Watch out, drug-sniffing dogs: You’ve got some competition.

According to an MSNBC.com article posted this morning, a turtle fitted with a GPS device meandered into a remote area of Rock Creek Park and led a National Park Service employee to a marijuana-growing operation.

A National Park Service employee was tracking a turtle with the gadget for research when the turtle wandered into a small marijuana field in a remote part of Rock Creek Park.

U.S. Park police were called and surveillance was set up to monitor the area. Police discovered a man taking care of about 10 marijuana plants in the field.

U.S. Park police and Montgomery County police arrested Isiah Johnson, 19, in Chevy Chase Wednesday.

Nice work, little turtle. I bet Mr. Johnson wasn’t expecting to be caught like that.

A week or two ago, I spent serious time commuting to and from Henson Ridge for a story on the struggling Hope VI community. As far as appearances go, the neighborhood is well-made, well-designed, and has some nifty new playgrounds. On closer inspection, teenagers still gravitate toward the decrepit rec center and crummy basketball courts, and have converted a set of jersey barriers into a hangout spot. Violence has inched up. Residents have started complaining about trash piling up at those new playgrounds, the lack of routine upkeep, and the need for more cops on their new streets.

There’s tension between renters vs. homeowners, grandmothers vs. bored teenagers, and residents seeking comfort and quiet vs. residents or visitors sipping the cheap stuff in public.

But what felt so much like the old housing project days wasn’t these gripes. It was hearing residents talk about the management company–Edgewood.

Of course, I didn’t interview every resident. And some I did talk to had no complaints and loved Henson Ridge. But there were others who shared a different history. There was the resident whose air conditioner had been broken for a week. She says she called Edgewood multiple times and even visited their offices in Henson Ridge twice. She was still without AC.

And there were the three residents who had bullet holes in their walls. Two of whom made reference to promises Edgewood had made to them. And still the holes hadn’t been fixed. I don’t know about you but I’d prefer a kitchen without a bullet hole.

Schnetia Green, 65, had lived with a bullet hole above her kitchen table for more than a month. She had complained but could get no one from Edgewood to fix it. Then I showed up at her door.

A few days after my story ran on Henson Ridge, she called to give me the good news. The hole had been fixed.

“It just got fixed Monday,” Green says. “But look how long it was open before they fixed it?”

Yeah. But that was before Washington City Paper came to the rescue, right? Did the management company, um, mention my story?

“They didn’t mention it,” Green says.

Very interesting. Edgewood not only fixed her pocked wall but they went ahead and fixed her droopy ceiling. They probably expected a follow-up expose! Right?

Last night on my evening stroll I walked by MPD cars parked at every intersection of Garfield Street in Woodley Park from Cleveland to Wisconsin and at most intersections of Macomb Street from Wisconsin down to Connecticut Ave. At one point, cops (including one in a truancy van) flipped on their lights and blocked traffic on Macomb. I figured the prez had something doing at the Cathedral, but that’s apparently not the case. Lots of other people are wondering what the deal was on the Cleveland Park listserv.

Enter MPD’s 2nd District Commander Mark Carter with the answer. He replied: “There was a dignity movement scheduled to come through the area.”

Well I’m really glad dignity is moving through Northwest D.C. But does anyone know what the H was going on there last night? I’ve a call out to Carter and will update if he calls me back.

UPDATE: OK, OK. I was poking a bit of fun. Yes, Carter meant “dignitary,” according to 2nd District Officer Keisha Anderson, who did call me back and let me know that there were “numerous” dignataries from several countries moving through the city last night. She could not say for what, primarily, she said, because she didn’t know.

Yesterday, we blogged about the boundaries for the new “Shaw ShotSpotter” that actually covers parts of Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, Mt. Pleasant, U Street, Bloomingdale, Truxton Circle, and Park View. (Perhaps it graces the borders of lower Crestwood and lower Petworth, as well? D.C. has too many damn neighborhoods.)

