In my item (linked above, please read it!), I quote from two OAG lawyers' e-mails to the fire department. The two attorneys call out the department for their potentially damaging stonewalling on the discovery, and question whether fire investigators followed basic national standards when they worked the Georgetown library case.

In my calls to the OAG prior to publishing the piece (linked above, please read it!), I got nowhere. Nothing much beyond no comment, it's pending litigation, the usual.

A few hours after my item ran (linked above, please read it!), OAG's Kimberly Matthews called to say she really, really wanted to see those e-mails. Could I please send them to her?

I wondered aloud to Matthews: Why would you need me to give you e-mails your own people sent? Couldn't you get the e-mails another way like by asking the attorneys that sent them? After all, the e-mails were sent by her people.

I told her no dice.

I wonder if this is a ploy to try and figure out who leaked me those e-mails? Or am I just being paranoid?

Take the first letter of each word on each line, and you'll see it spells the following:

F(or)-u(nnecessary)-c(are)-k(icks)-y(et)-o(verwhelmingly)-u(nnecessary).

That's "Fuck you"!

Schwarzenegger's office claims it was just a random "coincidence" of letter positioning. Which seems really, really believable. But a cryptologist from Goucher College in Baltimore, Robert Lewand, actually ran some numbers. He told NPR that the chance of those letters appearing in those places was less than impossibly slim: 5.5 in 1 trillion, to be exact. Memo writers, take note.

The Issue: What should be done about raucous revelers and their search for drunken munchies?  Last Tuesday, the 2E Advisory Neighborhood Commission met with the owner of Philadelphia Pizza Company to discuss the antics of the late-night bar crowd—which consists largely of Georgetown Students—that gathers on Potomac Street NW for pizza. Georgetown residents complain that they are unable to sleep—but owner, Matt Kocak tells the Georgetown Voice that it’s the students, not the restaurant, that’s causing the problem.

Go to Bed! Residents argue that the pizza place is in a mixed zone, and needs to abide by residential rules: Ward 2 Commissioner Bill Starrels told City Desk, “The pizza place established itself as a sit-down restaurant, and the occupancy is only seven people. On the weekends, you get crowds going in—it’s messy, noisy and people [in the nearby condominiums] literally cannot sleep.”

Party and Pepperoni! Due to the fact that the establishment does not serve liquor, Kocak maintains that the ANC is not able to dictate his hours (the restaurant currently closes at 3:30 AM on Friday and Saturday nights). Additionally, he places the blame on the students, saying the issue should be brought up with the school or the police. As far as the pizza-munchers themselves: Keon D, blogging on foodie site Yelp says, “Ranch dressing on a pizza... GENIUS! Eww dude, please don’t vomit on me…DUDE!”

Next Step: Starrels says the ANC has contacted “friends in the Mayor’s office” to make sure that the restaurant is abiding by the appropriate laws. There also might be another meeting with the stakeholders down the road. In the meantime, kids, keep it down.

Photo by Leedav, Creative Commons License

Penn Quarter Living debuts a new column called High Rise Life. The first one is on elevator etiquette. It's not so much a column as bad comment bait of which I am sometimes guilty of. Here's a sampling from PQL's rookie effort on sharing an elevator: "Fob in and offer to push buttons or don’t offer and make sure others belong in the building? Remind neighbors that bicycles and their owners usually ride the freight elevator or zip it? Heel your dog or let him/her sniff around and be friendly? What is good neighborly elevator etiquette?" Fascinating.

Frozen Tropics reports on the breaking news last night concerning the pedestrian hit by a Metrobus in Trinidad. The Post is reporting that the woman has suffered life threatening injuries:

"In Monday's incident, the woman had just gotten off the D-8 Metrobus on Mount Olivet Avenue NE, between Trinidad and Montello avenues. She apparently crossed in front of that bus and then was struck about 6:30 p.m. by another Metrobus traveling in the same direction, Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said.

