hillary is a fat cow. She’s at least a size 12. How could any chick with thick ankles seriously think she can be president?

Hipster: I asked him if he wanted to go to my place and fuck.

LNSer: We went to Pound Town.

UPDATE: “I invited her to become a member of LNS. Now when I see her at the Deck, she won’t give me the time of day. Bitch set me up,” LNSer says.

Restaurateur Mauricio Fraga-Rosenfeld confirmed today that he has pulled the trigger on a deal that will open a second Ceviche, this one in the former Austin Grill space in Glover Park. Chef Javier Angeles-Beron is expected to bring over essentially the same Neuvo Latino menu from the Silver Spring location.

The Glover Park outlet should open in six to eight weeks, says Latin Concepts spokesperson Jessica Gibson, once the space has been redesigned and outfitted with new furniture.

A few weeks ago, dog walker Kelly Marshall led his seven dogs to an open field between 38th and 39th Streets NW in Glover Park. Though the field is officially a spur of Rock Creek Park and owned by the National Park Service (NPS), it’s a de facto dog park widely used by the army of walkers that service the Northwest quadrant. The drinking fountain in the park’s southwest corner, installed by the NPS, even features a ground-level water bowl so doggies can lap water along with their masters.

Marshall says that as he approached the park, two park rangers removing an old mattress from the woods stopped him. “Are you a dog walker?” the ranger asked, according to Marshall. “Because it’s illegal to run a business on federal land without a permit.”

The ranger told Marshall that he was not allowed to take the dogs into the park—leash or no leash. When Marshall asked how he could obtain a permit, the ranger told him that the NPS doesn’t issue them for dog walkers. Earlier that day, another walker who had his dogs off leash was threatened with the impoundment of his dogs.

“The things that people get harassed or ticketed for are for having dogs off leash,” says Marshall. “This is the first that I’ve ever heard of people harassed for having a business on federal land.”

NPS spokesman Bill Line says that the ranger was correct in his interpretation of the law. “If someone wants to operate a dog-walking business and make money off it…and you are using the park on a regular basis to walk the dogs, you’re coming pretty close to or crossing the line of constituting a business,” he says.

Since all the canine traffic could harm the park, the NPS has the authority to require a permit. “Many people who do walk dogs don’t pick up their dogs’ poop,” Line adds. “Is it fair to the next visitor to walk in that dog’s poop? Would you want to walk through that poop?”

Line says that permits can in fact be obtained by calling the NPS’ Office of Park Programs. Marshall, however, merely waited until the rangers loaded the mattress into their truck and then sauntered into the park. “I was like, whatever,” he says. “As soon as…they had left, I took the dogs off leash.”

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we run down what’s going on in local Internet discussion groups.

genxdc
Kelly has a nonhairy dilemma: “I am a total bear ‘chaser’,” he writes on the board devoted to local Generation-X bears, “and were I more hairy I would be considered an otter. I am smooth though, and have found several bears that weren’t into me cuz I wasn’t hairy.” In his quest to transform into something “more bearish, and therefore more ‘woofy’ to other bears,” Kelly admits to considering taking some Rogaine and “slathering it on my chest and tummy to grow hair.” He ultimately turned down the idea—not because a nasty, greasy shirt might just turn off more men, but because of side effects such as hypertension. Kelly hopes to hear word about “a natural treatment of some type,” but like many afflicted by the baldness curse, finds depressingly few options. “I would say…power lifting, but there’s no real way to beat genetics,” writes Alex. Adds Aaron: “I would say either Chia pet or Miracle Grow.”

gloverpark
“Does anyone know,” asks aglue, “if it’s technically illegal to fashion a fire hydrant looking ‘thing’ and place it on a stretch of grass?…Imagine the parking options…anyone know?” Probably, replies John: “As long as the ‘stretch of grass’ is in your backyard, I don’t see a problem; but I’m guessing the stretch of grass you have in mind is [that] part of the public right-of-way where they put things like telephone poles, and, uh, fire hydrants. You will very likely need a permit to put /anything/ in the PROW.” When Bill asks where this fake hydrant might be, so he can take a photo and post it on a Flickr page, aglue quickly responds: “Doesnt exist…we’re just talkin…”

MPD-1D
A posse of highly aggressive robbers with lowly goals apparently rode into town. On the 1100 block of McKenna Walk NW on Oct. 28, according to a police report, two women at home “report hearing a knock. One answered the door and observed the two suspects outside, one handing the other a handgun. One suspect pushed the door open knocking the victim back. The other suspect shoved the victim in the face and entered the home stealing a slim jim, soda, and a honey bun before fleeing.”

