14th Street NW, January 17

Watching Walmart: The world's largest retailer has officially applied for a building permit to begin work on the first of its stores in the District. The Walmart on Georgia Avenue was the first one the company put in paperwork for. Why now? Perhaps because applying for a permit before Dec. 31 means the District's Green Buildings Act won't apply to it—which means the construction won't have to meet tighter standards for energy efficiency. Always low prices (and high carbon footprints)! -2

No Food For You: Food trucks have taken over the city in the last few years, with just about every kind of food imaginable available from someone on wheels. Less mobile restaurants haven't always appreciated the trend. Now it looks like the District government is taking a side: The Department of Public Works has set up a special unit to give parking tickets to food trucks, issuing 68 since October. Expect the price on your lobster roll to go up if that continues. -1

Drink And Cab: 'Tis the season for getting hammered at after-work holiday parties (or during the day while your office is closed). Which means free taxi service is back! The SoberRide program returned this month for its 18th year; anyone over 21 can get a lift home by calling 1-800-200-8294—that's TAXI—instead of riding Metro or biking home drunk. (We know none of you would even consider driving drunk, so we'll assume SoberRide is, rather, an alternative to those other options.) You can take it anywhere you want, but if the fare is over $30, the balance is on you. Which Luke Russert might want to keep in mind. +1

We Report, You Decide: A grant for the IHOP in Columbia Heights is quickly becoming the latest symbol of government waste. Not for the reason Washington City Paper raised last year—that hundreds of thousands of dollars for "local businesses" were going instead to a franchise of a national chain—but because Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, highlighted the grant in his annual report on waste. (Which Coburn more or less defines as "everything the government spends money on.") Coburn's write-up linked to an Examiner report, which argued that Columbia Heights is essentially too yuppified to get any government support. Today's twist: A Fox News Channel staffer is apparently working on a piece on the pancake house. With any luck, he won't find this old Post story on new residents complaining that the neighborhood doesn't have a Whole Foods. -1

Yesterday's Needle rating: 63 Today's score: -3 Today's Needle rating: 60

It's hard to believe that Oklahoma's Republican Sen. Tom Coburn has ever been to the IHOP in Columbia Heights' DCUSA shopping center. In his 2011 "Wastebook," a guide to what he considers wasteful government spending, Coburn lists the subsidy received by Jackson Investment Company as the sixth most egregious (thanks to New Columbia Heights for pointing this out):

An International House of Pancakes (IHOP) franchise was built with financial assistance courtesy of Uncle Sam. It was intended to help an "underserved community." The federal funding went to the Anacostia Economic Development Corporation.  According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), "$500,000 of the $765,000 grant was used as an equity injection in DC Pancakes LLC for a 19% ownership interest." The remaining funds went to training costs for new employees, and other consultants.

The new IHOP is not located in an "underserved community" but a popular Washington D.C. neighborhood. The neighborhood is Columbia Heights, which has become a local shopping hot spot for some and "one of Washington‘s more desirable neighborhoods."

Coburn quotes an Examiner column about Columbia Heights which asserts that the neighborhood isn't underserved because, among other things, Meridian Pint serves fancy imported beers. (It doesn't, by the way. As New Columbia Heights notes, it sells largely local brews, including some made in the District.) Last year Lydia DePillis described how the IHOP franchise qualified for a subsidy—and yes, some of the problems with that. But those problems had to do with directing subsidies intended for local businesses to a franchise of a national chain.

Because if you spend some time at the IHOP, it's clear that it's one of the few restaurants that serves the area's working class residents—people who, despite Coburn's assertions, do still live in Columbia Heights. Just last month, hundreds of low income residents lined up overnight on 14th Street for a shot at 10 open apartments and 100 spots on a waiting list for subsidized housing in the Hubbard Place apartments.

I asked Coburn's spokesperson John Hart why the senator flagged Columbia Heights as affluent.

It wasn't a surprise that he ignored my main question, instead writing back, "If the D.C. government wants to invest more in IHOP they are certainly welcome to do so. We don't believe this should be a priority of the federal government when we're running a $15 trillion debt and our entitlement programs are on the brink of insolvency."

