"Don't know if it's because of Impact (don't think so) or the forever stalled contract negotiations (maybe) or my administration (YES!!!), but I just feel really de-motivated. One thing I can say is that it's definitely not the kids. My kids this year are doing really well, and I've somehow managed to build a really positive culture in my classes. They try hard, and for the most part they're learning a lot. But damn if I'm just not satisfied.

It's getting to the point where I'm thinking about what else I could be doing, and trying to figure out if I want to stay teaching (or at least teaching at my school) next year. On the one hand, I don't like falling into the stereotype of Teach for America teachers who sweep in on a wave of idealism and then leave after we've worked that glassy-eyed naivete out of our system. But on the other hand, do I really want to continue working in a place where I feel unvalued, unengaged, and unhappy?"

Bloomingdale (for now) has left Bloomingdale. In a moving post, blogger writes:

"Well, i looked, but there was nothing in my price range in the neighborhood. working for a non-profit doesn't allow one to afford the prices in this part of the city if you want a rowhouse (not condo). so, i looked far-and-wide for a place that fell into my price range. in the end, i bought a house in trinidad.

i've been in trinidad for two months now. i love it. this house is amazing, the neighbors are friendly (as friendly as bloomingdale, i dare say!), and i'm still a short bike ride downtown to work. it's been interesting learning the minute details of a whole new part of town."

It's hard to imagine Bloomingdale having a better blogger. The upside: Trinidad needs a good local reporter to tell us what's what.

And Now, Anacostia has a full rundown of fotoweek events east of the river.

Borderstan discovers a new place for hipsters to get their haircut.

Greater Greater Washington posts a reader's letter complaining that no one turns their headlights on in Arlington. Really? And reports on the possibility of Riggs Place adding a dreaded speed bump. The blogger writes:

"Would a speed hump even fix the problem? It's not like through traffic uses Riggs, since it doesn't go anywhere. It would be helpful to understand who is speeding there, and why. When I lived a block from there, the only time I would drive on that block was to try to park.

If the high-speed traffic is people circling for parking, a speed hump won't deter them. They may well just speed down the road until they reach the speed hump, slow down to traverse it, then speed up again, since drivers looking for parking are often in a hurry to get the car parked or to find that elusive space before someone else does."

Please check out the cool new blog Left for LeDroit.

And let's give handclaps to Congress Heights on the Rise for their big scoop: Marion Barry is following in the footsteps of some Baldwins, MC Hammer, and Flavor Flav and getting into the reality show racket. He's filming a reality show pilot.

“I Speak for the Trees, for the Trees Have No Tongues”: Hilloholic, writing on the blog Frozen Tropics, says, “Ginkgoes are awesome! Don’t cut them down. I wouldn’t call their smell a huge problem.” There is also a pesticide spray available that halts the production of the smelly fruit—a tactic the Urban Forestry Administration has utilized in the past.

What is That Smell? No stretch here: Many people wouldn't be sad to see the smelly offenders go. The blog DCist has an entire page of comments dedicated to describing the aroma of the ginkgo fruit: Most include some combination of the words “vomit,” “jizz,” and “Parmesan.” As far as the pesticide option, the city found it difficult to complete the spraying in the short time window available, and has mainly used tree removal as a solution in recent years.

Next Step: If you want trees replanted fast, grab neighbors and mobilize: DDOT spokesman John Lisle told City Desk that the city also “requests an agreement saying the community is going to water the tree and assist nurturing it for the first two years.” A commenter also offers this advice: “You have to call to have the tree removed. You can't use the online system because they don't read those reports.”

Photo by Kew Gardens, Creative Commons Attribution License

The District's only recourse at this point is to take its case to the Supreme Court.

AG Peter Nickles tells City Desk: "I'm disappointed. We'll look at our options including a Supreme Court request....The D.C. Circuit has spoken and we'll take it from there."

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."

The Issue:

Burger, Hold the Booze: Former commissioner Kathy Henderson told City Desk that the area is “out of control with public drunkenness, drug dealings, and robberies—the police are doing a lot, but we need alternative solutions.” She says that the chain restaurant exception is a compromise: “If you are not a chain with a proven track record, such as T.G.I. Friday's or Ruby Tuesday, you will not be welcome to come.”

Burger and a Beer, Please: Others argue the proposal discriminates against locally owned businesses; plus, you can loiter just as easily outside Ruby Tuesday. Some think the proposal is aimed at Matt Ashburn's Capital City Diner, but he appeared at an ANC meeting this month to reassure the commission that he didn't even want to sell liquor. A resident commenting on the blog We Love DC says: “This is clearly targeted at them....The diner is the one hope that there won’t be bullet-proof glass between you and your food.”