Two men who said they witnessed the incident told television stations that the woman was thrown a distance down the street, and appeared to be unconscious after being struck. One of the men said that after the woman was hit, the driver of one of the buses 'got down' and prayed."

The Georgetown Metropolitan answers the question: Just what are Georgetown's boundaries?

Do you want to see pictures of people buying records? Someone posted a bunch of pictures from the DC Record Fair held this past Sunday. We wish we could have been there. Meanwhile....Fair sponsor The Vinyl District is giving away tickets to this week's Gossip show at the 9:30 Club.

The New Teacher On the Block offers their take on the hundreds of teachers laid off last week. In the Rhee vs. Gray fight, the blogger sides with Gray:

"Now, of course, this has resulted in finger-pointing, name calling, and a complete lack of transparency on many people's parts (Standard Operating Procedure for DCPS, really). Rhee blames the City Council for not providing the money required to allow all of these teachers to keep their jobs. City Council member Vincent Gray the DC City Council fired back with a press release accusing Rhee of using the council as a scapegoat in executing her master plan of getting rid of large numbers of DCPS teachers.

In this case, I'm in Gray's corner. The numbers just don't lie. It's just another example of the lack of transparency Rhee feels she is entitled to. When I came here, I thought I liked her: I am among the legions of teachers she's supposedly replacing the entire DC teaching force with and I support a lot of the ideas she proposes. But both her behavior and her attitude are counterproductive and arrogant; since I have been here, she has done nothing but alienate, obfuscate, and out and out lie."

"For a few hours there it actually looked like Bobby Pittman (a well known local gadfly) might be able to stop the Festival through last minute bureaucratic tie ups (NB, [nothing] is wrong with checking signatures, but this was a dirty Bobby move at the last minute). In the end Bobby did not get his way, and the Mayor's office allowed the Festival to proceed. But I'd like to send out a personal Evil Eye to Bobby on this one.  If you really hate seeing all this great stuff on H Street, maybe you should just move dude. Bobby, you have gone on some Don Quixotesque crusade of harassing local businesses (including, but not even close to limited to: Rock and Roll Hotel, the Pug, and the Atlas Performing Arts Center [!]). Aside from the one time I saw you planting flowers on H Street, acting as the PSA 102 Coordinator, and a few other very isolated incidents, I've yet to see you do anything to positively contribute to life on the H Street Corridor, or on Linden. It's one thing to want the laws enforced, and to want good neighbors (both admirable qualities and pursuits). But what you are doing is unacceptable in my opinion, and I hope that others who agree will tell you so to your face. I certainly intend to do so the next time I see you. Until then, Evil Eye to you Pittman."

Barry Farm (Re)mixed expects water rates to go up starting October 1.

Greater Greater Washington has the three finalists up for a public art installation in Adams Morgan.

The Georgetown Metropolitan is urging a Save the Circulator campaign:

"GM was informed that Jack Evans has stepped in to give it another chance and try to convince the Mayor to keep the Wisconsin branch of the Circulator. But now it really is up to us. Please, if you have just one minute, email the Mayor at Adrian.Fenty@DC.gov and let him know that Georgetown has suffered more than enough cuts in its bus service, cutting the Circulator in half would be unfair and short-sighted."

The New Teacher On The Block reports on cutbacks in teacher aides in their classroom:

"However, DCPS is bent on not being able to do anything right, and, as such, they made a decision today that immediately negatively effected my classroom. DCPS has decided to discontinue contracts employment agencies held to supply aides to DCPS classrooms.

These contracts came about in the summer of 2008, when the requirements for assistants changed and many aides were fired for not meeting the requirements. It is my understanding that DCPS was scrambling to find qualified people in a short period of time, and therefore turned to these contract agencies to find aides for the classrooms. All of my classroom aides last year were contractors and 3 of my 4 this year are contractors. However, for whatever reason (probably money) DCPS has decided mid-stream to discontinue this relationship and they want the contractors out. Thus, they are moving them to the most high-need schools in an effort to cover until they hire more people, and then they're getting rid of them. Not sure how this makes sense...but whatever. It's DCPS- who the crap knows?"

