The organization Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV) has issued two alerts warning gay males to be wary of hooking up through phone chat lines or via the Internet, as the risk goes far beyond contracting sexually transmitted diseases.

GLOV points to four recent pick-up crimes in the area–one being the April robbery and murder of Brian Betts, a D.C. middle school principal who lived in Silver Spring.

GLOV directors Kelly Pickard and Joe Montoni also point to other victims, including Anthony Perkins and Gordon Rivers, who similarly fell prey to robberies that ended in murder when they arranged to meet strangers for trysts–likely through gay-chat lines.

A fourth man was recently robbed at gunpoint in Manassas when he arranged to meet another man through a chat line, they say. The victim wasn't hurt.

"Part of our concern is that as the incidents are reported they're being reported individually without noting their factual similarities," says Pickard.

One D.C. resident with a criminal past who declines to be named tells City Desk he's known robbers who specifically target gay men, and that pick-up robberies are nothing new. "This has been going on over and over again," he says, adding that some of the muggers he's known believe gay males "keep money." These muggers have found various ways of making contact with their victims, he says.

"We're not taking the position that hooking up is bad," says Montoni of GLOV, "we're just saying that if you're going to do it you have to be careful."

Cafe Mozart (1331 H St. NW): Open, yes, but only for the deli and carryout. Restaurant is taking the day off.

Cafe Saint-Ex (1847 14th St. NW): Open. Says individual: "We've gotten a bunch of calls and a handful of folks are here right now. It's just going to get busier, I'd imagine."

Starbucks (2010 P St. NW): No answer–guessing that it's closed.

Starbucks (1301 Connecticut Ave. NW, aka "Dupont South" branch): No answer—guessing that it's closed.

Starbucks (1700 Connecticut Ave. NW, aka "Dupont North" branch): Closing as of around 1:30 pm.

Hmmm, starting to see a trend here: Indie cafes are braving the elements in order bring their products to their customers; they're rooted in the community and must scratch and claw for every customer. Starbucks, meanwhile, appears to be taking a pass. Let's check with another Starbucks outlet:

Starbucks (1801 Columbia Road NW): Open, yes, but only till 3:30 pm—just when this bliz' is supposed to calm down a touch! This indie v. Starbucks snow fight merits more investigation:

Starbucks (1301 Pennsylvania Ave. NW): Open till (just!) 2 p.m.! Now let's test this Starbucks trend of either closing altogether or closing really early against another indie outlet. Here we come, Tryst! (Come on, answer the phone, Trysties! And stay open till like 1 a.m.)

Tryst (2459 18th St. NW):OPEN! And till what time? "Normal time," responds the individual on the other end of the phone. What's normal time? "1 a.m.," comes the response—no lie.

Open City (2331 Calvert St. NW): Open. How can you close down when you have that name?

Cappuccino photo by Jazzbobrown, Creative Commons Attribution License

I was just loafing when this popped into my inbox: The District Department of Transportation is doing away with one of the city's sweetest freebies: Saturday parking. Starting soon, drivers will have to feed the meters on Saturdays, just like they do Monday through Friday. The rate for primo spots in parking-challenged neighborhoods is also going up to $2 an hour. So forget about budget loafing at Mid City Caffe or  Sova unless you can get there – lugging your laptop – without a car.

Not quite yet, though. The new rules were supposed to begin Saturday. Since the Washington Post's Dr. Gridlock reported the news this morning, however, District Transportation officials have apparently pushed back the start day from Jan. 2 to sometime in mid January, according to this story by NBC's Washington station.

Either way, Monica G. pretty much summed things up when she forwarded the news to the Petworth listserv with the following comments: "This completely sucks! This is horrible!"

So what the hell is actually open right now? Plenty. The District still loves to eat brunch even in these conditions. Here is a list of places currently open for business. We will update throughout the day:

3:10 p.m. Update:

The Diner: The Adams Morgan restaurant is open. It has no plans on shutting down its 24-hour service.