This may just be a matter of ideological consistency. Coburn, whose nickname is "Dr. No," generally doesn't want to spend any money on anything—no matter how "underserved" it really is. But Washington City Paper would be happy to buy Coburn a short stack on Irving Street if he'd like to check it out.

Update: Courtesy of Media Matters for America, here's video of Fox News Channel's coverage of the Coburn report, in which the network's anchors complain about "pancakes for yuppies."

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

The 1000 block of Euclid Street NW looked more like a scene out of Transformers Friday afternoon, with broken glass and debris from several cars lining the street. According to residents in the area, around 2:00 a.m., an unidentified man who they believe to be intoxicated came speeding down the street colliding with about eight cars.

Nick Santucci, who was awakened by the crash, says it sounded like a building collapsed. “When I came outside there was a Jeep sitting on top of another Jeep with a woman sitting on top yelling ‘I’m okay,'" he says.

The women who was a passenger in the SUV that collided with the vehicles was questioned by police, but wasn't taken into custody.

There was some speculation online Friday afternoon that the whole thing was a publicity stunt of some sort. But Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Tisha Gant told WUSA the police were after a suspect:

"Early Friday morning a suspect travelling in a vehicle on the 1000 block of Euclid Street NW, collided with several parked vehicles and fled the scene on foot without making his identity known. Police are in the process of determining the identity of the suspect and would be issuing a warrant for his arrest soon."

Photos by Odochi Ibe

I guess I should have known that when a fashion-forward pal tweeted early this morning that she was in line at the Arlington Boulevard Target, in Falls Church, Va., the Missoni for Target collection was a big deal.

Everything went pretty quickly, according to reports from across the country. Within eight minutes of opening, in Falls Church, shoes were gone, followed quickly by bedding and housewares.

The fashion house designed a line with 400+ items for the retailer—everything from bikes to serving platters to scarves—all with multi-colored squiggly stripes.

Target has been doing short-run designer lines for a few years now, and rarely has there been such a run on stores, especially for a design so, dare I say, unattractive?

Anyway, according to the employee at the Columbia Heights Target that I spoke to this afternoon, everything there was sold out in about "20 minutes."

And are people are still showing up, desperate for discounted Missoni style and all the squiggly stripes they can handle?

"Yes, Lord, yes," she says, with a laugh.

Many people are desperately hitting refresh on the downed Target website, but they should hold off on turning to eBay, where prices are three to four times higher for the merchandiser's Missoni wares. The employee also says the company is currently updating the site, so it'll be easier to order pieces from the collection soon.

Photo by Target

Wonderland Bandits: Five years ago, a gang of men rushed into Wonderland Ballroom, in Columbia Heights, wearing masks and carrying guns, and robbed patrons and employees alike. Apparently that sort of thing still works; three armed robbers held the bar up again last night, around 1:45 a.m. Police apprehended one of the suspects shortly afterwards, but two others remain at large. Perhaps the bar should implement a no masks allowed policy? -3

Fugazi Clan Ain't Nothin' To Fuck With: When it first appeared last month, the Fugazi/Wu-Tang Clan mashup "Sleep Rules Everything Around Me," by Wugazi, seemed like it had to be a one-off project. Sure, mixing the Staten Island rap collective and the Dischord Records stalwarts sounded amazing, but how many times could you do it? A few more songs trickled out of Tumblr, though, and today, a whole album, 13 Chambers, arrived. Maybe this means the long-hoped-for Fugazi reunion can also feature a Wu-Tang show! +2

Youth On Fire: Two summers ago, an alarming spate of robberies occurred, all with similar details—kids wearing blue Summer Youth Employment Program t-shirts would be mugged on payday, by people who knew they were in the District government-sponsored jobs corps and had debit cards loaded with cash. Now the city's trying to prevent a repeat: Firefighters will deploy on Wednesday paydays to help keep kids out of trouble. No word on what will happen if the firefighters are also mugged, or if they have to leave to put out a fire. -1

No We Can't: The White House did nothing about the fact that the District government would have closed along with the federal government back in April (the last time our national leaders teetered on the edge of a calamity). And when it came time to negotiate a deal to keep things operating, President Barack Obama bowed to GOP demands to ban local spending on abortions. They're at it again; the White House says House Republicans' plans to keep the abortion ban in next year's budget undermines Home Rule, but won't threaten to veto the D.C. spending bill over it. Keep it up, Mr. President, and Mark Plotkin will really be upset about the fact you won't put "Taxation Without Representation" license plates on your limo. -3

Yesterday's Needle rating: 48 Today's score: -5 Today's Needle rating: 43

It's Good Friday and that means Shrine of the Sacred Heart church on 16th and Park will do the traditional procession through Mt. Pleasant and Columbia Heights. The procession begins at the church at 8:30 p.m. Darrow Montgomery has a great set of photos from last year's procession, but it's worth seeing for yourself.