According to DDOT spokesman John Lisle, this “difficult decision” stems from budget constraints: Although the upper leg carries 2 percent of the Georgetown Circulator’s riders, it is responsible for 15 percent of the overall cost.

After the service is discontinued,  Lisle says, Georgetown residents should make use of Metrobus' “enhanced and improved” 30 lines, which have “eliminated the need to layer additional Circulator service.” The DDOT is also looking into extending the 31 route downtown. The bus currently runs down Wisconsin Avenue but stops short at Foggy Bottom.

The Citizens Association of Georgetown is having a hard time seeing any "enhancement" about it; the group's members have argued that eliminating the upper Wisconsin Circulator route will leave only two buses, the 32 and the 36—half the number available two years ago when the 34 and the Circulator were also running. CAG also says that the two schools now served by the route (Hardy Middle School and the British School) require a transportation link, and traffic will increase after the opening of the newly renovated Safeway supermarket at 1855 Wisconsin Ave. The market's renovations include abolishing the "congested" parking lot, likely increasing the need for public transportation.

More potholes ahead...

We Need the Bus: Hazel Denton of the Citizens Association of Georgetown [CAG] says cutting the Circulator will leave upper Wisconsin residents high and dry: "Eighteen months ago, the mayor said they were going to enhance and streamline transportation, but [if the bus is cut] our service will have been halved in just two years. We feel outraged by this." Some want the Circulator service to extend even farther, to Glover Park.

No, You Don't: Take the 32 or the 36! Asked about the proposed cut, DDOT had no "official response" for now. But according to CAG, it comes down to budget constraints. Drew, commenting online earlier this year, also suggested that probable explanation: "I've never seen one with more than one or two riders. Just what we need, more riderless buses clogging the streets."

Next Step: If you want to keep the route, write the mayor or DDOT and complain. If you don't care, go back to surfing the web.

While some team lawyer nobody ever heard of named David Donovan did radio and print interviews attempting to counter James Grimaldi's well-told tales of ticketing malfeasance, Snyder stayed quiet in some undisclosed secure location.

Snyder's refusal to personally rebut the awful press reminded me of a conversation I had a few months ago with crisis PR guru Eric Dezenhall. I asked Dezenhall what, if Snyder were a client, he'd do to improve the Skins owner's public image among the locals.

But Dezenhall, who worked on image rehab for Enron's Jeff Skilling and alleged-molester-era Michael Jackson, guessed that Snyder might not want any such help from him or anybody else.

“Some people may like to be liked by the community," Dezenhall told me, "some people just like to be liked by fellow billionaires."

Sure seems the latter's the case here.

***

Will all the talk about the Redskins waiting list please stop?

In the instant-classic Washington Post series, there were frequent references from the team that the list was "160,000" strong.

Yet earlier this year, the Redskins put out a press release with Mitch Gershman, the team's chief operating officer, offering a much bigger number.

(AFTER THE JUMP: Lying about demand for tickets isn't consumer fraud? Lindsay Czarniak doesn't have to take off her Redskins logo any more? The Skins PR staff knows what goes on at Redskins Park? That deadbeat grandmother's got the real Dream Seat? Did fan love save Colt and chase Chase? The Redskins still have a white guy on defense? Williamses and Hoyas take a beating on Cutdown Day? DeMatha has how many guys in the NFL? The Nats lose when I leave town?)

“We work hard to hold the line on price increases," Gershman said in the release, "and are obviously sensitive to the economic realities faced by our fans. We have fantastic fan support as evidenced by the more than 200,000 people on our waiting list for season tickets."

The 160,000 figure is just as phony as Gershman's "more than 200,000."

There is no waiting list the Redskins follow when selling tickets.

The Redskins were sending junk mail during the offseason offering anybody who wants tickets -- general admission seats, not club seats -- the chance to buy them. And, anybody who thinks ANY Redskins games sell out: Just go to the damn box office at FedExField on game day, see all the tickets for sale, and get back to me.

