hillrag.com • March 2017
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1520 INDEPENDENCE AVE SE Perfect Hill starter home Terrace level 1BR 1BA · $259,000 Pete Frias · 202.744.8973
505 ONEIDA PLACE NW Nantucket Holdings Renovation 4BR 3.5BA · $689,500 Genie Hutinet · 202.413.7661
1301 MARYLAND AVE NE 5BR 4.5BA/3 Car Parking $1,599,500 Genie Hutinet · 202.413.7661
NANTUCKET HOLDINGS RENOVATIONS
COMING EARLY 2017 1350 K STREET SE
4BR 3.5BA w/3rd story addition Genie Hutinet · 202.413.7661
“Where Washington shops for a new address! ™”
4725 SEDGWICK STREET NW Heart of Spring Valley 5BR 4 Full Baths 2 Half Baths Genie Hutinet · 202.413.7661
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225 Pennsylvania Ave SE Washington, DC 20003 202.544.3900 www.johncformant.com
915 E STREET NW #1005 2BR 2BA/2 Car Parking · $749,000 Pete Frias · 202.744.8973
1000 NEW JERSEY AVE SE 1BR 1BA · Unit w/Great Views Pete Frias · 202.744.8973
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COLDWELL BANKER
RESIDENTIAL BROKERAGE Your Strong Local Brokerage With Deep National & International Roots
Capitol Views From eVery room Built in 2007, Lincoln Park Terrace was constructed with a careful eye on thoughtful design and quality finishes. This completely decked out 2 Bed/2 Bath unit takes center stage in the quiet, comfortable and friendly boutique condo building. Situated in the heart of Capitol Hill/Lincoln Park you’ll find all of the neighborhood amenities within easy reach. Live comfortably and with low maintenance in this thoughtfully cared for home. Penthouse #2 is truly one of a kind with an upgraded gourmet kitchen, living room with gas fireplace, formal dining, 2 bedroom suites with built ins, four balconies and a 2nd floor roof access sitting room with private roof terrace overlooking the entire city skyline.
TOPHER CUSHMAN Associate Broker
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Coldwell Banker Capitol Hill
202.327.4682 www.tophercushman.com
FEAT U RES & AMEN IT IES • Great light and air throughout including private roof terrace and 4 balconies off living and sleeping areas • 2 full sized underground assigned parking spaces and a storage unit • Well maintained and in move in ready condition • Full sized laundry in unit • Gas cooking/custom cabinetry • Tall ceilings and spacious living • Pet friendly building • Beautiful lobby/common areas and elevator tin building
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Capitol Hill Office 605 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20003 202.547.3525 I N F O R M AT I O N D E E M E D R E L I A B L E B U T N O T G UA R A N T E E D
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317 10TH ST, NE CO M I NG SO O N
Top floor front-facing condo with wood fireplace in The Hawthorne.
237 12TH ST, NE $ 1,73 8 ,000 UND ER CO NT RACT
Renovated & expanded 4BR/3.5BA w/ parking. by C&S Builders.
310 E.CAP. ST, NE FO R SALE
Top floor front-facing condo w/ walk-in closet & parking at The Concord.
TODD BISSEY
STAN BISSEY
todd.bissey@compass.com
stan.bissey@compass.com
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6 6 0 P E N N S Y LVA N I A AV E , S E | 2 0 2 . 5 4 5 . 6 9 0 0 Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. Compass is licensed as Compass Real Estate in DC and as Compass in Virginia and Maryland.
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P R E S E R V AT I O N C A F E ANTIQUE OR MODERN: IDENTIFYING ORIGINAL ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS IN YOUR HOME Architectural conservator Justine P Bello explains how to decode the vintage from the reproduction Wednesday March 15, 6:30-8 p.m., at the Northeast Library, 330 7th St. NE. (downstairs meeting room)
DICK WOLF LECTURE HISTORIC DISTRICTS & CLIMATE CHANGE: examining the vulnerability of the District’s historic districts to sea level rise
Presented by Kelsey Robertson, 2017 winner of the Dick Wolf Prize Friday, March 24, 2017, 7 p.m., at Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Ave SE. Both events are free, handicapped accessible and the public is encouraged to attend.
BECOME A MEMBER!
CHRS received a 2016 award for the DC Preservation League for its “advocacy, education, community outreach efforts and for its early and sustained contributions to preservation efforts in Washington, DC.” Visit www.chrs.org to learn more. Email info@chrs.org or call 543-0425.
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Real Estate Broker
00 79,9 49-3 E $3 L A S FOR
0 5,00 1,19 CT $ TRA N O ER C UND
Capitol Hill / Kingman Park 1710 Gales Street NE 6 Residential Units
Capitol Hill 522 7th Street NE 4BR/3.5BA
Capitol Hill 112 4th Street NE 4BR/3.5BA
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00 90,0 $1,7
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Capitol Heights, MD 500 Abel Avenue 4BR/1BA
Annapolis, MD 803 Carrollton Avenue 3BR/2BA
Cheverly, MD 6015 Inwood Street 3BR/1BA
Cheverly, MD 2819 63rd Place 3BR/2.5BA
Cheverly, MD 3011 Laurel Avenue 3BR/3BA
0 1,60 $35
0 7,30 $32
0 9,50 $42
0 5,00 $22
Samantha Nobles New Listing Coordinator
Anacostia / NE DC 190 36th Street NE 4 Units
Cheverly, MD 5715 Jason Street 4BR/2BA
Cheverly, MD 6134 Montrose Rd 3BR/2BA
Upper Marlboro, MD 9712 Lemocks Dr 4BR/3BA
Capitol Hill 516 A Street NE #303 1BR/1BA
Mount Rainier, MD 4308 30th Street 3BR/2.5BA
Suitland, MD 6623 Woodland Road 3BR/1BA
John Lytle New Director of Sales in Virginia.
Participation Food / Beverage Vendors
Saturday, April 8, 2017 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm National Building Museum 401 F Street, NW WDC 20001
An evening of super local food and wine, live music, dancing and fabulous auction items. Proceeds from the gala benefit Brent Elementary School. Sponsorship and ticket information at:
www.brentelementary.org/ spring-gala-2017.html
“In addition to helping Buyers and Sellers on greater Capitol Hill & DC for over 17 years, we are committed to building community in Arlington, Alexandria & close-in MD.”
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In this issue... March 2017
31
HOMES AND GARDENS SPRING SPECIAL
32
Galley Kitchen Gets an Update Kitchen & Family Room Remodeled in a Bungalow-Style Home by Bruce Wentworth
36
Love Your House? by Tom Daniel
42
Dwell: One Man’s Net-Zero Passion Project by Catherine Plume
46
119
16
What’s on Washington by Kathleen Donner
18
Calendar by Kathleen Donner
capitol streets 59
Bulletin Board by Kathleen Donner
Botanical Illustrator Alice Tangerini by Cheryl Corson
60
Dick Wolf Memorial Lecture of 2017 Historic Districts & Climate Change by Beth Purcell
50
Garden Spot: The New Climate Challenges in Our Washington Gardens by Derek Thomas
66
Greening the District: A Midterm Reflection on Mayor Bowser’s Environmental Record by Catherine Plume
54
Bed Bugs by Christina Rushton
72
56
Dear Garden Problem Lady by Wendy Blair
The District Beat: The Politics of Legislation by Jonetta Rose Barras
74
The Numbers: Mayor Bowser and the DC Council Should Stop Budgeting with Their Hands Tied by Ed Lazere
76
Why Congress Should Keep Hands Off DC by Walter Smith
78
Plans for the Shores of the Anacostia by Katherine Antos
82
Our River: Your Chance to Help Plan the Future of Anacostia Park by Bill Matuszeski
86
South by West by William Rich
88
Not Saving the World, Just a Life: Riding Along with MPD Officer James Keenan by Christine Rushton
90
ANC 6A Report by Elizabeth Nelson
92
ANC 6B Report by Christine Rushton
93
ANC 6C Report by Christine Rushton
94
ANC 6D Report by Andrew Lightman
96
ANC 6E Report by Steve Holton
97
Eastern Market Report by Peter J. Waldron
32 Joselito Casa de Comidas: A New Neighborhood Spot Doesn’t Disappoint by Meghan Markey
Hot Yoga: Expanded Programs and a Community Connection by Pattie Cinelli
66
141 Greening the District: A Midterm Reflection on Mayor Bowser’s Environmental Record by Catherine Plume
community life 98
Hill Rag Crossword
99
Heard on the Hill by Jen DeMayo
101
Volunteering in the Hill Chiarina Brings Music to Life by Quentin Wodon
102
Separate and Unequal Education in 19th Century DC Schools by Nina Tristani
104
H Street Life by Elise Bernard
105
Whole Foods Opens on H Street NE By David Hoffman
106
Always Fighting, Never Losing: Aquarius Vann-Ghasri by Christine Rushton
108
Cheering Public Servants by Carol Anderson
109
A Tribute to the Life of Karen Voellm by Pattie Cinelli
real estate 111
Real Estate Matters by Heather Schoell
114
Changing Hands by Don Denton
arts and dining 122
Two Schools of Bluegrass & The Bottle Rockets by Charles Walston
124
Kids Get Behind the Mic at The Corner Store by Bridey Heing
126
Wine Girl: Discover the Wines of Piedmont by Elise Genderson
128
At the Movies by Mike Canning
130
Art and The City by Jim Magner
134
CHAW’s Resident Gallery Artist Program Presents Pam Rogers’ “Botanica Magnifica.” by Phil Hutinet
136
Literary Hill by Karen Lyon
138
Poetic Hill: Kenneth Carroll III by Karen Lyon
health and fitness 141
Hot Yoga: Expanded Programs and a Community Connection by Pattie Cinelli
144
Let’s Get Physical: Stress Relief While Building Your Inner Worrier by Stacy Peterson
146
Urinary Health for Pets by Dan Teich, DVM
kids and family 149
Kids & Family Notebook by Kathleen Donner
156
School Notes by Susan Braun Johnson
164 C l a s s i f i e d s 170
The Last Shot: CHRS Photo Contest Winners
on the cover: Dana Ellyn, American Gentrifiers, 26”x30” oil on canvas. $1000. See more of Dana Ellyn’s work at the Hill Center Galleries Art & The City Show, sponsored by the Hill Rag. 921 Pennsylvania Ave, SE. Reception: Mar. 8 through April 30. Visit Dana Ellyn’s website at www.danaellyn.com. or email: dana.ellyn@icloud.com to inquire/purchase.
Capital Community News, Inc. 224 7th Street, SE, Suite 300. Washington, DC 20003 202.543.8300 • www.capitalcommunitynews.com • www.hillrag.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Melissa Ashabranner • melissaashabranner@hillrag.com
PUBLISHER: Jean-Keith Fagon • fagon@hillrag.com • Copyright © 2017 by Capital Community News. All Rights Reserved.
Editorial Staff
M������� E�����: Andrew Lightman • andrew@hillrag.com CFO � A�������� E�����: Maria Carolina Lopez • carolina@hillrag.com S����� N���� E�����: Susan Braun Johnson • schools@hillrag.com K��� � F����� E�����: Kathleen Donner • kathleendonner@gmail.com
Real Estate
Arts, Dining & Entertainment
Kathleen Donner • kathleendonner@gmail.com Susan Johnson • schools@hillrag.com
A��:
D�����: L���������: M�����: M����: T������: W��� G���:
Jim Magner • jjmagner@aol.com Phil Hutinet • phutinet@yahoo.com Celeste McCall • celeste@us.net Max Moline • maxmoline@gmail.com Karen Lyon • klyon@folger.edu Mike Canning • mjcanning@verizon.net Jean-Keith Fagon • fagon@hillrag.com Stephen Monroe • steve@jazzavenues.com Barbara Wells • barchardwells@aol.com Elyse Genderson • elyse@cellar.com
Calendar & Bulletin Board
C������� E�����: Kathleen Donner • calendar@hillrag.com, bulletinboard@hillrag.com
General Assignment
Elise Bernard • elise.bernard@gmail.com Ellen Boomer • emboomer@gmail.com Karen Cohen • kcohenphoto@gmail.com Stephanie Deutsch • scd@his.com Michelle Phipps-Evans • invisiblecolours@yahoo.com Maggie Hall • whitby@aol.com Stephen Lilienthal - stephen_lilienthal@yahoo.com Pleasant Mann • pmann1995@gmail.com Meghan Markey • meghanmarkey@gmail.com John H. Muller • jmuller.washingtonsyndicate@gmail.com Will Rich • will.janks@gmail.com Christine Rushton • christine.m.rushton@gmail.com Heather Schoell • schoell@verizon.net Virginia Avniel Spatz • virginia@hillrag.com Michael G. Stevens • michael@capitolriverfront.org Peter J. Waldron • peter@hillrag.com
Beauty, Health & Fitness
Patricia Cinelli • fitmiss44@aol.com Candace Y.A. Montague • writeoncm@gmail.com Stacy Peterson • stacy@accelerationsports.net
Don Denton • DDenton@cbmove.com Heather Schoell • heathersdo@gmail.com
Kids & Family
Homes & Gardens
Derek Thomas • derek@thomaslandscapes.com Catherine Plume • caplume@yahoo.com Cheryl Corson • cheryl@cherylcorson.com Rindy 0’Brien • rindyobrien@gmail.com
Commentary
Ethelbert Miller • emiller698@aol.com T�� N��� • thenose@hillrag.com T�� L��� W��� • editorial@hilllrag.com
Production/Graphic/Web Design
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We welcome suggestions for stories. Send queries to andrew@hillrag.com. We are also interested in your views on community issues which are published in the Last Word. Please limit your comments to 250 words. Letters may be edited for space. Please include your name, address and phone number. Send Last Word submissions to lastword@hillrag.com. For employment opportunities email jobs@hillrag.com.
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Photo: Courtesy of the National Cherry Blossom Festival
1 1 Blossom Kite Festival
The annual Blossom Kite Festival is on April 1 (rain date, April 2), 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., on the grounds of the Washington Monument near 17th St. and Constitution Ave. NW. The seventh annual Blossom Kite Festival showcases the creativity of kite makers and skill of fliers from across the US and other countries through a variety of competitions and demonstrations, Rokkaku Battles and the Hot Tricks Showdown. Bring your own kites or children can make a kite at an activity station (while supplies last) to fly on the Public Field. nationalcherryblossomfestival.org.
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2 Rick Steves on Thoughtful Travel: Broadening Your Global Perspective
Rick Steves — acclaimed for his bestselling guidebooks and public television series — believes there’s more to travel than goodvalue hotels, great art and tasty cuisine. Americans who travel thoughtfully can have the time of their lives and come home smarter with a better understanding of the interconnectedness of today’s world. In an illustrated program, Steves explains how to travel with a goal of good stewardship and a responsibility to be an ambassador to, and for, the entire planet. Drawing from lessons he learned while exploring Europe, Central America, Asia and the Middle East, he outlines traveling thoughtfully can make trips an investment in a better world and earn the travelers a broader perspective. Rick Steves on Thoughtful Travel is on March 27, 6:45 to 8:45 p.m., at Baird Auditorium, National Museum of Natural History. $45. For tickets, call 202-633-3030 or visit smithsonianassociates.org.
The Company in Elevator Repair Service’s production of The Select (The Sun Also Rises). Photo: Rob Strong
Rick Steves at the “Mezquita” in Córdoba, Spain. Photo: Courtesy of RickSteves.com
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3 Alexander Nemerov, department chair and Carl and Marilynn Thoma Provostial Professor in the Arts and Humanities, Stanford University, presents the 66th A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts on March 26, April 2, 9, 23, 30 and May 7 at the National Gallery of Art. Photo: Huey Ning Tan
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Photo: Courtesy of Drink the District
3 The Select (The Sun Also Rises) at Shakespeare Theatre
A stage littered with liquor bottles and café chairs seamlessly transforms itself from the bistros of Paris to the banks of the Irati River; a long bar table roars to life and charges a champion matador; an out-of-control dance party takes off during a night of nonstop revelry. As the story winds its way through France and Spain and lands in Pamplona where bullfighting and the fiesta rage in the streets, Hemingway’s narrator carries the heavy burdens of a war injury and his inability to have the woman he loves; a woman whose amorous escapades he follows with bemused but painful fatalism. The Select (The Sun Also Rises) is at Shakespeare Theatre through April 2. shakespearetheatre.org.
4 A. W. Mellon Lectures on the Fine Arts
Alexander Nemerov, department chair and Carl and Marilynn Thoma Provostial Professor in the Arts and Humanities, Stanford University, will give the National Gallery of Art’s 66th annual A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts, entitled, “The Forest: America in the 1830s.” The preeminent lecture series will be held in the East Building Auditorium at the National Gallery of Art, at 2 p.m., on March 26, “Herodotus among the Trees;” April 2, “The Tavern to the Traveler: On the Appearance of John Quidor’s Art;” April 9, “The Aesthetics of Superstition;” April 23, “Animals Are Where They Are;” April 30, “Emerson, Raphael and Light Filtering through the Woods;” and May 7, “The Forest of Thought: On the Roof with Robert Montgomery Bird.” These lectures are free. nga.gov.
5 Beer and Wine Festivals at Yard Park
The Clover Beer Festival, presented by Drink the District, is on March 18, 1 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. at Yards Park, 1300 First St. SE. Tickets are $20 to $49. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, they are offering tastings of over 100 beers and ciders, unlimited full pour beverages, access to DC area food vendors and live entertainment all day. cloverbeerfest.com. Drink the District’s Cherry Blossom Wine & Beer Festival is on April 1, 1 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m.; and April 2, 1 to 4 p.m., at Yards Park, 1300 First St. SE. Tickets are $19 to $89. For two days, taste over 100 beers and wines with unlimited full pours, access to DC area food vendors and live entertainment all day. cherryblossombeerandwine.com.
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M A R C H CALENDAR United Airlines Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon and Half Marathon. March 11, 7 AM. The marathon starts at Constitution Ave. at 14th St. NW with the half marathon starting at 8:30 AM from the same location. Information and registration is at RunRocknRoll.com/dc.
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Photo: Bruce Buckley
Buckley
CAPITOL HILL VILLAGE CORNER
Capitol Hill Village – helping the community navigate the future.
Re-creating Recreation for Seniors on Capitol Hill SAINT PATRICK’S ShamrockFest. March 11, 2 to 10 PM. ShamrockFest is America’s largest St. Paddy’s Day celebration features Celtic and alternative rock. RFK Stadium. shamrockfest.com. Washington D.C. St. Patrick’s Parade. March 12, noon. Parade route is Constitution Avenue between Seventh and 17th Streets NW. dcstpatsparade.com. Christ Church St Patrick’s Dinner and Auction. March 18, 5 PM, silent auction begins; 6:30 PM, dinner served. For more than 40 years Christ Church has celebrated St. Patrick’s with a feast of corned beef and cabbage. Cost for adults is $25 a person. The silent auction begins at 5 PM and dinner is served at 6:30 PM. Childcare provided. Christ Church, 620 G St. SE. 202-5479300. washingtonparish.org. Gaithersburg Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. March 11, 10 AM to noon. Rio Washingtonian Center, Interstate 370 and Washingtonian Boulevard. gaithersburgmd.gov.
IRISH BARS Star and Shamrock. March 17, 8 AM to 2:30 AM. Drink specials. Live music in evening. 1341 H St. NE. 202-3883833. starandshamrock.com. Kelly’s Irish Times. March 17, 11 AM to 2:30 AM. Live Irish music starts at 11 AM. 14 F St. NW. 202-543-5433. kellysirishtimesdc.com. Fado Irish Pub. March 17, 8 AM to 2 AM. Full Irish breakfast. $10 cover starts at noon; live music at 2 PM. 808 Seventh St. NW. 202-789-0066. fadoirishpub.com. James Hobans Irish Restaurant & Bar. March 17, 7:30 AM to 2:30 AM. Live music. 1 Dupont Circle. 202-223-8440. jameshobansdc.com.
Recreation and fitness are vital to enjoying a long life. Increasing social engagement, enjoying exercise and games, and engaging with the natural environment are all important aspects of aging well. Excellent recreation habits need strong recreation facilities that are a part of the community fabric. Join Capitol Hill Village for its 4th Symposium, A Greater Capitol Hill for Long Life: Re-creating Recreation. The symposium is held in two parts: on March 16th and 23rd, both from 2-4 pm and both at the NE Public Library, 330 7th St NE. • March 16th: Learn about best practices in senior recreation and participate in a workshop to identify community recreation priorities for seniors. • March 23rd: Meet with Events DC to learn about the redevelopment of RFK Stadium and provide feedback on recreation priorities for seniors that will enhance the overall development and usability of the site. This event is free and open to the public. Thanks to the following for their support of the Greater Capitol Hill for Long Life Series:
Capitol Hill Village Events: Free and Open to the Public March 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th, 12-1 pm: Weekly Meditation: 750 6th St. SE. Townhomes Community Center. March 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th, 2-3pm: Tai Chi: 750 6th St. SE. Townhomes Community Center. March 7th, 7-8pm: Village Voices: Imperial Russia, Witchcraft and Sorcery in Your Backyard: NE Public Library 330 7th St NE. March 16th , 23rd, 2-4pm: A Greater Capitol Hill for Long Life: Re-creating Recreation: NE Public Library 330 7th St NE. March 16th, 4-6pm: Purls of Wisdom Needlecraft: East City Books 645 Pennsylvania Ave SE. March 17th, 12:30-1:30, Balance and Flexibility Class, SE Public Library, 403 7th St SE. March 20th, 27th, 9 am: Easy Strollers, Congressional Cemetery, 1801 E St SE. March 28th, Noon: Wellness Café: Oh My Aching Feet,Lessons from a podiatrist. Place TBD. Please register for these events by calling (202) 543 1778.
Rí Rá Georgetown. March 17, 9-10 AM to 3 AM. Live music and drink specials.
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3125 M St. NW. 202-751 2111. rira.com. Dubliner. March 17, 10 AM to 2 AM. Three bands on two stages and giveaways. Full menus served with $10 cover. The Dubliner also features live Irish music every night at 9 PM; Sundays at 7:30 PM. Four F St. NW. 202-737-3773. dublinerdc.com. Hawk ‘n’ Dove. March 17, 11 AM to midnight. Irish menu. 329 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. 202-547-0030. hawkndovedc.com. Irish Channel. March 17, 8 AM to 2:30 PM. $10 cover after 2 PM. 500 H St. NW. 202216-0046. irishchanneldc.com.
EARLY CHERRY BLOSSOM EVENTS National Cherry Blossom Festival. March 20 to April 16. nationalcherryblossomfestival.org. Pink Tie Party. March 16, 7 to 11 PM. $200. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. Opening Ceremony. March 25, 5 to 6:30 PM. Enjoy spirited traditional and contemporary performances in the historic Warner Theatre. Free; Advance ticketing required. There will be a $5 registration fee when tickets are claimed. Warner Theatre, 513 13th St. NW.
The Elsa Nilsson Quartet performs Saturday, March 25.
Music at Mr. Henry’s. Saturday Night Ladies of Jazz: March 4, Tacha Coleman Parr; March 11, Maija Rejman; March 18, Julia Nixon; March 25, Elsa Nilsson. Thursday Night Bluegrass: March 9, Hollertown; March 16, By & By; March 23, Justin Trawick. Friday Night Jazz: March 10, The Kevin Cordt Quartet; March 17, The Quartet; March 24, Aaron L. Myers, II. Capitol Hill Jazz Jam is hosted by Herb Scott and Aaron Myers of the Capitol Hill Jazz Foundation every Wednesday. Shows run 8 to 11 PM.; doors open at 6 PM; no cover; two items per person minimum. Henry’s Upstairs, 601 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. 202-546-8412. mrhenrysdc.com.
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Tidal Basin Welcome Area and Performance Stage. March 25 to April 9. Welcome area open daily, 10 AM to 7 PM; performances daily noon to 6 PM. 1501 Maine Ave. SW.
MUSIC Music at Rock and Roll Hotel. March 4, Ben Sollee; March 5, Our Lipa; March 10, Mae; March 11, Strand of Oaks; March 17, Back to the 90s; March 18, Two Dragons and a Cheetah; March 19, Nails; March 22, Downtown Boys; March 22, The Japanese House; March 25, Chicano Batman; March 29, The Menzing-
Mar 3-5 INTERSECTIONS Festival ers; March 30, Skinny Lister; March 31, Four Year Strong; April 1, the Slackers. Rock and Roll Hotel, 1353 H St. NE. 202-388-7625. rockandrollhoteldc.com.
BEN ALLISON & THE EASY WAY
Orquesta el Macabeo with Miramar
Mar 18
Rob Schwimmer: Piano/Theremin
Mar 29 - Apr 2
Horizon: Nutt and Bolt
Apr 15
DADA People
Apr 20
Todd Marcus Quartet
Apr 21
Anna Webber Trio
Apr 22
Ben Allison & The Easy Way
Apr 23
Brad Linde’s URBANE OUTFIT
ORQUESTA EL MACABEO
ZIP ZAP CIRCUS. PHOTO CREDIT: MICHELE EGAN
Music at Corner Store. March 5, 6 PM. Singer-songwriter Michaela Anne and her trio last played the Corner Store in 2012, and have since graced the stages of Gypsy Sally’s, Jammin Java and The Hamilton. $25 Donation with rsvp. The Corner Store, Ninth and South Carolina Ave. SE. cornerstorearts.org. Blues Night in Southwest. Every Monday, 6 to 9 PM. March 6, Electrified Blues Band w/Charlie Sayles; March 13, Clarence Turner Blues Band; March 20, Lou Jerome Band; March 27, Tom Newman Blues Band; April 3, Shirleta Settles & Friends. $5 cover. Children are free under 16 years old. Reasonably priced meals offered. 202-484-7700. Westminster Presbyterian Church, 400 I St. SW. westminsterdc.org.
