Crack Down!: Resident Tyler Nelson describes a party on Monroe Street over the Labor Day weekend that turned into "quite the little night." He writes on the D.C. police department's Fifth District listserv:

The party had a number of ... behaviors that we have seen before from guests of this house. Underage drinking, guests walking with open containers, trash everywhere, cars parking in the middle of street for minutes at a time. What made this party so egregious was the shear number of guests inside and outside of the house, the volume of noise caused, consistent expletives shouted, and the fact the residents were illegally charging for entrance to the party and were doing so out in the open.

He and others want CUA and police to do more to crack down on "problem" houses, "nuisance" students, and illegal activities.

Leave Them Kids Alone: Eric, on the listserv, has a different take:

Dude, seriously, I think in DC the least of our worries is a group of college kids having a party. Just go talk to them. Most college kids  are actually scared of the cops. So the parties are easily shut down or quieted. Also, they are unlikely to shoot you if you go talk to them. The Howard parties in our neighborhood are occasionally a problem, but the kids are ok so just go talk with them.

Some say a police crackdown is a waste of resources and urge the complainers to, well, move. Adds Steven Conn:

If having a Saturday night party was the biggest threat to my block, I'd be thrilled. Instead, I deal with 24/7 loitering - and daily souvenirs of beer bottles and take away containers / garbage strewn all over the block, not to mention the daily noise pollution.

Next Step: Lamar Greene, the 5D commander, says police responded to the weekend bash and met with CUA officials "who agreed to respond to these parties as well." He has asked for any photo documentation of party activities taken by neighborhood residents so he can follow up further with the university. "We have made arrest last weekend at on[e] of the parties.... I will review the calls for service at this location and find out who from my office responded to the call and review their actions once on the scene."

Brookland Avenue praises some Franciscan Monastery honey: "I was lucky enough to get a behind the scenes tour from Chris Schierkolk a Brookland resident, co-moderator of the Brookland Listserv, FMGG member, and apiarist. Chris gave me a pretty in depth tour of the bee keeping operation on the monastery grounds. There are a total of 5 beekeepers that manage 2 apiaries at the monastery."

The Heights Life praises this past weekend's Columbia Heights Day and has video of the festivities: "I knew Columbia Heights Day was going to be big this year, I just didn't know it was going to be this big. The new Harriet Tubman Elementary Field was a great addition, as was the separate performance area with bleacher seating. And there were plenty of things to do, especially for families. But what I liked best was that much of the soccer field was open so people could just hang out. Or play with hula-hoops, which was my favorite."

The Other 35 Percent has a must-read story with a statistical breakdown of gunshots (or gunshot sounds) per ward. So far this year, Ward 3 had the lowest gunshot sounds with 27 instances. Ward 7 had the highest with 1294. There have been over 5,000 reports of gunfire.

Ward3DC posts some great inside-Cleveland-Park-nerd shit.

The Issue: The Abdo - Catholic University of America (CUA) development. It fits in with the Small Area Plan (SAP) aimed at rejuvenating Brookland. Both sides of Monroe Street are to be made over, bringing 725 condos units to the area, along with a number of new retail outlets and cafes.

Proponent: Lisa on 10th sees this as a much needed boost to Brookland. She writes on Brookland listserv:

My husband and I live at "ground zero" for the development too and we are excited to have well done development come to our neighborhood. We do not like have to go everywhere BUT Brookland for retail, a variety of restaurants (we love Bobby's Q and the new Tex-Mex place but 2 -- haven't been to Brookland Cafe yet -- just isn't enough), a good coffee shop or two, and other retail establishments. Geez, we'd even like to see some healthy competition in the neighborhood.

Opponent: ANC 5A Commissioner Carolyn Steptoe thinks it'll ruin Brookland: "These units will bring in at least another 725 residents. And if they are double occupancy - 1400. We are against the plan because of the magnitude of population density." She's also worried about more congestion, and less park space.

Five ANC commissioners already opposed the Small Area Plan (SAP) before a commission, but the Council approved it anyway, she says.

Former Jefferson Airplane drummer Jerry Peloquin says:

"they'll use 'faux stone'."

Next step: The Abdo/CUA plans appear before a zoning commission on October 5th.

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.

Green is scheduled to appear before the board today at 1 p.m. At last check, he was being represented by Andrew J. Kline, who Loose Lips reported in December violated nearly a dozen rules of professional conduct, including committing criminal forgery and engaging in behavior “involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation," according to a report [PDF] issued by the D.C. Court of Appeals’ Board of Professional Responsibility.

Read the full report and other details after the jump.

City Paper covered the bar last May and their Go-Go music last June after shootings outside the club. There have been several incidents since, including an assault in November. (Find coverage of these incidents over at the Tower, Catholic U.'s student newspaper, where I also work.)

ABRA investigators visited Cardinal's Nest on Aug. 28 in response to a complaint by an associate dean of students at CUA. That is where they allegedly observed the sale of alcoholic beverages to underage students. The complaint says the investigators "observed several patrons with Xs on their hands drinking from cups of beer in their hands and in some cases holding two cups of beer." They also saw a bartender serve a patron with Xs on his hands.

During an incident in the spring, an investigator saw a male walking away from Cardinal's Nest carrying two white cups with Budweiser/Bud Light advertisements.

The male told the investigator that he had just come from Cardinal's Nest and had been there all night. Asked what he was drinking, the patron told the investigator it was "happy juice."