The alley running between Hall Place NW and Tunlaw Road NW in Glover Park is hardly an alley anymore. It’s narrow and choked with weeds, and bamboo makes it impassable sans machete. Jersey barriers block one entrance, and a retaining wall holding up one side of the alley appears to be crumbling.

Hall Place resident Tim Robinson obtained permits to park in a spot behind his house last summer. So he called the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to have the jersey barriers at the front of the alley removed. But soon after they’d been taken away, Tunlaw Road property owner Ron Bitondo had them put back, citing the instability of the retaining wall. (The alley sits 8 feet above the edge of Bitondo’s property.)

Robinson says DDOT officials told him they’d hire an engineering firm to analyze the alley and come up with some proposals for fixing it, but a short while later, another DDOT official—Robinson doesn’t remember exactly who—said nothing was going to happen with the alley because of a “political issue with your neighbor.”

Bitondo co-chaired D.C. Council Chairman Linda Cropp’s mayoral campaign. Says Robinson, “Linda Cropp is in his pocket.”

In the fall, Bitondo submitted an application to close the alley to the city surveyor, complete with a petition with neighbors’ signatures and a $1,870 fee. His petition has wound up as a bill before the D.C. Council to have the alley closed—typical alley-closing procedure.

And now rages a fight that’s seen neighbors taking sides—one side of the alley against the other. The Tunlaw folks who live down below the alley support closure; Hall Placers want it left alone for a variety of reasons, the chief one being that a closed alley reverts to private ownership; they’d be responsible for long-neglected pieces of land and would have to pay taxes on it, too.

At an Oct. 10 D.C. Council hearing on the alley, Robinson forced Cropp to acknowledge that she had more-than-typical relationship with Bitondo. But Cropp denied that his financial support of her campaign had anything to do with the alley legislation.

A city employee testified at the hearing that the rules had been followed, and Bitondo denies any impropriety. “It’s taking the normal process across the board,” he says.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we run down what’s going on in local Internet discussion groups.

Brookland
On Sept. 5, Jim posted a note reminding everyone of “Volleyball tonight, 7:30PM as usual.” He also noted the only real rule of the game: “Kids need to be able to serve OK if they play. Not every time.…But kids who cannot serve at all need to practice first. We have low standards but….” The next day, Jim posts another message to the list. Prompted by poor turnout for the volleyball event the previous night, he asks for help in improving attendance and offers some suggestions of his own, one being “institute a higher level of play.” Perhaps being an OK server, even for the kids, Jim posits, just won’t cut it anymore. “[W]e could ask newcomers, especially young kids, to show they can serve the ball, ‘bump,’ set, and hit it over.”

gloverpark
Unable to get his daily Will Thomas fix, Glover Park resident Sean wonders why his rabbit ears have suddenly lost their ability to transmit Fox 5 into his home. “Anyone else in the ‘hood that doesn’t have cable and uses an antenna to pull in the local channels?” Sean asks. “Fox 5 went out on me last night around 7PM and hasn’t come back on yet. Did this happen to anyone else? I still get everything else.” Before anyone can suggest that the isolated Fox 5 blackout is simply the television rejecting The Edge, neighbor John steps in with an explanation. “Fox 5 and Channel 20 have been doing some work to boost their transmission power and raise their antennas a few feet to get better coverage of the metro area, and their analog and digital signals have been intermittent these past few weeks.” He says that service should be back to normal any time now, restoring Seinfeld reruns and Storm Trac to those who’ve gone without.

dc_sistagirls
Thanks to a posting by member MzTina, the group discovers the hours of snooping fun to be had with the Maryland Judiciary Case Search. Immediately, people begin plugging in the names of friends, in-laws, relatives, and old boyfriends. “I’m shocked,” says one woman of discovering someone she knows caught a credit-card-fraud case. “WHOA! I just found my EX-EX-EX boyfriend on here for 2nd Degree - ASSAULT charges.…SCARY!” says another. But jesusisalwaysloves cautions the women not to criticize too harshly. “This is scary as heck. I can’t believe some of the things I am seeing in here !” she writes. “On the other hand I need to be careful/prayerful, not to use this information as a tool to judge…”