Today, DHS Director Clarence Carter sent out a statement to various homeless advocates and shelter providers. Earlier this week, Carter and Councilmember Tommy Wells sparred on just how much the homeless services budget would get cut. Many shelters are facing 30 percent cuts or worse---closing down.

I'm not sure Carter does himself any favors with this statement. Readers: Tell me what he's trying to say! Are there still going to be cuts? I think so. Carter does stress one priority: making sure the homeless have shelter during the hypothermia season. But he is fuzzy on what the looming cuts are going to do for family shelters or transitional housing facilities.

Read statement after the jump.

Read More "Clarence Carter Issues Statement On Homeless Services Cuts" »

The Examiner reported last week that Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells "is proposing to erase rules that prohibit fowl within 50 feet of any building 'used for human habitation.'" Essentially, us Washingtonians would no longer be forbidden to raise chickens in our backyards.

The article says the bill "was drafted on behalf of a Capitol Hill family," who used their small backyard to house eight hens until animal control intervened. Well's Chief-of-Staff, Charles Allen, said that the family and a few friends approached the Councilmember to request legislation.

"This is all part of that sustainable urban life we're trying to create," Allen said, evoking the recent spike in the popularity of community gardening.
Read More "Coming Soon: Chicken Legislation!" »

The Issue: Southeastern University, a private school founded 130 years ago by the YMCA near the Southwest Waterfront, has gone the way of the Titanic—and taxpayer’s money is going down with the ship. According to the Washington Examiner, three months before the Middle States Commission on Higher Education yanked the school’s accreditation, the floundering university received a $1.5 million earmark requested by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. The university, which catered to low-income DC residents, reportedly “spent every dime”—to no avail. Now that the school’s fall semester has been canceled, and the students transferred to other universities, what should be done with the block?

Bring On the Buckets: Some argue the city should work to save the school as a place for higher learning: Charles Allen, chief of staff to Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells, told City Desk: “The university is right in the heart of Southwest. Not having classes there is a major loss to the neighborhood in terms of educational resources…and just losing activity on the sidewalk.” There has been talk of merging the school with another institution.

Abandon Ship: Others complain that taxpayers have already given the school a fighting chance, both through Mayor Fenty’s earmark, and an additional $400,000 in public funds. Dee, commenting on US News and World Report, says: “The faculty was a joke…my marketing instructor recruited people to sell Amway products. If you didn’t show up to his house for his “sales pitch,” you didn’t receive extra credit.”

Next Step: Wells is working with the school to find a merger and possibly carry on the school’s medical associate degree program—but Allen says, “so far, none of the options have panned out.” As far as the money goes, a Mayor Fenty spokesperson told the Examiner, "We've asked them not to spend any additional money."

Photo of school by Alan Cordova, Creative Commons Attribution License

A bill to permit gay marriages in the District of Columbia will be introduced to the D.C. Council on Tuesday, At-Large Councilmember David Catania announced tonight.

Catania made the announcement in front of more than 200 members of the GLBT community gathered at the True Reformer

"We are going to do it now," he said. Catania will introduce the bill with nine co-sponsors. Also in attendance are Michael Brown, Phil Mendelson, and Tommy Wells.

Jan Eichhorn, a Southwest political activist and public servant across four decades, died Monday at 71. She had cancer.

The list of groups and activities in which Eichhorn had been active---the D.C. Democratic State Committee, the Ward 6 Democrats, an advisory neighborhood commission, various voting-rights and statehood groups---doesn't quite describe the breadth of her legacy. Dating back to the 1970s, Eichhorn played a key role in securing home rule, remembers close friend Anita Bonds, bringing a "go-getter spirit" to the struggle for D.C. self-determination. It was a spirit, Bonds says, that she also brought to the long struggle to move patients out of the infamous Forest Haven facility for the mentally retarded and into more humane facilities---a process she oversaw in a post with the D.C. Department of Human Services in the 1980s.

"I felt like I had a partner in trying to make a difference to change things," Bonds says, "to accomplish something that could be beneficial for everyone."

Read More "Remembering Jan Eichhorn" »

Two years after the fact, Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells has gone on the record suspecting that the Eastern Market fire was arson. Wells tells the Voice of the Hill:

"'I have a tremendous amount of suspicion that it was arson,' Wells told the Voice immediately after the market reopened Friday."