From the Post stories, it's clear the only ticket waiting list the Redskins have is a list of fans the team is waiting to serve with subpoenas for not keeping up with the payment schedule in premium seat contracts.

On a related note: How can the Redskins get away with using these fictional waiting list figures while marketing the club seats? Doesn't that distort the demand for their product?

If that ain't fraud, what is?

***

I have a hard time feeling sorry for Pat Hill, the deadbeat grandma that got the legal ground-and-pound from Dan Snyder.

I mean, have you seen the photo of Hill's living room that ran alongside her story on the front page of the Washington Post?

Why would Hill or anybody else pay money to leave that couch?

Forget club seats at FedExField. I want to sign a long-term, high-dollar contract for a spot on Hill's couch, just to watch Skins games on television.

That's my dream seat!

***

Other than ticket scams, the Skins' roster cuts were the big news. A non-cut, of Colt Brennan, might be the biggest of these stories. Tough to think that the lovefest between the backup-QB wannabe and the fans didn't factor into the team's decision not to release Brennan.

Brennan had a quarterback rating of 49.5 during the preseason games. That's awful. But "The Cult of Colt," a thread in his honor on Dan Snyder's message board, extremeskins.com, has received 398,119 hits and had 11,282 comments appended, making it the most popular live thread on the board by about tenfold.

So Brennan sticks around on injured reserve while rival Chase Daniel gets cut.

Daniel, remember, registered a QB rating of 115. But his personal extremeskins.com thread, "The Church of Chase," had only about 20,000 hits as of this morning.

The moral: If you're going to ride Snyder's bench, you gotta sell jerseys.

***

Reed Doughty shrugged off back injuries from last season that threatened his career last year and made the team.

So...the white safety streak lives on!

Plainly, for years and years paleskins just haven't played defense for the Redskins -- except at safety. You can look it up. The only white defenders to crack the lineup in this century have been safeties.

Doughty is the latest in a string of white boys -- Curtis Jordan, Brad Edwards, Pat Eilers, Matt Stevens, Matt Bowen and, ahem, Adam Archuleta before him -- to white man the Skins last line of defense.

I'm intrigued!

***

An actual bulletin on the front page of Redskins.com over the weekend: "Larry Weisman has learned the team plans to put Colt Brennan on injured reserve."

Larry Weisman is a Dan Snyder staffer who does PR for the team. So, the bulletin could just have easily read: "The team has learned the team plans to put Colt Brennan on injured reserve."

Which, now that I think about it, could be newsworthy this week, at least to those folks who think Dan Snyder didn't know his team was selling thousands and thousands and thousands of tickets to a couple scalpers, and didn't know that his team was suing grandmothers and other fans into bankruptcy.

***

Speaking of Dan Snyder's news operations...

WRC has dropped the phoniness: Redskins' worker-bee/WRC sportscaster Lindsay Czarniak delivered her sports report during last Thursday's 11 p.m. newscast wearing the same licensed Redskins shirt she wears when she moonlights for Dan Snyder's Redskins Broadcasting Network.

In previous post-game newscasts this preseason, Czarniak had changed into something without a colorful Redskins logo, better to camouflage her relationship with the team, and to hide the sort of conflict of interest that news organizations used to regard as poisonous.

But, based on the logoed attire she sported after the Skins/Jacksonsville game, WRC management no longer minds if the world knows its news department is in bed with Dan Snyder.

Tom Sherwood? Jim Vance? You guys OK with that?

***

Eddie Williams got released, bringing the number of Guys Named Williams cut this preseason to a team record three, or two less than the team record (five) for number of Guys Named Williams signed this preseason. The survivors on the main roster: offensive linemen Edwin Williams from Maryland and Mike "Biggest Loser" Williams.

