D.C. has a new place to eat
(Its transport was quite the mean feat)
You know what'd be hot?
Some food from this 'bot
To make morning breakfast complete

Gee, what was this statement from Brown?
He may or may not seek the crown
He'd change up Rhee's style
And running's worthwhile
To show we're no one-pony town

An even less likely event:
The seeds of Ward 8 discontent
The dude was unruly
Says sorry, and truly
Where ends his free-falling descent?

Despite speculation over at DCist, Nick Cho says it's not an April Fool's joke: He's closing Murky Coffee in Arlington and moving back to the District. He and, he says, most of his remaining staff will move over to a new spot, Wrecking Ball Coffee , at 475 H St. NW.

"We just couldn't make the business model work in Arlington," says the barista made quasi-famous for wanting to punch someone on his dick after he was made quasi-famous for not paying his D.C. taxes. The  new shop will have a new owner, thus avoiding that whole lien problem. (DCist says it'll be Cho's girlfriend, Trish Rothgeb Skeie.) Cho says he will collect a salary and keep far away from the money end.  "There are some things I'm good at and some things I'm not,"  he says. "This frees me up to do what I'm good at." Like run for president?

Cho's public announcement, posted to his site, after the jump:

Dear valued customer,

It's with great sadness that I announce that in a few weeks, murky coffee will be relocating from here in Clarendon to a new location in Washington DC.

The property here at 3211 Wilson Boulevard was sold last year, and market rent is simply more than we can afford.

In the coming months, I hope that you'll join us in welcoming a new coffee shop here, brought by the talented folks at the renown "Liberty Tavern" just up the street. They'll be bringing their years of experience, a full renovation of the building, and top-quality service. We are proud to call them our friends, and plan to support them in setting up their coffee program. That said, we ask that you'll join us in welcoming and supporting them.

Our new home (at 5th & H Streets NW, two blocks east of the Chinatown Gate) will be a brand-new shop (called "Wrecking Ball Coffee") in a new neighborhood. While we're excited at new possibilities, leaving Clarendon isn't going to be easy. We've made many friends here, and we're very sad to leave. All of us here at murky are heartbroken about this move, so please be sensitive to our feelings during the transition.

We've been honored to be a place for you to visit over the last four years–especially our regular customers, but also those who we see less frequently.

Thanks for your friendship, love, and patronage. In so many ways, our customers have inspired us to work harder at providing you the best coffee experience we can, and for that, we cannot than you enough.

We hope that you'll be sure to visit us at our upcoming location. Dates for this move are yet to be specifically determined, but renovations will begin soon, starting with the upstairs.

I welcome your questions or comments.

Sincerely,
Nick

Flickr photo by cerbuside.

Jensen showed him around the new/old place, no hard feelings. "On some level there were a lot of dreams he had for this place, things that we wanted together...like streamlining this place and getting shiny new equipment, so he was happy for us," says Jensen, who's added some shiny new equipment, along with a new counter, cooler, and a newly designed interior with the help of local artist Amy Herbert.

The new look certainly distinguishes Peregrine from its shabby-chic predecessor, but Jensen and the four other Peregrine staffers who are Murky holdovers aren't trying to distance themselves entirely from their alma mater. "Nick invested a lot into his employees," Jensen says, adding that, in many ways, Cho was a father-figure to Murky's baristas—a father who didn't pay his taxes, but still.

—Rend Smith

The blogger  knows the victim's stepbrother, Jose Andrade. In an Aug. 6 post, Simmermon tells how he interviewed Andrade in 2006 "about a walkout he and YARG [Youth Action Research Group] put together at his high school to support a just immigration reform."

The writer took an automatic shine to the worldly teen:

Not only was he the most thoughtful, intelligent, precocious and wise 19-year-olds I'd ever met – he may have been one of the wisest human beings I'd ever met. Once he opened up to me a little, he was this busted fire hydrant of knowledge about philosophy, classical music, video games and maybe jazz, too. The only organ bigger than Jose's mind is his heart. I remember a lot of late nights at our friend Danielle's place, him telling me about growing up in Columbia Heights while I made us dinner.

Though he didn't know Marisol personally, Simmermon says he "saw her effect on Jose, and I could feel his love for her just pour out of him when he told me how smart she was, how kind and giving she was even as such a little girl."

After a few more earnest words, the blogger asks his readers to dig deep into their pocket: "Marisol's family needs money now. They need it badly." Among other things, the family needs money to move: "Imagine having to come home to that same apartment every night." A PayPal "Make a Donation" button appears toward the end of the post.

Via e-mail, Simmerman says that the last time he checked, which was Monday, readers had ponied up $2,000.

He adds that the donations aren't the only positives being generated by the post: Marisol's relatives and friends are connecting with each other in the comments section. Particularly moving is a note of support written to Jose Andrade, and left by his evidently estranged father, Jose H. Andrade Sr.:

Son You may not want to read this but I hope you do, I want you to know that I LOVE YOU with all my heart and I wish you would let me help you, you are not alone just open your heart and let me in.

your friend talks very nice about you, so I know you have a big heart Henry jr. I always wanted to be part of your life and now more than ever, son life is short lets not waste more time. I can not fix the past but the future can be better. We remember Marisol when she was little and we know how much you love her. Tell you mom and your sister that we're very sad for your lose and that we're HERE to help this is my email andrade***** I LOVE YOU Darling, Sabrina y Kevin.

—Rend Smith

The owner of Murky Coffee in Arlington and former owner of the D.C. outpost seized by the city's tax office (a small matter of 40 400 grand in unpaid sales tax) holds another title: chairman of the U.S. Barista Championship (USBC) Committee, a sweet appointment, considering his well-aired problems.

The news of his appointment hasn't sat so well with some in the coffee community. Following the announcement, four USBC committee members resigned their positions. Though it's not clear if all the resignations were related to Cho's ascendance (one resigner claims he stepped down because of the volunteer hours involved) Sarah Allen's certainly was.

On Coffeed.com, Allen explains how she'd been a member of the USBC comittee from the start in 2003 and how, "it broke my heart to leave." Then she goes for the jugular: "I can only speak for myself. I left the committee because Nick was appointed chair of the committee. I have emailed with Nick and he asked me to be transparent about this, so there it is. I like Nick as a person, but had concerns about his abilities to be a committee chair. Let's finally get all this shit out in the open, OK?"

For Allen, who edits the publication Barista magazine, part of getting it out in the open was posting a letter—addressed to "whom it may concern" and written by the owner of Coffee Labs Roasters Inc., Michael Love. A section of the letter states:

Does giving Mr. Cho new Chair positions promote sound business practices to the members of the SCAA? When in 3/21/08 Washington post stated "While conceding that he has been irresponsible, Cho chalked up the tax bill to 'poor cash flow management'" In reference to section 3, I ask is it unlawful to not pay ones sales tax?

Reported on City Blog [sic, City Desk] 2/27/08 "It was old sales tax stuff we missed" Cho explained. Does that free him from the responsibility & discussion of his actions? If one breaks a law or rule because of ones, own ignorance does that free them from retribution with in the SCAA & with its members?"

Interestingly enough, the letter's author knows what it's like to break the rules and pay for it. As reported in a New York Times article, Love, in connection with a checkbook he purloined in 1994 and a few parole violations was, in 2006, sentenced to 6 months in a county jail. Love received a lighter-than-typical sentence because by the time he turned himself in, he had reformed his life and become a respectable business owner with loads of cafe customers willing to vouch for him. —Rend Smith