Angles: The 18th Street NW watering hole plans on opening at 4 p.m. per usual.

2: 50 p.m. Update:

Comet Ping Pong: No answer.

Second Story Books: The Dupont Circle location is open. But will be closing "when it gets dark. Probably about 5-ish," an employee says.

Soho Tea & Coffee: The P Street hangout is open. They plan on closing at around midnight.

Som Records: The 14th Street vinyl shop isn't answering its phone. A bad sign.

Red Onion Records & Books: The 18th Street shop isn't answering its phone. I wouldn't take a chance on going over there.

2:36 Update:

The Raven: The Mount Pleasant bar says they plan to open in one hour!

Commonwealth: The gastropub is open and has no plans to close early. "We are pretty packed right now," an employee tells me.

Yes! Organic Market: The Adams Morgan grocery is closing right now.

Melody Record Shop: The Dupont store is open. They are undecided on whether they will close early. "We have a constant customer traffic coming in," says an employee.

2:16 p.m. update:

The Heights Life says Target and Bed Bath and Beyond in Columbia Heights have closed.

DC Fire/EMS is reporting that Safeway at 40th Street NE is reporting smoke in bakery section, light blast, possibly electrical.

Banana Cafe: The Cap. Hill restaurant and piano bar is open. "Maybe we close early, depends on the weather," says an employee.

Denny's: the Benning Road NE outpost is open and plans to be open all day.

Java House: The 17th and Q Street NW coffee shop is closed.

Open City is open and packed.

1 p.m. Update:

Crooked Beat Records: Yes. You can still buy vinyl. The Adams Morgan store is open all day unless, an employee tells me, "it gets ugly." No customers have come in yet. "I don't know if you've been outside but...some of us made it here because we're idiots...We're here," the employee says.

Cafe Saint-Ex: It's open–as of now the restaurant is not closing early. "We're fairly busy right now," an employee tells me.

City Lights of China: The Dupont Circle restaurant reports that they are open and have no plans to close early just yet.

Lauriol Plaza: It's open. No decision has been made on whether the Mexican restaurant will close early. "We're probably going to be regular hours," a manager says, adding that they are still waiting on the owners to arrive. She says there are plenty of tables available.

The Black Squirrel: This institution will be open at 2 p.m.

Red Rocks: It's open and an employee tells me they will not be closing early. "It's pretty crowded," the employee says.

The Tune Inn: The Cap. Hill institution is open. An employee says: "We're open all day long, buddy."

12: 30 p.m. Update:

Columbia Heights Coffee: Not answering their phone.

Sticky Fingers Bakery: It's open but will be closing at 3 or 4 p.m. "We have some pretty decent business," an employee tells me. "We're probably about half full in our seating area."

Kramerbooks & Afterwords: It's open unless they lose power. "We should be running normal hours," says an employee. "We don't plan to be closing....We're starting to fill up our dining room."

Politics & Prose: It's open until 4 p.m. and opening late tomorrow at noon. Still, it's busy. "We've been getting a steady stream of people," an employee says.

ORIGINAL POST:

Ben's Chili Bowl: It's open. There are currently 20 people inside the U Street institution.

Target: It's open. An employee says that the big box may close early.

Tryst: It's open. An employee says that they currently have a "full house."

Busboys and Poets: The 14th Street location is open and has no current plans for modified hours. An employee tells me they are currently serving between 60 and 70 people. "I believe we're the only restaurant open on the block," she says. "At least that's what customers have told us."

IHOP: The Alabama Avenue SE outpost is open and may close early. An employee tells me they restaurant is fairly empty. But there's a reason for that: She says that Alabama Avenue has not been plowed.

*photo by Darrow Montgomery.