The procession starts at the church, heading west on Park Road:

View Sacred Heart Church Good Friday Procession in a larger map

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Williams had ordered a crackdown on "substandard housing" in the Columbia Heights area, saying it was targeted against "irresponsible landlords." However, the policy resulted in a large number of shuttered apartment buildings and low-income tenants getting forced out.

The crowd greeting Williams saw this as just the latest step in a gentrification plan begun with the opening of the Columbia Heights Metro station a year earlier. As Washington City Paper reported in the April 28, 2000, edition of Loose Lips, their rhetoric was quite heated:

"We want the mayor! We want the mayor!" chanted a a crowd of tenant activists bent on persuading Williams to nix the imminent evictions of hundreds of low-income families from crumbling properties in Columbia Heights.

When the mayor finally paraded into the hall, he met the jeers of a constituency convinced that he is the newest foot soldier in a government-sponsored offensive to whitewash the city's neighborhoods and transplant the underprivileged to Southeast or other peripheral locales. [...]

"I never believed in the Plan before, but now I'm starting too," screamed Karen Williamson of the D.C. Coalition for Rent Control, prompting the loudest uproar of the evening. Williamson apparently doesn't figure among the 77 percent of D.C. residents who approve of the mayor's performance.

The protesters failed to pry a commitment from Williams to "stop the evictions," but they did define the stakes in the dispute: Without a big assist from city hall, the evicted families won't find affordable accommodations in the buildings they're vacating, in other Columbia Heights developments, or, for that matter, in any District neighborhood. "No to gentrification!" shouted Adams Morgan resident Kathleen Wills.

For the Birds, II: Brookland is all about bird-watching these days. After a discussion over the weekend on what plants might best attract hummingbirds, a member of the neighborhood email list notes, "We have a bunch of brown headed cowbirds in our backyard. This is the first time we have had them." Brown-headed cowbirds are unremarkable-looking (despite their very silly name), but according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, they're quite the moochers: "Females forgo building nests and instead put all their energy into producing eggs, sometimes more than three dozen a summer. These they lay in the nests of other birds, abandoning their young to foster parents, usually at the expense of at least some of the host’s own chicks." That's not very neighborly.

Public Service Announcement: New Columbia Heights reminds readers that Columbia Heights' newest (and perhaps only) sports bar, Lou's City Bar, didn't actually replace Commonwealth Gastropub. The most notable dish at Jamie Leeds'—of Hank's Oyster Bar fame—restaurant seemed to be the Scotch eggs; inevitably, New Columbia Heights' post has tipped off a wishlist from commenters of what they'd like to see in the neighborhood. Two suggestions include "a Kebab/Mediterranean joint like the ones they have in Adams Morgan. On a day when I don't feel like making the trek– a Shwarma King or Astor Mediterranean close by would be heaven" and "a cupcake joint with a liquor license."

In Brightwood, Business is Booming: There's been lots of movement on and nearby upper Georgia Avenue recently. Last week, The Brightwoodian noted that Baltimore-based Red Tree would be opening a D.C. shop, Trohv. Over the the past week, Washington Deli has had its soft opening and should move to regular hours soon. There's a general consensus that Washington Deli's pizza and subs—which include vegan options—will be good for the neighborhood. Writes one commenter, "SO GLAD they've finally opened! I've been a fan of their vegan sandwiches and slices at the downtown location for some time–nice to have them in the neighborhood!" A new Brightwood blog, Almost Undefined, gives it a thumbs-up, too.