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Atlas Performing Arts Center 1333 H Street NE Washington, DC 20002
Full listing and tickets: atlasarts.org or 202.399.7993 ext. 2
Music at Hill Center. March 7, 7:30 PM, Trombonist David Taylor; March 9, 7:30 PM, American Roots Concert Series: FY5; March 16, 7 PM, Washington National Opera: In The Smoke of the Sting; March 31m Dounouya: Global Sounds on the Hill with Daniel Bachman. Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. hillcenterdc.org. Church of the Epiphany Weekly Concerts. Tuesdays, 12:10 PM. March 7, Washington Bach Consort; March 14, The Carya Ensemble with Sonya Sutton, piano; March 21, Jeremy Koch, saxophone, & Yu-Hsuan Liao, piano; March 28, Chamasyan Sisters, From Armenia with Love; April 4, Washington Bach Consort. 1317 G St. NW. 202-347-2635. epiphanydc.org. Road Trip! Tour the USA in our Cabaret. March 16 to 19. Join them on a wild musical ride across America’s highways and byways in a high-energy production that celebrates the diversity of popular music from various locales around the nation, from the Grand Ole
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Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing at Signature. Through March 26. Based on the real-life story of Elva Miller, this touching and funny portrait offers Monk the role of a lifetime as the devoted, warbling songstress whose operatic, offkey singing became an unlikely pop phenomenon in the 1960s. Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Shirlington, VA. signature-theatre.org. Intelligence at Arena. Through April 2. A covert operative is racing to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq when the unthinkable happens. With the country at war, her cover is blown. She must navigate a media frenzy, the CIA’s search for answers and her diplomat husband’s dogged pursuit of the truth. Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St. SW. 202-488-3300. arenastage.org. Three Sisters at Studio. March 8 to April 23. Irina, Masha and Olga bristle against the mundanities of their backwater town in Chekhov’s tragicomic masterpiece about missed opportunities and misplaced dreams. Studio Theatre, 1501 14th St. NW. 202-332-3300. studiotheatre.org.
Opry in Nashville to the Chicago blues of the “Windy City,” from the protest music and psychedelic rock of Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco to the great Broadway houses of New York, and from the “Streets of Laredo” on the Texas/Mexico border to the streets of John Waters’ Baltimore. $50. The Atlas, 1333 H St. NE. atlasarts.org. Glitter and Be Gay “DC’s Different Drummers” Concert. March 25, 7 PM. The Capital Pride Symphonic Band will play a repertoire featuring composers from the LGBT community with a variety of eras and styles. Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St. NW. DCDD.org. Anderson House Spring Concert Series. March 25, 1 PM, Jinny Marsh, singer; April 22, 1 PM, The Singing Capital Cho-
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rus; May 20 at 1 PM, cellist Tobias Werner and Carlos Cesar Rodriguez, pianist. Free. Society of the Cincinnati, 2118 Massachusetts Ave. NW. societyofthecincinnati.org. Folger Consort’s Starry Messenger. March 31 to April 2. The late 16th century saw a revolution in musical practice in Italy. Renaissance compositions gave way to the innately dramatic music of the early Baroque. Folger Consort celebrates this age of revelations with music of the spheres, dramatic songs by Monteverdi, lute music by Galileo’s father Vincenzo Galilei and brilliant early violin sonatas and keyboard pieces. $40. Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol St. SE. folger.edu.
THEATER The How and the Why at Theater J. Through March 12. By the writer of hit TV shows In Treatment and The Affair, this exhilarating and keenly perceptive play about science, family and survival of the fittest grapples with the choices faced by women of every generation. Theater J, 1529 16th St. NW. 800-4948497. washingtondcjcc.org. Avant Bard’s The Gospel at Colonus. Through March 26. A soaring celebration of transcendence and the fragility of life, The Gospel at Colonus was a global sensation when it premiered in 1983. The story combines Greek tragedy and African American heritage. Gunston Arts Center, Theatre Two, 2700 South Lang St., Arlington, VA. avantbard.org.
Ragtime at Ford’s. March 10 to May 20. Based on E.L. Doctorow’s celebrated 1975 novel, this Tony Awardwinning musical confronts both the unbridled optimism and the stark reality of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When the lives of a wealthy white family, a daring Harlem musician and a determined Jewish immigrant intersect, their fates are inextricably bound and profoundly changed. Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th St. NW. 202-347-4833. fords.org. Parade at Keegan. March 11 to April 8. The tragic, true story of the trial and lynching of a Jewish man wrongly accused of murder. A rich and intricate score by Jason Robert Brown, and a book by Alfred Uhry that delves fearlessly into the complexities of early 20th century social relationships in the South. A musical of profound depth and beauty. Keegan Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW. 202-265-3767. keegantheatre.com.
Timothy J. Alex stars in Midwestern Gothic at Signature Theatre. Photo: Cameron Whitman
Midwestern Gothic at Signature. March 14 to April 30. Set in the middle of continental nowhere, the play tells the story of a young girl whose wild and twisted imagination drives her to create more and more bizarre diversions. Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Shirlington, VA. signature-theatre.org. Midwestern Gothic at Signature. March 14 to April 30. Set in the middle of continental nowhere, Midwestern Gothic tells the story of a small town and a young girl whose wild and twisted imagination drives her to create more and more bizarre diversions. Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Shirlington, VA. signature-theatre.org. No Sisters at Studio. March 16 to April 23. While Three Sisters plays out in one theatre, half the cast is also performing upstairs in another: Same building, different theatre... No Sisters! While Olga, Masha, and Irina yearn for Mos-
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Midfielder Patrick Nyarko beats defender Kevin Alston in DC United’s 4-1 win against Orlando last season.
DC United at RFK. March 4, 7 PM, Sporting Kansas City; March 18, 7 PM, Columbus Crew SC; April 1, 7 PM, Philadelphia Union; April 8, 4 PM, New York City FC. dcunited.com. cow, the rest of the household and its hangers-on grapple with their own heartache and longing. They are bit players in a world whose focus is elsewhere. Studio Theatre, 1501 14th St. NW. 202-3323300. studiotheatre.org. Mnemonic at the Anacostia Playhouse. March 16 to April 9. Through potent physicality, inventive design and striking visuals, Mnemonic portrays a world where people are still moving, whether by choice or circumstance. Anacostia Playhouse, 2020 Shannon PL. SE. theateralliance.com. Donizetti’s Don Pasquale at GALA. March 18 to 26. The lechery and vindictiveness of an aging rock star are hoodwinked by the wit and monetary monkeyshines of young love. GALA Hispanic Theatre, 3333 14th St. NW. inseries.org. Scena’s The Night Alive at the Atlas. March 20 to April 9. This touching drama explores
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lost souls and the hope of redemption with an ample dose of Irish wit. Tommy is a disheartened schemer, estranged from his family. The Atlas, 1333 H St. NE. 202-2397993, AtlasArts.org. Pike St. at Woolly. March 27 to April 23. On the Lower East Side, a mother works hard to keep the electricity flowing for her daughter’s respirator while a hurricane looms nearby. As she prepares for disaster, a vibrant host of characters — a decorated war veteran, her ne’erdo-well father, her octogenarian downstairs neighbor — bring new meaning to the phrase “it takes a village.” Woolly Mammoth, 641 D St. NW. 202-393-3939. woollymammoth.net. IN THE BLOOD at the Anacostia Arts Center. March 30 to 31, 7 PM. IN THE BLOOD is a modern riff on the Scarlet Letter. It tells the story of Hester La Negrita a mother of five who is living with her
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children under a bridge in an inner city. Anacostia Arts Center, 1231 Good Hope Rd. SE. Tickets at SoulflyIntheBlood.eventbrite.com.
Look for the
Fagon Guide A Capitol Hill Insider’s Guide: Civic Life Real Estate Home Services General Services Retail Health & Fitness Arts & Dining Kids & Family Pets Maps and More!
Want your business to appear in the Guide? Call today to reserve your space! 202-543-8300 X.19 sales@hillrag.com
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A Raisin in the Sun at Arena. March 31 to May 7. Lorraine Hansberry’s masterpiece follows the Younger family yearning for a better life far from the cramped confines of their Chicago tenement. Hope arrives in the form of an unexpected financial windfall, but when they realize they have differing definitions of the American dream, which dreams get realized and which deferred? Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St. SW. 202-488-3300. arenastage.org. Brighton Beach Memoirs at Theater J. April 5 to May 7. Coming of age may not be easy — but it sure can be hilarious. Eugene Morris Jerome is 15, lives in 1930’s Brooklyn and thinks of little else but playing for the Yankees… and girls. Theater J, 1529 16th St. NW. 800-494-8497. washingtondcjcc.org. Miracle Theater. Movies shown Fridays, 4 PM, 7 PM, and 10 PM; Saturday, 8 PM and 10:30 PM; Sundays, 4 PM and 7 PM. Movies before 6 PM are $6. Movies 6 PM and after are $8; $6 for children, students, military and seniors. Advance schedule not possible here. Sign up for what’s playing at themiracletheatre. com. Miracle Theater, 535 Eighth St. SE. 202-400-3210.
SPORTS AND FITNESS
Coming
April
2017
to Your Doorstep
Washington Capitals Ice Hockey. March 4, 6, 14, 16, 21, 23, 25 and April 5 and 9. Verizon Center. capitals.nhl.com. Fort Dupont Ice Arena Public Skating. Public ice skating is on March 4, 11, and 18, 1 to 3 PM; March 10 and 17, noon to 2 PM; March 12, 2:30 to 4:30 PM. $5 for adults; $4, 12 and under and seniors 60 and over; $3 for skate rental. Fort Dupont Ice Arena is at 3779 Ely Pl. SE. 202-584-5007. fdia.org.
U.S. News and World Report named DC in the top 10 places to live in 2017 and the housing market agrees! The JLC Team collectively and collaboratively works for each client to best leverage the current market whether buying or selling a home. We provide a complementary assessement for both buyers and sellers and we offer free staging as part of our full service team. Call us if you are thinking about selling or buying a home.
CO M I N G S O O N !
AVA I L A B L E N OW !
Washington Wizards Basketball. March 5, 15, 17, 22 and April 4 and 8. Verizon Center. nba.com/wizards. NGA Ice Rink. Through mid-March, Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 8 PM; Friday, 10 AM to 11 PM, Saturday, 11 AM to 11 PM; and Sundays, 11 AM to 9 PM. Skating fees for a two-hour session are $8.50, adults; $7.50, seniors, students with ID and children 12 and under. Skate rental is $3. nga.gov.
229 12TH ST SE
Washington Nationals Home Opener. April 3, 1:05 PM. Game vs. the Marlins. washington.nationals.mlb.com.
Rarely available Lincoln Park corner pays homage to organic architecture features minimalist design with floor to ceiling windows and elevated visage of Lincoln Park. 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, off-street parking, expansive and serene family room, master suite, and renovated kitchen offers sophisticated and tranquil living in modern classic design not often available. Call for more information.
Pickleball at Sherwood Rec Center. Thursdays, 1 to 3 PM. Free indoor pickup games for adults. Pickleball is a racket sport sharing features of table tennis, badminton and tennis. Equipment and instruction are provided. For more info, contact Scottlparker@comcast.net. Sherwood Recreation Center, 640 10th St. NE.
$1,550,000
Rebuilt in 2014, this home is not only beautiful, spacious, & perfectly done, it is one of the rare homes on Capitol Hill that was built to fully incorporate full home automation that can be controlled from your phone anywhere in the world. Smart capabilities, sophisticated finishes, expansive spaces filled with natural light, this home also features a gourmet kitchen, gracious family room, state of the art ammenities: Unrivaled.
U N D E R CO N T R AC T !
JACKIE SINK
MARKETS AND SALES Friends of SE Library Book Sale. March 11, 10 AM to 3 PM. Most books are $1. Southeast Neighborhood Library, 403 Seventh St. SE. 202-698-3377. dclibrary. org/southeast. Friends of SW Library Book Sale. March 25, 10 AM to 3 PM and March 26, 1:30 to 4 PM. Sale proceeds support events and supplies for the library. Questions? Have Books to Donate? Email them at friendsofswlibrary@gmail.com. Southwest Library is at 900 Wesley Pl. SW. dclibrary. org/southwest.
202-352-5793 jackie.sink@compass.com
LIBBY CLARKE
202-841-1812 libby.clarke@compass.com
CRYSTAL CRITTENDEN
202-246-0931 crystal.crittenden@compass.com
SEE OUR REVIEWS ON ZILLOW
202-545-6900
226 12TH ST SE $1,055,000
1328 L ST SE $765,000
1417 NEWTON ST NW #302 $349,00
Compass is a licensed real estate brokerage that abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. All measurements and square footages are approximate. This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Compass is licensed as Compass Real Estate in DC and as Compass in Virginia and Maryland. 660 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20003 | 202.545.6900
Angie Vereen Realtor - ABR, SFR, 203K
St. Patrick’s Episcopal Rummage Sale. April 22, 9 AM to 1 PM. St. Patrick’s Day School Gym, 4700 Whitehaven Pkwy. NW. stpatrickschurchdc.org.
202-643-9481 571-233-6395 | Direct www.angievereen.com angievereen@gmail.com
Eastern Market. Daily except Mondays. Weekdays, 7 AM to 7 PM; Saturdays, 7 AM to 5 PM; Sundays, 9 AM to 5 PM. Flea market and arts and crafts market open Saturdays and Sundays, 9 AM to 6 PM. Licensed in DC, Maryland & Virginia
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GEORGE HALLIDAY
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Eastern Market is Washington’s last continually operated “old world” market. 200 and 300 blocks of Seventh St. SE. 202-698-5253. easternmarketdc.com. ket. Tuesdays, 3 to 7 PM. Farmers’ line of fresh produce. Eastern Market, 200 block of Seventh Street SE. 202-698-5253. easternmarketdc.com.
CIVIC LIFE Southwest Waterfront AARP March Luncheon Meeting. March 15, noon. Speakers are Lauren C. Vaughan, Secretary of the District of Columbia, on City Resources and Community Services and Douglas Klein, Attorney, Department of Justice, on Fraud Protection, and other Senior Services. $5 for lunch. River Park Mutual Homes, South Common Room, 1311 Delaware Ave. SW. For more information, contact Chapter President, Betty Jean Tolbert Jones at bettyjeantolbertjones@yahoo.com or 202-554-0901. ANC 6A. Second Thursday, 7 PM. Meeting at Miner Elementary School, 601 15th St. NE. 202-423-8868. anc6a.org. ANC 6B. Second Tuesday, 7 PM. Meeting at Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. 202543-3344. anc6b.org. ANC 6C. Second Wednesday, 7 PM. Meeting at Heritage Foundation, 214 Mass. Ave. NE, first floor conference room. 202-547-7168. anc6c.org. ANC 6D. Second Monday at 7 PM. 200 I St. SE at 7 PM. 202-554-1795. anc6d. org. ANC 6E. First Tuesday, 6:30 PM. Watha T. Daniel Library, meeting room one on lower level, 1630 Seventh St. NW.
TAE KWON DO
Have an item for the Calendar? Email calendar@hillrag.com. ◆
THOUGHTFUL CURRICULUM Not Just Kicking & Punching
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March 2017 H 31
Galley Kitchen Gets an Update Kitchen & Family Room Remodeled in a Bungalow-Style Home
M
by Bruce Wentworth, AIA
any older homes found on Capitol Hill, and in the Washington metropolitan area, have outdated galley kitchens that don’t suit modern lifestyles. Today’s homeowners want open floor plans with up-to-date cabinets, finishes, and appliances, where they can cook and entertain or just enjoy a more informal lifestyle. Such was the case for a couple who had owned their 1920s bungalow-style house for 21 years. With children grown and living on their own, they wanted to proceed with a kitchen and family room remodel. They also planned to age in place at home.
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R.THOMAS DANIEL ROOFING
SERVING CAPITOL HILL CUSTOMERS FOR MORE THAN 90 YEARS Our Services: • Low Slope Roofing • Steep Slope Roofing • Gutter & Downspouts
• Skylights • Chimneys • Masonry
Uncover Hidden Future Costs. Warning Signs Could Mean Higher Costs If Not Corrected Today!
UNDER YOUR ROOF IS YOUR MOST
VALUABLE ASSET... YOUR HOME!
PROTECT YOUR HOME NOW!
REQUEST YOUR FREE INSPECTION YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD ROOFER Owner Tom Daniel, outside the original location of the family roofing business at 310 Independence Ave., S.E.
• Roof is over 10 years old • Interior water stains • Visible leaks or cracks • Loose attic insulation • Open joints and seams on roof • Drains/gutters filled with debris
202.569.1080 202.544.4430
tom@rthomasdanielroofing.com www.rthomasdanielroofing.com
PROUD TO BE A CAPITOL HILL VILLAGE PREFERRED VENDOR March 2017 H 33
Above: The galley kitchen now opens to the family room. Left: In the multipurpose family room/office the computer dougles as a TV.
The house had been remodeled and enlarged prior to their purchase. Although that remodel had opened up some walls to give the interior a more contemporary livability, the couple wanted to update the galley kitchen and family room by using the existing footprint, removing walls between the kitchen and family room, and maximizing the space.
Kitchen
Their kitchen is one of the most used areas of the house. They rarely go out to eat, preferring to cook healthy at home, and they entertain frequently, requiring ample storage and an open environment. Because the couple intends to age in place, the new kitchen had to be workable and low-maintenance. They also wanted more (and better) windows to let in sunlight and highlight the view of their backyard.
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Aesthetically, they preferred a European-style modern kitchen. They also wanted a white or neutral color palette, some color contrast between cabinetry and countertops, and some accent colors to enhance the overall design. The cabinet handles below the counter needed to be flush and smooth (to avoid catching clothes), with a simplicity that would suit an aging-in-place design. The couple wanted a simple, clean backsplash, nothing elaborate or eccentric. At the gas range side of the kitchen, we installed a white, back-painted glass with minimum joints and easy-to-clean surfaces. Along the sink and window wall, we created an unobtrusive backsplash from a white manufactured stone. The continuous band looks like painted woodwork but is actually easy-to-clean Silestone. Because the homeowners seldom use the microwave, which was (unnecessarily) front and center in the kitchen, we installed a new microwave drawer below the counter top. They also wanted more counter space and were willing to eliminate an awkward peninsula so we could raise the window sill and run the counter along the sun-filled south wall. A new appliance garage, housing three countertop appliances, also helped maximize space and is cleverly hidden behind a flipper door with white back-painted glass, providing a seamless, clean appearance when shut.
Family Room
In addition to the galley kitchen, we remodeled the family room. The homeowners opted for a large flat-screen computer that doubles as the TV, with a custom corner-sectional providing comfortable seating. It was space-efficient to create a multipurpose built-in serving as a desk area, bookcase, TV viewing station, computer location, pantry storage, and broom closet. Integrated into the built-in and adjacent to the desk area is a bank of drawers used for pots and pans, and above are tall vertical doors that serve as additional kitchen and pantry storage. The family room is defined by custom wainscot paneling with crisp reveals and a continuous cap painted white to blend with the window, door, and base trim. The clean-lined detailing continues into the kitchen area for a seamless look. Bruce Wentworth, AIA, is a licensed architect and contractor. Learn more about Wentworth Inc.’s design-build home remodeling services by visiting www.wentworthstudio.com or call 240-396-0705 ext. 200. u
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Love Your House? by Tom Daniel
O
f course you do! But true love requires a commitment. Under your roof is your home, most people’s most valuable asset. You can easily see when the paint or drywall inside your home needs to be redone, when you need new carpets or flooring, or when you need to replace your front stairs. But you probably can’t see the roof and have no idea what the condition is from year to year. You need to make sure the roof is properly maintained to protect that most valuable asset! It’s not just the roof to worry about. What about the skylights, chimneys, hatch tops, flashing, wall caps/parapets, gutters and drains, HVAC systems and ducts? All of these appendages and penetrations can cause problems and are a source of water entry if not properly maintained. Having them inspected and maintained at least annually is a good rule of thumb. Here are some warning signs to be on the lookout for: • A roof over 10 years old • Interior water stains or dampness visible on ceilings or walls • Cracks in drywall • Loose attic insulation • Water stains in crawl space or attic • Water overflowing gutters in rain Some homes have roofs that are uneven due to the original construction, especially many Hill homes built in the 1960s and 70s. These roofs often leave pooling or ponding water after rain that can take weeks to dry out. Excess water is
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Pooling water and leaks around hatch tops and sky lights can damage underlying materials.
DESIGN. RENOVATE. DECORATE. Welcome to partner firms Sundance Contracting and Lisa & Leroy Interiors. We have been transforming homes on Capitol Hill for more than 15 years and provide full-service design, renovation, and interior decorating services. Our goal is to give you the home of your dreams. Period.
(202) 380-9698 | LISAANDLEROY.COM
(202) 547-4483 | SUNDANCECONTRACTING.COM
March 2017 H 37
Cracked and loose mortar between bricks on chimneys.
a major stress to the roof. Recently we inspected a roof on Ninth Street near Eastern Market that had pooling water on more than half of the roof. This is a problem! Most homes on Capitol Hill have flat or low-slope roofs. A main reason for failure of such roofs is lack of knowledge about how to maintain them, or lack of mainte-
nance. On a flat roof, damage from a leak often goes unnoticed for a considerable time as water penetrates and soaks the decking and insulation and underlying structures such as an attic or crawl space. This can lead to extensive damage from the rot which often develops and if left untreated can weaken the roof structure and create mold prob-
Cracks in walls or decking allows water to penetrate and damage underlying structures.
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March 2017 H 39
Keith Roofing
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lems. One problem with maintaining flat roofs is that if water does penetrate the covering barrier, it can travel a long way before causing visible damage through stains, dampness, and the like. Another common reason for failure of flat roofs is lack of drain maintenance when leaves and debris block water outlets. When water freezes in winter it can expand and break up the roof surface. Often overlooked in roof maintenance is cracked and loose mortar between brick joints on chimneys, where water can enter the house. While we all love skylights, old ones are often a problem too. The glass cracks, the joint between the glass and the frame wears out, flashing fails. Something else to worry about! And hatch tops (sometimes called trap doors) almost as often as skylights can be a source for water damage. There is more, but let’s summarize. Homeowners should regularly have inspections and if necessary maintenance work done to roofs, chimneys, skylights, hatch tops, wall caps/parapets, flashing and gutters, and drains. You want to uncover hidden future costs and protect you most valuable asset! Tom Daniel is owner and general manager of R. Thomas Daniel Roofing LLC and is the third generation of the family to provide roofing services to Capitol Hill families. Tom was born on Capitol Hill and supports numerous community organizations. For help with your roofing needs he can be reached at 202-569-1080, 202-544-4430, or tom@rthomasdanielroofing.com. u
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March 2017 H 41
Dwell One Man’s Net-Zero Passion Project
O
n a chilly January morning I pulled up to an old stable located in an alley off of Florida Avenue in DC’s Trinidad neighborhood. An exuberant man popped out of a door. “You found it! Welcome to my Dwell!” With that I entered into David Bernhardt’s Dwell, the “tongue-in-cheek” name he gave this
by Catherine Plume project when his wife told him that she would live in any abode as long as the end product would be worthy of a writeup in Dwell, an architectural and design magazine and blog. What makes Bernhardt’s Dwell unique is that he’s building it to have off-grid, net-zero energy, producing his own electricity, heating, cooling, and even water on site. Bernhardt bought the vacant 100+ year-old former stable 10 years ago. Long abandoned, it had no roof, electricity, or running water. The Dwell idea came to Bernhardt as an evolution
David Bernhardt and the stove that heats his 2,400 square-foot Dwell. Photo: C. Plume
David Bernhardt’s Dwell.
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of sorts. He’d started buying up some long-abandoned buildings on H Street NE in the 1990s. He and his family moved into an old livery stable at Eighth and H streets NE where he began applying green living models including a green roof and a rain barrel. With Dwell he’s taking lessons learned to a new level. In his words, he’s created a “hyper-local, stone soup model,” bringing in expertise from friends, neighbors, and his own family. How do you go net zero in a structure in the middle of DC? It takes time, creativity, and passion – and some financial resources. Dwell’s electricity is supplied by four solar panels along with some impressive storage batteries. Bernhardt notes, “I’m doing this project bit by bit. My birthday is coming up, and I’m getting 10 more solar panels. That should allow us to store enough energy to be able to run the lights, ceiling fans, and even some air-conditioning without risk of running out of power.” The ambient warmth and hot water are provided by a wood stove that pipes hot air throughout the 2,400 squarefoot structure. Water – even that for drinking – is harvested off the roof and stored in a 1,500-gallon tank on the ground floor. An aerator keeps the water clean. Per Bernhardt, his regular testing shows the water quality to be on a par with or better than what DC Water supplies. If it starts tasting funny, he drains the tank, cleans it, and refills it. Last fall Bernhardt hired Hill-based Max Insulation to insulate Dwell. Max Insulation specializes in making old and historic homes more com-
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A member of the MAX Insulation team blows insulation into the walls. Photo: MAX Insulation
fortable and energy efficient and has experience working on net-zero houses. Given Dwell’s limited electricity supply, three gas-powered generators were used to power the two insulation blower machines and send green fiber cellulose – no fewer than 212 30-pound bales of it – into the ceiling and walls. Michael “Max” Grove had fun installing the insulation. “David knows no barriers. He threw the net-zero challenge to us. We figured it out together. The testament to our work came when we were cleaning up. We were all sweating and realized the carriage house had heated up to 85 degrees F. The new insulation was doing its job. Mission accomplished.” Bernhardt agrees that installing the insulation has been
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Catherine Plume is a lifelong environmentalist, a writer, and a blogger for the DC Recycler: www.DCRecycler.blogspot.com; Twitter @DC_Recycler. u
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a game changer. “We’re heating this entire space with one wood stove. I can’t wait to see how it works this summer!” Bernhardt is incorporating sustainability into every aspect of the structure. “Since there was no roof on the building when we bought it, the new roof is reinforced to support our green space, including a garden plot and maybe even a fish pond.” He’s also shopped around and done dumpster diving for some of Dwell’s appointments. “This flooring came out of an old warehouse in Baltimore. I’ve purchased bathroom fixtures from Community Forklift, and I found a great light fixture in a dumpster down the street.” Next steps, beyond installing the additional solar panels, include working with his son to construct interior walls and ceiling, all designed to promote ambient airflow through the structure. Dwell is an adventure in net-zero urban construction – and eventually living. The upkeep on Bernhardt’s rental properties and his own current home keeps him busy, so Dwell is a place he goes to relax, learn, and experiment – a sort of above-ground man cave. He’s enjoying the journey as much as he’s looking forward to reaching the point where his wife will be willing to move in. Who knows? Maybe one day you’ll see this former livery stable featured in Dwell magazine!
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FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Alice Tangerini at her drawing board. Hand drawings in various stages on Alice Tangerini’s desk. This complex plant was drawn only on the computer. Tools of a working artist.