Cappuccino photo by Jazzbobrown, Creative Commons Attribution License

It’s an early Saturday afternoon inside the cozy basement café at Politics & Prose bookstore on Connecticut Avenue NW. I’ve been here awhile – a good long while.

I arrive with my laptop and a yellow legal pad before 10 a.m. and install myself at one of the little tables along the wall that leads to the stacks. After ordering a cappuccino, I fire up my computer and get right to work. When the battery wanes, I fish around behind a pedestal holding a lamp and find an electrical outlet to plug into. There is even an extension cord handy – what convenience!

All the while, I nurse the same cappuccino. Eventually, what was lacey white foam has congealed into a dingy crust around the porcelain cup.

Every now and then, I catch the gaze of one of the baristas – a woman with long brown hair and tattoos, who keeps up an incessant banter with the other barista, while the patrons come and go with their coffee drinks, bagels, soup of the day.

There she goes again. She’s giving me the eye, the sign that the coffee shop staff has made you – that you are bagged, spotted, scoped, identified as a Wi-Fi loafer, one of those Internet-surfing freeloaders who arrives early, orders little, and stays all day.

Sometimes referred to as “digital nomads,” the café vagabonds have inspired countless features and were even toasted in the Washington Post as harbingers of a future business culture, in which we will all one day be untethered from bland cubicles and dreary office parks.

No sooner has digital nomad culture been feted as trendsetting, however, than it has become apparent that not everyone is so happy with the Wi-Fi wanderers who move between establishments such as the Big Bear in Bloomingdale, Tryst in Adams Morgan and Mid-City Caffé in Columbia Heights.

One could assume that coffee shops lose money on these one-cuppa customers who spread out across tabletops from breakfast through teatime. There are signs that this has been the case. Some popular establishments like Tryst have turned off the Wi-Fi on weekends, while others contract with Internet providers that allow them to dole out the online access an hour or two at a time and only to paying customers.

And the issue has sparked heated debate among customers as well. Just check out the eruption on Prince of Petworth earlier this month when one local nomad expressed “shock” upon hearing that Sticky Fingers Bakery had banished Internet service on Saturdays.

While people voice strong views online, where they remain comfortably anonymous, the same issues are rarely aired in real time and face-to-face.

Take my experience at Politics & Prose’s café. Despite my suspicions about the eye, I’m left to my online reverie as the morning coffee and pastry crowd comes and goes – many without even sitting down – followed by some gatherings of mommies with baby strollers in tow, the dads with young kids who are stopping in after Saturday morning sports practice, and a few other laptop luggers like myself. They eventually are joined by late-rising American University students, here to rehash the night before and plot the one ahead. The students are holding fast to their table too but sans computers.

My crusty coffee cup forgotten at the corner of my screen, I’m open season for the Upper Northwest matrons who just popped in. They’ve come for lunch but, by now, all the tables are taken. So one of the women sidles up to mine and asks: “Are you going to be staying long?”

Her companion looks slightly mortified by her friend’s nerve. My inquisitor rolls her eyes, as if to acknowledge the breaking of a social code. But her look says she is more displeased by my audacity at hogging a scarce patch of coffee shop real estate more than her own cheek at trying to nudge my computer and me toward the door.

This is the first real challenge I’ve had in several weeks of Internet loafing.  My first reaction: shame. I am taken aback by the woman’s righteous indignation. After all, it cannot be denied that I am hogging table space from customers who are willing to plunk down lots more money than the two bucks and change I spent on a cappuccino several hours ago.

I mumble faintly: “Yes, yes, I’m planning to stay.”

The barista looks over and gives me the eye again. Or is she?  At some point it becomes hard to distinguish whether you’re getting the eye or simply projecting – “They’re thinking I’m a Wi-Fi loafer! Right now, they are thinking, ‘what a deadbeat!’”

Then, I snap out of it, remembering I’m not just some Wi-Fi loafer, I am a Wi-Fi loafer on assignment. Confessions of a Wi-Fi Loafer—that's the title of this series.