Best in the Business: Speaking of local businesses, there's quite an ode to Cathedral Pharmacy on the Cleveland Park email list. After Walgreen's and CVS both failed to secure a particular skin care product for a neighborhood resident, Cathedral Pharmacy was able to do so—by the next day—with little trouble. This prompted the resident to write, "The chains offer certain useful services; I do give them my business. For me, however, independents remain the leaders in what can only be referred to as good customer service when it comes to the diversity products they offer and the willingness to take the extra step for (even infrequent, such as me) customers. Our community has a few independent retailers –such as Cathedral Pharmacy– who go out of their way to serve this neighborhood. If we hope to keep them here, and to benefit from the services they offer, we need to remember that they count on us, and patronize their stores." As budgets for Main Street improvement programs get slashed, that's probably a good thing to remember.

14th Street NW, February 23

1400 Block of Irving Street NW, November 23

IHOP, Irving Street NW, November 23

Keely Thompson, the director of Keely's District Youth and Boxing Center in Columbia Heights, has been arrested for pocketing money that belonged to at-risk kids. The former boxer allegedly stole $500,000 of grant money to have a good time.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's office notes that the affidavit issued in connection to his arrest says "a bank record analysis revealed that Keely used the organization’s debit card to obtain more than $150,000 cash while on several cruises or at Bally’s casino in Atlantic City. In addition to a yearly salary that grew from $46,000 in 2004 to $81,000 in 2009," Keely also received 127 checks, totaling $355,210, it says. "The organization’s accounting records did not identify a legitimate purpose for these additional payments and when asked by financial professionals, Keely failed to provide supporting documentation."

The shenanigans seem to have been happening since 2004. "I used the money in the wrong way. I done it and I can't change it," Keely reportedly told the FBI.

But it gets even more interesting.

Thompson seems to have had at least one powerful supporter: Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham. According to a 2004 Washington Post article, Graham was pivotal to the gym opening: "Thompson said he opened the gym with the aid of Graham, who helped him find the funding and the space."

The gym has publicly thanked Graham for looking out for it. A former Graham staffer says that's because, in the past, the councilmember helped steer city earmarks toward the non-profit. But the ex-staffer also says that it was Graham who dropped the dime on Thompson. He learned of  "accounting irregularities" at Keely's a year ago, and sent a letter about the problem to Attorney General Peter Nickles. Nickles hasn't returned a call asking about the letter.

Still, that letter wasn't the first time the allegation that Thompson was misusing funds had surfaced. Back in 2006, in a civil trial in which Thompson was taken to task for firing a boxing trainer, a complaint filed on behalf of the trainer included references to Thompson using grant money allocated to the gym in 2004 by community organization Columbia Heights Shaw Family Support Collaborative—to buy vans to shuttle kids on field trips—to instead buy himself a BMW.

The case, which was settled, paints Thompson pretty monstrously: The suit alleges that the trainer "a man living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus(HIV), was fired from his job as a boxing trainer after his supervisor, Mr Thompson, discovered that he is HIV positive, and after [the trainer] reported that the center and/or Mr. Thompson appeared to be engaging in fraudulent and possibly criminal behavior."

The suit also says the trainer was paid less than minimum wage for his work and that Thompson, after firing the worker, falsely told a prospective employer that the trainer had AIDS and was an active drug user. He also told kids at the gym as much, the suit claims.

Thompson had grown angry with with the trainer for voicing suspicions about him to the collaborative. If the rumors were out there, one wonders why Thompson's allegedly free-wheeling ways didn't show up on Graham's radar until 2009.

Despite Graham's letter and an investigation, city funds routed to Keely's slowed, but they didn't stop. Financial documents obtained by City Desk show that in 2009, Keely's received at least one $20,000 grant from the city and at least one $75,000 grant this year. But that was all chump change compared to the past. In 2008, Keely's received a $200,000 city grant. According to documents obtained via a FOIA request, the organization entered invoices that indicated the money went to things like a $58,000 boxing exhibition. Records indicate that from 2008 to 2010, Keely's received more than $600,000 in city grants and earmarks. According to the Post, the organization has received $1.4 million in municipal funds since 2004.

Contacted today, Graham said he's no longer talking to Washington City Paper (though 15 minutes later, he commented to Housing Complex reporter Lydia DePillis on another matter). Graham hung on me before I could ask about the letter. A call placed to Thompson hasn't yet been returned.

*Photo by Darrow Montgomery