Botanical Illustrator Alice Tangerini
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article and photos by Cheryl Corson, RLA, ASLA
he West Wing of the Smithsonian’s Department of Botany in the National Museum of Natural History houses 4.8 million dried pressed plants, the oldest of which was collected in the 1500s. Capitol Hill resident Alice Tangerini has drawn well over 1,000 of them in her role as the museum’s botanical illustrator. Her illustrations appear in scientific journals published worldwide and may be seen in the Smithsonian’s online Catalog of Botanical Illustrations: http://botany.si.edu/botart/ artistGallery.cfm?myArtist=Tangerini,%20A. Tangerini is the first and only botanical illustrator hired by the Smithsonian. The story of her career is the quintessential example of someone who knew their life’s passion (drawing) from an early age (four) and met an influential mentor (botanist Lyman Smith) while in high school, who eventually hired her in 1972 for a full-time position she’s held ever since. If our nation conferred the designation of National Living Treasure, Alice Tangerini would surely qualify. Technically, Tangerini works in an herbarium. Here is a window into that world.
What are Herbaria and Why Are They Important?
Since about 1700, the word herbarium (plural, her-
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baria) has referred to a collection of dried plants. Not only dried, but also bulkier stems, seeds, and plant parts preserved in liquid. Plants have long been studied for their medicinal properties, though their modern systematic naming and classification began with Carolus Linnaeus (1707-78). Plant science is important to our understanding of the world’s habitat and ecology, including food, forestry, medicine, anthropology, evolution, and climate. An herbarium can refer to the plant collection itself as well as the building and institution in which it resides. While the Smithsonian’s herbarium is large by any standard, there are thousands of herbaria around the world, many with living collections on the same grounds, such as Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum or the New York Botanical Gardens. But the Smithsonian houses our national herbarium, which is unique.
Botanical Drawing Styles
As you scan Tangerini drawings online you’ll notice that they are mostly black and white with little shadow. They follow illustrative styles dating back hundreds of years. Stems and some leaves are shown with parallel lines to indicate venation (veins). Hairy plants are drawn with stipples or small dots and specks. The light source is customarily from the upper left-hand corner of the drawing sheet. These consistent graphic conventions enable specialists all over the world more easily to compare
specimens from distant collections; black and white illustrations and line work are also more cost effective to reproduce. “The shape, structure, morphology, and internal parts of the flower are characters of what we’re looking for,” says Tangerini. “Color is less important. So both tradition and economics drive the graphic style.” Last month she gave a lecture and demonstration for the Smithsonian Associates on this topic, “Science as Art: The Beauty of Botanical Illustration.” When you draw from a pressed dried plant, Tangerini explains, “you must focus on structure, and through your pencil bring it back to life, straightening out folded stems and leaves, bringing back curves and twists, adding a source of light to enliven the surface.” Her journey began in high school when she went down to the Smithsonian from her Kensington, Md., home to see venerated botanist, Lyman Smith, friend of a family friend. Smith led her to a drafting table and gave her a pencil with an eraser, a pen and ink, and a piece of Bristol board. Also, as she describes it, “a piece of paper with something brown and dried attached to it which he proudly placed in front of me, saying, ‘This is a new species of bromeliad so you will have to be very careful with it.’ Stunned at the appearance of the shriveled specimen I remained speechless.” Tangerini had assumed she’d be drawing live flowers in a vase. For six hours the teenaged artist carefully drew
MacKay Roofing Flat RooF SpecialiStS this shriveled plant exactly as it appeared. Only later did she learn from Smith how to carefully revive her subjects. After working at the Smithsonian every summer while in college, she received her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1972 and was hired to work at the museum full-time. Tangerini and Smith’s professional association lasted well after his formal 1974 retirement. For a brief bio of Smith see https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/resshow/ perry/bios/smithlyman.htm.
Drawing Methods Old and New
Tangerini’s office is far away from any formal public display, along a narrow corridor filled with hundreds of metal lockers housing dried plants. As we enter, she apologizes for “the mess,” but it is immediately clear that this is a space where creativity thrives. There are three work stations in the office and, on the end, a large west-facing window looking toward the Washington Monument. One work station is a large wooden drawing table perpendicular to the window with sheets of pencil and ink drawings and an organized jumble of art supplies of all kinds to one side. Tangerini works in pencil doing preliminary studies of leaf, flower, seed, and stem, then arranges them for the final composition done in ink on Mylar (a kind of plastic drawing sheet). One plant layout can take a week to complete. The second work station faces away from the window and is comprised of a microscope with a pair of adjustable LED lights to aim at a small glass dish containing plant material and a special mirror attached on the right side of the device. Tangerini says, “right now I’m doing a layout of pollen grains for somebody.” Tangerini’s third work station is an enormous, pressure-sensitive computer monitor by Wacom
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called a Cintiq. With a special stylus she draws right on the monitor using Adobe Photoshop to create a complex black and white drawing. One advantage of this technology is that it relieves eye strain. The image can be enlarged on the screen to any degree. Some of the drawings are now created in digital form only.
Artistic Triage
Before starting a new project, Tangerini talks with the botanist in whose research paper her illustrations will appear. She needs to know what plant characteristics they are most interested in showing. Botanical nomenclature is a language onto itself with hundreds of words that Tangerini has learned over time like acaulescent (stemless) and anandrous (without stamens). Every drawing is different, not just because of the plant but also the drawing’s intent. To get onto Tangerini’s to-do list, one must fill out a “Request for Services” explaining what needs illustrating and showing how near publication the academic paper has progressed. Meanwhile Tangerini works toward cataloging the collection’s botanical artworks in a museum-wide database. As we chat the phone rings; it’s a museum colleague about to retire as a paleoillustrator (someone who draws long-extinct animals). Does Tangerini want to go through her art supplies, she asks? Tangerini replies yes, explaining to me that she will make good use of this woman’s vintage art supplies. When federally employed illustrators retire they are not replaced. Tangerini is so engaged and passionate about her work that I don’t even ask if she has any plans to stop. I only wish she had a protege of her own. Cheryl Corson is a licensed landscape architect and writer practicing on Capitol Hill and beyond. See: www.cherylcorson.com. u
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March 2017 H 49
Garden Spot The New Climate Challenges in Our Washington Gardens
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by Derek Thomas
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ver the past decade spring has been anything but predictable. How does an avid gardener adjust? This new, unpredictable climate seems to be the norm. How do we as gardeners decide what to plant and when to plant it? Do we dig everything up and create a Colorado-inspired rock garden? Do we make weekly trips to the garden center to buy plants only to have them freeze, fry, or die because they have come from a warm cozy greenhouse into a volatile climate? It seems as though sometimes the only folks winning this climate roller coaster challenge are the garden centers. Don’t get me wrong. I love a trip to Gingko Gardens on the Hill! However, the challenge is what to plant and when to plant it. Traditionally we had pretty good timelines. February 15 for planting seeds indoors. March 15 for putting out your cool season hardened-off vegetables. April 15 was our frost-free date. If we look at the last few years, none of these dates seems to be in line with traditional thinking. Last spring our cool seasonal veggies had to endure six weeks of daily rain with results less than favorable. Leafy vegetables like lettuce flourished, but many spring vegetables like broccoli, carrots, and peas were not happy in the wet mushy soil. Warm-season vegetables and herbs had similar fates and either didn’t make it in the cooler than average spring or overgrew with excessive amounts of leaf and not so much fruit. Remember our giant mutant tomato plants with few or no tomatoes?
Finding the Norm
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Adjusting to instability is something that gardeners have always done. We’ve always planted a seed with hopes of it being a prizewinner, yet been happy to settle for moderate or even mediocre results. Let’s not lose sight of that in our tumultuous climate. Acceptance that there is no norm and a well-thoughtout Plan B will take a bit of the edge off the angst that arises when our largeleafed hostas look like Swiss cheese after a freakish hailstorm. Plan B includes smart thinking. Make plans to be patient. Don’t buy basil in early March; the plant will not make it through our Washington April. Read about the growth and requirements of your plants and plan accordingly.
#1 The Colorado landscape is not what we are used to in Washington.
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#2 Greens planted in a garden bed in succession will prolong the harvest. #3 Spring onions. Plant a variety suited for the growing conditions. #4 Choosing perennials wisely and from a good grower will ensure spectacular results in mid-summer.
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A Plan
Here is a list of some common garden plants and safe planting times that will ensure you gain your harvest, or flowers, while not getting upset by Nature’s recent revolt on our demands that the weather fit our planting timelines. Feb. 15-March 1. Plant seeds indoors: warm season veggies and any early flowers you want to have for planting outside in mid-April. March 15. Plants can be planted outside if hardened off. Hardening off is the process of acclimating a plant to the local enviWarm season annuals should be planted ronment. One way, before plantin mid-May. ing, is to place the plant in its pot for a week at the foundation of the • Potted roses, locally grown home, keep it well watered, and if • Hardier, frost-resistant annuals the temps are going to drop below like geraniums and petunias freezing bring it indoors into an unSuccession planting is the proheated porch or garage. After the cess of planting veggies and flowers week, place the plant in its garden in stages. For example, every week home and monitor the weather for to 10 days for several weeks, plant the next two weeks. If freeing temps new lettuce seedlings so the harvest are predicted, cover with wet newshappens in succession and not all paper for the evening. at once. April 15. This is the traditionThe plants in this category are: al frost-free date. Continue to roll out • Lettuce cool season veggies and flowers if hard• Arugula ened off and continue with succession • Kale plantings of cool season veggies. • Parsley May 1. Plant annual flowers, if • Chives hardened off. Plant summer bulbs • Cilantro like caladium and begonia in pots • Oregano indoors. Once you see new growth • Thyme about two inches tall, transplant out• Mint doors. This growth should be seen in • Onions (short season) about two weeks, and soil must be kept moist, not wet, during a twoApril 1. Plants to be planted outside week time. Temps must not dip beif hardened off are: low 70 degrees F at night. • Broccoli • Plant remaining late cool-sea• Peas son veggies • Cauliflower • Plant early warm-season veggies • Kale, succession planting • • •
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Lettuce, succession planting Perennial flowers if hardened off Lily bulbs
May 15. Plant the following: • Basil • Tomatoes • Peppers
CELEBRATING 150 YEARS
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Squash Potatoes Bean seeds Succession seed planting of radish (if you like them spicy) Watercress seeds Cucumber plants Corn seeds Okra plants Remaining warm season veggie plants All annual fl ower plants
What’s Next
The weather in Washington has been unpredictable, but we shall continue to have garden success if we are willing to adjust to the unusual norms of late springs, hot springs, dry summers, and polar-inspired or non-existent winters. What we can do to help ease our angst is: 1. Follow common sense when planting. Know the likes and dislikes of your plants. 2. Go to a trusted garden center and create a relationship with them for your planting needs and advice. 3. Prepare yourself for a bumpy ride. It is natural that your success or failure has little or nothing to do with your will or desire. 4. And ALWAYS enjoy! Derek Thomas, principal of Thomas Landscapes, is an accomplished garden designer whose work has appeared on HGTV’s “Curb Appeal” and the “DIY Network.” As the Garden Guy his segments can be seen on YouTube. He has contributed segments to Fox 5 in Washington and is a contributor to the Smithsonian’s garden programs. He can be reached at www.thomaslandscapes.com or 301-6425182. You can find and friend us on Facebook at Facebook/Thomas Landscapes. Follow us on Twitter @ ThomasGardenGuy for great garden tips. u
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Beware the Tiny Hitchhikers How to Handle Bed Bug Infestations
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reeping, crawling, feeding under the covers of night. They move in swiftly, only to retreat soon after to the safety of cracks and crevices. They’re called bed bugs. At least two DC Public Schools (DCPS) buildings have reported incidents of bed bugs in the last two months: Savoy Elementary School (2400 Shannon Place SE) and Miner Elementary School (601 15th St. NE). Savoy closed in early February because of the problem. Miner remains open. These two infestations are part of a much larger problem in the District. A national exterminating company, Orkin, has ranked Washington number two on its list of cities with the most reports of bed bugs. Baltimore came in at number one, Chicago number three, and New York City number four.
by Christine Rushton
Extermination opthroid products took over tions like heat and chemand continued to work unical treatments can work, til the bugs became resisbut people also need to tant. understand how the bugs Since the early operate in order to prevent 2000s the bed bug probtheir spread in a close-quarlems have “skyrocketed,” ters space like DC, said Raupp said. The bugs University of Maryland have also evolved to detect Professor of Entomology increased carbon dioxide Michael Raupp. levels that indicate when “While you can solve people are asleep in one Bed bugs. Photo: Michael Raupp the immediate problem in location. Then they feed. the school, there has to be an educational element as well,” Raupp said. “OthHow Do You Get Them? erwise this is going to become a recurring problem.” The bugs are good hitchhikers, explained Jesse Jardim, owner and founder of Superior Bed Bug What Are Bed Bugs? Solutions (www.superiorbedbugsolutions.com) in Bed bugs are small parasites that suck on human Alexandria. “One way they can spread is if you come blood at any point on the body. They will feed for into contact with them, they can latch onto your 3-10 minutes before returning clothes and will stay still,” he said. to cracks or safe hiding spacJardim, his crew of employees, and his K9 dees. Unlike ticks or lice, they tection unit specialize in bed bug investigation and don’t need a human host to extermination. Bed bugs infest and hide out in fursurvive, Raupp said. niture, backpacks, clothes, boxes – any item than The bugs started out can give them a ride to the next human source, he hundreds of thousands of said. They can lay eggs anywhere, and adult bugs years ago as “bat bugs.” They can live for up to a year without feeding. fed on the nocturnal mamThe main ways people get the bugs are: mals until humans started • picking up junked or used furniture living in caves shared by the • staying in a hotel, Airbnb, or a home that bats, Raupp said. The bugs has them migrated to the humans for a • living in an apartment complex that has richer source of blood. an outbreak The bugs plague people • putting clothes, jackets, backpacks, or other by infesting furniture, carpets, items in a communal space (like students putand living spaces, especially ting backpacks in a pile at school) mattresses. When scientists Jardim recently treated a school for bugs and invented DDT, an insectisaid the problem came from mattresses the children cide now banned for its toxic used during naptime. The school would send the properties, it eradicated much linens home with the children each week for the of the problem starting in the families to wash, but one set must have come back A Superior Bed Bug Solutions dog inspects a mattress for infestation. 1930s. Safer synthetic pyrewith the bugs. Photo: Superior Bed Bug Solutions
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Specialized heaters and equipment are used to heat a home up to 135 degrees F and kill off bed bugs. Photo: Superior Bed Bug Solutions
Raupp has heard of outbreaks in places like clothing stores, theaters, and businesses because people with the bugs bring them in on their clothes. “These guys are tremendous hitchhikers and very very stealthy,” he said. “They could be in a sofa or a bureau from a secondhand store, a chest of drawers that someone put out on the side of the road.” DCPS sent an updated health FAQ sheet Feb. 21 for students and families following the recent bed bug problems. It suggests that families inspect bed linens and mattresses for brown spots as indicators of bugs.
How to Get Rid of Them?
Exterminators recommend heat as the most effective form of treatment, but some chemical treatments also work. Frager’s Hardware (1321 E St. SE) sells chemical treatments for the bugs that can be cheaper than the heat treatment. Heat treatments range in cost from $1,800 to $2,800 depending on the building size. The bugs can’t adapt to heat blasting as they can to some chemicals, Jardim said. He and his team will start by bringing their dogs to find the origin of the bug problem. Bed bugs give off a distinct odor, which the dogs can iden-
tify after training at the World Detector Dog Organization. Then Jardim shuts down the space, brings in specialized heaters, and blasts the building at 135 degrees F with dry air for about three hours. His team is usually in around 8 a.m. and out by 2 or 3 p.m. depending on the size of the job. Owners have to remove a few items for safety, but the heat won’t damage electronics, seals, and other items, he said. “It works like a convection oven, like you’re cooking a Thanksgiving turkey. You get it all the way through,” Jardim said. DCPS indicated in its FAQ sheet to families that it works with the DC Department of Health and the Department of General Services to hire pest-control services in the case of an infestation. But it doesn’t stop there. People need to schedule follow-up inspections and stay on top of cleanliness, Raupp said. Remove piles of papers, clothes, or items that the bugs could hide in. Place entrapment devices on bed legs. Put on mattress encasements. Prevention requires education, he said. To learn more, visit Raupp’s website, www.bugoftheweek.com, and look for the “Bed Bugs in the News” article. u
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The Capitol Hill Garden Club Presents
Dear Garden Problem Lady by Wendy Blair How hot does it get in DC in the summer? It’s already been such a hot winter. Welcome, stranger! DC temperatures can exceed 100 degrees F for days on end. Remember how 19th-century denizens simply fled “the swamp” every summer – to Cleveland Park or New England – long before Mr. Trump planned to “drain” it. Summers here can also be rainless. Do find flowers in the “drought tolerant” category.
coming mildly irritating can be a big plus in the garden. In January I fell deeply in love with a nearby shrub covered with brilliant smallish dark pink blossoms with a heavenly scent. And so early! Can you guess its name? You must mean the small Prunus mume, known as a Japanese apricot tree. It blooms for weeks in late January, early February, and seems much too seldom planted here.
To my ear it sounds pretentious when some of my best friends who are gardeners – all very nice people otherwise – babble away using Latin names for flowers. What’s the matter with saying snowdrops, black-eyed Susans, or spiderwort? Am I missing something? Sane quidem – yes indeed you are. Botanical naming began with the Greeks, then the Romans, and for centuries all scientists communicated in Latin. The vernacular was not the language of the literate, who also needed an international language. In science accuracy is essential. Gardeners must know exactly what they are talking about. If you go, for instance, as nearby as French-speaking Canada, a garden center cannot help you find – without the proper Latin name for it – say, rose campion, which happens to be Lychnis coronaria. When you are among friends in your hometown, your local garden center is going to know Galanthus when you say snowdrop and Tradescantia when you want spiderwort. But if you move far away, bring your flower book with the Latin names. And do try to learn to babble away in Latin. You’ll find that be-
My mother used to say, “There’s nothing good about glads” – pronouncing the word with a harsh, flat “A” sound. Maybe she was reacting against their ubiquity in the 1950s. But isn’t the gladiolus a rather lovely summer flower? Yes. It is a Zone 4 corm, or bulb-rooted perennial. Often referred to as sword lily (gladus = sword in Latin), the glad is easy to grow, inexpensive, and takes little space. Plant them close together at the back of your sunniest flowerbed on successive weekends in spring, and you’ll get spires of summer color for weeks. The Capitol Hill Garden Club meets at the Northeast Public Library, corner of Seventh Street and Maryland Avenue NE. Meetings start at 7 p.m. and are free and open to all. The topic on Tuesday, March 14, is “Birds, Butterflies and Other Critters in Your Garden.” Membership details are at capitolhillgardenclub.org. Feeling beset by gardening problems? Your problem might prove instructive to others and help them feel superior to you. Send them to the Problem Lady c/o dearproblemlady@gmail.com. Complete anonymity is assured. u
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Bulletin Board H Street Whole Foods to Open Whole Foods Market will open its newest Washington location on March 15 at 600 H St. NE. The store will offer the highest quality natural and organic products, including fresh produce, meat, seafood and prepared foods. Every item sold in the store meets Whole Foods Market’s quality standards and is free of artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, preservatives and hydrogenated fats. The store’s 150 team members include trained butchers, fishmongers, scratch bakers and a team of chefs. The community is invited to join store and company leaders for a traditional bread-breaking ceremony at 8:45 a.m. on March 15. Opening day shoppers will be greeted with door-buster deals and an array of product demonstrations and samples.
Ground Broken on Audi Field
Pearl Street Warehouse, a 4,000 square-foot, 300-person live music venue to open at The Wharf on DC’s Southwest Waterfront in October 2017.
DC United held an official groundbreaking ceremony for the club’s Audi Field on Buzzard Point on Feb. 27. Attended by MLS Commissioner Don Garber, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, Audi of America President Scott Keogh and Levien as well as DC United coaches, players, staff hand fans, the ceremony included a performance by local DC Scores student-athletes. The groundbreaking comes following the project’s approval by the DC Zoning Commission. Opening in 2018, Audi Field will serve as the home of DC United, the most decorated franchise in US soccer history. It will also host a variety of other sporting and cultural events, community activities and concerts. The state-ofthe-art facility has a capacity of 20,000 fans. It features 31 luxury suites, a bike valet and 500,000 total square feet of mixed-use retail and residential space.
Old-Fashioned Pancake Breakfast Eat a delicious breakfast to support Capitol Hill Boy Scout Troop 500 on March 25, 8 a.m. to noon, in the basement of the Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, Fourth Street and Independence Avenue SE. The Pancake Feast
features four kinds of pancakes, bacon, sausage, juice, coffee, tea, hot cocoa and milk and unlimited seconds. Bring the family and friends and spend time enjoying one of Capitol Hill’s favorite spring events. Tickets are available at the door or from Troop 500 Scouts. The cost is $15 for adults and $5 for children under 12. Additional donations are appreciated.
Eastern Market Escalator Replacement Metro is replacing the escalators at Eastern Market Metro station. The work will require the shutdown of one of the three escalators at a time. The first escalator will be out of service until September 2017. The second, from September 2017 through May 2018. The third from May 2018 until December 2018. The elevator from the street will remain in service throughout.
Kingman Park Historical Designation Friends of Kingman Park will host an informational meeting on March 11, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at St. Coletta’s School at 1901 Independence Ave.
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Dick Wolf Memorial Lecture of 2017 Historic Districts & Climate Change by Beth Purcell
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SE. Another organization has filed an application filed for Historical Designation for the area bounded by the Anacostia River, 19th Street NE, East Capitol Street NE, Maryland Avenue NE and M Street NE. Contact Gwen Hunnicutt at 202-285-6465.
2017 Folger Gala: Celebrating 25 Years of Folger Theatre The Folger Shakespeare Library’s annual gala will be held on April 3, 6:30 p.m. It is the library’s largest and most significant fundraiser of the year, providing support to the Folger and its impact driving discovery, transforming education and creating experiences. An elegant social evening, this special event is attended by the leaders of the social, business, government and diplomatic communities. The 2017 Gala is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Folger Theatre, the vibrant centerpiece of the Folger’s public programs. Tickets are at folger.edu/folger-gala.
or over 60 years the Capitol Hill Restoration SociPreservation Cafe: Antique Kelsey Robertson, winner of the 2017 Dick Wolf Prize. ety (CHRS) has champior Modern? oned the interests of the Is that transom over the door a 1890s treasure or a 1980s residential Hill by workaddition? Can’t tell cast iron from mild steel? And what ing to preserve its historic character color did people paint their houses in the 1920s? Learn and enhance its livability through efmore at the Capitol Hill Restoration Society’s Preservaforts in planning, zoning, traffic mantion Cafe on March 15, 6:30 p.m., when architectural agement, and public safety. CHRS conservator Justine P. Bello explains how to decode the sponsors the Dick Wolf Memorivintage from the reproduction in a talk entitled, “Antique al Lecture annually to showcase exor Modern: Identifying Original Architectural Details in cellence by a student or intern in reYour Home.” This talk is in the downstairs meeting room search and writing on urban planning at the Northeast Branch Library, 330 Seventh St. NE. The and historic preservation in the Disevent is free and handicapped accessible and the public trict of Columbia. The winner presis encouraged to attend. chrs.org. ents a lecture and receives a $1,000 prize. Buzzard Point: From Indians The winner of the 2017 Dick to Soccer Wolf Memorial Lecture competiOn March 6, 7:30 p.m., at Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvation is Kelsey Robertson, who recentnia Ave. SE, local historian Hayden Wetzel takes a look at ly received her master of arts degree the often-neglected neighborhood of Buzzard Point SW in urban and regional planning from as part of the Capitol Hill Restoration Society’s Overbeck Georgetown University. She will give Lecture series. After the Indian habitation of the area, a lecture based on her master’s theBuzzard Point attracted the attention of early 1800s specsis, which explores the vulnerability ulators, city planners, market gardeners, numerous small of historic districts to climate change and sea-level rise and industry owners and a small residential community. Wetzel’s PowerPoint presentation ends identifies planning mechanisms to increase climatic resilience with the soccer stadium and other plans for the area. A professional tour guide, Wetzel without diminishing the integrity of the historic built and culshares his research of this area adjacent to Fort McNair. Register at hillcenterdc.org/home/ tural environments. programs/2511 or call 202-549-4172. Seating will begin at 7 p.m. for those who hold reserBorn and raised in Westport Island, Me., Robertson atvations. Available seats will be released to guests on the waiting list beginning at 7:15 p.m. tended Connecticut College and majored in international relations. She currently works in government affairs at AVANCHAW Artist in Residence Happy Hour GRID, a national renewable energy developer and operator On March 10, 6 to 7:30 p.m., the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) will hold a hapof regulated utilities. Previously she worked for several years py hour for its Gallery Artist Pam Rogers’ Botanica Magnifica. Rogers will be working at the American Wind Energy Association. in residence in the CHAW Gallery through April 18. She will engage with communiThe lecture will be presented on Friday, March 24, 7 ty members from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on March 1, 6, 10, 14, 15, 21, 23, 29, and 31, as p.m., at the Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. The event well as on March 11 and 25, noon to 2 p.m. For more information, visit chaw.org or call is free and open to the public. For more information contact 202-547-6839. CHRS at 202-543-0425 or email caphrs@aol.com. u
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Juggling Workshop at CHAW By popular demand, on March 17, 6 to 7:30 p.m., CHAW presents another Christian Kloc juggling workshop. This workshop begins with a short demo, moves into some goofy warm-ups, then puts juggling props in audience hands and offers pro tips to jumpstart a newfound circus habit. After practicing controlled chaos, put on a show with fellow jugglers and get well deserved ‘big top’ applause. All ages are welcome. Equipment is provided. The workshop is open to all experience levels. Payment is donation-based, with a minimum of $5; all proceeds go to CHAW’s tuition assistance program. For more information, visit chaw.org or call 202-547-6839.
Talk of the Hill with Bill Press: Nihad Awad of CAIR On March 29, 6:30 p.m., awardwinning journalist, political insider and Capitol Hill resident Bill Press sits down at Hill Center for a one-on-one, thought-provoking conversation with Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Under discussion: the recent travel ban, its effect on Muslims and Awad’s expectations for the Trump administration. Free. Register online at hillcenterdc.org.
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Apple Flagship at Carnegie Library Events DC, the official convention and sports authority of the District of Columbia, has announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent with Apple Inc. for a potential lease of portions of the historic Carnegie Library at Mt.