Darrell Green, the owner of the Cardinal's Nest, has quite a history. The former cop worked in the 4th District for 10 years until he resigned in 2002 under circumstances the police department will not disclose, according to a City Paper article. The article, written after a man was shot and killed outside the bar says he was not the first victim of violence outside one of Green’s bars. "In May 2004, Rumba Café owner Boris Canjura was found unconscious outside of Adams Mill Bar & Grill, his skull fractured, his ribs broken, and his lung punctured."

Green has also been accused of renting out substandard properties and turned himself in after being accused of looting painting, antiques, china, and Oriental rugs from a self-storage unit in Vienna, VA. The charges were later dropped.

He was opposed to the ban on smoking as owner of Adams Mill Bar & Grill, according to a Washington Post article in early Jan. 2007. He told the Washington Times that his business fell off as a result of the ban and had to eliminate lunch service.

He also was not a fan of Flexcars and Zipcars taking up public parking spaces outside of his bar in Adams Morgan.

Catholic University administrators have long complained about the bar, which has been open since the fall of 2006. In the spring, Craig Parker offered legal help and University resources to University residents who wanted to get the bar's liquor license pulled.

The original voluntary agreement between Cardinal's Nest and Brookland neighbors was signed in Dec. 2006, and amended in April, 2008.

Read the D.C. ABRA Order to Cardinal's Nest for the full details (dates were before rescheduling and delays).

Live coverage starts at 1 p.m.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Over at why.i.hate.dc, a local D.C. blogger has declared war on local D.C. blogs, and written a sarcastic list of tips for creating a successful neighborhood blog (which if you follow, "you should find yourself linked by DCist and The Washington City Paper in no time!").

One anonymous commenter joked that he/she was "so inspired I'm going to start a Brookland neighborhood parody blog."

My first post will ask readers to join me in an email writing campaign to Whole Foods corporate headquarters asking for our own store.

Next, I'll review the new coffee shop opened by two gay men who just returned from wintering in Vieques, and who import "fair trade" Ethiopian coffee direct from the source.

Jokes aside, it raises a legitimate question: where is Brookland on the blog scene? Both the Brookland Blog (which has an old post about the ever-entertaining Brookland listserv) and stop, blog, and roll have been inactive since the summer, leaving a huge gap for an intrepid blogger to fill. Sure, there's the Brookland Heartbeat, but that only comes out every other month.

There's just an endless stream of material to cover in Brookland - the Brookland-CUA Small Area Plan is a classic development v. status quo fight, a new restaurant on 12th Street, town & gown stories based on conflicts between Catholic U. and the neighborhood (usually centered around bars like the Library and the Cardinal's Nest), fights about putting power lines underground and Brookland is right next door to the Armed Forces Retirement Center and the McMillian Sand Filtration site. What more could a blogger ask for?

Some suggestions from why.i.hate.dc to get you started:

...Your blog's banner must include a photo of either the local Metro station, or a group of rowhouses.

...You should always discuss how awesomely friendly your neighbors are, in so much that the people who have "lived there forever" say hi to you.

...Hearing gunshots warrants an immediate "live blogging" event. You should definitely make note of how long it took the police to arrive. You should also mention that while you aren't sure what actually occurred, you intend to call the police station to find out. You may or may not post a follow up, explaining how unhelpful the police were on the phone.

...You should lament how despite the growing number of restaurants and bars, you have yet to find one that's "cozy" or "neighborhood" enough for you. Don't mention that any place that would meet this criteria is EWWW waaay too gross for your taste.

...Post a lot of poorly composed, low quality photos that you took with your iPhone/cell phone.

...Lament the lack of a good (name brand) grocery store in your neighborhood.

Head over to their post for some more tips, Brooklanders, and get bloggin'!

Update: former stop, blog, and roll blogger Jaime Fearer (now blogging for Greater, Greater Washington) argues that the blog "isn't inactive, it's closed b/c i moved but still up in case the info is useful. semantics, i know." Point taken. While stop blog and roll is "closed," it does serve as an archive of a lot of happenings in Brookland (as well as a lot of great links for info on the area). Sidenote: someone needs to come up with a new buzzword for abandoned blogs.

A shotgun-wielding man with a bandanna across his face robbed a Catholic University student in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven early Saturday morning, according to a release from CUA's Department of Public Safety [PDF]. The release describes the suspect as a black male, 21-27 years of age, 5’9’’, 160 lbs., and wearing dark clothing.

The parking lot of the 7-Eleven is the same place where a homeless man showed off a decomposing head in a plastic bag and ditched it in a dumpster in March 2007. The homeless man left when bystanders called police.

The head's accompanying human remains along with clothes and a rope were later found next to the university softball field.

The Heights Center where the head was dumped includes several shops frequented by students, including University Liquors, Domino's Pizza, and Hunan Delight.

Bloomingdale (for now) reports that a new restaurant is coming to Brookland.

Southwest...The Little Quadrant That Could reports that the National Marathon's route is set to change.

Metrocurean spotlights Jackson's Roasting & Carving Co. on Quincy in Arlington. The restaurant will "launch a special Restaurant Week lunch deal for two next week. For $20.09, two diners will get a sandwich featuring freshly roasted, hand-carved meats, a housemade side dish and homemade chocolate chip cookie."

New Columbia Heights finds that now every metro line can be followed on Twitter.

The Vinyl District revists some old Talk Talk songs and posts some MP3s.

Wonkette wonders about the stimulus bill i.e. how it will finally end up: "So what secret provisions did House and Senate negotiators slip into the bill into order to win the eternal fealty of the lobster queen Susan Collins and the other handful of senators who hold the entire fate of the free world in their parsimonious little fists?" TPM has an idea of what Collins is up to.