Next Step: There is a public hearing on Oct. 21. Mark, also commenting on the blog, says: “Please attend, this promises to be excellent sport.”

Photo by Roadsidepictures, Creative Commons Attribution License

Morning all. Late last night, we published a piece on the latest mystery woman in Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry's life: Sharon Bowen. Bowen, who resides in Ohio, received $50,000 in contract work from the legendary politico to work on poverty issues in Ward 8. Bowen, our sources say, was also Barry's girlfriend at the time (June 2007 to May 2008). For the piece, we detail her work and interview key players including Barry and Bowen's daughter. Meanwhile, the Hill Rag's The Nose examines Barry's legislative record and finds it lacking in accomplishments. The upshot: many of Barry's bills go nowhere and his priorities seem misplaced.

TREY JOYNER: The U.S. Park Police shooting of Trey Joyner on June 8 is getting a serious look by law enforcement authorities. On that Monday night, four park police cops in plainclothes moved in on Joyner as he was getting out of a car. When the officers tried to arrest him, allegedly a struggle ensued and he was gunned down. Witnesses at the time stated that Joyner was shot in the back and that the officers did not announce themselves. Now, WaPo is reporting that a federal grand jury is getting deep into the case and has subpoenaed an amateur video showing the chaos in Trinidad after the shooting. The WaPo scoop includes an interview with the filmmaker and has the man's video. Fox-5 finds Eleanor Holmes Norton is still fuming over whether or not the U.S. Attorney's Office should be leading the investigation into the shooting. If only all suspicious police shootings got this much attention.

HOMELESS FAMILIES: District officials plan to expand the number of beds for homeless families by 10 percent. But there's a catch: the extra beds will only be available in the winter. WaPo reports that means 75 more beds (WUSA also has the story). Key graphs:

"Nassim Moshiree, a lawyer with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, said the officials who presented the plan seemed overconfident. 'This past spring, 88 families were living at the family shelter at D.C. General Hospital when the capacity was 75,' Moshiree said. 'Some had to stay in the cafeteria. They say they'll only need 75 beds there in the winter, when demand is high now. Where is their Plan B? They need a Plan B.'

Fred Swan, family services administrator for the Department of Human Services, said Moshiree voiced a common complaint. 'To a certain extent, we hear that every year,' Swan said. 'We'll make adjustments as needed.'

AFTER THE JUMP---Cathy Lanier dismisses the controversy over the "police" report in Fenty's car accident, Harry Jaffe continues to hammer away at the Pershing Park case, Fenty signs anti-crime bill, and much, much more.

NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT: D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier doesn't get why the press---and maybe a few readers---are concerned over how the police handled Mayor Fenty's fender bender. "I think there has been a lot of things made out of nothing here," Lanier tells WJLA. Nothing? WaPo has more from Lanier on the accident. Key quote: "'[Fenty] stayed on the scene. The [mayor's] children that were on the scene, were taken from the scene, but he stayed on the scene while the other driver didn't,' Lanier said. 'There are no procedures that were not followed. We thought that it was important to get the report taken and then file the supplemental report when we got the information. The important thing was to take the report, and it was taken, The photos were not taken because the other driver left the scene. The mayor stayed on the scene. He could have left because it was a minor fender-bender -- if this was anybody else, they could have exchange information and left the scene.'

MORE TROUBLE FOR PETER NICKLES: The Examiner's Bill Myers is reporting that there's a big conflict brewing betweeen AG Nickles and City Auditor Deborah Nichols. Key graphs: "City Auditor Deborah Nichols says she wants a look at the last few years of books of the Anacostia Waterfront Commission and the National Capital Revitalization Corp. but that Nickles is invoking attorney-client privilege to prevent access to important records. 'It's quite clear that the [Attorney General's Office] is inexplicably attempting to subvert the auditor's authority,' Nichols wrote in a July 2 letter obtained by The Examiner. Nichols called the attorney general's conduct 'unconscionable and unacceptable.'" Nickles says his actions were "appropriate." Myers goes on to explain why Nichols is so interested: "According to a source familiar with Nichols' audit, she also is asking questions about tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees the revitalization corporation paid to Michelle Fenty in 2006 as Mayor Adrian Fenty, then a D.C. councilman, campaigned for the mayor's office. The mayor's wife focuses her practice on global technology transactions and does not appear to have a background in community development." Meanwhile, Harry Jaffe compares the problems in the Pershing Park case to Watergate.