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(Left to Right) Madeleine Odendhal (Program Manager), Manuel Cortes (Chair), Terry McDonald (Treasurer), Mary Quillian (Vice Chair.) Photo: Andrew Lightman
Eastern Market Main Street Launched On March 3, Mayor Bowser, Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen (D), and Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD) Director Ana Harvey officially launched Eastern Market Main Street (EMMS), awarding the organization a $200,000 grant to establish the program. EMMS joins eleven other DC Main Streets. Serving the 600 and 700 blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue SE; the 200 and 300 blocks of Seventh Street SE; the 600 and 700 blocks of C Street SE, EMMS will implement programs and provide technical assistance to sustain and support the growth of these commercial corridors, retaining and recruiting businesses. easternmarketmainstreet.org. Vernon Square. If final negotiations are successful, the development will help to breathe new life into a popular historic site and to reimagine the original intent for the building. The proposed arrangement calls for Apple to lease portions of the Carnegie Library’s ground floor and basement levels under a 10 year lease, with two five-year options to renew; Apple will pay market rent and operating expenses, consistent with comparable retail space in the vicinity of the building; Apple will make an up-front payment to Events DC at the commencement of the lease term in consideration of the estimated lost revenue from Events DC’s events at the Carnegie Library during Apple’s development period; Events DC will have certain rights to use non-retail areas of the Carnegie Library for special events; and, Apple will co-locate in the Carnegie Library with the existing tenant, The Historical Society of Washington.
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11th Street Bridge Park Tour On March 30, 5:30 to 7 p.m., learn about the 11th Street Bridge Park, a project of Ward 8 based nonprofit Building Bridges Across the River at THEARC that provides meaningful and rich cultural programming to District residents and is working to improve the lives of residents in neighboring underserved communities. The tour starts with a presentation inside the Miracle Theater, 535 Eighth St. SE, followed by a site tour giving an insider’s perspective on the park’s history, design and updates. RSVP at bridgepark.org/event/ bridge-park-tour-march.
$13 Million for Solar Innovation and Expansion DOEE has made available two funding available to install additional solar capacity throughout DC providing benefits to low-income residents. $8 million is available to in-
stall four to eight megawatts of new solar capacity on multifamily homes, commercial buildings and non-residential surface spaces. $5 million is available to install two and half to five megawatts of solar capacity on lowincome single-family homes, small business and owner-occupied nonprofits. Eligible applicants for both opportunities include nonprofit organizations, faith-based organizations, universities, and private enterprises. More information visit doee.dc.gov/page/grants-andother-funding. Copies of each Request for Applications may also be picked up from the DOEE reception desk, at 1200 First St. NE, fifth floor. To make an appointment, call Taresa Lawrence at 202-671-3313. The application deadline is March 31, 2017, 4:30 p.m. doee.dc.gov.
Free Tax Help at SW Library On Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m., through April 12, meet with a qualified AARP tax aide at Southwest Library, 900 Wesley Pl. SW, to help answer tax questions and prepare 2016 income tax filing. For more information and to find other sites offering tax assistance, visit dclibrary. org/incometax.
Sign Up for Atlas Stagecraft Training The Atlas Stagecraft Training and Apprenticeship Program (ASTAP) provides entry-level vocational training and work experience for technical theater and stagecraft personnel in the performing arts and event production industries. All training and apprenticeships are held at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, with
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FULL TIME JOB OPENING Direct Support Professionals
Wholistic Services, Inc. is looking for dedicated individuals to work as Direct Support Professionals assisting intellectually disabled adults with behavioral health complexities in our group homes and day services throughout the District of Columbia.
Job Requirements:
• At least 1 year of experience working with intellectually disabled adults with behavioral health complexities is preferred • Valid driver license • Ability to lift 50-75 lbs. • Ability to complete required trainings prior to hire • Ability to become DDS Med Certified within 4 months of hire • Ability to complete a security background check prior to start date
Contact the Human Resources (HR) Department at(202) 347-5334 to schedule an appointment.
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some class sessions maybe at alternate locations. Application deadline is March 15. For more information, email ASTAP@atlasarts.org.
Upcoming Capitol Hill Garden Club Meetings The Capitol Hill Garden Club meets on Tuesday, March 14, 7:15 p.m., on the subject of Birds, Butterflies & Other Critters In Your Garden; on April 11, 7:15 p.m., on Salvias. The monthly meetings are at Northeast Library, 330 Seventh St. NE. The group brings together people interested in gardening, landscaping and the environment. Read more at capitolhillgardenclub.wildapricot.org.
Capitol Hill Group Ministry Moves and Expands Services Capitol Hill Group Ministry is opening its new office 415 Second St, NE. The non-profit is celebrating by welcoming the community to its annual meeting to see the new offices and hear about the growth in services made possible by the new facilities. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 28 from 6:30pm-8:00pm at their new offices. “It is because of our new offices that we are able to expand on the services we offer and assist more families,” said Karen Cunningham, Executive Director of Capitol Hill Group Ministry. One particular area of growth prompting the need for Capitol Hill Group Ministry’s new office is the rapid expansion of its Family Homelessness Prevention Program. The D.C. Department of Human Services chose Capitol Hill Group Ministry to be one of four organizations to launch the Family Homelessness Prevention Program in the fall of 2015. The program’s early success led to immediate expansion in staffing and services so that Capitol
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Hill Group Ministry will be able to help nearly three times as many families than initially anticipated. In 2016, CHGM provided housing stabilization services to 459 families at imminent risk of homelessness, including 459 adults and 723 children. 91% of the families served were able to avoid a shelter stay. At the Annual Meeting, CHGM will proudly recognize this year’s award recipients: Bill H. Phillips will be presented posthumously with the Ruth Rappaport Wisdom Award; Lauren Cattaneo will be awarded the Champion Award, and Capitol Hill Day School will receive the Premier Partner Award. www.chgm.net
Capitol Hill Day School’s Receives CHGM Premier Partner Award On February 28, Capitol Hill Group Ministry honored Capitol Hill Day School on at the CHGM annual meeting and open house. The Premier Partner Award is presented annually to an organization that has been a dependable partner for CHGM and whose work has enabled CHGM to provide a level of service to the community that would not be possible without their support. Recipients may be nonprofit or for-profit organizations, community working groups, religious congregations, or other entities that have been valuable allies or collaborators in CHGM’s service to homeless and vulnerable District of Columbia residents. chgm.net.
Public White House Tours Resume The White House Visitors Office will resume public tours on March 7. Public tour requests must be submitted through a Member of Congress. These self-guided tours are available from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Tours
Dedication, Energy & Enthusiasm,
Working for You are scheduled on a first come, first served basis. Requests can be submitted up to three months in advance and must be submitted no less than 21 days in advance. Only a limited number of spaces are available. All White House tours are free of charge. For more information, visit whitehouse. gov/participate/tours-and-events.
East City Bookshop March Events Check out East City Books full schedule of author talks and clubs such as the KnitLit Audiobooks and Crafting Club which meets to listen to audio books as they work on their projects East City Bookshop is at 645 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. eastcitybookshop.com.
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DC Water has launched a new, modern website (dcwater.com) to better connect with customers and make it easier for them to find information and request services. It includes improved navigation to find information more quickly. It works on any device. It contains a fly-out Customer Center for customers to access and control their accounts. Visitors to dcwater.com can search by ward or zip code to find information about projects in their neighborhoods. A new searchable publications database also makes it easier to find water quality reports, planning studies and budget documents. In addition, service alerts and other important notices for customers. Have an item for the Bulletin Board? Email bulletinboard@hil rag.com. u
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Mayor Muriel Bowser addresses environmental and sustainability issues related the Paris Climate Change Agreement at the biennial C40 Mayors Summit 40 Mayors in Mexico City in 2016. Photo: DOEE
Greening the District
A Midterm Reflection on Mayor Bowser’s Environmental Record
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anuary marked the halfway point of Muriel Bowser’s current term as mayor of the District of Columbia, an opportune time to reflect on her environmental record. While environmental issues were not a central concern of her 2014 campaign, to the surprise of many environmental leaders – especially those focused on the Anacostia Watershed – the mayor has demonstrated a progressive environmental agenda. Jim Dougherty of the DC Chapter of the Sierra Club notes, “Frankly, I’m impressed. She’s put some excellent people in place. She even attended the mayors forum on climate change in Mexico City last fall. We’re on the right track.” Dougherty is not alone in his praise. “Mayor Bowser astutely continued many of the envi-
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by Catherine Plume ronmental and sustainability initiatives that were started in previous administrations – and built on many of these,” notes well-known East of the River environmentalist Dennis Chestnut. Mayor Bowser embraced “Sustainable DC,” a District government-led plan initiated under the Gray administration to make DC the healthiest, greenest, and most livable city in the US by 2032. “The Bowser administration is continuing the tradition of environmental sustainability that other DC mayors such as Fenty and Gray started,” states Anacostia Trust Board Member Michael Stevens.
ber Tommy Wells, a rival in the 2014 primary, to head the Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE). Wells had authored legislation to remove trash from the Anacostia while on the DC Council. Bowser then replaced William Howland, who had served two mayors as head of the Department of Public Works (DPW), with Christopher Shorter. Sharing Wells’ green orientation, Shorter has refocused his agency on waste reduction and recycling. Councilmember Charles Allen (Ward 6) believes that “Mayor Bowser has assembled a great team, with DOEE leading the way.”
The Right People It is with her appointments that Bowser has stepped out of her predecessors’ environmental shadow. She chose former Ward 6 Councilmem-
The Making of an Environmentalist What brought Bowser into the environmental fold? She certainly did not campaign on green
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Talks. “The award showed the world that DC is playing a global leadership role in green energy. I realized, ‘Well, that was easy enough.’ What else can we do?” Bowser concluded. However, To m m y We l l s , DOEE’s director, suspects that Bowser’s environmental roots run deeper. “She grew up here in DC and she’s obviously very proud of the city. We walk through a DC neighborhood together at least once a month. She’s genuinely concerned about trash and waste disposal issues that we come across. I think that concern has brought her into broader environmental issues.” Mayor Muriel Bowser signs the Fisheries & Wildlife Omnibus Amendment Act of 2016 on the banks of the Anacostia River. Photo: Andrew Lightman
issues in 2014. According to the mayor, the District’s wind-power agreement brokered in July 2015 through the DC Department of General Services (DGS) played a key role. The pact represents the largest wind-power deal of its kind for an American city. Approximately 35 percent of the District government’s electricity will be sourced through wind power over the next 20 years, saving DC taxpayers $45 million while significantly reducing DC’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The wind-power purchase gained international recognition in 2015 when DC was awarded the global award for green energy by the C40 Climate Leadership Group at the Paris Climate
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What Has Bowser Done?
Recognizing the impact that the DC government could play in reducing GHG emissions, Mayor Bowser expanded the purview of the DOEE to include more green energy initiatives. DOEE is promoting solar energy incentives for DC government offices as well as residences and businesses. A $100 million, five-year contract recently negotiated with the DC Sustainable Energy Utility (DC SEU) will provide green financial incentives and technical assistance to residents and businesses. Influenced by Wells, an inveterate recreational sailor, the mayor is pursuing a swimmable Anacostia River with DOEE leading the way. Doug Siglin, executive director of the Anacostia Waterfront Trust, notes that “while many environmental issues
are beyond the scope of DC, we can impact local water quality. The DC government is doing a good job.” The District is taking a holistic approach to its rivers, addressing the source of pollution and removing trash. DOEE’s RiverSmart Homes Program and Bag Fee Law continue to reduce trash while raising funds for cleanup and education initiatives. Polystyrene (Styrofoam), which has long accounted for much of the river’s trash, is now prohibited in DC restaurants including food trucks and food service organizations. DOEE’s hands-on community cleanup efforts at sites such as Nash Run and Watts Branch Park have been very successful. DC Water, led by former DOEE director George Hawkins, has been an important ally. Nathan Harrington of Ward 8’s Committee to Restore Shepherd Parkway notes, “The tunnels DC Water is building to hold excess sewage and stormwater during rain events until it can be processed at Blue Plains are a game changer. When complete, the amount of untreated sewage discharged into the Anacostia will be significantly reduced. While this project has been in the works for many years, it’s an important environmental milestone that’s happening under her watch.” As a city framed by two free-flowing rivers, the District is vulnerable to flooding. The mayor has expanded the Sustainable DC program by creating “Climate Ready DC,” a plan for adapting to more heatwaves, severe storms, and flooding. The plan assesses the risks of climate change to infrastructure, public facilities, and people and identifies actions to reduce them. The pioneering work at DOEE has been matched at DPW. While some DC food waste is diverted to energy and biosolids production at DC Water’s Blue Plains Facility, most is burned or ends up in landfills. With a residential “recovery” rate (amount of refuse diverted from landfills) of only some 20 percent, DC lags woefully behind other cities when it comes to recycling and composting. (San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle all tout rates upwards of 60 percent). DPW under Shorter’s leadership is finally making environmental strides. It created a new Office of Waste Diversion that has recently published the “Mayor’s List of Recyclables,” a single, comprehensive list of recyclable and compostable materials for DC residents and businesses that will be enacted in January 2018. DPW (finally) has composting on its radar. This spring, composting dropoff locations will be established in each ward. Paint can now be recycled at a growing list of paint stores across the District through collaboration
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Department of Energy and the Environment Director Tommy Wells helps remove trash from the Anacostia River. Photo: Courtesy DDOE.
with PaintCare.org. In late February Mayor Bowser joined DOEE Director Wells on the banks of the Anacostia to sign the Fisheries and Wildlife Omnibus Amendment Act of 2016. In addition to establishing the American shad (Alosa sapidissima) as the DC state fish, the legislation grants DOEE more authority to protect natural resources, regulate recreational fishing licenses, and increase environmental protection for aquatic species and areas of biodiversity. It also authorizes the mayor to impose penalties for the transport or trade of certain invasive plants and nonindigenous species.
What’s Next? The environmental elephant in the room is how the District will deal with toxins in the Anacostia River. Harrington notes, “We still have toxic sites such as Buzzard Point, Poplar Point, the old Pepco plant, and Kenilworth Park that have yet to be properly cleaned up.” While a Steering Committee for a Cleaner Anacostia has been created, there’s still much work to be done. Bill Matuszeski, retired director of the Chesapeake Bay Program and longtime Anacostia proponent, agrees.
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“The toxins in the Anacostia are being addressed slowly, but cheap solutions like capping the polluted sediments must give way to more expensive removal and disposal.” Mayor Bowser recognizes the seriousness of the situation. “Before we can decide how best to clean up the Anacostia River, we must understand exactly what we’re dealing with. DOEE and the National Park Service have implemented the Anacostia River Sediment Project – to determine the amount, type, and source of the river’s contamination. Once the research is complete, we will put forth recommendations for how we can remediate these contaminants. The project is currently on track, and we expect recommendations to be made in 2018,” she says. And there are areas for improvement. Environmentalists note that some restaurants east of the Anacostia are still using foam containers, as are some of the food trucks downtown. Many think that a bill giving value to plastic and glass bottles would also be welcome. But Dougherty notes, “ultimately it’s climate issues that are really going to impact DC. The Climate Ready DC Plan and its analysis
of flood prediction models to ensure that there are sufficient cooling/relief centers is a great start, but what about urging people to drive less and consume less energy? These elements really aren’t addressed in the plan.” Harrington agrees. “A tremendous amount of energy is wasted in the District by leaving lights, computers, and copiers on at night and on weekends. A lot of people still seem to be totally indifferent toward energy conservation.” Bowser also made one decision that has angered and disappointed environmentalists – with her support for the Pepco-Exelon merger. While she eventually withdrew her support, much damage was done. Councilmember Cheh (Ward 3) notes, “I consider the administration’s support of the Pepco-Exelon merger to have been a grievous misstep. However, Director Wells has promised me that DOEE will formulate an extensive energy plan, and I look forward to working with him on that effort.” In late November 2016, and as a follow-on to the 2015 Paris event, Mayor Bowser attended the C40 Mayors Summit in Mexico City. The event was attended by Fortune 500 companies, representatives from various world governments, and prominent nonprofit leaders. There and on a global stage Bower reassured a nervous international audience that a presidential election would not sway a city’s conviction to green values. It was an opportunity for her to acknowledge just how important DC’s environmental work is.
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Catherine Plume is a lifelong environmentalist, a writer, and a blogger for the DC Recycler: www.DCRecycler.blogspot.com; Twitter @DC_Recycler. u
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The District Beat The Politics of Legislation by Jonetta Rose Barras
A
fter agreeing to divvy up the prime real estate of committee chairmanships, DC Councilmembers have begun identifying their top public policy priorities. As a group they are famous – infamous even – for introducing excessive numbers of legislative proposals. Many of those bills never see the light of day; they die in committee. Others make it out and get approved by the full legislature, only to be stopped dead when the requisite funds aren’t available for implementation. The phrase “pending appropriations” has become well-known around the John A. Wilson Building as a vehicle for placating the masses, much like a pacifier or pabulum for a baby, particularly during an election cycle. While elections aren’t until 2018, several councilmembers – Ward 1’s Brianne Nadeau for example – have announced their intentions to re-up for the job. They have started to focus more keenly, therefore, on satisfying their base and scoping out opportunities to expand it. Their legislative proposals run the gamut from affordable housing to universal paid leave, to benefits for police, improved services for excriminal offenders, business deregulation, and campaign finance reform.
Elections Move (REMOVE THIS SUBHED) Consider that At-large Councilmember Anita Bonds has reintroduced legislation favorable to the city’s renters. The Rental Housing Affordability Stabilization Amendment Act of 2017 would reconfigure the formula for annual increases in rent-controlled buildings. The Preservation of Affordable Rent Control Housing Amendment Act would “prohibit agreements between tenants and a housing provider from including terms that would result in inequitable treatment among any current tenant, or inequitable treatment of any current tenant relative to any future tenant.” Essentially it would halt the controversial voluntary rent increases into which tenants sometimes enter with landlords to effect improvements in their buildings. Those rent hikes often are imposed on new renters and have the adverse effect of removing affordable units from the market.
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Last year, when Bonds introduced similar bills, most of the 13 legislators joined her. That augurs well for passage this time before Bonds’ name appears on a 2018 ballot. After all, councilmembers know that more than 80,000 units are under the city’s rent control law. Translation: a whole bunch of voters are watching. Council Chair pro tempore Kenyan McDuffie (Ward 5) may not have that kind of smooth sailing with his efforts to beef up regulations for short-term housing rentals like those associated with Airbnb. “Critically, the new short-term rental license category limits hosts to short-term renting only their own primary residence. This requirement, when it is enforced, will effectively end commercial short-term rental operations that deplete housing and harm neighborhoods.” In addition to a new “basic” licensing regimen and limits on the number of units that could be rented, the bill would require the owner to be on the premises throughout the time the space is renting, with the exception of 15 vacation days. The legislation would establish fines for violations of $1,000 for the first and up to $7,000 for the third infraction. McDuffie could find himself on the wrong side of the issue, however. Within the last two years increasing numbers of working- and middle-class residents have used short-term renting or Airbnb as a vehicle for supplementing income. It has become a tool for getting the mortgage paid and putting food on the table. Instead of being perceived as protecting affordable housing, as he has claimed, McDuffie might be labeled a Grinch for taking money out of residents’ wallets. Alternatively he could be cast as a troll for the hotel industry, which sees short-term rental businesses as encroachment on its territory and bottom line. To emphasize that point Airbnb has started its own opposition campaign; a nasty fight has begun. It also doesn’t help that McDuffie’s bill may be viewed as anti-small business at a time when Chair Phil Mendelson has said he wants to change the notion that DC is not business friendly. Mendelson said last year that he wants a moratorium on new business regulations. Last month he and At-Large Coun-
cilmember David Grosso introduced the Local Business Support Amendment Act of 2017. “This legislation removes government-imposed roadblocks to our city businesses, which are a driving force to our economic prosperity,” Grosso stated at its introduction. The bill would create an ombudsman in the Department of Small and Local Business Development; separate the certificate of occupancy from the basic business license (BBL); eliminate the BBL fee structure; and permit license transfers from one location to another without charging a fee A similar proposal was introduced in 2015 by Mendelson. It didn’t go anywhere. This time it may have wings. The bill could be the quid pro quo for the chairman’s aggressive support of the Universal Paid Leave Act (UPLA). Still, the deregulation bill could hit a snag. Mendelson, along with three other lawmakers, has introduced legislation that would alter the original paid leave bill even before it is implemented. That action has irritated UPLA advocates including At-Large member Elissa Silverman and Grosso. Silverman may have to walk a fine line in her opposition. Privately a few business community leaders confessed to the District Beat that they are trying to recruit someone to run against her in 2018. Grosso’s seat is safe at least for the next four years.
Arrivistas Not every legislator has the pressure of an election on his or her shoulder. People like former Mayor and Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent C. Gray, Ward 8’s Trayon White, and At-large Member Robert White just arrived on the scene. Still they have to establish their bona fides. Were they the right politicians for the job? Are they prepared to deliver for their voters? Driven by the need to keep campaign promises, Robert White took the unprecedented step of sending a letter last month to Mayor Bowser urging her to increase funding for his key issues of affordable housing, job training, education, and returning citizens. “I believe [DC] faces a looming long-term risk to our stability and prosperity as a result of persistent income and wealth inequality. Compared to the nation as a whole, a smaller proportion of our residents are middle class, leaving our city starkly divided between rich and poor.” “I wanted the mayor to know I am interested in working collaboratively. We have some overlapping priorities. I hope she sees fit to fund those priorities,” said White. More specifically, White has requested the mayor provide an additional $17.4 million for permanent
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supportive housing, targeted housing for the homeless, and rapid rehousing aimed to keep people out of shelters. He also has proposed that Mayor Bowser put another $3 million into her financial plan to provide transportation for adults attending training programs. He has asked that she add two full-time staffers to the agency serving ex-offenders and that she fully fund the Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurial Program Act of 2016. (That legislation was advocated by former At-Large Councilmember Vincent B. Orange, whom White unseated in 2016.) The bill would assist returning citizens in setting up small businesses. Mayor Bowser is expected to present her FY 2018 budget and financial plan later this month. As in the past, the Council will take her proposal and do with it what it wishes. That’s because the executive proposes and the legislature disposes. White knows that. By lobbying the mayor, White may be hedging his bets. If Bowser agrees, she would be seizing an opportunity to rebuild an alliance that she lost last year when three of her dependable allies were booted from the legislature during the general election. White, of course, wouldn’t present his motives in such purely political terms. He told the District Beat that he is focused on bridging the gap “between where the District has moved in recent years and people who have been left behind.” He argued that despite the recent financial reports, which present a glowing picture of the city’s fiscal health, DC faces “a great risk by not addressing the growing income gap and a dangerously small middle class … I believe [the city] faces a long-term liability to our prosperity and stability as a result of persistent income and wealth inequality.” White said after reviewing the recent 2016 comprehensive financial report that the city is in good fiscal health. “The money is there.” That may be true, but it likely won’t have White’s name on it. McDuffie has a better chance of getting his bill passed than White has of securing the additional funding he is seeking. That’s because McDuffie is a committee chair with control over the budgets of agencies under his purview. White, on the other hand, would be sitting at the table during budget discussions without even Monopoly money.
Stepping Up Ward 6’s Charles Allen has money and clout as chair of the Committee on the Judiciary, one of the largest. He is in the position to make or break a few careers, including his own – although he is much too modest to make such a claim.
Allen helped slap down Gray’s emergency legislation to enhance salaries of Metropolitan Police Department officers while increasing the total population of the force. “I wouldn’t take $63 million while we still have some elements of the [comprehensive crime prevention act of 2016] that have not moved forward,” Allen explained, adding that he has promised to conduct an early public hearing on Gray’s bill. Allen isn’t oblivious to the issue of police. He introduced the First Responder Housing Incentive Program Amendment Act of 2017, which would offer a $10,000 grant and a $10,000 deferred loan to officers interested in buying a home in DC and living full-time in the city. Currently, of the 3,800 officers on the force, Allen said only 619 reside in the city. His legislation “would draw prospective and new officers in on the front end and hopefully prevent them from moving to more affordable surrounding communities, taking their experience with them.” Like White, Allen is interested in improving the reentry of returning citizens. He said he has been exploring options with the executive, including using the DC Jail as a preparation site. Offenders would spend the last 12-18 months of their sentences there, receiving training and other services to ensure “they don’t re-offend,” explained Allen. Perhaps his most controversial proposals would be those related to campaign finance reform. Councilmembers have been promising changes for the past three years, after several former legislators were tagged by the Office of the US Attorney with felonies and Gray’s 2010 mayoral campaign was caught in an illegal funding scandal. Allen has introduced the Government Contractor Pay to Play Prevention Act with Mendelson, Silverman, Grosso, Trayon White, Robert White, Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh, and Ward 1 Councilmember Nadeau. That measure would prohibit businesses or individuals with contracts valued at $100,000 or more from contributing for one year to any political campaign. “As a citizen, as an individual, you can still give,” said Allen. Allen also has proposed forcing candidates to retire all their debt for any given campaign within six months after the close of the election. He has endorsed a public financing proposal introduced by Grosso. Allen said he is making a few changes but did not offer details. The bill would provide support to candidates using tax dollars based on the number of reported donors. “This is designed to empower small donors,” said Allen.
The Congressional Elephant How successful Allen and the deep-blue crew will be with altering campaign finance and ethics laws or implementing any of their other public policy proposals may be determined by whether Congress decides to interfere. Some civic leaders like Terry Lynch, an active civic leader, have worried aloud that the Council is ignoring the red wall around Capitol Hill. “I don’t think they understand the new political reality.” He said legislators appear willing to have their bills thrown out or repealed by Congress. “I think the most productive use of their time would be making sure they are conducting [effective] oversight.” Lynch and others have suggested that too much of the new legislation is aimed at social programs and is not favored in Congress. Under the city’s partial independence, Congress has 30 days to review legislation approved by the Council. It must act affirmatively to prevent implementation. Last month, a US House of Representatives committee with direct oversight of the local government tried to block the Death with Dignity Act, which essentially allows a resident suffering a terminal illness, in concert with a physician, to decide if or when to take their own life. The congressional committee’s action came too late in the process, allowing the city to move forward at least temporarily. Congress can still bar the spending of city funds on the law via its appropriations process. “My sense is that it would be more productive to use the time dealing with low-hanging fruit,” continued Lynch, citing infrastructure improvements and redevelopment of facilities like the FBI Building at Ninth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue or the “decrepit” police headquarters.” That kind of possum strategy could be useless. The District is a Democratic stronghold, which makes it a perfect target for conservatives interested in whipping their opponents. Meanwhile local officials have made no secret of their loathing of Congress and seem on a collision course with the federal overlords. The mayor and Council have asserted they will retain their “sanctuary city” status, refusing to provide any immigrant enforcement help to federal agencies. With a tinge of sarcasm, Cheh and Nadeau have each invited Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the city’s congressional watchdog, to attend local public hearings. The District’s love-hate relationship with Congress isn’t new. Federal representatives have stepped into local affairs for years. They once prevented the city from distributing needles to help stop the spread (Continued on page 75) March 2017 H 73
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The Numbers
Mayor Bowser and the DC Council Should Stop Budgeting with Their Hands Tied
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he District’s economy is healthy and adding businesses, jobs, and residents. That’s good news as Mayor Bowser and the DC Council begin work on the budget for fiscal year 2018, because it also means that DC’s revenues are growing. That should be an opportunity to address our biggest challenges: the staggering loss of affordable housing, the highest homelessness rate among large US cities, a Metro system badly in need of repairs, and rapidly rising school enrollment. But it doesn’t. Instead Mayor Bowser and the DC Council operate with their hands tied behind their backs when it comes to budgeting. This has nothing to do with Congress. It has to do with us. Restrictive fiscal policies adopted by DC’s leaders limit their ability to maintain a vital city. Rather than having choices over how to use growing resources, the DC Council mandated three years ago
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by Ed Lazere that all new revenue go to tax cuts, by legislating a series of tax-cut “triggers” whenever revenue projections increase. The District’s hands are further tied by a policy that binds any leftover money at the end of its fiscal year, requiring that every penny of a surplus goes into savings. Tying DC’s hands this way also will make it hard to respond to federal budget cuts to healthcare and other safety net programs that are likely to occur in the coming years. It doesn’t have to be this way. Because the constraints are self-imposed, they also can be undone. This spring the mayor and DC Council can change the rules that constrain their choices to put together the best budget possible for DC residents.