Mike Williams hung on by the skin of his waist, which is actually substantial, as he's dropped 100 and some pounds by dieting and exercising. Speaking of lost LBs: Biggest Loser couldn't pick up rushing linebackers or anybody else in pass protection this preseason.

If he didn't have such a great backstory, he'd have been dropped.

***

Real life imitates Madden Football: The human Alex Buzbee got cut over the weekend, a couple weeks after Madden '10 dropped the digital Alex Buzbee from its video game roster.

This means Georgetown's half-century-long streak of not having any players in the NFL will continue.

Big Jim Ricca, who signed with the Redskins in 1951, was the last Hoya footballer.

***

From our Hyattsville bureau: At least six DeMatha alums stuck around in the NFL as of cut day --- Brian Westbrook, of course, stays with the Philadelphia Eagles; little brother Byron Westbrook and Edwin Williams make the Redskins active roster; Seattle keeps John Owens and Josh Wilson; and the Atlanta Falcons have Quinn Qjianaka.

Think about it: Six guys from one high school football program -- DeMatha's -- are in the NFL this season; yet no player from one college football program -- Georgetown's -- has been in the NFL in MORE THAN FIFTY SEASONS.

That's amazing.

***

Nats’ record with Tom Boswell on vacation: 14-6

Nats record with me on vacation: 2-9.

We now return you to football season...

***

Story tips? Wanna Play the Feud? Tube amps for sale? Send to: cheapseats@washingtoncitypaper.com

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Joel Shumaker, who directed the 1985 Brat Pack classic, Jamie Tarses, former head of ABC's entertainment division, and actor Topher Grace have plans to modernize the story of six Georgetown grads struggling after graduation on the mean streets of Washington.  The city has obviously changed in the 24 years since the movie was released, which could make the transition from film to television more awkward than it already is. But The Tombs, the bar that inspired the movie, is still one of Georgetown's most popular watering holes, so who knows, the concept could work.

But is an update necessary?

There are two paths the show could take.  One option is that of MASH and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, shows that were initially based on movies and went on to win dozens of awards by expanding and improving on the content fo the earlier films.  The other option is the Ferris Bueller, My Big Fat Greek Life route, that thoroughly ruined their base material and were canceled weeks after premiering. Content-wise, there's always fodder for jaded twenty-somethings to talk about at a bar, so that might help push the show along.

In terms of setting, DC has played host to scripted TV series before.  The West Wing exterior shots of the Washington Monument and the Capitol steps didn't cause any damage during it's seven season run, since the actors playing politicos blended in with the actual politicos, and the same could be true for SEF. Just dress a bunch of actors in khakis and blue oxford shirts and they'll disappear in most neighborhoods.  And in all likelihood, the show will be filmed in LA, so what's the worst that could happen?

The fate of the show won't be known for a while, but in the meantime, enjoy the dulcet tones of Rob Lowe's sax solo.

But Darrow is smart and wasn't about to go wiring money across the pond. A call was made to his wife, who knows the stranded woman, and who was then able to verify that THE WOMAN IS NOT ACTUALLY IN LONDON; she's in Georgetown.

Turns out her FB doppleganger has been hitting people up allllll day. The proper authorities have been contacted.

Don't get scammed, y'all!

They were the two best teams in the city back then, and played before a huge crowd on a little outdoor court at Jelleff.

Well, they sort of played. Thompson made the evening memorable, though for wholly unsporting reasons. He kept his star-stocked lineup, full of future NCAA Division 1 players, on the bench, and instead sent in a ringer squad of non-basketball players to face DeMatha. The Stags took no pity on the replacements, crushing the kids in St. Anthony's uniforms, 108-26.

DeMatha players and the hoop-crazy fans who believed the hype and took the trouble that hot summer night to get to Jelleff, a boys club off Wisconsin Avenue, are still peeved at Thompson for making a mockery of the matchup.

But at the time the future Georgetown legend was anything but contrite.

(AFTER THE JUMP: Thompson ducked Wootten for Ducking Thompson? Nats win a video replay battle, lose the war? Larry Weisman practices the real new journalism? Michael Vick is the new Justin Timberlake? Greyhounds have friends?)