Anyway, here’s the graphic version of the rough boundaries of the coverage area, as approved by Captain Michael Eldridge, who is overseeing the technology.

The city plans to spend over $2 million on a vacant lot in Shaw to move forward on rehabbing the historic Howard Theater.

The parcel, behind the theater at 1830 Wiltberger Place NW, is assessed at about $1.25 million. Under the contract submitted for council approval, the city proposes paying $2,012,500 for the lot. That’s a premium of 60 percent.

The land is needed, according to city documents, to construct “back-of-the-house facilities” and loading areas for the theater, to which the city has committed up to $15 million in grants and tax breaks. Now anyone with a modicum of real-estate knowledge knows that assessed valuations are always well underneath market values, but a 60 percent premium is noteworthy—especially in the current real-estate market.

The lot’s owner, Himat A. Gulajan of Centreville, was not available for comment; a person answering his phone said he’s out of town until Monday.

Sean Madigan, a spokesperson for Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Neil Albert, says the price is tied to an appraisal that puts the value of the land at $1.75 million. As for the 14 percent extra the city is paying, Madigan says it “isn’t uncommon to pay a premium in circumstances like this,” where a parcel is needed for a larger project.

Last week, Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans sent out a press release about the installment—in Shaw—of new ShotSpotter sensors, which can pinpoint the origin of gunshots by picking up their sound.

I blogged about the news. One disbelieving commenter wrote in, with a very reasonable question: “Is it really here this time?”

Well, Capt. Michael Eldridge, who is overseeing the ShotSpotter technology, insists the sensors are up and running, though he refused to tell me where they are located, for good reason. (Every time I think about this, I see, flashing in my head, the opening credits of HBO’s The Wire—you know, the part where the kids throw the rock at the security camera.)

So, according to Eldridge, the “Shaw ShotSpotter” will cover: north on 10th Street from New York Avenue, west on S Street to 16th Street, north again on 16th Street. The system does cover Kalorama Road, the 17th and Euclid Area, and continuing north on 16th Street, west on Spring Road and Rock Creek Church Road, south on 2nd Street, to New York Avenue.

Check out a map. That’s a big, big area (significant chunks of Liquorridor and Land of the Loft, in CP terminology.)

ShotSpotter’s coverage area is expanding significantly within the next few months, as the Washington Post originally reported.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hey Jason, if the rumors are true on the Mount Pleasant forum, you could eat at a McDonald’s sometime soon. “People” say the chain wants to open a restaurant in the newly vacated Mt. Pleasant Supermarket. The folks at Mount Pleasant Mainstreet say those rumors are nothing but speculation so far. Too bad. I have a weak spot for their ice cream. And I have to admit it would be fun, for a short time, to watch the neighborhood go bonkers with protests. Bank of America has also coveted the big parcel.

My hair has gotten to that point, folks. It’s time for a haircut.

I don’t know if this happens to anyone else, but there’s a point—an actual length—in the afterlife of my hair follicles when all hell breaks loose. In January 2007, I was so sick of it (and it was long enough, after the split ends) to donate the majority of my locks to Locks of Love. Yes, I did revert to looking like my sixth-grade self, but it was worth it just to get rid of the horrible tangles that kept me in the shower for 30-45 minutes shampooing, conditioning, pulling strands apart, and repeating.

I’m not willing to get a cut as drastic as before (I’ve realized that chin-length bobs make me look a little chunky above the neck). I just need to take a couple inches off.

Which brings me to my main problem: decision-making. Sometimes (and when it really counts), I’m able to go confidently in the direction of my dreams…ahem. But for everyday decisions, like, say, where to eat for lunch in a new area or a new place to get my hair cut, it takes me awhile.

I asked colleagues the other day and scoured Yelp! looking for a quality salon with moderate prices and near Adams Morgan. I did a new search online this morning (with, of course, the same results and reviews) and chose a couple of places to call. I thought today would be the day. Thursdays can be relatively slower in terms of content, so I figured I could leave for a long lunch, get my hair cut, and come back beautiful and ready for a date tonight. And then I came to work and promptly forgot about it until I ran my fingers through my hair.