Tax Cuts Are DC’s Top Budget Priority Normally, rising revenues mean that policymakers have choices. Should we invest more in schools, roads, public safety? Should we use some of this gain to reduce taxes for businesses or residents? Should we do some of both? Actions taken three years ago by the DC Council took away that choice and instead dictated that growing revenue would all go to fund a series of specified tax cuts. Some $100 million in tax cuts has been triggered so far, with another $140 million to go. The tax cuts were recommended by a commission – on which I served – and include reductions in income taxes for low- and moderate-income residents but also high-income residents, cuts to business income taxes, and a reduction in estate taxes. Many of the tax cuts make sense because they will make our tax system more progressive.
What doesn’t make sense, however, is the pace of implementing them. You probably did not know that tax cuts are now the city’s top budget priority – over schools, housing, healthcare, or anything else. The cuts mean we are not able to respond to urgent needs that may arise. Take Metro and schools. Next year, DC’s Metro contribution will grow more than 10 percent, and spending on schools will need to grow 4 percent to accommodate enrollment and expected teacher contracts. With mandated tax cuts, meeting these demands may force cuts to other areas of the budget.
An Overly Cautious Savings Policy What might you do if you end the year with a little extra money in the bank? Maybe you’d replace that beat-up sofa you really hate, or repair the roof that is past its prime. The same is true for DC. We could invest some of the surplus in things like school construction or housing. Except we can’t. Under current rules the only choice when DC ends the year with a surplus is to put that money into savings. The District just announced another surplus, but none of the $222 million is available to be spent because of this rule. DC’s General Fund balance – our accumulated assets, including various reserve funds – has grown substantially in recent years, to $2.4 billion in 2016 from just over $1 billion in 2009, and is now at a record high. Largely as a result, the District’s finances are ranked ninth-best in the nation. That money could be put to good use to create more affordable housing, renovate more schools, or pay the startup costs for the new paid family and medical leave program. But not as long as we have a policy that requires all surplus funds go into savings. Once again, we have adopted a policy that takes away choices and keeps the city from doing things that could make a big difference to a lot of residents.
Prepare for Federal Budget Cuts As if our local challenges were not enough, DC faces imminent threats from federal leaders keen
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on scaling back safety-net programs, cutting other funding that states and cities rely on, using fiscal threats against sanctuary cities, and targeting the District specifically. We do not know the full extent of what the president and Congress will try to cut, or how successful they will be. One thing we can be pretty certain of, however, is that we won’t know the full extent of cuts until after the DC budget is adopted this spring. The District will pass its budget in May, before Congress completes its budget process and reveals the full extent of federal cuts to the safety net.
Untying DC’s Hands With challenges like these, flexibility over access to DC’s resources is critical. Here’s how to do that. First, the District should delay triggering any tax cuts for a year. That will free up millions to address housing and human services, schools, Metro, and more. Second, we should use at least some of last year’s surplus for things like affordable housing or the startup costs for paid family and medical leave. Third, we should put some of last year’s surplus aside in a special fund to address federal budget cuts that come after the DC budget is adopted. This will help us get through 2018 and give time to adjust to the new federal budget environment. The path to untying the District’s hands this budget season is clear. Now it’s up to Mayor Bowser and the DC Council to take the steps to get there. Ed Lazere is executive director of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute (www. dcfpi.org). DCFPI promotes budget and policy solutions to reduce poverty and inequality in the District of Columbia and to increase the opportunity for residents to build a better future. u
of HIV. More recently they stopped implementation of retail regulations the city would have used to capitalize on its legalization of recreational marijuana. They continue to prohibit the use of local tax dollars to finance abortions. Allen may exacerbate the congressional ire. In preparation for Congress’s repeal of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) he has introduced the Defending Access to Women’s Health Care Services Act of 2017. It would require, among other things, that insurers cover the cost of contraceptives and sterilization procedures. This flies in the face of the intentions of House Republicans, who are threatening to bar Planned Parenthood from Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements. The Capitol is filled with “pro-lifers.” Allen seemed unfazed by the threat and has strongly disagreed with Lynch and others. Besides, the city may be building a potent posse. Last month more than 1,000 people gathered for the “Hands Off DC” campaign that Allen helped launch. “I don’t subscribe to the belief that because we have a hostile Congress that we should just stop doing our job,” said Allen. Jonetta Rose Barras, an author and freelance journalist, blogs at jonettarosebarras.com. u
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Why Congress Should Keep Hands Off DC
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ince the 115th Congress convened earlier this year, some lawmakers have attempted to step into the District’s local affairs. They have introduced measures that would undo the city’s gun laws, veto a death with dignity bill that the locally elected DC Council recently passed, prohibit the city from using its own local revenue for women’s health services, and preclude the city from passing legislation regulating the sale of marijuana. In fact, Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who chairs the committee with oversight of the District, has stated that he intends to become much more involved in the city’s local business, despite not being elected by DC residents. Residents have pushed back with calls to his office. Residents and District leaders have rallied on the Hill protesting this interference with local issues. Last month Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen convened a “Hands Off DC” meeting to organize residents looking for ways to stand up for their city. Chaffetz has said that it is Congress’s “duty and constitutional obligation” to make sure that a local DC law that they do not agree with “does not stand,” citing the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Though he recently failed to overturn the District’s death with dignity law, he has vowed to press on by precluding the District from spending any of its local dollars implementing the law. Chaffetz is wrong to think the framers of our Constitution or the authors of our Declaration of Independence intended this micromanaging of the District’s affairs. Article I of the Constitution gives Congress authority over the District, but it gives Congress the authority to do a lot of things,
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by Walter Smith
like impose taxes, borrow money, and regulate interstate commerce. Just because Congress can do something doesn’t mean it must. This is particularly so with respect to the District, where the framers made their intent abundantly clear. The purpose of Congress’s authority was not for overriding what the people of the District wanted their local laws to be. The purpose was to make sure that Congress could protect national security interests in the nation’s capital. The authority of Congress over the District was established in reaction to the fact that in 1783 the Continental Congress had to flee Philadelphia for New Jersey due to a local uprising after Pennsylvania took no action to address the uprising and protect the Congress. In response, the framers gave Congress broad authority over the capital to protect the federal government from local interference. But the framers did not intend for Congress to use that authority to substitute its own policy judgments for those of the locally elected government on local matters. James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution, said of the capital city in Federalist No. 43, “a municipal government for local purposes, derived from their own suffrages, will of course be allowed to them.” As for the Declaration of Independence, it’s true that it says that people “are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” But it is the next sentence of the Declaration that matters here. The founding fathers went on to say that “to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” The local laws that the District passes on behalf of its residents are in fact based on the consent of the governed, because District residents elected the officials who passed those laws. Yet to this day, District residents have no voting representation in the Congress that now seeks to overturn locally passed laws. If Congress does overturn them, it will be without the consent of the governed. In fact, if it does so, it will be inconsistent with another central tenant of the Declaration of Independence: that citizens are opposed to “taxation without representation.” District residents are the only US citizens who are required to pay federal taxes, obey federal laws, and fight in our nation’s wars, yet have no vote in the Congress that imposes those taxes, passes those laws, and declares those wars. The District is the only place in America where Congress countermands local laws passed by locally elected officials, including laws determining how residents want their locally raised tax dollars to be spent. Contrary to what Chaffetz has said, the congressional practice of second-guessing and undermining local DC laws is inconsistent with both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Congress should stop trying to handle DC’s local affairs. It has much more important things to do. Walter Smith is executive director of the DC Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. u
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Plans for the Shores of the Anacostia
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ormer Mayor Anthony Williams, one of the most prominent visionaries for the river flowing through Washington, DC, began the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative (AWI) in 2000 to create a world-class waterfront through a cleaner river, new parks and recreational facilities, job-creating commercial centers, revitalized residential neighborhoods, and multimodal transportation options. Since the District of Columbia completed the
NPS TRANSFER SITES ARS/USDA NPS/LANGSTON PRIVATE DC NPS LEASE TO DC DOD GSA PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT
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by Katherine Antos AWI Framework Plan in 2003, in partnership with 19 regional and federal agencies, multiple entities have led many large and small planning efforts along the Anacostia and in surrounding neighborhoods. Here I explain some of the major planning activities underway within the Anacostia River Corridor, defined as the river, surrounding public land, and neighborhoods and properties within easy walking or biking distance. This post is admittedly longer than any blog
should be due to the number of players and plans. However, it’s critical for partners who want to improve the health of the Anacostia and the surrounding lands while providing opportunities for nearby residents to understand how planning elements and agencies fit together.
Key Players The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) is the federal government’s central planning agency in Washington and the surrounding counties of Maryland and Virginia. It does not own land, but it develops and reviews plans affecting federal properties for the region. The largest landholder within the corridor is the National Park Service (NPS), which manages Anacostia Park’s natural and cultural resources and provides a variety of visitor experiences. The park embraces approximately 1,200 acres along both banks of the river and includes Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, Buzzard Point Park, and James Creek Marina. The NPS also owns the land that houses RFK Stadium, the Armory, and the surrounding parking lots and leases it back to the District. The NPS has limited jurisdiction over the river bed in the District. The District owns key parcels within the corridor, including Kingman Island and Boathouse Row; select NPS parcels (Poplar Point, Kenilworth North) will transfer to the District when certain conditions are met. When it comes to planning, the key players are: NCPC; the NPS for land use and programming on its property; the DC Office of Planning (OP) for land-use planning of parcels that will transfer to the government of the District of Columbia; and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) for development of those transferred parcels. OP, in collaboration with affected communities, also develops small-area and other neighborhood-level plans for neighborhoods and properties within the Anacostia River
Largescale Planning Efforts
RESIDENTS LL UR AD RIG CO I H YO U HT LD 0 G N 0 EIN O W 0 E S
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The broadest plan is the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital (Comprehensive Plan), which guides long-term planning guidance for the District of Columbia. It is divided into two components. The Federal Elements are developed by NCPC and provide guidance for federal properties in the District and region. The District Elements are developed by OP and are adopted as legislation by the DC Council. Both the federal and District elements are approved by NCPC and Congress. NCPC updated the Federal Elements (except for the Parks & Open Space Element) in 2016 and added a new Urban Design Element. The Federal Elements provide a policy framework for the federal government’s lands and activities. NCPC will update the Federal Parks & Open Space Element in 2017. The District Elements, also known as the District’s Comprehensive Plan, establish the 20-year vision for the future planning and development of the District of Columbia. The District’s plan was first adopted in 2006 and includes several Area Elements (chapters) that provide long-term land-use policy guidance affecting specific District and federally owned sites and communities along the Anacostia waterfront. They include the Lower Anacostia Waterfront and Near Southwest Area Element, Far Southeast and Southwest Area Element, Far Northeast and Southeast Area Element, Capitol Hill Area Element, and the Upper Northeast Area Element. The District’s Comprehensive Plan was amended in 2011, and OP launched the second amendment cycle in 2016 with a series of community meetings to hear feedback about neighborhoods and the District’s future. The second amendment cycle is addressing land
use, environmental protection, economic development, parks, recreation, and open space, among other topics. It will also include the creation of a new Resilience Element that will address “the capacity of individuals, neighborhoods, institutions, businesses and systems to thrive in an inclusive manner … and plan for [and] recover from … adverse events.” OP is engaging the public throughout this process and anticipates submitting proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Plan to the DC Council by early 2018 to begin the local and federal approval process. The NPS also plans at the large scale to support its vision for Anacostia Park as a model urban park that demonstrates how the Park Service can support historically underserved communities, provide economic drivers for revitalizing urban areas, and offer high-quality outdoor experiences, a healthy environment, and enhanced quality of life. The NPS specifically envisions a park that offers: • A clean and healthy river • A recreation destination for neighboring communities • Hiking, biking, and paddling • Playing fields and other opportunities for sports • Restored wetlands that provide habitat and storm resiliency • Truly unique places and experiences On February 1, 2017 the NPS released a draft Management Plan/Environmental Assessment for all of Anacostia Park for a comment period that runs through March 18. The management plan will serve as the primary park guidance document for the next 15-20 years and will be supported by subsequent, smaller planning efforts. The document will be available for review and comment on the NPS’s Planning, Environment, and Public Comment website. I intend to discuss the plan in future blog posts when it is publicly available and to work with NPS and local organizations to engage community members in understanding, sharing feedback, and implementing elements of the plan.
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Corridor. DMPED implements development projects on District-government-owned properties that could provide greater economic opportunity and affordable housing. The Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) is also engaged in plans to clean up contaminated sites within and along the river, minimize environmental impacts of new development or redevelopment and climate change impacts on the waterfront, and identify and address opportunities to restore ecology.
To advertise, contact Laura 202.400.3510 or laura@hillrag.com
Neighborhood and Parcel-Level Plans Both the NPS and OP have finer-scale, neighborhood and parcel-level efforts underway for
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Buzzard Point, located near the confluence of the Anacostia and Potomac rivers in Southwest DC. The NPS’s Buzzard Point Park is a 3.4acre waterfront park at the southern tip of the neighborhood. Though small, its 1,500 feet of shoreline create an important link in continuing the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail and improving access to the river. The NPS released the Buzzard Point Development Concept Site Plan on December 13, 2016, and collected public comments through January 27, 2017. Following review of the public comments, the NPS will develop the plan to include a summary of the process, details about the concepts, and a set of recommendations. NPS expects to release the plan in April 2017. It will then seek funding to start an environmental assessment that will refine alternatives and evaluate impacts to park resources. This will be a public process. NCPC would review any projects to be built on NPS land as a result of the plan and assessment. In parallel, OP is completing the Buzzard Point Vision Framework and Implementation Plan, which covers several blocks in Southwest DC adjacent to the NPS land on the Anacostia and Fort McNair. The framework is intended to “guide public and private development decisions” on the transition of an industrial area to a “mixed-use, highly walkable and environmentally sustainable neighborhood oriented toward an enhanced waterfront” and featuring a new DC United soccer stadium. When Congress authorized the transfer of Poplar Point from the NPS to the District in 2006, it required the District to adopt and the Secretary of the Interior to certify a land-use plan. OP and DMPED are initiating a small-area plan for 110-acre Poplar
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Point. The 2006 legislation also requires 70 acres to be park land. The District envisions the remaining approximately 40 acres as supporting a range of uses as well as accommodating changes to South Capitol Street, the new Frederick Douglass Bridge, and the I-295 interchange. The small-area plan will frame the vision for this critical waterfront site, and the final version will be submitted to the DC Council for approval. These are not all the plans or developments recently completed, underway, or expected along the Anacostia Corridor. DMPED is leading the effort on Hill East District Redevelopment (formerly known as Reservation 13), and Events DC has developed short-term planning scenarios for RFK Stadium, both located at Capitol Hill’s eastern edge along the Anacostia. NCPC also proposed potential reuse strategies and enhancements to the RFK Stadium site in a 2006 study. The US Department of Agriculture will be updating its master plan for the National Arboretum. Even a self-professed long blog has its limits and can’t dive into all projects along the corridor.
A Waterfront Framework Although planning efforts described above have flowed from the AWI Framework Plan and some elements have been implemented, there has been no update to the Framework Plan since it was completed in 2003. As OP notes in the Comprehensive Plan amendment cycle process, the city is in a different place now; decades of population decline have reversed, and population has grown by 100,000 in the last 10 years. Property values are skyrocketing, and concerns about equitable development and gentrification loom large. District and federal agencies, private interests, NGOs, community groups, and residents must wrestle with the
hard question of who will benefit from this cleaner river and redevelopment. The District has heard the need for more comprehensive coordination and implementation of Anacostia Waterfront plans and initiatives, and has ramped up efforts. OP has appointed a waterfront lead who is convening an Anacostia Waterfront Interagency Working Group. DOEE has hired an Anacostia coordinator focused on the river’s cleanup. The District will also be completing a progress report on AWI implementation that will highlight opportunities. These steps are important if we want to realize the vision of improved river health, public land access, and vibrant, inclusive communities. Efforts must continue to give residents a voice in shaping the future of these resources. Katherine Antos is the Ambassador for the Anacostia River under the Urban Waters Federal Partnership. The partnership comprises 14 federal agencies and numerous state and local agencies and community-based organizations working to restore impaired urban waterways around the country and reconnect and revitalize surrounding underserved communities. Each of the 19 Urban Waters locations has an “ambassador” helping to facilitate collaboration among partners to further the goals of Urban Waters. The Anacostia Ambassador’s position is funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency, National Park Service, and Department of Energy & Environment and a grant to the Anacostia Waterfront Trust. Katherine Antos can be reached at kantos@anacostiatrust.org. u
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Our River: The Anacostia
Your Chance to Help Plan the Future of Anacostia Park by Bill Matuszeski
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or nearly all of us, the closest open The park covers the entire east side of the river space and encounter with nature is the from the Maryland-DC line near the New York Avpark land along our Anacostia River. enue bridge over the river, all the way to the South Now we can all help plan the future Capitol Street Bridge, including the Kenilworth look and appeal of that space, because Aquatic Gardens and Poplar Point. It also includes the National Park Service has the Anacostia Park the Kenilworth Athletic Fields, National Park SerManagement Plan and Environmental Assessment open for comment by March 18. The plan is considered the primary guidance document for managing the park for the next 15-20 years. It sets out goals for the natural areas, cultural sites, public recreation, and waterfront management for all 1,108 acres of parkland. It also provides nearly 200 pages of background information, issue analysis, and proposed uses and activities for all areas of the park. Your homework assignment is to read the report and provide ideas and reactions to the Park Service by March 18. You can find the document at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/anacostiagmp. Send comments online or to: Env. Protection Specialist re: Anacostia Park Management Plan, National Capital Parks – East, 1100 Anacostia Drive SE, Washington, DC 20020. The plan considers the best mix of uses for the land and sets out three options (Nos. 2-4, see chart on next page) as well as a “no action” alternative (No. 1). The options, going from 2 to 4, put increasing emphasis on natural area preservation at the expense of other uses such as recreation or community activities. The Park Service prefers option 3. Acreage allocations are set forth in the table, but the document does not provide the acreages for current land uses. Anacostia Park and surrounding areas. Photo: National Park Service
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vice land that will be transfered to DC once it has been cleaned of toxics. On the west side the park is more splintered. It runs intact from the DC line to Benning Road, including a thin strip along the river past the Arboretum. It also runs in a thin and interrupted strip from
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Option 2
Option 3
Option 4
Natural areas
352 acres
536 acres
620 acres
Organized recreation
212
133
67
Community space
204
139
122
Golf course
167
128
128
Benning Road to the 11th Street Bridge, with Kingman and Heritage islands excluded as city property and most of RFK Stadium and surroundings under longterm lease to Events DC. Below the bridge are a few pieces including a small park and marina at the tip of Buzzard Point. The plan seeks to give coherence to all this by providing a framework for future decisions by the Park Service and others regarding operations, resource protection and restoration, and partnerships. The overall goal is to establish a “signature urban park” with high-quality inspirational, natural, and cultural spaces along with recreation and education for urban communities. The Park Service must address many challenging issues in trying to manage the future of the park. The central one is the need to balance the variety of visitor experiences to maximize the value of each and to minimize conflicts. You cannot have picnics on an active soccer field or contemplate nature while a kindergarten field trip marches by. Other key issues are contaminated sites in or near park land; protecting natural resource areas; improving access (roads, bridges, and railroads block the east side, and roads, a railroad line, a stadium, a golf course, and a cemetery restrict the west side); archeological sites; and historic and cultural resources, for example Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens and the Langston Golf Course. Some of the plan’s most interesting parts describe the past, the present, and the foreseeable future of these and other places along the river. Here are some of them. Anacostia Riverside Trail. The Eastside Trail is now complete, although the long-term plan is to relocate the portion that skirts the Kenilworth playing fields down along the river once the toxics from the fields are cleaned up. A hiker/biker bridge from the trail to the Arboretum is in the works. Langston Golf Course Rehabilitation. The focus will be on erosion control and stormwater management, including new cart pathways and a strip for the West Side Trail along the water. Wetlands and Resident Goose Management. The Park Service recently adopted a plan to reduce the number and impact of the Canada geese in wetland areas, where they are eating grasses beyond their ability to regrow. Anacostia Watershed Restoration Plan. This is the Park Service partnership with the Department of Energy & Environment to carry out a comprehensive effort to reduce toxic sources and levels in the river and eventually make it fishable and swimmable. It includes reducing sources from upstream, from old industrial sites, and from sediments. Estimated completion date is 2024. 11th Street Bridge Park. This is a public/private partnership under the leadership of THEARC to build a broad public pedestrian space with performance area, gardens, access to the river, and other amenities from one side of the river to the other on the piers of the old bridge. It is scheduled to open in 2019.
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DC United Soccer Stadium. About to begin construction on Buzzard Point. Poplar Point Transfer and Redevelopment. This is the area on the east side of the river above the South Capitol Street Bridge. It comprises 110 acres and is slated to be turned over to the city once the Park Service and the city agree on a plan for its development as a combined park and mixed development. Seventy of the acres are to remain as open space. Issues of toxic contamination on the site will require attention since it was a Navy disposal area, among other things. DC Water Clean Rivers Project. This is the effort to deal with the frequent discharges of raw sewage into the river from the city’s combined sewer system due to excess runoff from storms. The solution being pursued is to store the combined effluent in large tunnels that feed it through the Blue Plains treatment plant once the storm has passed. The work is to be completed this year. New and Ongoing Transportation Projects. These include a new South Capitol Street Bridge and access streets and roads, Barney Circle and Southeast Boulevard, the Pennsylvania and Minnesota avenues intersection, and the Kenilworth Avenue Study. Contaminated Sites on Park Service Property. The key properties here are the Kenilworth Park landfill under the playing fields; Poplar Point mentioned above; the Washington Gas site on the west side above the 11th Street Bridge; and the river bottom. Most of the remainder of the plan looks at management options by land type, starting with soils and sediments. The wetlands section explains that there are 105.4 acres on Park Service land, comprising half the wetlands in DC and the largest amount anywhere in the Anacostia watershed. Other sections cover upland vegetation, floodplains, archeological resources, and cultural resources. This last grouping has a fascinating summary of the history and planned future for a number of areas where you may not have known important events took place. It includes the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens; the Langston Golf Course Historic District, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 for the role it played in the desegregation of public facilities and clubs; the lower Anacostia riverbanks, where in 1932 the Bonus Army marched into the city to claim pension benefits for veterans of World War I and stayed in a tent city until they were burned out under orders issue by Herbert Hoover and carried out by Gen. Douglas MacArthur; and the Anacostia Field House, where the 1949 desegregation of the public swimming pool was a victory for civil rights. A lot has happened along Our River! Finally, the plan takes a look at us, the users, and focuses on six groups who are a priority to accommodate in this “signature urban park.” The six are those seeking passive recreation like picnicking and fishing; those playing organized sports; athletes in training (running, biking, workouts, and aerobics); boaters; naturalists and environmental activists; and partakers of educational and cultural programs. That is a lot to cover in a plan for the next 15-20 years along Our River. Take a look, make your views known, and above all get out and enjoy what the National Park Service is offering us. Bill Matuszeski writes monthly about the Anacostia River. He is the retired director of the Chesapeake Bay Program, a DC member of the Citizens Advisory Committee on the Anacostia River, and a member of the Mayor’s Leadership Council for a Cleaner Anacostia River. u
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South by West by William Rich Audi Field Set to Break Ground After several years of planning and about a year after submitting a planned unit development (PUD) application, final approval was given to DC United by the Zoning Commission on Feb. 16 to build a soccer-specific stadium at Second and R streets SW on Buzzard Point. The $300 million, 19,000seat stadium will open around June 2018. Site work has been underway for months by the District, but vertical construction can now proceed since PUD approval is in hand. A naming rights deal was recently announced between the team and Audi of America, which resulted in the renaming of the stadium as Audi Field. Some of the stadium features include 31 luxury suites, a bike valet, team store, 17,000 square feet of ground floor retail, and a public plaza and green space on the northeast corner of the stadium. When DC United isn’t playing, other sporting events, cultural activities, and community events will take place at Audi Field. The design of the stadium has evolved to include more retail, better-defined public space, a rerouted First Street, and other improvements. These changes were prompted by feedback from the Zoning Commission as well as nearby property owners who did not want the stadium to hinder access to their proposed development projects. In addition to the stadium, an adjacent parcel will include up to 600,000 square feet of mixeduse development. The team enlisted the services of MAC Realty Advisors to market the site to potential developer partners. Development of this parcel will happen after Audi Field opens but will likely not be too far behind the construction of the stadium.