Thompson said his prank was to get back at Wootten for ducking his team in a year earlier in a postseason tournament: "I hope everyone who was there the other night and everyone who was interested was disappointed," Thompson told the Washington Post. "Then they'll know how my kids felt last year."

They don't have high school rivalries like that anymore. Or, if there are, they don't get written up on the front page of the sports section. Also, how many times do you have a high school matchup that can boast three future Hall of Famers -- Thompson, Wootten, and DeMatha's Adrian Dantley? Basketball was indeed king around here back then.

The whole thing would make a good documentary.

***

Nats lose, 7-5. Starting pitching doesn't hold up, bullpen doesn't hold up, and immediately after a video replay turned a homer from Brewers Ryan Braun into a triple, Garrett Mock wild pitches the dude home from third. Few hints of Thunderation, is all I'm sayin'...

***

Training camp opens today. I get more excited about the start of football season every year. I don't know if it's me or the NFL publicity machine.

Speaking of: Larry Weisman practices the real new journalism. The longtime USA Today writer and football savant left the newspaper biz a couple months ago to work for Dan Snyder's PR staff.

Weisman's duties will include writing faux news stories for the Redskins website, such as today's piece on Jim Zorn's status. (Weisman's real stories are still appearing in real newspapers.)

It's a good thing Zorn wasn't fired after his team sunk to 8-8 last season, Weisman's hired hands type: "Lessons were learned last year, Zorn said. Hard lessons, some of them. Now more teaching commences, more building takes place and, executed properly, sets the stage for further development. That’s the hope. That’s the plan."

Readers could mistake Weisman's work for a newspaper story. And, I'm sure Snyder would admit: That's the hope. That's the plan.

I'm surprised Snyder hasn't given Weisman a faux radio show yet, too.

***

The Great Dan Steinberg showcases a pack of fans who came to Redskins Park to lobby for the signing of Michael Vick. When asked how he'd feel if Vick were actually brought to DC, one says: "Have you ever seen a girl at an 'N Sync concert?" I sorta get it, but would have been more convinced if the answer was something like: "Have you ever seen Michael Vick when his brown pit bull rips the throat off another guy's pit bull wide open, and collects on his $40 bet?"

Now THAT's excitement!

***

Not everybody is mean to dogs. This weekend, folks who care about the conditions of the greyhound breed are holding a convention in Massachusetts. The worries come from the decline of greyhound racing in this country, and the lack of concern the rest of the world has about the welfare of the racing dogs. A huge greyhound adoption network has sprung up in the U.S. in recent years with the help of animal rights groups and the racing industry, but apparently the dogs have a less rosy post-racing future elsewhere.

***

Story tips? Wanna Play the Feud? Tube amps for sale? Send to: cheapseats@washingtoncitypaper.com

Tour highlights include the steps where The Exorcist was filmed and the mall where True Lies and No Way Out were filmed.  The Exorcist stairs are one of DC's claims to movie fame, but the mall in Georgetown where Jamie Lee Curtis walked around?  Not so exciting, even if Nicole Richie does shop there.  And for other movies, the DC locations are the monuments and other places along the Mall, which are tourist-havens even without their movie connections.  Take the Reflecting Pool, for example. Martin Luther King and Marian Anderson inspired thousands of people there.  Oh, and Forrest Gump and Jenny reunited in the same location, hence the significance.

As for TV shows, the tour visits shooting locations from 24 and The West Wing, supposedly while singing the theme songs.  So they drive in a bus past the White House and look at the street where Jack Bauer and Jed Bartlett supposedly walked?  And, by the way, the theme songs have no words to sing along to.  It's all in good fun, but why not scenes from real DC movies like All the President's Men? The Watergate's good fun for all!

For movie buffs, seeing the Hollywood side of "Hollywood for Ugly People" offers a different insight into the city, but there's more to see than the stomping grounds of pretend politicians.  We've got the real stuff and we like to show it off.

