Washington City Paper: Contents for Apr. 2

Above It All
If you're a District resident who cares about cars, children, or crime, it sucks to be you.

Cover Story

On Jan. 31, the Washington Post reported scandalously high levels of lead in D.C. water. After conducting tests at 6,118 homes over the past summer, the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) had found that two-thirds of the samples tested above the federal lead limit of 15 parts per billion.

What’s more, WASA had failed to inform the public—save for a cheery pamphlet indistinguishable from those throwaway newsletters the agency slides between the pages of water bills.

The people were predictably outraged. They decried all the players in sight—WASA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and, of course, those pesky lead service lines.

Mayor Anthony A. Williams and At-Large D.C. Councilmember Carol Schwartz penned a letter calling the lead levels “unacceptable” and asked for congressional hearings on the matter. Melody Webb, of the parents’ group Water for D.C. Kids, said, “While experts seek answers, parents and caregivers want clean water alternatives now...”

But the municipal-failure-stokes-public-backlash story hadn’t played itself out just yet, thanks to another bout of city dysfunction: It took D.C. Department of Health bureaucrats about a month to send a health advisory letter to the homes most affected by the lead crisis.

And so another round of chanting bellowed from D.C. kitchens and bathrooms—cries of environmental racism, calls for more water filters, and the emergence of organizations designed to help residents decipher wonky water-speak. ... Continued

Issue of Apr. 2 - 8, 2004

News and Features

Above It All
If you're a District resident who cares about cars, children, or crime, it sucks to be you.
Cover Story By Sarah Godfrey
Splash Course
An exclusive test of the District’s water supply
Feature By Mike Kanin
Dodge Ball
Junior joy-riders favor stolen Chryslers.
The City By Mike DeBonis
Night Shift
Civilians try their hand at vice patrol.
The City By Bidisha Banerjee
In the Doghouse
The Mail By Anne Ray
Gone to the Dogs
The Mail By Elaine Heinzman
Gimme Shelter
The Mail By Suzanne Pender
Shelter Me
The Mail By Sarah Farr
Man About Town
The Mail By Marc Roemer
Old School
The Mail By Allysia Sneed
Critical Loss
The Mail By Everett Russell

Columns

The Girls From Baltimore
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
Hanging on the Rim
City Desk By Annys Shin
Lock Step
City Desk By Mike DeBonis
The Tax Man
Loose Lips By Elissa Silverman
A Familiar Affair
Dept. of Media By Erik Wemple

Eats

Black and White and Red All Over
Young & Hungry By Todd Kliman

Movies

Master of His Domain
Film Review By Tricia Olszewski
Past Lives
Film Review By Mark Jenkins
The Ladykillers
Film Review By Sean Daly
Red Trousers: The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen
Film Review By Jason Powell
The Kingdom II
Film Review By Mark Jenkins
The United States of Leland
Film Review By Mark Jenkins
Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself
Film Review By Matthew Summers-Sparks

Music

Heavy Meddle
Music Review By Brent Burton

Theater

Generation Next
Theater Review By Trey Graham
Music to Die For
Theater Review By Bob Mondello

Arts and Events

Dear Reader
Richard Peabody has lost thousands publishing Washington's foremost literary magazine. If only he actually liked it here.
Arts By Dave Jamieson
Flesh Tones
Artifacts By Chris Shott
First Blood
Artifacts By Annys Shin
A Little Pat
Books By Mark Jenkins
Pure Projection
Show & Tell By Robert Lalasz