ANC Softened Tone Ahead of Hearing In a letter sent to the Zoning Commission in late January, Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6D stated that progress had been made on addressing its major concerns with the stadium PUD, including environmental and transportation issues. Back in November the ANC wrote a letter stating that “little or no effort has been direct-
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Audi Field is scheduled to open by the middle of 2018 on Buzzard Point, two blocks to the southwest of Nationals Park at Second and R streets SW. Rendering: DC United
ed toward preparing community residents to deal with the enormous environmental impact that the removal of all of the chemicals and contaminants may have on their health.” In addition, there was insufficient planning with regard to parking, access, and public transport options. Since the December 2016 Zoning Commission meeting the ANC has met with DC United to discuss these issues. As a result, an additional community benefit was secured in the form of a $50,000 contribution to BreatheDC, which will help purchase and distribute air purifiers to homes near the stadium site. Air-quality monitoring continued to be an issue and also the frequency of baiting traps for vermin stirred up by construction. On the transportation front, some hurdles remain, including the lack of coordination between the team and the Nationals on scheduling; insufficient number of parking spaces reserved at lots used for Nationals games; and routing stadium traffic through residential streets. However, a preliminary Traffic Operations and Parking Plan (TOPP) has been developed, as well as the possibility of water-taxi service to Diamond Teague Park in Near Southeast. The ANC stopped short of supporting the PUD at the February 2017 hearing, mainly due to lingering transportation issues.
More Residential Planned for Waterfront Station? PUD approvals for two Waterfront Station vacant sites at the intersection of Fourth and M streets are nearing expiration. Forest City Washington is seeking a two-year extension, although that may not be necessary if it gets approval for a revision to its plans. Even though the two vacant sites were planned as office buildings, about 600 more apartment units may be built instead. David Smith from Forest City Washington made the company’s intention known at the February 2017 ANC 6D meeting. It wants to revise the PUD to allow residential development because office market conditions are currently not favorable in the area. This isn’t the first time one of the Waterfront Station sites has changed uses. The Eliot on 4th apartment building was originally planned as office but switched to residential for the same reason. According to Smith the switch from office to residential would result in no changes to density or height approved in the original PUD, but the design by Perkins Eastman scales down the height of the buildings along Fourth Street to match 1100 and 1101 Fourth Street, which opened in 2010. Each of the residential buildings would be Cshaped with an elevated courtyard space facing M
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Street and have a green roof. Development plans are still preliminary, but the two proposed buildings would each have 17,500 square feet of ground-floor retail and 17,500 square feet of office space on the second floor. The retail and office space would be along M Street and Fourth Street. Above the two-level commercial base would be the rental apartment towers. Entrances to the residential buildings would be on the north side on Fourth Street while the entrances to the office space would be on M Street. About eight percent of the units would be set aside as affordable to residents earning up to 60 percent of area median income, and some would be two-bedroom or threebedroom units to accommodate families. Chair Andy Litsky was cool to the idea of changing the proposed use of the sites. Litsky was concerned the change would not help Fourth Street evolve into the main retail corridor of the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood, since the lack of office space was identified in the Office of Planning’s Southwest Neighborhood Plan as a reason why retailers have not gravitated to the area. (Two office buildings developed during the first phase of Waterfront Station were fully leased to the District government.) A vote on the proposed change in use was not made at the meeting, so Forest City Washington will need to make another presentation to the commission after getting approval to extend the PUD. William Rich is a blogger at Southwest … The Little Quadrant that Could (www.swtlqtc.com). u
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In his off time he visits his family in Charlottesville, the town of his alma mater, the University of Virginia, where he earned his bachelor’s degrees in history and psychology. He once thought about staying in school for a law degree, but he always knew he wanted to join the police force. His father worked for the Metropolitan Police Department for a while as a sergeant in the academy. article & photos by Christine Rushton Officer Keenan admires the pride officers feel working in the nation’s capital. “I can never imagine leaving, I’m enjoying it,” he remarked. “I definitely see a career in it.” Since graduating from the police acadMPD First District Officer James Keenan. emy he has worked in the First District and hopes to continue with the neighborhood soon, and to two women causthe team he now considers family. With the Naing trouble in the Eastern Market area as of late. tional Mall, Chinatown, Capitol Hill, the WaKeenan knows some of the troublemakers in the terfront, and H Street within the First District area, but Leon isn’t one of them. boundaries, this assignment gives him an everKeenan, a 28-year-old standing at 5 feet 10 evolving experience. “I like this job because you inches and with a slight build, has served in DC never know what’s going to happen,” he said. for more than three years. He spends much of his The job does come with rough spots. Police eight-hour, five-day-a-week evening shift stopping don’t usually get a call on someone’s best day. in on local businesses around Police Service Area Arresting and lecturing people older than his 28 (PSA) 107, surrounding Pennsylvania Avenue on years can feel strange, he said, but lending a hand Capitol Hill. He patrols on his mountain bicycle and improving safety for local businesses around either solo or with another officer. Eastern Market, Pennsylvania Avenue, and BarKeenan believes in the importance of knowracks Row make it worth the effort. “I didn’t join ing the community and people he serves on the this department to save the world,” Keenan exgood days and the bad. “It’s about getting to know plained. “I think if we can help someone each them as people and helping them out where we day, that’s kind of enough.” can,” he said.
Not Saving the World, Just a Life
Riding Along with MPD Officer James Keenan
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ost days of the week, a weathered-looking man stands on the corner of Seventh Street and Pennsylvania Avenue SE selling Street Sense, a local biweekly paper covering homelessness, poverty, and social issues. He asks passersby if they’d like a paper, but doesn’t press them. And he’s always wearing a smile. When Metropolitan Police Department Officer James Keenan goes by on his neighborhood patrol, he always makes a point of stopping and saying hello to this guardian of the corner. “Leon, what’s going on?” Keenan asks on a warm February afternoon. Leon lays it out for him. He’s doing well, living in his apartment and not on the streets, but he has a major health issue that might set him back. Keenan reassures him that the officers can help if needed. The conversation turns to those of Leon’s acquaintances who might come back to
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It Runs in the Family Officer Keenan grew up in northern Virginia and still lives there, just outside of the District.
Knowing Your Neighbors Keenan started patrols with the First District in PSA 106, the Southeast area along the Water-
front, up toward the Hill and reaching to South Capitol Street. He remembers riding by a mother and her young daughter, Mary, as they walked up toward Pennsylvania Avenue each day. “I remember first seeing her and I told her mom, ‘I’m going to make her smile,’” he said. “And she [Mary] was just not having it.” Now Mary and her mother always call out to Keenan and his partner as they ride by just to say hello, he said. Knowing the people and building relationships with the locals makes police work more personal. It makes officers seem more relatable and a resource when someone needs help, he said. Keenan used to feel intimidated by officers in uniform growing up, but now he understands. “We’re people, too,” he said. Back on the street, Keenan stops in on an older woman leaning against the entryway to &Pizza on Barracks Row. Businesses will often
call in complaints of people loitering around their stores or restaurants. Keenan knows many of the people who frequent the area, and this woman is simply pausing for breath before she heads to the Metro station to get to Anacostia, she said. Keenan puts his hand on her shoulder to check if she’s all right and then heads to his next stop, the 7-Eleven store up the block. Small convenience stores like this one and the CVS at Seventh Street and Pennsylvania Avenue often report thefts and robberies, so Keenan pops into the store to check in with the owner. It’s all smiles, so he moves on. And so on down the street, Keenan patrols, shakes hands, asks a man how his appendix is doing, knocks on the door of Vicky (her birthday was Feb. 15), and answers the hellos of people walking by. “It’s not them working for us,” he said. “It’s us working for them.” u
photo: Andrew Lightman
Support The Renovation of Potomac Gardens and Hopkins Housing Developments ICP Partners INC, a non-profit organization that focuses on providing affordable assets in urban and emerging markets through the applications of real estate and infrastructure development assets such as Potomac Gardens and Hopkins, Carthagerea, petitioners at 1229 G Street SE, Capitol Hill residents, and various other Americans are creating and advancing the attached 300,000 plus petition at Change.org. Please join our efforts by signing the petition for reforming affordable housing in Washington, DC, etc, specifically at Potomac Gardens and Hopkins. Officer James Keenan and Street Sense distributor Leon at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Seventh Street SE Feb. 15.
“Life begins with Loving Nature and Mankind”.
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ANC 6A Report by Elizabeth Nelson
C
hair Phil Toomajian called the meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6A to order at Miner Elementary School (601 15th St. NE), with Commissioners Calvin Ward, Marie-Claire Brown, Patrick Malone, and Stephanie Zimny in attendance. Sondra Phillips-Gilbert and Mike Soderman were absent. The meeting began with several community presentations.
Councilmember Grosso, Chair of DC Council Committee on Education Councilmember David Grosso attended with his chief of staff, Tony Goodman. Grosso said he believes there will be more money in this year’s budget for capital improvement projects. He is continuing to push DC Public Schools and the Department of Government Services (DGS) to complete repairs and improvements that should have been done last summer. He is also pushing to improve the overall modernization process to make ranking of need more consistent and transparent. Grosso expressed concerns about the current political climate and the tendency of Congress to meddle in District affairs. In his view, Title 1 funding is at risk as is funding for arts education. He expects increased pressure for school vouchers, which reduces resources available for public education.
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He hopes that Tuition Assistance Grant (TAG) money will continue to be available to help District youth afford college. The councilmember expressed support for keeping full-time nurses in the schools. He noted that high-quality childcare is expensive and difficult to find, in part because there is a lack of suitable facilities. Grosso is pressing for child development centers to be included in large development projects. Grosso is opposed to providing public money for a football stadium because, unlike a facility for baseball or soccer, it will not be used enough to justify the expense. He likes the proposal for development of the RFK stadium site because it includes a wide variety of community uses. In response to Zimny’s complaint that school support groups struggle to get access to the data they need, Grosso offered the services of his staff in researching questions about specific schools. He encouraged community members to testify at hearings and “make their voices heard.” Grosso’s contact information and other information about the DC Council Committee on Education can be found at www.davidgrosso.org.
17th Street Project Construction Update Mohamed Dahir of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and Mike Gales of RK&K Engineers described improvements to 17th Street including additional street lights, raised crosswalks, and signs displaying the speed of passing cars. Completion is scheduled for July 2018. More information, including drawings, photos, and schedules, can be found at www.17thstreetproject.org.
US Attorney’s Safety & Criminal Justice Update Community Prosecutor Doug Klein spoke on the importance of community impact statements in sentencing. These must come from a “community leader,” most often an ANC commissioner, though “block captains” may be asked to provide an opinion in some cases. The statements should be submitted at least two weeks in advance. Klein gave packets of sample statements to the commissioners. Klein went on to say that community notification is done through the ANCs and that it is then their responsibility to inform the community. Residents should communicate their views through the
ADVISORY NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION 6A PHIL TOOMAJIAN, CHAIR, PHILANC6A@GMAIL.COM Serving the Near Northeast, North Lincoln Park, Rosedale, and H Street communities ANC 6A generally meets the second Thursday of the month, at Miner Elementary School, 601 15th Street, NE.
www.anc6a.org commissioners. In cases where this is not sufficient, perhaps in the case of an unidentified victim, Klein can be contacted directly at douglas.klein@ usdoj.gov or his office, 202-660-2150.
Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders Sultan Shakir described Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders (SMYAL, www.smyal.org), a nonprofit organization that serves LGBTQ youth. It has an office near the Eastern Market Metro and recently opened a residential facility at 746 19th St. NE that provides housing for eight. SMYAL estimates that about 300 members of this demographic are homeless in the District. The goal is to help these young people get their lives in order, transition to work or school, and find permanent housing as quickly as possible. Some will be self-sufficient in as little six to eight months; others may need help for 18-24 months. Most are identified through the Department of Housing Services (DHS). A rigorous vetting process includes background checks; an applicant who has committed a sexual offense or violent crime is ineligible. Residents are not allowed to own cars and do not contribute to parking problems in the area.
Economic Development and Zoning Actions ANC 6A will send a letter of support for the owners of 600 Ninth St. NE, who are seeking variances from nonconforming structure, lot occupancy, and rear-yard requirements to permit the location of decks over a garage. The issue is contentious because the decks are already in place, having been constructed without permits and less than five feet from the bedroom windows of the adjacent home. The decks were constructed by a previous owner. The Department
of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) was aware of the situation but took no action to force the removal of the decks. The adjacent house was then sold to an owner who believed the decks would not remain in place, since DCRA had already flagged them. Then 600 Ninth St. was sold to owners who say they did not know about the illegal construction at the time of the purchase. When they sought permits for interior work they were told they would not be granted until the situation with the decks was resolved, hence their request for zoning relief. The Office of Planning opposes the variances. The commissioners voted unanimously but made support contingent on measures to reduce noise from use of the decks, including moving one of the large HVAC units to the roof.
Next ANC 6A meeting is Thursday March 9th, 7pm Miner E.S 601 15th St NE. Alcohol Beverage Licensing Committee - Tuesday, March 21st 7pm at Sherwood Recreation Center • 640 10th St., NE Jay Williams - Co-Chair (906-0657) / Christopher Seagle - Co-Chair
Transportation & Public Space Committee - Monday, March 20th 7pm at Capitol Hill Towers Community Room • 900 G St., NE J. Omar Mahmud - Co-Chair / Todd Sloves - Co-Chair
Economic Development & Zoning Committee - Wednesday, March 15th 7pm at Sherwood Recreation Center • 640 10th St., NE Brad Greenfield - Chair (Brad.greenfield@gmail.com 202 262-9365)
Community Outreach Committee - Monday, March 27th
7pm at Maury Elementary School • 1250 Constitution Ave., NE Multi-purpose Room (enter from 200 Block of 13 Street) Dana Wyckoff - Chair (571-213-1630)
Please check the Community Calendar on the website for cancellations and changes of venue.
Other Business
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The commissioners voted unanimously to send a letter to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) requesting data on teacher turnover rates at local elementary schools. The request for the letter was made by Zimny, who is a member of the Miner Elementary School Local School Advisory Team (LSAT). The group has been frustrated in attempts to get the information to make informed decisions regarding the school. OSSE has said it is not required to provide the information except to ANCs. The ANC unanimously approved a letter to both the mayor and DC Council stating support for immigrants and refugees in the community
Reports & Announcements Commissioner Toomajian announced that the Capitol Hill Classic race, an annual fundraiser for the Capitol Hill Cluster School, is scheduled for May 21. He also re-
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Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6C P.O. Box 77876 • Washington, D.C. 20013-7787 www.anc6c.org • (202) 547-7168 ANC 6C meets the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm, 214 Massachusetts Avenue N.E., except August, when there is no meeting.
ANC 6C COMMISSIONERS ANC 6C01 Christine Healey 6C01@anc.dc.gov
ANC 6C04 Mark Eckenwiler 6C04@anc.dc.gov
ANC 6C02 Karen Wirt (202) 547-7168 6C02@anc.dc.gov
ANC 6C05 Christopher Miller 6C05@anc.dc.gov
ANC 6C03 Scott Price (202) 577-6261 6C03@anc.dc.gov scott.price@anc.dc.gov
ANC 6C06 Heather Edelman heatheraedelman @gmail.com
ANC 6C COMMITTEES Alcoholic Beverage Licensing First Monday, 7 pm Contact: anc6c.abl.committee@gmail.com
Transportation and Public Space First Thursday, 7 pm Contact: mark.kaz.anc@gmail.com
Grants Last Thursday, 7 pm Contact: lesliebarbour.dc@gmail.com
Planning, Zoning, and Economic Development First Wednesday, 6:30 pm Contact: 6C04@anc.dc.gov Twitter: @6C_PZE
Parks and Events First Tuesday, 7 pm Contact: ptahtakran@gmail.com
March 2017 H 91
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ported a rash of package thefts in his single-member district and drug activity on H Street NE. Commissioner Zimny reported that the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) does not believe that the G Street exits from the parking lot of Chik-fil-A (formerly Checkers), in the triangle on the 1400 block of Maryland Avenue and G Street NE, will result in increased traffic. She and other concerned neighbors will press for a traffic study once the establishment opens; it will not be approved in advance. Commissioner Ward will organize a neighborhood cleanup this spring at the corner of 19th and E streets NE, where loitering has led to a large volume of trash. Look for an announcement on the calendar at www.anc6a.org. Councilmember Charles Allen will attend the March ANC meeting. ANC 6A meets on the second Thursday of every month (except August) at Miner Elementary School. The 6A committees meet at 7 p.m. on the following schedule: Alcohol Beverage and Licensing, third Tuesday of each month, Sherwood Recreation Center, 640 10th St. NE. Community Outreach, fourth Monday of each month, Maury Elementary School, 601 15th St. NE. Economic Development and Zoning, third Wednesday of each month, Sherwood Recreation Center, 640 10th St. NE. Transportation and Public Space, third Monday of every month, Capitol Hill Towers, 900 G St. NE. Visit www.anc6a.org for calendar of events, changes of date/venue, agendas, and other information. u
ANC 6B Report
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by Christine Rushton
ebruary’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) meeting for 6B ended earlier than most and had less of an agenda than usual. Commissioners established the new leadership for each task force and committee for the upcoming year.
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The quorum: Jennifer Samolyk (6B01), Nick Burger (6B06, treasurer), James Loots (6B03, parliamentarian), Aimee Grace (6B07), Chander Jayaraman (6B08, chair), Denise Krepp (6B10), Diane Hoskins (6B02, vice chair), Kirsten Oldenburg (6B04), Steve Hagedorn (6B05), and Daniel Ridge (6B09, secretary).
Election of Committee Chairs, Resident Members The ANC set up the leadership for each of the committees at the last meeting. For the Alcohol Beverage Committee (ABC), Jayaraman will serve as chair with residents Cheyenne Foster, Katherine Szafran, Rob Cronin, and Raman Santra. For the Planning and Zoning Committee, Burger will serve as chair with residents Cheyenne Foster, Laura Jeffords, Ken Jarboe, Ryan Danks, Sharon Ryan, Amanda Thomas, Jennifer Howard, and Allen Chargin. For the Transportation Committee, Oldenburg will serve as chair with residents Floyd Brown, Jerry Sroufe, Laura Jeffords, John Manley, Corey Holman, Neil King, Kelly Waud, Carol Grissom, and Joe Enrico. For the Outreach and Constituent Task Force Committee, Samolyk and Hoskins will co-chair with residents Cheyenne Foster, Brian Ready, and Stephen Merrill. For the Hill East Task Force, Ridge will chair with residents Alex Bland and Pat Taylor.
Hank’s Oyster Bar Update The Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) decided to exclude some of the ANC’s exhibits in the protest case against the renewal of the liquor license for Hank’s Oyster Bar (633 Pennsylvania Ave. SE). The ANC is still protesting in hopes of resolving issues involving the neighbors around the restaurant and the restaurant’s management. The mayor’s liaison for Ward 6 is also helping negotiate a resolution. The next hearing is in May.
Third-Story Addition on Seventh Street Residents at 517 Seventh St. SE want to add a third-story in order to create better flow within the house. They plan to add to the back and create a true four-bedroom home. They’ve tried to keep the front of the property in historic standing by using a sloping roof and keeping the addition away from the front view. Commissioners warned that the
owners will have to consider the historic standards even from the back because the house abuts a residential alley, not a public alley. Therefore neighbors will have a say in what the design looks like. Commissioners unanimously supported the historic preservation application.
Second-Story Addition on Massachusetts Avenue Neighbors at 1335 Massachusetts Ave. SE applied for both a historic preservation change and lot occupancy relief for the addition of a second story to their one-story family home. The relief will go from 58 percent to 65 percent, with mostly a deck and height extension. The commissioners supported both applications but asked the applicants to do better at reaching out to neighbors.
Rehashing the ANC’s Position on the YRA Commissioner Krepp tried again to get the ANC to support her resolution to make significant changes to the Youth Rehabilitation Act. This would alter the leniency youth currently get from the District’s court system when it comes to criminal offenses, both misdemeanors and felonies. The commissioners remained divided and stayed firm in supporting a letter to the DC Council and mayor urging a review of the resolution. Commissioner Oldenburg argued that the issues with the YRA are more complex than Krepp’s letter shows.
Other Actions At the DC Council oversight hearing, Oldenburg said she wants the Council to consider giving the Department of Public Works (DPW) more support to hire additional workers. Parking and other services that DPW provides continue to be slow and overwhelmed. The ANC voted unanimously to put forward a resolution in support of the “Hands Off DC” movement to keep Congress out of the District’s local governance. ANC 6B regularly meets on the second Tuesday of the month at the Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. The next meeting is on March 14 at 7 p.m. u
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ANC 6C Report by Christine Rushton
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ard 6 Councilmember Charles Allen attended the February meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6C to inform the community about his new role as the chair of the Council’s Judiciary Committee. The committee oversees 35 agencies involving campaign finance, the board of elections, policies, and more. “If I make a decision you like, you get to support that,” he said. “If I make a decision you don’t like, you can hold me accountable.” He also updated the commissioners on the “Hands Off DC” effort to stop Congress and Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz from interfering in DC legislation and policies. The quorum: Karen Wirt (6C02, chair), Heather Edelman (6C06), Mark Eckenwiler (6C04), Christine Healey (6C01, secretary), Scott Price (6C03, vice chair), and Christopher Miller (6C05, treasurer).
Neighbors Fight for Carriageway on Eighth Street The commissioners supported a historic preservation application for a third-story addition and onestory garage with a studio at 108-110 Eighth St. NE. Commissioners expressed concerns that the garage not exceed the current footprint, the demolition of an abutting wall to the neighboring property, and the slope of the garage roof for drainage. The architect explained that the abutting wall is in imminent danger and must be rebuilt. Neighbors remained divided on the changes to the house and its keeping with the historic nature of the other houses sharing the alley. The size of the addition overwhelms some, but most just want to be sure the development doesn’t shut off the historic horse carriageway, a design that has been disappearing on Capitol Hill. The ANC voted to support it so long as the design keeps the garage within the original footprint and brings the carriageway back to the yard.
Removal of Roof Challenges Historic Nature Commissioners voted 4-2 in support of a third-floor
addition at 646 Sixth St. NE, which includes removing the current roof, dormer, mansard, and cornice designs. Commissioners argued that the architecture should not intrude visually on the pattern of the other rowhouses, which means allowing for more provisions on other aspects of the design.
Updates at Union Station Entrance The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority (WMATA) are working to upgrade the First Street entrance to Union Station. The plans include a stairway and ramp outside of the station on the sidewalk and relocating the entrance more to the north. The commissioners voted 5-1 to oppose the plans because the sidewalk is already crowded in that area and the increased foot traffic could pose a danger. Commissioner Eckenwiler criticized WMATA for waiting until the last minute to consult the ANC and not sharing its studies.
Vision Zero Criticisms The Commission supported a letter to DDOT opposing the regulations and fines for the new Vision Zero plan for traffic and pedestrian safety. A fine for dooring a cyclist comes in at $100, far too low, commissioners argued. Driving on the sidewalk is fined the same amount as a bicyclist hitting a pedestrian. A driver of a car, truck, or SUV will be fined $150 if they hit a cyclist, the same as a cyclist hitting a pedestrian. “There was no proportionality,” Eckenwiler said. “You have a lot of fines for varying degrees of infractions that are the same amount.”
Hardscaping at 300 Maryland Ave. The ANC voted unanimously to oppose the retroactive application of hardscaping that was put in at 300 Maryland Ave. NE. The public-space application never came through the ANC, so the commissioners didn’t have a chance to criticize the hardscape design, which goes against the District’s goal of more greenery.
The Alley Saga Continues Commissioner Miller again updated the commissioners on alley repairs that have been on hold for more than a year in his district. DDOT hired a contractor, but the contractor refuses to work until the District determines who is at fault and lia-
ble for the damage – DC or the homeowner of the property that abuts the alley. It’s now 14 months and counting.
Eckenwiler to Testify on YRA Though Commissioner Price had questions on the nature of the testimony, the ANC agreed unanimously to let Eckenwiler testify on the Youth Rehabilitation Act (YRA). “If you’re cutting people leniency and they go out and reoffend, they aren’t getting rehabilitated,” Eckenwiler said. Price wanted to be sure the review includes a change to add more accurate reporting on the cases to better understand what works and what doesn’t.
Other Actions Commissioner Edelman updated the commissioners on the homeless community underneath the tunnels at K, L, and M streets NE. The District posts signs to have the residents clear out in 14 days, but they often just return. Edelman said she’s working on a more permanent solution for the safety of the homeless and the residents. The ANC approved a $543.94 increase to the Little Free Libraries grant budget to add another little library to the four already planned. Eckenwiler agreed to testify at the oversight hearing for DC Water and outline the problems with the agency’s incorrectly posting “No Parking” signs. “All of the signs all had different permit numbers, all are for other blocks and are posted only the night before,” he said. On the issue of Sanctuary Cities, the ANC voted in support of the mayor’s standing with the Council in listing DC as a sanctuary city. The ANC unanimously supported a grant for Casey Trees to do landscaping at the intersection of Seventh Street, Constitution Avenue, and Massachusetts Avenue NE. DDOT’s K Street traffic study from North Capitol Street to Florida Avenue NE is now available online. The ANC 6C Planning, Zoning and Economic Development Committee now meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the Northeast Library (330 Seventh St. NE). ANC 6C regularly meets on the second Wednesday of the month at the Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. The next meeting is March 8 at 7 p.m. u
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ANC 6D Report by Andrew Lightman
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dvisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6D met on Feb. 13. Commissioners Gail Fast (6D01), Ronald Collins (6D03), Andy Litsky (6D04), Roger Moffatt (6D05), Meredith Fascett (6D07), and Rhonda N. Hamilton (6D06) were on the dais. Cara Shockley (6D02) was not present.
Stop Work Commissioners queried PN Hoffman Partner Eleanor Bacon concerning resident complaints about construction in the new waterfront park outside of permitted times; and concerning pile driving before 7 a.m. at the site of the former Riverside Baptist Church. Bacon stated that there had been no pile driving. She also stated that the waterfront park Sunday construction had taken place on the initiative of a subcontractor. PN Hoffman has told that firm to adhere to the permitted construction time.
ABC Report The Pearl Street Warehouse, 33 Pearl St. SW, came before the commission to request support for a CT liquor license with an entertainment endorsement. The Warehouse, located in The Wharf development, will feature diner food, live music, and a sidewalk cafe. On the recommendation of the ANC 6D ABC Committee, the commissioners agreed to send a letter in support to the Alcohol and Beverage Control Board (ABC Board). ANC 6D ABC Committee Chair Cora Lee Farlee reported that placards for the District Bike had come through. She also stated that the renewal for Willie’s Brew & Que, 300 Tingey St. SE, was coming.