(Image courtesy of Flickr user bog_king,  Creative Commons Attribution License.)

But enough about rule-makers.  All the rule-breakers, in DC and beyond, are after the jump.

• As countless politicians have proven, adultery is not an excuse to give up your elected office.  John Ensign agrees, regardless of his parents' $96,000 payoff of his mistress - he plans to seek reelection when his term runs out in 2012.  Could he still be holding out for the White House?  Only time will tell.

• The judge hearing the Banita Jacks case was treated to an earful during the second day of listening to her eight-hour police interrogation.  During the recording, Jacks admitted that she believed her three daughters were possessed by demons but would rise from the dead when the demons left their bodies.  She also contends that all four of her daughters died in their sleep, as a result of the demons, a fact that is inconsistent with the evidence gathered at the crime scene.

• A House panel investigating the Red Line crash heard testimony yesterday, with the majority of witnesses asking for money to fix the flawed transit system.  John Catoe, Metro's General Manager detailed the precautions he has taken since the crash but admits he still does not know what to do about the malfunctioning circuit between Takoma and Fort Totten that presumably caused the collision.

• Violent crimes are being reported with more frequency, in what are thought to be safe areas of the city.  The Borderstan blog reports an armed assault and a robbery in the 1400 blocks of Corcoran and S Streets NW, respectively, in addition to the armed robbery and several burglaries that occurred in the first week of July.  Meanwhile, in Georgetown, a young woman was sexually assaulted in her home, less than two blocks from the main gates of the university.  Neighbors and students are concerned, not only for their safety, but because very few people have been informed about the attack.

So keep your eyes and ears open, City Desk readers.  Rules and laws are for following, not breaking.

In addition to the new Safeway coming to Georgetown, the go-to D.C. grocery chain is planning similar overhauls at the Southwest Waterfront and Petworth.

At the Waterfront, preliminary work is under way for the new store, which will go up behind the current building near the Metro. When completed in 2011, the old store will be demolished. And, much to the delight of the lunch-starved masses, it will have an enhanced deli with sandwiches made to order.

Petworth's store on Georgia Avenue NW will follow a model similar to what's going on in Georgetown---a new, expanded store will go up where the existing store stands. That means the old store will close at some point. Also, parking will be moved below ground. The space occupied by the current parking lot will be added to the footprint of the new store, taking it from about 20,000 square feet to about 55,000 square feet. Safeway spokesman Craig Muckle says Petworth's plans are not as far along as the Waterfront's and hesitated to give a projected completion date. "I don't have a good sense right now, but I'd say ballpark will be sometime in 2011. It won't be next year, I can tell you that," he says.

Meanwhile, demo is slightly behind schedule at the Social Safeway, which closed last Sunday and will remain closed for nine or 10 months. Knock-down will happen "in the next couple of weeks," says Muckle, who had previously stated it was going to happen right after the store closed. "I'm not going to call anybody out," he says, on why it's taking longer than planned, but added Safeway is going forward with an "aggressive" plan to open the new store by March 2010.

Renovations are also coming to Columbia Road. Adams Morgan's Safeway will stay open during its facelift. Despite the empty storefronts adjacent to the cramped store, there are no plans to expand. "We weren't able to work anything out," says Muckle.

The Washington Business Journal is reporting that the ubiquitous coffee chain is shuttering more of its local coffee outlets. Starbucks is pulling out of Northwest! OK, parts of northwest--Cleveland Park and Georgetown are losing an outlet each:

"In D.C., Starbucks will close the 3301 M St. NW location, which has been boarded up for months. Also being closed is the Cleveland Park store at 3420 Connecticut Ave. NW.

Starbucks said 6,000 of the job cuts announced in January would come from the store closures. The company also announced plans to cut an additional 700 non-store jobs, including about 350 at its Seattle headquarters."

But why stop there? Why not kill off at least one in Dupont Circle?

(Via DCist)