Eastern Market re-opened today with the expected fanfare. Which is great. But it doesn't erase the screw-ups surrounding that massive blaze. In December 2007, we wrote a piece addressing the concerns of numerous fire fighters that the Eastern Market case was arson. Two arson investigators got bounced off their beat for making their concerns known.

Read More "Not Breaking: Councilmember Wells Suspects Eastern Market Fire Was Arson" »

With a mere 15 months remaining until Primary Day 2010, LL thought he would run down who is thus far committed to electoral runs---committed, in the sense of actually having filed papers with the Office of Campaign Finance.

Mayor

• Incumbent Adrian M. Fenty---Duh. Dude's got at least $2 million in the bank.
• Sulaimon Brown---D.C. Wire had the scoop on this 38-year-old former Fenty volunteer's challenge. He established his committee on May 5. His Web site fronts a pic with him and Barack Obama where Barack Obama does not seem to be acknowledging his existence.
• Faith, the exotic dancer turned trumpet-tooting, horse-riding perennial candidate, filed her papers on May 1.

Read More "DCision 2010: It’s Gonna Have Faith! And Anthony Motley!" »

A day after local poo-bahs at DYRS opened its New Beginnings Youth Center, a New Beginnings inmate escaped.

With much fanfare, the facility replaced the infamous Oak Hill juvenile detention facility. Officials had trumpeted its very un-jail like citing; local media had repeatedly compared it to a college campus. "This is the anti-prison," Vincent N. Schiraldi, director of the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, told the Post in a story that made it seem like New Beginnings was a St. Albans branch campus only better . "What we had before was a training school for them to become adult inmates. We want them to aspire to college, to be in a place that looks like you care about them."

The press had noted that New Beginnings was not surrounded by razor wire. Instead, officials stated that the facility's security was pure state-of-the-art Gattaca shit---"climb-free fencing" and "detention-grade windows." New Beginnings central campus-like feature was a sweet courtyard; it also had a cafeteria, library, gym, and automated bathroom time (!). Apparently, none of the new features nor the intimidating climb-free fencing could prevent a kid from bolting the $46 million Laurel campus.

The kid is still out there. An internal investigation is underway to determine how the kid escaped. Meanwhile, the Post provides some hilarious details on the city's security tests:

"On Thursday, Schiraldi and David Muhammad, chief of Committed Services, said they had brought in young men to try to scale the New Beginnings fences and made modifications to prevent escapes. Schiraldi even said he planned to put prickly shrubbery, possibly rose bushes, near the fence so the young men would not be tempted to flee."

One councilmember is already feeling prickly over the escape---Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells.

Read More "Inmate Escapes From New Beginnings Youth Facility" »

In Shaw writes on chickens in the city: "As I remember, I thought there were laws on the books that in one way or another say no to chickens. Just to make sure I checked The City Chicken, which according to it's chicken law page says, 'Washington D.C. Housing chickens here violates health laws and is not legal.'
Then I checked the online DC Code, plugging in Chicken, poultry and fowl...."

The Georgetown Metropolitan wonders: Does Jack Evans Abuse Parking Laws? There are incriminating photos of Evans' car clearly parked illegally---that is if he were just an average citizen. It is an open question whether he actually deserved a ticket.

Borderstan notes that construction has begun at the 17th-S-and-New Hampshire dog park. Post includes photos! Still, the project might be behind. The writer wonders: "I have not heard anything new on the opening date other than 'spring.' Anyone know anything more about a specific date?"

Bureaucrat310 chronicles a rough commute: "On this particular morning I was running late. Just as I descended into the columbia heights metro station I noticed that the next train would be arriving in 2 minutes. I hustle, run to the turnstile, swipe my card and get the dreaded 'go see a customer service agent' warning..."

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: Chickens Coming Home To Roost" »

Tommy Blog: D.C. Councilmember Tommy Wells announced on his blog that he will be hosting a forum tomorrow night on AG Peter Nickles' recent push to allow late-night releases at the D.C. Jail. We wrote about the issue as well.

Penn Quarter Living visits the reopened Ford's Theatre: "The theater is beautiful, completely restored from top to bottom. Remember the holes in the ceiling and the water damage? All repaired and freshly painted and detailed."

The Heights Life declares its love for Ruby Tuesdays. We dig their salad bar. Seriously. The blog gushes over the bar's chairs (they swivel). And they too love the salad bar.