2017 Cherry Blossom Fireworks Representatives of the Cherry Blossom Festival presented plans for the 2017 Southwest Cherry Blossom Fireworks on Saturday, April 15, from 2 to 9 p.m. With the cooperation of the National Park Service (NPS) the celebration will take place both in the Gangplank Marina Parking Lot and also on the land extending down to the Titanic Memorial. The festivities will not use the waterfront park now un-
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der construction. Permitting is underway. There will be two stages: one near the Titanic Memorial and the other in the marina parking lot. The latter location will also be the site of a beer and cider garden accommodating up to 1,000 patrons and food trucks. All music will end at 9 p.m. The festival will employ 40 security officers and additional traffic control officers at major intersections. There will be two first aid stations and an ambulance. ABC Committee Chair Farlee stated that her committee supported the issue of a one-day license for the event. Chair Litsky requested that organizers rethink their plans to reroute traffic around 525 M St. SW. He also instructed them to coordinate their activities with the Southwest Business Improvement District (BID). Commissioners Moffat and Hamilton expressed concern about the impact of the event on the Southwest Fish Market. The organizers promised to coordinate their plans with PN Hoffman, the fish market’s manager. The commissioners voted unanimously in favor of sending letters of support for the event both to the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and the ABC Board.
Museum of the Bible Representatives of the Museum of the Bible, 409 Third St. SW, asked the commissioners to support a modification of their streetscape design. The changes are designed to improve the security of patrons cuing up to enter the museum. Additional benches, reinforced bike racks, and bollards will prevent a vehicle ramming those waiting in line. The museum is due to open on Nov. 17, 2017. Museum representatives assured commissioners there would be no loss of sidewalk area. The commissioners voted unanimously to send a letter in support of the changes to the DC Department of Transportation’s (DDOT) Public Space Committee.
Extension of the Waterfront Station PUD Representatives of Forest City came before the commission to request a two-year extension of a planned unit development (PUD) for Waterfront Station for two undeveloped parcels that front M Street SW. They also requested the PUD be modified to per-
mit mixed-use development rather than solely offices. The revised plan proposes 35,000 square feet of retail and 35,000 square feet of neighborhood offices on the second floor with residences above. They justified their request by referencing the challenging market for office development. The two buildings under the revised PUD would maintain the project’s existing height and density limitations. Loading and pedestrian entrances would be located on M Street. Residential entrances fronting the Metro plaza would facilitate public engagement with the space. Forest City promised to focus on neighborhood-serving retail. Eight percent of the rental units would be set aside for those making 60 percent of area median income under the terms of inclusionary zoning. Representatives stated they plan to submit their application for a PUD modification to the DC Zoning Commission in April. They expected to file the paperwork in the next two weeks. “This is going to have to be a hell of a sales job to get residential units on these parcels,” stated Chair Litsky. He reiterated the commission’s longstanding insistence that the parcels be developed solely for office uses in support of neighboring retail establishments. The commissioners voted unanimously in support of an extension of the PUD for Forest City’s M Street parcels. They took no action on the PUD’s modification.
Forest City L-1 Parcel Representatives from Forest City presented plans for a high-end hotel at 227 Tingey St. SE, currently the site of a parking lot. Oriented east-west, the 10-story building would combine a 225-room lodging with ground-floor retail including a restaurant and neighborhood bar. The lobby would face west. A rooftop event space is planned. No parking can be built under the hotel due to the presence of a major sewer line. The hotel will share parking under a residential building planned next door on parcel L-2. Developers plan to file their paperwork in mid-March. The commission took no action on the matter.
Short-Term Family Housing The commissioners voted unanimously to send a letter in support of the Short-Term Family Housing facility planned for the current site of the Unity
DICK WOLF LECTURE
HISTORIC DISTRICTS & CLIMATE CHANGE: examining the vulnerability of the District’s historic districts to sea level rise
Health Clinic, 850 Delaware Ave. SW, to the DC Board of Zoning Adjustment. Commissioner Fascett reminded her colleagues of concerns regarding the absence of running water in all the units. After a discussion the commissioners chose to include their concerns in a cover letter.
Other Matters The commissioners took the following actions: • approved the January minutes unanimously • approved the treasurer’s quarterly report unanimously • decided unanimously to send a letter in support of a grant application for a Banneker Department of Transportation grant • decided unanimously to endorse the 10-point Housing and Development Priorities Statement on the coming Comprehensive Plan Review • decided unanimously to send a letter in support of the Capitol Riverfront BID’s plan to move the Mother Earth Statue to Diamond Teague Park • tabled a motion by Commissioner Hamilton to send a letter to WMATA instructing it to restore the sign for the 74 Bus at the intersection of Delaware Avenue and M Street SW • decided unanimously to send a letter in support of the colon cancer race planned for March 19 • decided unanimously to send three letters in support of the Marine Marathon planned for Oct. 22 • decided to send a letter in support of National Police Week’s five-kilometer race, with Commissioner Fast abstaining Sergeant John Barrett gave the public safety report for Police Ser-
Presented by Kelsey Robertson, 2017 winner of the Dick Wolf Prize Friday, March 24, 2017, 7 p.m., at Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Ave SE.
Kelsey’s lecture is based on her Masters thesis that explores the potential effect on the District from sea level rise and identifies adaptation planning mechanisms to increase climatic resilience without significantly diminishing the integrity of the built and cultural environment of our historic districts.
BECOME A MEMBER! CHRS received a 2016 award for the DC Preservation League for its “advocacy, education, community outreach efforts and for its early and sustained contributions to preservation efforts in Washington, DC.” Visit www.chrs.org to learn more. Email info@chrs.org or call 543-0425.
30,000 HILL RESIDENTS COULD BE SEEING YOUR AD RIGHT NOW! To advertise, contact Laura 202.400.3510 or laura@hillrag.com
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vice Area (PSA) 105. There were two assaults with guns, two robberies, four cars stolen, nine thefts from cars, and 27 general thefts, mostly shoplifting. The Friends of Southwest Library will hold a book sale on March 25 and 26 at the Southwest Library, 900 Wesley Place SW. ANC 6D will meet on Monday, March 13, at 7 p.m., at 200 I St. SE. Visit www.anc6d.org/ for more information. u
ANC 6E Report by Steve Holton Zoning Relief and Traffic Study for Landmarked Building At the January meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6E representatives of PGN Architects requested support for a landmark application for the Holzbeierlein Bakery building located at 1815 Wiltberger St. NW. The commissioners voted in favor of the request and conveyed their support to the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB). HPRB approved PGN’s application, making the bakery the city’s 190th landmarked building and one of 2,000 in the country. At the February meeting, PGN returned to request support for a rear-yard relief in order to push the mass of the building off of Wiltberger Street before the hearing with the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) in March. The historic building, which is a now a warehouse that stores vending machines, will eventually be converted into a mixture of office, retail, and residential units. The major concern of neighbors is the parking situation, so PGN brought a representative from Wells+Associates who conducted a traffic and parking study to see how the building would impact area parking. The study took into account the parking supply and demand, the number of spaces on each block, and restrictions. The area encompasses 291 parking spaces with two percent being unrestricted and the rest being restricted except for holders of a residential parking permit (RPP). During the day, RPP users occupy 71 percent of the spots, which
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leaves capacity for the building’s tenants who commute by vehicle. The representative also noted that the area is well served with modes of city transportation and pointed out that a Metro station, nine bus lines, and nine Capital Bikeshare racks are within reasonable walking distance. During peak times, it is estimated, 33 spaces would be used by retail and office workers and up to eight spaces would be occupied by short-term parkers including retail customers and office meeting attendees. Offsite parking was explored. Three lots with 20 to 25 spaces each offer daily parking and monthly leases. The applicant has agreed to secure this parking when leasing the building. The commissioners voted in favor of sending support of the rear-yard relief to BZA and requested a written report of the traffic study.
Parking Concerns for N Street Condo Project Representatives from the development companies Foundry and the Holladay Corporation will be presenting designs of a 30-unit condo project located at 801 N St. NW to HPRB and asked the commissioners to support an historic preservation approval for concept of new construction. The structure, currently a parking lot facing the Convention Center, will be converted into a four-story building with an English basement and a penthouse that will be set back 15 feet. The development companies chose a design that has a familiar neighborhood look and uses brick panels and aluminum around the windows. A trash chute and bike racks will be located inside. The nearby Immaculate Conception Church has stated acceptance of the building’s design. The representatives noted that the five required parking spaces were included in the design plan. The commissioners remarked that the area has a parking problem with restaurants and events, and that the required amount was a low number for 30 units. Chair Padro requested that the building’s tenants be restricted from the RPP program and encouraged the developer to work with parking garages. The representatives replied that restricting owners from having a car on the property could hurt the building’s value. They also said that some people might not want to be burdened with a car, so parking might not be an issue. “We will look into the parking logistics, and although we believe it will be a small percentage of vehicle owners occupying the
building, we want our residents to have the option of having a car on the property,” said a representative. The commissioners voted in favor of getting HPRB to remove the case from the calendar while they discuss parking details with the development companies. “We love the design and want to work with you but we also want it to be a good fit for the neighborhood,” said Padro. The development companies agreed to explore offsite parking options.
Expansion for Mt. Vernon Triangle Fresh Farm Market A representative from Fresh Farm Markets requested support for a public space permit for a new location for the weekly seasonal farmers’ market. The market is located at the 400 block of I St. NW. The representative said that Mt. Vernon Triangle residents are waiting for an expansion. Fresh Farm Markets is a nonprofit that provides access to fresh produce and operates 14 markets throughout the city. The representative noted that the markets grow 20 percent every year and that a survey conducted by the Mt. Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District examined whether it should be expanded. The survey results showed that half of the 550 respondents said that the market wasn’t big enough for the demand. “It is very important for the community that farmers are able to sell directly to consumers, and an expansion is needed for this area,” said the Fresh Farm Markets representative. The commissioners voted in favor of communicating support for a permit for a new location.
ANC 6E Grant Request Amount Increased Treasurer Alex Marriott motioned to increase the amount of grant money that a resident may request from $1,500 to $3,000. Grants are available to nonprofits that provide neighborhood services such as youth activities and festivals. The grant money comes from an allotment given by the city. The commissioners voted in favor of Marriott’s motion.
Next Meeting ANC 6E will meet again at 6:30 p.m. on March 7 at the Shaw/Watha T. Daniel Library located at 1630 Seventh St. NW. Visit www.anc6e.org to view the newsletter; follow on Twitter @ANC6E and on Facebook by searching ANC6E. Steve Holton can be contacted at ssholton@gmail.com. u
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Eastern Market Report
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he Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee (EMCAC) met on Jan. 25 in the North Hall and, as required under the bylaws, moved to elect its independent member. Tom Kuchenberg has been the independent representative since the current EMCAC’s inception in 1999. Carl Reeverts, a regular attendee of EMCAC meetings, was challenging for this seat. With two minutes allotted for each candidate to speak, Reeverts, a long-time Hill resident, stated that he believes the community wants an “advocate” and that the independent representative ought “to have the ear of the surrounding community.” Kuchenberg cited a number of challenges remaining, among which are leases for the South Hall merchants and the restoration of the Enterprise Fund as the repository of Eastern Market revenues. During the question period Chair Donna Scheeder asked Reeverts, who currently is cochair of the Eastern Market Metro Community Association (EMMCA), how he would separate himself from his duties as a member of that organization and be able to remain independent. Reeverts responded, “We don’t take positions, we don’t take votes. Each of us brings our own position to matters at EMCAA meetings.” The final vote tally was Kuchenberg 9 and Reeverts 2.
Market Managers Report Market Manager Barry Margeson reported total revenues for the first quarter of the fiscal year of $263,237.51. They include outdoor vending ($94,298.00), South Hall ($51,849.81), and North Hall ($93,650.00). Margeson reported that revenues are “on track … the year is looking good as far as revenues.”
Leases The nearly 20-year issue of no leases for the South Hall merchants inches toward resolu-
by Peter J. Waldron tion with a “form lease” having been sent out to the tenants. Margeson cautioned EMCAC members that DC Code 37-107 states that “Rents or other financial arrangements shall reflect fair market rents and practices.” To comply with the law the Department of General Services (DGS), the landlord of the Eastern Market, has put out a request for proposals (RFP) for the service of an independent real estate appraiser to provide DGS with rent rates that are consistent with this requirement. This set off a spirited discussion when Chuck Burger, who has extensive real estate experience that includes the appraisal process, cautioned that the results of this appraisal could present a “serious problem” for the market and rental rates. EMCAC member Richard Layman suggested that comparables come from any number of other public markets (and listed six) outside of Washington, pointing out that each market is so very different. As an illustration he cited the Lexington Market in Baltimore which charges $100 per square foot but with multiple benefits. According to Margeson the Eastern Market rents are approximately $37 per square foot. When asked what this includes, Margeson responded, “Everything.” Mike Bowers, owner of Fancy Dairy Products, raised the issue of how unique the market is, and that simply charging market rate does not accurately address preserving its distinctive historic quality. Angie Brunson of Blue Iris Flowers and the Farmer’s Line representative pointed out that the Union Market above the Hill “no longer is a farmer’s market” but instead is essentially “a food court,” and raised concerns that the current market needs to have these factors “taken into consideration” and be carefully assessed as to rents charged if it is to preserve its historic character. Eastern Market has a three-legged revenue stool with outdoor vending and a farmer’s
line as well as the inside merchants. EMCAC members repeatedly made the case that the market is unique and needs the support of the community in order to flourish. With parking a real impediment to access and growth, the argument is that any appraisal must give these special circumstances significant consideration. The District provides a floor to support the hundreds of outdoor cafes, with a rental rate of $5 per square foot, unchanged for over three decades. That is considerably below the market rates charged for the brick-and-mortar square feet that make up the inside of restaurant properties and which when averaged dramatically lower the rental costs. Another aspect of the dynamic is the favorable terms charged the Saturday and Sunday Eastern Market outdoor flea markets on lower Seventh Street, allowing both the management and vendors to flourish. Margeson did note that once the appraisal is completed (within 54 days there will be a final analysis of the let contract), the results might be brought forward for review by EMCAC, but that did not mean that EMCAC, which is the advisory body for the market, would have any particular standing or input in this process.
Security Margeson stated that DGS has ordered a “security assessment” for Seventh Street due to “potential vehicular threats” such as occurred in Nice and the dangers these threats pose.
Hine Construction Continues Mayoral representative Jonathan Page gave an update on the status of the Hine project. He reported that the “C Street sidewalk is now reopened,” adding that “nine residential units are ready for rental in the North building with all but four rented.” In addition, “the Pennsylvania Avenue facade is nearly done.” u
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“Tom Starts”
Crossword Author: Myles Mellor • www.themecrosswords.com • www.mylesmellorconcepts.com
by Myles Mellor and Sally York Across:
1. Dismissal from a position 7. Mythical twin 14. Social class 19. Found 20. Iridescent 21. Arches 22. See someone committing a crime 25. Despite 26. They are Blue in Vegas 27. Turkish title of rank 28. Many months of Sundays 29. “Thanks a ___!” 30. Massage locale 32. Get hot under the collar 34. Locate 39. Porcino 41. Oafish 44. Attend, as a movie 45. Wreak havoc 46. Farm animal 48. Consider 50. “Who ___ we kidding?” 52. Puppy’s cry 53. What a bulldozer runs on 59. Sue Grafton’s “___ for Lawless” 60. Bay of Naples isle 61. Fading 62. Head problem 63. Binary 64. “Don’t ___!” 65. Justified 66. Scrooge’s cry 69. Civil War battle 71. Grass 74. 1984 Leon Uris bestseller, with “The” 76. Interstellar gas cloud 78. “If only ___ listened ...” 79. Excel chart 81. Native American 83. Last, for short 85. Vitamin C ingredient 86. Grant voting rights to 90. Necktie 91. Gangster gun 94. 1958 Elizabeth Taylor/ Paul Newman drama 96. WWII coalition of countries, with The 98. Belief 99. Tolkien creatures 100. Costume mo.
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101. Gentle breeze 103. Square _____, round hole 106. Lateen-rigged sailing vessels 108. Galahad’s title 111. Departure 112. Undergo diffusion 114. Comic character comment 116. Electrical unit 118. Kernel keeper 120. Oft-broken promise 121. Reliever’s stat 123. Spokes 125. What anglers are often doing 131. Old Irish writing 132. Inculpate 133. Crisp bread 134. Fertile soil 135. Physician’s prescription 136. Most crafty
Down:
1. _____’s Razor 2. European language type 3. Arbitrate 4. Dashboard instrument 5. Group character 6. Legal thing 7. “La Dolce Vita” setting 8. Sports event 9. Kind of jacket 10. Arm bones 11. Feudal lords 12. Certain Christian 13. Pol with a six-yr. post 14. Small salmon 15. “To do” list 16. Dead, e.g. 17. Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone, e.g. 18. D.C. time setting 23. Arabian Peninsula land 24. Course area 31. Loading site 32. Inscribed pillar 33. Ticker 35. Climbing plant 36. Scottish Highlander 37. Wrinkled skin fruit 38. Brings spirit 40. Tube-nosed seabird 42. Newspaper executive 43. Lambaste 45. Election extender 47. Chinese river
Look for this months answers at labyrinthgameshop.com 49. Latino rock group 51. Bust, so to speak 53. Hiding place 54. Garden pest 55. Handle rudely 56. Hurry up 57. Currency of Bangladesh 58. Leg joint 60. Alternative to plastic 63. Feature of the top of Mt. Everest 66. Swindle 67. Nonchalant 68. “Stop!,” at a checkpoint 70. Gp. with Indonesia and Algeria as members 72. Chinese currency 73. European erupter
75. The right way 77. Makes foolish 80. New newts 82. Reflection of sound 84. Wahine accessory 87. Frolics 88. Large group 89. Desire 90. Semicircle 91. ___ Strip 92. Pink-slipped 93. Indian lodging (var) 95. Nozzle 97. Lady described 102. Desert bloomers 104. Migrator 105. Film-maker, Jean-Luc 107. Prosperity
109. Treat with element 53 110. Large-horned mammals 112. Samurai’s sash 113. Pinger 115. African pen 117. Strength 119. Current measures 121. Units in physics 122. Torn 124. Italian wine center 125. Army rank, for short 126. “Long, long time ___” 127. Specifying article 128. Bag 129. “___ Hard” Willis film 130. Typographer’s concern
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Heard on the Hill
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by Jen DeMayo
here is a commonly quoted ancient United Methodist, Christ curse that may or may not be ChiChurch Washington Parnese (or Scottish?) and may or may ish, Hill Havurah, Church not be ancient. “May you live in inof Jesus Christ of Latter Day teresting times,” it warns. I’m not Saints, Lutheran Church sure which one of us opened this particular forof the Reformation, and St. tune cookie, but the times we are living now are Mark’s Episcopal Church. certainly among the most interesting I can recall. What began as an idea Many of us here on the Hill, and from the over the summer quickly view from my Facebook page many on planet became an all-out effort led Earth, are experiencing interesting times. While by coordinators Kathryn Tothe majority of my neighbors may be questionbias, representing the Luing their political beliefs, climate change, or retheran Church of the Refcent “Bachelor” outcomes, we are mostly safe from ormation, Karen Getman some of the most interesting or horrifying things of St. Mark’s, and Brendan happening today. Danaher from Capitol Hill The devastating violence in Syria has resulted United Methodist Church. in the largest refugee crisis since World War II. The The Lutheran Immigration Some of the Capitol Hill Good Neighbors pose after readying a home to recent attempt by the part-time White House resand Refugee Service is one welcome a refugee familyfrom Afghanistan. ident to ban people fleeing the cruelties and horof the receiving organizarors inflicted by their own government has pleased tions for those who come the change in administrations, and it seems their some supporters but has outraged many. to the United States without a sponsor or family concerns were legitimate. The United States has member. The family (who wishes to not be identified) been resettling refugees from The Capitol Hill group, consists of a young married couple who are parents many different countries, and who dubbed their efforts to a five-year-old girl and a two-year-old boy. They those who work with refugees the Good Neighbor Project, have settled in a Prince George’s County town. are unsure what will happen worked with the local affiliThe five-year-old has started school and reportednext. A local consortium of ate, Lutheran Social Services ly loves it! Capitol Hill-based congregaof the National Capitol Area. Both parents are enrolled in ESL classes, tions has been collaborating They received training on though they each used English professionally in to support a refugee family reworking with refugee populaKabul. The husband assisted US forces on the cently arrived from Afghanitions with the goal to get the ground and due to his involvement became a tarstan. The idea to assist with newcomers independent as get. The family left behind everything and everythe resettlement of a famiquickly as possible. They orgaone they knew for the chance of a better, safer life ly surfaced during one of the nized teams focusing on houshere. According to Danaher, “He has already sacregular discussions among ing, furnishings, employment, rificed more for the United States than most Amerleaders of the Hill’s faith comand healthcare. icans do.” munities and quickly became The family arrived from The organizers commented on the tremena shared project uniting seven Afghanistan in mid-January, dous outpouring of contributions for the famcongregations. just three days before the curily from Hill residents and those in the Prince The volunteers came rent president took office. The A self-portrait by a five-year-old George’s community. There are a few other reffrom Capitol Hill PresbyteGood Neighbors were anxious illustrating her feelings about her ugee families in the daughter’s new school, and new home. rian Church, Capitol Hill for the family to arrive before
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Geoff Merrill of Schlep It and Mark Lilly with The Farm Bus.
they are slowly becoming acclimated. They have had many play dates, trips to museums, home dinners, and other forms of hospitality. The Good Neighbors has readied two other homes for refugee families, but they are taking this moment to breathe and reflect. Many of the volunteers are enjoying friendships made during this process and are pondering next steps. This article will have gone to press before the latest Executive Order will have been issued, so it is anyone’s guess as to what is next for this group and the refugees they seek to help. The Good Neighbors group has reached its capacity for accommodating volunteers and donations. If this story has inspired you, you can reach out to Lutheran Social Services of the National Capitol Region, www. lssnca.org, and learn how you can become a volunteer. These times are not going to be less interesting anytime soon, so your help will be appreciated.