CAFRITZ FIRE: Today, Mayor Fenty plans on announcing the preliminary findings in the city's investigation into the hydrant problems surrounding the Peggy Cooper Cafritz house fire. WaPo reports that WASA has written a letters to City Administrator Neil O. Albert in an apparent attempt to push some of the blame on the Fire Department. Fenty is expected to hold a news conference today near the Cafritz home. WUSA reports that the Fire Department is already taking measures---measures that were recommended in 2007---to prevent such hydrant issues from happening again.

BUDGET TALK: Elissa Silverman and Liz Williams get all ProPublica on the District as they report out what happened to the city's federal stimulus money in the Hill Rag. They find that without the fed's help the District would be in total budget meltdown mode: "The stimulus is helping DC in two key ways. Plummeting tax revenues combined with increased demands for health care and other human services have created gaping holes in state and local government budgets everywhere. The District is no exception. About a quarter of DC’s budget gap this year and next will be plugged by various pots of money made available from the stimulus. Without that critical influx of dollars, the city would have had to make even deeper spending cuts that would have led to more job losses and slowed down our economic recovery."

CRIME BILL: WaPo reports that Mayor Fenty signed the emergency crime bill (minus the tricky anti-gang initiative). Fenty and Lanier praised the bill's new anti-loitering provisions, etc. Fenty still played the spoilsport: the bill's author Councilmember Phil Mendelson did not attend the bill signing photo op. He was not invited. Wondering why? Mendo did not support the anti-gang initiative.

FENTY'S SCHEDULE:
9:00 a.m. Remarks
Chain Bridge Fire Report
Location: 3022 Chain Bridge Road, NW

10:00 a.m. Remarks
Summer School Graduation
Location: Washington Convention Center
801 Mount Vernon Place, NW
Ballroom AB Level III

11:45 a.m. Remarks
Potomac Avenue Triangle Park Groundbreaking
Location: Intersection of Potomac Avenue, 13th, and I Streets, SE

1:30 p.m. Remarks
Marvin Gaye Park Groundbreaking
Location: Intersection of Division Avenue and Foote Street, NE

Norton, after talking with Park Police Chief Salvatore Lauro, had been under the impression that the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division would be leading an inquiry into the incident. She told residents as much at a community meeting last month at Mount Horeb Baptist Church.

"Last week, my staff was informed that the Civil Rights Division is not leading the investigation of the shooting, but that the U.S. Attorney's Office will be the agency leading this investigation," Norton wrote to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder this week.

More from the July 27 letter:

It was clear to me that the involvement of federal police officers in a local shooting required a federal investigation. At the meeting, Chief Lauro told me that the Civil Rights Division had called him and that he had been told they would be taking over the investigation, according to notes taken by my staff at the meeting.  There appear to be no federal procedures in place for an incident involving a shooting of a local resident by a federal police officer.  Therefore, the use of a third party federal authority with no involvement with the city or local police seemed to me to be appropriate, especially since the Civil Rights Division has a long and credible history of investigating police departments and incidents around the country.

... This incident has raised considerable consternation here, but one thing I thought had been settled was that an independent body would be investigating the Trinidad shooting.  I seek immediate clarification and I believe that such clarification is due as well to the family and to the citizens I represent.

Six Park Police officers were placed on administrative leave after the shooting. Lauro told the Washington Post last month that the officers were not part of an FBI-led "Safe Streets" task force, which is what Park Police had initially said.

Read the full text of Norton's letter here.

The U.S. Park Police has one story. And a WJLA story with interviews from potential neighborhood witnesses has yet another version of events. Let's break it down.

In an interview with City Desk, U.S. Park Police Sgt. David Schlosser, the department's spokesperson, lays out this simple scenario.

"Yesterday detectives received information about about a man with a gun, located the subject," Schlosser says. "While they were making the arrest, a struggle ensued. The suspect was shot. The suspect did have a gun and the gun was recovered at the scene."

According to WJLA account, Trey Joyner never pointed a gun at the cops:

On Monday night, four U.S. Park Police officers moved in when an informant reportedly made a call about a man with a gun. The plainclothes officers are part of the multi-agency Safe Streets Task Force.

Trey Joyner apparently got of a car and then something occurred which prompted the officers to fire repeatedly. Witnesses say they heard at least seven gunshots.

Investigators say they recovered a gun at the scene, but some who say they witnessed the shooting are adamant Joyner never brandished a gun or threatened the officers.

"He never pointed the gun at him," said a witness.

The diverting narratives could simply be due to the fact that the case is still very, very fresh. One hopes the D.C. Police Department were able to do a thorough canvas and that residents came forward with whatever they saw. The D.C. Police Department is handling the case.

Schlosser says: "We are cooperating completely with them."

This afternoon, the Partnership for Civil Justice announced that it had filed a FOIA request today seeking answers concerning this shooting. [You can read a PDF of the FOIA].