I have not resorted to such guerrilla reporting tactics lightly. I tried the standard interviewing techniques. But café owners are understandably reluctant to publicly dis their customers – even the Wi-Fi moocher variety. And, who in their right mind – especially in this status-oriented city – is going to allow a reporter to identify them on the record as an Internet café idler, an exploiter of bandwidth and table space?

Ever the dedicated public service journalist, and with few other avenues open to me, I have taken it upon myself to become the ultimate Wi-Fi loafer. I’m your faithful correspondent on the frontlines of cafes in every corner of the city wherever Internet connections and electrical outlets beckon and coffee is sold. Please feel free to share your own Internet loafing experiences or your feelings – either for or against the loafers you have encountered.  You can post them here or email me at thegreendistrict@gmail.com.

Housing Complex's Ruth Samuelson has the scoop, which takes up where we left off.

We learned today that Dave Chappelle, yes the Dave Chappelle, has signed on as a potential investor with the Diner/Tryst/comedy club planned for the old Church of the Reformer at 14th and T Streets NW, the development plan we wrote about in July.

The bad news? That plan is close to imploding. Sources close to the deal say that the earlier agreement to lease the space from the current owner fell through. Rather than let their dream die, Diner/Tryst/Open City owner Constantine Stavropoulos and DC-Improv and Riot Act comedy impresario John Xereas, along with a few others—including Chappelle, a Xereas acquaintance who has D.C. roots—worked to get a deal together to buy the building. The bid is in the neighborhood of $9 million. The problem? They're not the only ones interested.

Big-box furniture outfit Room & Board, based in Minneapolis, has also put in a bid for the building, according to a real estate source. Although the bid is said to be close to what the locals have offered to pay, the current owners put their trust in furniture. The Room & Board bid has been accepted, the source said, albeit with a 60-day window where it can be retracted.

Stavropoulos, when contacted to confirm the news, said he could not openly discuss the negotiations, but added that he hoped "Room & Board realizes it's bad business karma to come into a spot where local D.C. businesses have defined a wonderful vision that is shared by local D.C. residents."

"We spent months working on this project, months cultivating neighborhood support and generating excitement for this," he continued. "We have a viable alternative and the financial backing to make it happen. If Room & Board wants to come to D.C., that's great. Just don't step on local businesses' and resident's dreams to do it."

The latest incarnation of his group's plan had the restaurant on the first floor, the comedy club on the second, and an indie movie "microcinema" house on the third, in addition to developing the property next door to 1840 14th St. as a yoga studio and dance space.

Xereas says he's been working on the 14th and T plan for more than six months and, at this point, "we've still got our fingers crossed, we've got everything crossed" that the local plan will prevail.

Room & Board spokesperson John Loer says he is aware that his company was looking to sign a lease in D.C. but referred more detailed questions to Chief Financial Officer Mark Miller, who was unavailable.

(City Paper photograph by Pilar Vergara)

The reality: Stavropoulos currently has his hands full trying to develop the former Church of the Rapture at 14th and T, which we wrote about to great comment fanfare (Count 'em: 22) back in July. Stavropoulos says the property is still in the negotiation phase.

"We spent about 95 percent of our time on community outreach" trying to get the neighborhood and the ANC to on board  and the rest of the time nailing down the details of leasing the space, which looked to be a bit firmer a few months ago. The financials being the current financials, Stavropoulos and Co. are still in talks with the current owners to secure the space. He promises City Desk the full scoop in a couple of weeks. He did not, however, promise to buy City Desk, despite possibly getting its compromised content for a steal. But he's mulling.

OK, it's really the ANC 2B meeting last night, where Diner/Tryst/Yoga/Comedy fans pulled off the impossible: standing-room-only at an ANC meeting to hear a 15-minute presentation mostly laid out here. The commissioners did not weigh in. There was no time for questions. In other words: Stay tuned.