I was thinking Trim (close but expensive), Blondie’s (a bit of a walk but moderate), Urban Escape (I could just tumble down the hill to get there), or Bang (more of a trek but moderate prices, I think). Any (helpful) suggestions?

I just got a new apartment at 16th and Irving Streets NW. After dropping off the security deposit, measuring a space for a desk and figuring out where my records would go, I had one more decision to make: Where to celebrate?

I turned down Irving and made it to Mount Pleasant Street. I knew it well having lived in the neighborhood years ago.

The problem: The strip hasn’t changed all that much since I left. Gone: the wildly expensive organic grocery, the amazing pho place and the diner. Still around: laundry joints, cluttered discount shops, a great hardware store, a terrible-but-beloved bakery, and crummy restaurants aimed at the new homeowners.

The neighborhood joints range from just pretty good (Haydee’s) to always fun (the Raven). It’s the new places that are such disappointments.

A salad, a pizza, and two beers comes to $50 at Radius. Only the beer is worth it. Their pasta seems inspired by elementary-school cafeterias and Wheat Thins-covergal Rachel Ray.

Dos Gringos. Even the name is offensive.

Marx Cafe is the worst restaurant on the strip. I’ve eaten there twice. When it first opened, I tried a tofu dish that managed to be both bland and salty. A few months ago, I ended up there and attempted their hummus. It was the worst hummus I’ve ever eaten. It tasted like it came out of a can.

Tonic is pretty decent. But it’s bar food. Skip their brunch. Service is kinda slow and the food is pretty bland. Nothing inventive.

After some tense moments, we ended up at Radius for their pasta special. Big mistake! We grimaced through the greasy pasta. I came away thinking we should have just eaten in a different neighborhood. We could have walked down to U Street.

There has to be better food options on Mount Pleasant Street. Is the neighborhood only known for Laurie Collins, bad food, and people hating on Dos Gringos?

Trinidad: the one neighborhood that could crash ShotSpotter was at it again this past weekend. Every other month, Trinidad picks a weekend to go bonkers and just kick the crap out of families and loved ones. Trinidad is nothing but a tragedy machine. This weekend brought about some particularly awful stuff–a teenager visiting his sick great-grandmother was killed.

And the checkpoints are back–during daylight hours.

Can the city admit that they don’t have an answer for the violence in Trinidad? Can they just say “We don’t know how to stop it?” The checkpoints are a dubious idea–a somewhat effective gimmick at best, at worst a distraction and hinderance for detectives trying to sleuth out murder suspects. At least that’s what this pro says.

No one has a good solution.

In our ever-vigilant vigilance of what is happening at the ol’ Park n’ Shop in Connecticut, D.C., City Desk has learned that Potomac River Running is moving into the former Whatsa Bagel spot, with a possible opening in October. This news comes by way of Josh Hart, elected in June to the ANC 3C04. Hart says the store that’s owned by Northern Virginia runners-entrepreneurs has signed a lease at 3513 Connectictut Ave. NW for its first District outpost. The other stores are in Arlington (Ballston), Burke, Reston, and Ashburn. Want to hear what Fenty ‘rents Phil and Jan have to say about another local-owned shop opening near their customer base? Too bad. An employee over there says they’re on vacay. No call back, either, from one of the Potomac River Running owners, Cathy Pugsley. But keep it dialed in right here for all your struggling stripmall news.

Lots of terrible stuff happened in the Trinidad neighborhood Friday night. A 13-year-old boy was killed and six others were shot, according to reports. NBC4 and WTOP are on top of the story today. Police tell NBC4 they might reinstall those controversial checkpoints because of the violence. (Never mind that the checkpoints were for some secret, specific reason.)

UPDATE: The checkpoints are back.