Two dudes have started a blog chronicling their attempts to open a lounge/bar:

"I have been doing some serious research and contacting a bunch of people to help us fix up our business plan. I am hoping to get the draft edit back to Susan by the beginning of next week after having the weekend to do some more work. Chuck and I have picked a name for now....... Push Lounge.......The idea is to have a lounge that takes customer/consumer comfort and enjoyment to the max."

Should we expect some kind of '80s theme?

And Now, Anacostia has a rundown of the River East Emerging Leaders (REEL) meetup. Post includes pictures.

14th & You has a crime update on some Dupont Circle robberies.

If you haven't read this already, we have the complete rundown on the Harvard Hall fire which got tons of good comments from concerned residents.

And we mourn former Washington City Paper music critic Rickey Wright.

Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells is conducting a hearing today on the Department on Disability Services (DDS), among other topics. That means that Judith Heumann is in the building. Heumann is the director of DDS and a wheelchair user. As far as access to these hearings, Heumann has never had a problem getting into the building and up to the 4th floor hearing room.

However! Her wheelchair has been too big to fit under the witness table in the hearing chamber, meaning she's had difficulty scooting up to the microphone. When presented with this situation, D.C. Council staffers are forced to jury-rig a solution. This time, they put old budget books under the legs of the witness table, elevating it enough for Heumann to get into position.

--By Mike DeBonis

In July, Children's Rights, the New York-based group behind a long-standing lawsuit against the District over its handling of children filed a contempt motion in U.S. District Court over the pre-and-post-Banita Jacks troubles at CFSA.  The court battle over CFSA continues to be hot.

Last fall, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas F. Hogan issued an order stipulating a series of directives. One of those stipulations involved the future selection of a permanent director at CFSA. On Tuesday, Fenty announced his selection of interim director Roque Gerald to take over in a permanent capacity. Hogan had stipulated that "the Court Monitor and Plaintiffs will be included in the selection process for the permanent Director."

It is that order that is now being seriously questioned. When appointing top posts, Fenty isn't known as a big outreach guy. His appointment of Chief Cathy Lanier is exhibit A. Now his selection of Gerald is coming under scrutiny.

The Plaintiffs--Children's Rights--say they were never consulted during the selection process. "We were not included in the process and I think given the problems the agency has had over the last several years the choice of the director was critically important," says Children's Rights Executive Director Marcia Robinson Lowry. She adds that this violated the court order.

Read More "Did CFSA Director Search Violate Court Order?" »

If you pick one federal building in which to have you inaugural fete, make it the brand-new U.S. Department of Transportation. The D.C. Democratic State Committee's bash, the D.C. Presidential Inaugural Gala, is drawing a lot of gravitas from its surroundings alone. Trouble is, there's not a whole hell of a lot to keep the illusion alive. The Democratic State Committee is a chaotic and cash-poor organization with a different set of accounting problems each reporting period. So even though it's throwing a bash in these swank confines, the fare can be categorized charitably as "light refreshments"---i.e., cheese cubes and fruit. And the only notables on this evening have been Tommy Wells, Yvette Alexander, and Vincent Orange. No titles necessary with those names. Plus, the downside of running a shindig in a federal building is that you can't get rid of the security folks. They're like Bill Rice--everywhere you look, there they are!

Reporting by Mike DeBonis, writing by Erik Wemple

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia commons

Borderstan documents two robberies that took place last night in the Logan Circle area. One is a purse snatching. The other is a robbery by force (not sure what kind of force was used). Life in Mount Vernon Square documents a robbery at gunpoint. DCist has the latest on the violence at 14th and Girard. And the D.C. Police Department investigates some mysterious vehicles on Conn. Ave.

Penn Quarter Living updates the latest battle over the G Street Bus depot: "Three weeks ago, we reported that the pickup spot for DC to NYC buses was moving from their usual office building-bounded location on 11th St at about F St. The new site was designated as G St between 9th & 10th, which is in front of MLK library, but also in front of a neighborhood condominium." Last night there was a public meeting to debate the issue.

And Now, Anacostia has the latest on the redevelopment plans for St. E's. Housing Complex has much, much more on this.

The Vinyl District digs into some classic Replacements tunes.

Councilmember Tommy Wells' Tommy Blog has some great info on the inauguration--traffic, commuting tips, and, of course, parking in Ward 6. We have all the up-to-date news and info and tips as well. (Look for our special inauguration issue out tomorrow).