In a release, the Partnership writes:

"In response to reports that a resident of the District was shot in the back and killed last night in the Trinidad neighborhood by undercover federal law enforcement agents, the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund filed a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) today demanding disclosure of the directives and policies authorizing and implementing the program through which the officers were operating.

Few D.C. residents are aware of the existence of this FBI-led undercover law enforcement operation through which plain-clothed Park Police officers opened fire in the midst of a D.C. neighborhood. The fact of this operation, shrouded in darkness, came to light in reports published today that the officers involved in the above-referenced incident were working as part of an MPD and federal “inter-agency task force dubbed Operation Safe Streets, which addresses violence throughout the region and is overseen by the FBI.” (See Debbi Wilgoren and Martin Weil, The Washington Post, June 9, 2009, online edition)

The FOIA request was submitted to the MPD, the Mayor’s Office, the FBI and the National Park Service’s Police."

U.S. Park Police were last involved in a shooting on April 13 of this year at 2nd and K Street NE. Schlosser says that investigation is still on-going.

*Correction: This reporter in a previous post was completely confused about this police shooting. He mixed up the earlier police shooting from yesterday morning with the Park Police shooting from last night. Item has been fixed. Embarrassment remains.

Frozen Tropics believes that H Street/Trinidad just might be safer than Columbia Heights and Adams Morgan:

"I feel safer living here than in Columbia Heights. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like I know too many people who have been robbed in Columbia Heights. And when I say robbed, I mean pistol whipped, punched, or hit in the head with a brick. None of these people were resisting. By contrast, I only know (personally) one guy who was ever violently attacked during a robbery in this area. That was when he resisted (rightly, because the bastards tried to force him into an alley, and you should resist at that point)...."

JDLand has a review (with photos) of the new beer garden (called I believe the "Bullpen"). She is very kind. That place feels like walking through something Clear Channel barfed: bad cover band, dudes, and the smell of stale beer all in a fenced-in slab of asphalt. On second thought, it's not something that Clear Channel barfed. It feels like a prison yard sponsored by Clear Channel. Awesome redevelopment!

Anyway, JDLand writes: "When I arrived around 6 pm, there was a healthy crowd, and the spirits (emotional and liquid) seemed to be flowing well." How....polite.

And Now, Anacostia profiles a historic piece of Good Hope Road property that's set to be auctioned off on Wednesday.

Penn Quarter Living wonders if work has been completed at 901 E Street NW.

Trinidad, 1998

It was announced today that Trinidad is going to get nearly 30 police cameras as part of a private-funded policing effort. WTOP reports the funding is coming from a project called Safe City and is funded by Target and Sprint Nextel.

Although privately funded, police would be charged with monitoring the cameras. The cameras can be monitored in real time. The city already uses 94 cameras. The increase would make Trinidad the most watched neighborhood in the District. Creepy? We wondered if the cameras are worthless. We also published this terrific take on cameras.

We just talked to At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson, who chairs the Judiciary Committee which oversees the D.C. Police.

"I'm just hearing about it," Mendelson says. "My primary concern has been cameras are not a good use of public dollars in fighting crime. But I see this is privately funded.... The issue is governments spend millions of dollars putting up these cameras....No crimes are solved that couldn't have been solved otherwise that's generally the rap."

The issue Mendelson sees is whether this privately-funded camera operation will adhere to the city's regulations.

"If the restrictions apply then many of the civil liberty concerns are addressed for example a police officer monitoring a camera using it to zoom in on an attractive woman or focusing on someone's bedroom, that's all prohibited under the regulations," Mendelson says. "If these cameras are subject to those regulations, the civil liberties concerns are largely mitigated. Then it's a question of is it a good use of public dollars?"

The District would still have to pay for the officers to watch those cameras.

"Our regulations say the officers aren't supposed to be monitoring them except in an emergency so I don't know what the answer is, I don't know what they're proposing," Mendelson says.

The councilmember adds that there is an upcoming hearing in the works on crime fighting. Issues stemming from this new camera initiative may be addressed at the hearing.

*photo by Charles Steck.

This morning, the Examiner's Bill Myers dropped a sweet story on the D.C. Police Department's in-fighting over the Trinidad checkpoints. What makes the story so great is that Myers actually got the police department to respond to a FOIA and give him internal e-mails. So instead of boilerplate, he's got the good stuff. It seems Assistant Chief Diane Groomes really had some issues with the checkpoints.

The problem I have is with his own newspaper. In presenting it on the web, they bolded three topic points at the beginning of his story: "Diane Groome, Chief Cathy Lanier, Barricades." Which name did they spell wrong?

It's Groomes not Groome!

Hey Examiner, you finally got a good story and you screw it up with a freshman mistake!