Veggies Delivered to Your Door … by Trike Yiddishisms pepper our language with perfectly evocative words. Kvetch. Chutzpah. Shlemiel. The act of speaking them gives me great joy, and I am not alone. One of my favorites is schlep, which
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refers to the drudgery involved in hauling things from one place to another. No one talks about schlepping a lovely bouquet of flowers or an ice cream cone. We are more likely to schlep things like groceries, hockey equipment, and worst of all, laundry. Local entrepreneur Geoff Merrill has adopted this most-perfect word and is ready to help businesses outsource the schlepping with climate- and traffic-friendly, electric-assist cargo tricycles. Schlep CitySmart Logistics (www.schlep-it.com) is about to hit the roads to help companies and individuals move their stuff around efficiently. Electric assist cargo bikes are in use in Germany and The Netherlands and have been popping up in Boston and of course Portland. Merrill had four trikes made and is looking for ways to help people move stuff from one place to another easily and without negatively impacting traffic or the environment. Merrill has partnered with Mark Lilly, who made a name for himself in sustainable agriculture circles. Several years ago he had the inspired idea to take on old school bus and fill it with vegetables and bring fresh local produce to people where they live rather than the opposite concept. The Farm Bus became a talked-about idea in sus-
tainable agriculture circles, and he had his Warholian 15 minutes of fame appearing on Rachel Ray, the BBC, and in other media. Lilly has run a CSA for the Capitol Hill neighborhood for several years. CSA stands for community supported agriculture. In a traditional CSA participants give a farmer a certain amount of money to purchase a share at the beginning of a growing season. They receive weekly deliveries or more likely they pick up the goods at a delivery spot. If the deer eat the tomatoes, no one gets tomatoes. Such is the life of the farmer. Lilly runs his CSA differently, spreading the risk and the rewards. He sources produce, baked goods, meats, and dairy from farms around the Richmond area and brings them to the Hill. He was offering delivery by truck last year, which was a challenge. Parking and traffic can sometimes make you want to just go home and order pizza. Enter Merrill’s trikes! This season the CSA delivery will be done via trikes and will, it is hoped, reduce the woes and aggravation of getting around the city. Both men envision using the cargo unit as an advertising platform. Currently it advertises the CSA, and we watched several people stop and snap photos when they saw it parked at Eastern Market. The flashy green bows Lilly has fashioned to the back of the vehicle certainly helped. There is still time to sign up and start receiving fresh local food right at your door. Learn more at www.thefarmbus.csaware.com. The spring/ summer CSA season begins on March 28 and runs for 24 weeks. Participants can choose a weekly or biweekly delivery. There will still be a pickup option for those who prefer the communal experience. But that option will, of course, require some schlepping. Jen DeMayo has been a waitress, an actor, and a puppeteer. She worked for many years for the Atlas Performing Arts Center, which has resulted in her being a relentless H Street booster/streetcar apologist. Originally from the New York-New Jersey area, she is one of the many who whine endlessly about DC’s lack of good bagels and pizza. She is mom to two boys who attend DCPS (off the Hill). No matter what she may end up accomplishing in her life, she is sure that her obituary headline will say she was the founder of Moms on the Hill. Contact Jen atjendemayo@gmail.com. u
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Volunteering in the Hill Chiarina Brings Music to Life
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by Quentin Wodon
n Feb. 18 my wife and Center of Greater Washington. The I attended a wonderfinale for the 2016-17 season, “Intiful concert by Chimacy and Brilliance,” will take place arina at St. Mark’s on April 1 at 8 p.m. in the GaithersEpiscopal Church. burg Arts Barn, with a Capitol Hill “Voyages in Song” featured voice and performance on April 2 at 7:30 p.m. piano, cello and piano, and all three at St. Mark’s. The performance will together. Soprano Laura Strickling, feature Dvorak’s Piano Quintet coucellist Carrie Bean Stute, and piapled with Rebecca Clarke’s duo sonist Efi Hackmey performed works by nata. Along with Stute and Hackmey, Robert and Clara Schumann, FredDomenic Salerni and Derek Powell eric Chopin, and Andre Previn. The will play the violin and Arthur Dibconcert was well attended and amazble will play the viola. ingly affordable. The regular price I met Stute in February when of a ticket for the concert was only she came to the Rotary Club in Cap$15 through Eventbrite. Wine and itol Hill to share her thoughts about other refreshments were offered at the future of classical music. She exthe intermission. plained a number of ways in which In past installments in this series musicians are bringing classical muon volunteering in the Hill I have emsic to new audiences across the counphasized volunteer opportunities with try. Initiatives range from playing for various organizations. While there schools to organizing concerts in unare ways to volunteer with Chiarina, I usual venues. During her visit she Carrie Bean Stute would like to celebrate the great cast played a few short pieces for us, to our of musicians who play for the ensemgreat enjoyment. Several club memble, and the work of the two artistic bers told me afterwards how much directors, Carrie Bean Stute and Efi Hackmey, who volunteer their they had enjoyed the experience. When Stute told us about her time and talent to run the organization. upcoming concert in St. Mark’s, several of us made sure we would Stute and Hackmey founded Chiarina Chamber Players in attend. We all recommend attending a Chiarina concert. 2015 to bring high-quality chamber music to Capitol Hill and There are various ways to volunteer with Chiarina and supMontgomery County. The group’s mission is to make live perforport the organization. You can contact Stute and Hackmey through mances of masterpieces accessible to the community at large and Chiarina’s website. Their initiative is a wonderful way to bring clasto connect with audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Chiarina sical music to life on Capitol Hill. was the nickname of Robert Schumann’s pianist-composer wife Quentin Wodon is president of the Rotary Club of Capitol Hill, which Clara. The ensemble recently received two grants from the Capimeets every second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 7:30 a.m. at tol Hill Community Foundation for their work in bringing classithe Dubliner on F Street. To contact Quentin, or to learn more about cal music to life. the Rotary Club of Capitol Hill Pro Bono Initiative, please send him an This is the second season for the ensemble, with five programs email through the Contact Me page of his blog at www.rotarianeconoat nine concerts. Past performances this season were held at the Hill mist.com. u Center, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, and the Jewish Community
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Separate and Unequal Education in 19th Century DC Schools
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he road to the integrated school system that exists today in the District of Columbia has its roots at the beginning of the 19th century when, in 1804, an Act of Congress established a permanent institution for the education of the youth of the city of Washington. The Act did not include African American children, but its passage served as the impetus for the establishment African American “schools” starting around 1807, many of which were located in African American churches. It was from these beginnings that the current educational system evolved. For the first half of the century progress was slow and setbacks were frequent. This was a time when the prevailing attitude of many whites was that an educated slave population was a threat to authority and civil stability. There were those who used incidents such as the Nat Turner Slave Rebellion of 1831 and the related “Snow Riots” of August 1835) as reason to disrupt the strides being made. Intimidation and outright property destruction were used to stymie the advancements in African American education. In 1851, the first official school for African Americans was established using private funds from the likes of Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, a prominent Quaker, as well as his cousin and author Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Dr. Gamaliel Bailey, editor of the abolitionist newspaper The National Era. Named the Normal School for Colored Girls (later, the Miner Normal School and subsequently Miner Teachers College), it was founded by Myrtilla Miner, a white pioneer of African American education. Her goal was to create a model teaching facility for blacks; the school is today considered to be a predecessor of the University of the District of Columbia. Although the school’s curriculum included history, philosophy, geography, literature, and astronomy along with classes in domestic skills, hygiene, and a science --- it quickly developed into a training ground for future teachers. In fact, for almost a century through various name changes, Miner educated the majority of African American
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by Nina Tristani elementary school teachers employed by the D.C. schools. That was significant because the face of education in the District was undergoing a major change as a result of emancipation. The enactment of the DC Emancipation Act in April 1862 lead to the passage of a law titled: An Act providing for the education of colored children in the cities of Washington and Georgetown, District of Columbia and for other purposes. A separate board of trustees for black schools worked parallel to the board of trustees for white schools. With the onset of mandatory education for all children of school age, that same year Mayor Richard Wallach moved to obtain funding for the construction of a series of new school buildings throughout the community. This was quickly followed by a restructuring of the school system that by 1864 saw the introduction of a graded system that was introduced as well as high schools and teaching schools. Legislation also provided for a more equal distribution of funding for white and black schools. On March 1, 1864, the first publicly funded free school for African American children opened in Little Ebenezer Methodist Church on Fourth Street, SE a block south of Seward Square on Capitol Hill (the church is still operating at that location.) It was run by Emma V. Brown, a young African American from Georgetown who studied under Myrtilla Miner at the Normal School for Colored Girls. With assistance from Frances W. Perkins who had been sent from Connecticut by the New England Freedmen’s Aid Society of Boston, she undertook the task of teaching 40 African American students of all ages in the one-room facility at the church. But interest and demand in the school was overwhelming and enrollment soon grew to over 100, far more than could be accommodated at Little Ebenezer. Recognizing the burgeoning demand for education in the African American community, Francis Perkins undertook the task of raising funds from her contacts back in New England and elsewhere. Primary to this undertaking was a $1,000 donation from a patron she knew from Connecticut, which
led to the purchase of a lot on C Street, SE between 2nd and 3rd Streets where a twostory structure comprised of two teaching rooms on each floor was ultimateThaddeus Stevens, 1792-1868 ly constructed in the winter of 1864. The school was named Lincoln and functioned as the primary publically-funded learning facility on Capitol Hill for African American children until 1871, when it was replaced by a brick school about four times the size. The Lincoln School Myrtilla was not the only school for AfMiner rican American children in the District of Columbia (although it did also service as the administrative headquarters for the DC Superintendent of Black Schools). After the 1862 Act that provided for the development of African American schools, additional legislation allowed a more fair distribution of funds between segregated schools. But integration as a result of the 1954 ruling Brown v. Board of Education (and in the District, the lesser known but equally important 1953 ruling in District of Columbia v. John R. Thompson Co., Inc.) was a long way off. For the remainder of the 19th century, segregated schools remained the norm, although important African American institutions continued to be built during this time including: John F. Cook School (1867), Stevens School (1868) and what many considered to be the crowning glory of black schools at the time, Sumner School (1871-72.)
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Washington, D.C. public schools - Normal School class examining flowers
John F. Cook, Jr. erected a school for black children in 1867 and named it after his father, the late John F. Cook. A lifelong educator, Cook was also on the board of trustees and executive committee for Howard University (1875-1910) and served on the District’s Board of Education (1906-1910). The school is located at 30 P Street, NW. The Thaddeus Stevens School is a historic African American school located at 1050 21st Street, N.W. An addition was built in 1885 and it was partially rebuilt and enlarged again in 1895-96. A pioneering school for African-Americans, it was named for Thaddeus Stevens, the Radical Republican abolitionist congressman from Pennsylvania. The Preparatory High School for Negro Youth was originally housed in the basement of 101 N Street, NW, home of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church and then was housed in the Stevens School after it was founded in 1871. The speaker for its first graduating class was Fredrick Douglas. It later moved and became the M Street High School and ultimately Dunbar High School. The building was listed in the District of Columbia
634 G Street SE, Suite 200 | Washington DC 20003 (202) 536-5650 • Fax: (202) 315-3515 www.lootslaw.com
Inventory of Historic Sites in 1972 and then on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. The Charles Sumner School (17th and M Streets, NW) was constructed in 1872 and named for US Senator Charles Sumner, a major figure in the fight for abolition of slavery and the establishment of equal rights for African Americans, it was one of the first public school buildings erected for the education of Washington’s black community. Charles Sumner fought for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, the creation of a Freedman’s Bureau, the admission of testimony from African Americans in the proceedings of the US Supreme Court, pay for black soldiers equal to that of whites, and the right of African Americans to use streetcars in the District of Columbia. These groundbreaking institutions, along with others that came to be in the District as the result of growing needs during the latter part of the 19th century, each have their own rich history. They are the outgrowth of visionaries who recognized the importance of quality education for all, and served as forerunners to today’s educational system. u
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H Street Life
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by Elise Bernard
pring is nearly upon us, trees are budding, shoots are poking their heads up, and local gardeners are already hearing the siren song of soil and seeds. Whether your thumb is green or decidedly brown, the warmer weather’s a great excuse to get out and explore the neighborhood.
nals.com/washington/news/2017/02/16/twoboots-bailing-on-d-c-cava-for-capitol.html) that the chain simply has too much on its plate at the moment to focus on a DC location, but expressed interest in opening an H Street NE shop in the future.
Whole Foods Sets Up Shop
Mediterranean restaurant Sospeso (www.sospesodc.com) opened its doors last month at 1344 H St. NE. Stop by for breakfast and try the fried egg and capicola sandwich with provolone, garlicky toum, and arugula served on warm focaccia bread ($7), or enjoy the simit, a sesameseed-encrusted Turkish bread ring ($1.50). The coffee bar is open all day, with hot chocolate or chai tea for those who eschew espresso drinks. Lunch options include Ras el Hanout soup with cauliflower, potato, tomato, ginger, rose, and cayenne ($8), and mercimekli kofte, a dish of lentil and bulgur fingerlings served on a bed of greens with a lemon wedge ($6). Other options are a couple of light salads and ciabatta sandwiches served with herb salads, among them the vegetarian open-faced sebze with hummus, olive tapenade, fried roasted red pepper, and arugula ($13), and the grilled chicken breast with sumac onions, arugula, and saffron aioli ($13). At dinner you might dine on moussaka (layers of ground beef, potato, and eggplant with a bechamel sauce, $16) or a roasted leg of chicken with toasted faro, sauteed greens, gremolata, and preserved lemon ($22). I suggest ordering the fabulous grilled octopus served on a warm potato salad with sumac onions as an appetizer ($13). Sospeso boasts a full bar with an impressive lineup of amaro, for those with a taste for the bitter or herbal. The wines hail from southern Italy, Greece, Lebanon, and the Balkans, with many selections available by the glass. The draft beers are mostly local, with the bottled selections from further afield. The specialty cocktails ($11) will please those who like to keep it simple, as well
The long-awaited Whole Foods Market (600 H St. NE, www.wholefoodsmarket.com) will welcome its first customers on March 15. The 40,000 square-foot store will offer much of interest to local shoppers. One highlight is a new and expanded version of Paper Horse from Chef Erik Bruner-Yang of Maketto (1351 H St. NE, http://maketto1351.com). This Paper Horse location will introduce a larger, Chinese dinerstyle menu that will feature Asian comfort foods. Whole Foods Market plans to collaborate with local beer maker Atlas Brew Works (2052 West Virginia Ave. NE, www.atlasbrewworks.com), including a first-to-market Home Rule brew and fresh-baked breads made from the brewer’s recycled grains. Shoppers will also find exclusive local products such as sauces and spice blends from Maketto, sauces from Cava, and vegan “pork rinds” from District-based Snacklins. There’s also an outdoor patio and a mezzanine pub with 16 local beers on tap, wine by the glass, and a gourmet hotdog cart. Whole Foods Market invites community members to celebrate its grand opening with a bread-breaking ceremony at 8:45 a.m. on March 15, accompanied by door-buster deals and product demonstrations and samples.
Two Boots Steps away from H Street NE Location (for Now) The New York-based restaurant Two Boots (http://twoboots.com), known for its funky pizzas and po’boys, was slated to sling pies out of 1025 H St. NE but has now canceled plans for an H Street location. The owner told a Washington Business Journal reporter (www.bizjour-
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Sospeso Offers Coffee & Mediterranean Fare
The grilled octopus appetizer thrills at Sospeso. Sospeso’s bar buzzes with patrons during a soft opening.
Strawberries grow in a Cultivate the City VEG tower.
as drinkers who search out new experiences. The signature drink, the Sicilian Mourner, includes squid ink among its ingredients. Sospeso is equipped to serve your younger dining companions. It offers highchairs and can accommodate the sometimes fickle palates of younger eaters. Sospeso opens early (7 a.m.) and closes late (midnight, Sunday; 2 a.m., Monday through Thursday; and 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday), making it a perfect go-to spot when plans are fluid.
Get Growing with Cultivate the City & W.S. Jenks & Son Hardware As the days lengthen and the temperatures rise, the urge to have a little fun in the garden can become irresistible. Luckily, W.S. Jenks & Son Hardware (910 Bladensburg Road NE, www.wsjenks.com) has everything you need to get started. They’ve got plenty of garden soil, mulch, and tools as well as seeds and plants from Cultivate the
City (www.cultivatethecity. com), a local enterprise focused on sustainable farming practices emphasizing vertical growing techniques. Cultivate the City works with local schools and communities to increase awareness about urban agriculture and methods for raising food even in small spaces. It sells equipment for those interested in doing a little gardening of their own, be it vertical or a more traditional format. Enjoy fresh produce, but don’t enjoy digging in the dirt? Consider supporting Cultivate’s efforts by signing up for their community supported agriculture (CSA) offerings.
Ben’s Upstairs Launches a Book Club Ben’s Upstairs (1001 H St. NE, Second Floor, http://bensupstairs. com), which serves a menu drawing on both Southern and Caribbean influences, recently launched a book club. The first selection is “The Family Tree: A Lynching in Georgia, a Legacy of Secrets, and My Search for the Truth” by local author, and veteran journalist, Karen Branan (www.karenbranan. com). The Washington Post called the book the story of a “family secret that leads to revelations of racial brutality.” The new club will meet on March 4 and 18 to discuss this book. Contact the restaurant for meeting times.
Whole Foods Opens on H Street NE By David Hoffman
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t’s been many months in the making, as onlookers could only gawk through open windows into a vast empty space. At last, the latest DC Whole Foods Market opens with a flourish of community engagement and the heady aroma of scratch-baked bread, in a traditional bread-breaking ceremony on March 15. “We’re thrilled to join the thriving H Street neighborhood,” says the store’s team leader, Donovan Morris, a 26-year Whole Foods Market veteran. “We’re offering a unique, exciting grocery shopping experience and a new destination for fast casual dining with gathering places for the community,” he declares at the store’s site, which anchors the intersection of Sixth and H streets NE, at one corner of the sprawling Apollo retail and residential project, once the spot of a longtime H Street fixture, Murry’s grocery store. Each Whole Foods Market (Continued on page 107
For more on what’s abuzz on and around H Street NE you can visit my blog at http://frozentropics.blogspot. com. You can send me tips or questions at elise.bernard@gmail.com. u
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Always Fighting, Never Losing
Aquarius Vann-Ghasri’s Tenacity Drives Her Vision for Potomac Gardens Family by Christine Rushton
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eering out of the fifth-floor window of Potomac Gardens Family, Building 700, Aquarius Vann-Ghasri takes in the neighborhood she has called her home for more than 20 years. She sits at a cafe-style table positioned under a window without shades. Shades attract bugs and rodents, she said. The glass remains closed despite the palpably warm temperature in her apartment. She used to open the windows to keep fresh, dust-free air circulating, but her doctor told her that now that she has turned 60, the cold air could hurt her health. Looking through the glass, Vann-Ghasri points to a new condominium building just below hers at 1211 G St. SE. She doesn’t say much but recognizes the development surrounding her public housing complex at 1225 G St. SE as a change for the community within and outside of the Potomac Gardens fences. But for her, the fight for a better life begins within the complex. Vann-Ghasri is in her second three-year term as president of the Potomac Gardens Family Resident Council and her 11th year as a family commissioner on the DC Housing Authority (DCHA) Board of Commissioners. She previously served on the executive board of the DCHA Citywide Advisory Board. She earned her degree in urban studies and social planning from the former Antioch School of Law (now the David A. Clarke School of Law at the University of the District of Columbia), and she uses her knowledge and experience to help the residents she calls her neighbors at Potomac Gardens. “I live among the people I serve,” Vann-Ghasri said. “And housing is my passion.” When she first ran for the president’s position in 2011, she made it her mission to reach as many residents as possible with her vision, and she still does. She walks around the buildings, enlists the help of her young neighbors, and posts fliers on tutoring sessions and community meetings. As president she has helped organize at least two recreational bus trips, a high school graduates incentive program, and a Toddlers in the Rec program. She has helped get at least 90 units repainted, brought in landscaping, and found funding for the new playground and a computer lab. From the toddlers program to working with the senior residents, she includes everyone that she can in community projects.
Spreading Out Her Wealth of Knowledge Stacks of books, files, and policy papers on urban development and
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Aquarius Vann-Ghasi
the housing authority line Vann-Ghasri’s apartment walls from the floor up. Papers lie scattered on the tables and in piles around the room. When she’s studying a policy or trying to plan her campaigns for the residents, she likes to spread out all of her resources in front of her. “I had a vision,” she said of when she first campaigned for the position as president of the Resident Council. “My vision was breaking barriers through policy.” Vann-Ghasri knows policy. She knows what works to implement it: organizing. She learned some of that in her studies and work with AmeriCorps Vista, but Chinatown in DC introduced her to the power of organizing. A native of the city, she grew up at 730 Sixth St. NW; it’s now a parking lot. Most of the residents were low-income, she said. She grew up in the “ghetto” alongside a mix of cultures from Chinese to black families. “Even if you have a language barrier, you have common values,” she said. Chinatown business owners and families organized for many reasons, like running their family-oriented businesses.
It masked the image of living in poverty. “We never knew we were poor until we moved out of Chinatown and moved into environments like this,” she said. When she moved from Terrell Junior High School (closed in 2014) to Dunbar High School (101 N St. NW) and eventually to college, she started to learn the power of bringing people together. “Every organization, every group, every neighborhood needs some type of structure to operate,” she explained. That gives them a voice and a vision for growing and moving forward. Since becoming president of the Resident Council she has used her knowledge on urban strategies and planning for programs within Potomac Gardens. But she faces a constant challenge. Can she get her residents to care, turn up for meetings, and get on board with her ideas?
Getting Residents to Buy In Every time a resident in Potomac Gardens Family uses the CSC ServiceWorks laundry room machines, the money goes into a fund available to the residents.
Vann-Ghasri had an idea, when she started as president six years ago, to use that monthly check for the Graduates Program budget. The Graduates Program gives students in the complex who graduate from high school or college around $100 as an incentive reward. The money comes from the laundry check because it’s the easiest to access, Vann-Ghasri explained. If she wanted federal funds, she would have to undergo a lengthy application and approval process. This way, she knows she can support the program with a consistent revenue source. But only if residents understand they must wash in the laundry room to support the funds, she cautioned. While touring her building later, Vann-Ghasri came across several residents. She made a point of asking them if they planned on attending the upcoming residents meeting (getting on their cases if they said they weren’t sure). She stands with an imposing height, and her strong voice and personality demand that listeners keep up with her ever-moving agenda. “I’m rude,” she admitted. “But there’s a difference between being rude and disrespectful. Now, I’m not disrespectful.” It’s this intense character and wide knowledge on leading an urban community that can prevent other residents from seeing her vision and how it can help them, though, said her friend, former colleague on the Resident Council, and longtime Potomac Gardens resident Thomasia Moore. “She fights for us, she does,” Moore said. “She loves what she does so much to the point that it rubs on people the wrong way.” Vann-Ghasri has a fiery passion for the residents and for developing the programs she knows can help them, Moore said. But sometimes it seems not everyone in the community cares,
or feels too defeated to understand how her efforts make a difference in the long term, Moore explained. “She has a nice attendance [at the meetings], but she speaks and wears a lot of hats,” she said. “She speaks as the president, the commissioner, as someone who wants no one to get left behind.” The policies that she tries to explain to the residents also can come off as too complex, she said. Her intensity can rise during meetings as she paces the floor and lays out her agenda. It can intimidate some. “When she doesn’t get understanding from residents, that’s maybe when her rudeness comes in,” Moore said. “People here don’t ask questions.” She wouldn’t give Vann-Ghasri up for anything, though. She has given Potomac Gardens strong leadership despite a disjointed sense of values across the community. “I hope she doesn’t give up,” Moore said. “She’s still serving the community in that same vein as when she started.”
The Coming Years “Winning is learning, you never lose” is Vann-Ghazi’s mantra. She is preparing to run again as president on the Resident Council, and soon after, will run again for her position as a DCHA board commissioner. When she walks around the grounds, she stops, hugs, and shakes hands with nearly every neighbor she comes across. She takes pride in watching the children in the Potomac Gardens youth drum corps practice in the courtyard. She laughs and smiles because she loves her resident family and gets to live the life she wants. “I’m an advocate for those who suffer from the disease of social injustice,” she said. “I have a passion for educating, informing, coaching, and training. And I’m having fun.” u
(Continued from page 105) store is shaped to “fit” its community, explains Michelle Tafazoli, DC-based specialist in marketing and community relations. This one reaches out to the rapidly changing local community east of the Capitol. “I’m the boots on the ground,” Tafazoli, declares, with assurance based on over two years of such efforts for other stores in the DC area. She emphasizes that all Whole Foods Market stores focus on a commitment to high-quality products and transparency in labeling. They offer meats and poultry, for example, that are third-party audited for animal welfare such as free-range livestock and cage-free hens. Each store is designed also to reflect the community with a focus on a local, “locavore” style. Tafazoli’s colleague in community relations, Todd Schrecengost became involved with Whole Foods Market following work with urban agriculture and as a volunteer with the Anacostia Riverkeeper. He says that Whole Foods Market donates to groups like City Dogs Rescue and the Atlas Performing Arts Center, as well as offering help to local public and charter schools through the Whole Kids Foundation to promote garden plots for raising produce for school salad bars. Even so, a Whole Foods Market store makes a large footprint, and sometimes mom-and-pop store owners wince at the arrival of a bigbox competitor. The new store is also a harbinger of further gentrifi-
cation along the so-called Atlas arts corridor of H Street NE, where streetcars whisking silently past the many stores and restaurants add a trendy European touch. Today’s new store welcomes pedestrians and bicyclists, says Tafazoli. Locals may be equally interested in the 160 underground parking spots that the store boasts. The 40-000 square-foot store includes a new Paper Horse venue from Chef Erik Bruner-Yang, featuring a Chinese diner-style menu and Asian comfort foods. In collaboration with DC’s first all-solar brewer, Atlas Brew Works, the store offers a new Home Rule brew and uses recycled brewer’s grain for baked-fromscratch breads. A mezzanine pub features 16 local beers on tap, wine by the glass, and a gourmet hot-dog cart. Local products include items from Cava and Maketto, and DCbased Snacklins (vegan pork-rinds). The store’s 150 team members include butchers and bakers, but no candlestick makers, yet. There are fishmongers, however, and a team of chefs. Whole Foods Market invites residents to attend the opening event, at 8:45 a.m. on March 15, for the bread-breaking ceremony and an array of door-buster deals, product demos, and free samples. The new store is at 600 H St. NE. David Hoffman is a freelance writer who lives and works a block from the new Whole Foods Market store. He is vice president for programs at the Woman’s National Democratic Club. u
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Cheering Public Servants
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by Carol Anderson hat’s me!” shouted Officer David Naples. The occasion was the 18th Annual Police Valentine Tribute. They and other police officers at the First District Sub-station in SE were hooting and laughing at hearing their names in a song in their honor. The tribute is a favorite tradition of 1D1 officers. Each February, members of Capitol Hill United Methodist Church and Ebenezer United Methodist Church join with other community leaders to thank their neighborhood police for dedicated service to the community. Besides hearing themselves extolled in song, the officers get a kick out of receiving valentines from church kids and having heart stickers and gag gifts put on them. They also receive hot food, on-the-go snacks, and Joanne Buford’s homemade soup. “Ms. Buford’s soup is legendary,” said Assistant Chief Diane Groomes, a veteran guest and honoree of the event. Capitol Hill UMC’s Sarah Price led the kids in presenting their giant valentines to the police. Then Price and other parents helped them adorn the officers with heart leis, head hearts, flag fans and other regalia. The lighthearted event belies the more serious purpose behind the festivities. Other
American cities have convulsed with tense exchanges between citizens and law enforcement. Many Capitol Hill residents hope their city can avoid First District Commander Morgan C. Kane (third from left) holds valentines tributes along that fate by deepwith fellow police officers and children from nearby congregations. Photo: Jesse Palatucci ening connections between beautiful,”said Kane. “It warmed my heart to see our residents and police. citizens honoring our officers this way. And my son A new honoree this year was First District really enjoyed it as well,” she added. Commander Morgan C. Kane, who assumed that Another new honoree was the new head of post in August. On the job for 18 years, Command1D1, Capt ain er Kane began her career patrolling the streets of John Knutsen. the First District, which encompasses all of Capitol Church members Hill. A song congratulating her on her new appointchanted a cheer in ment, “Happy Days for Commander Kane,” was his honor, forgivsung to the tune of “Happy Days Are Here Again.” ing the New York Knowing there would be other children present, the native for, among Commander brought her two-year-old son, Cooper. other things, being “This was my first time experiencing the tribute for a lifelong Giants our hard-working officers here in 1D, and it was fan. “I feel so honored to have been a part of this event. It exceeded any exOfficer David Naples
Officer Katherine Lieto with Joanne Buford.
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Sgt. Anthony Minor has some soup. Photo: Joanne Buford.
Officer Zar Min. Photo: Joanne Buford.
(L-R) Carol Werner, Keri Maloney and Kelly DeLoach. Photo: Jesse Palatucci.
pectations I had. The level of effort and personalization was amazing. This event is a great affirmation of the community support for our officers,” said Knutsen. Attending from C o u n ci l m e m b e r Charles Allen’s office was his Chief Counsel, Nicole Opkins, also a fan of the event. This year she brought her seven-year-old daughter Tara. “Tara and I were proud to join our neighbors in recognizing the dedicated and hardworking men and women of the 1D1 – and police officers everywhere. Capitol Hill UMC always does a great job of putting together this festive event,” said Opkins. After the big group song, entitled “Keepers of the Peace,” featuring double solos, pulsating Adele music and a 30-person chorus, Capt. Knutsen said, “I hadn’t expected anything like this. Wow.” As residents poured out, the next shift of officers arrived. CHUMC member Joanne Buford, arriving late, was received like royalty. She personally served her famous soup. “I put some extra aside for Asst. Chief Groomes,” she said. Meanwhile, the church folk, still humming songs they knew would be intractable earworms, were already thinking ahead to next year. u
A Tribute to the Life of Karen Voellm
K
by Pattie Cinelli
aren Voellm has been in my life for almost four decades. She was one of the first people I met when I moved to Capitol Hill. We became friends and stayed friends. Just 10 days before her death we were talking about how my dog Marcello and I were going to visit her and her beloved companion, Scooter, in upstate New York in the spring. Our dogs were best of friends. Karen died February 16 at her home in Poestenkill, New York after a long illness. Karen moved back to her place of birth in 2012 to be near family. I believe though, that Capitol Hill was where she most felt at home. She moved to DC in 1974 with two young children in tow. It was here where she raised her kids, established roots, made friends and built her career. While Karen was working full time she also earned her Bachelor’s degree in Management Accounting. “She was always trying to help people,’ said Karen Saffron, a long-time friend. “When I first met her she was at AARP. She had a definite idea about what direction she was headed in and she stayed the course. I was so amazed that she could work, raise and support her kids alone and go to school full time. Many would have just given up. That says a lot about a person’s character. No matter what obstacle she came across, it wasn’t a stumbling block for her. She’d just go a different way.” Karen was unassuming and humble. She never looked for credit or recognition for the good things she did. When she saved Karen Saffron’s life by dislodging a carrot with her finger that had stuck in her throat obstructing her airway Karen calmly said, “I would suggest you not eat carrots again unless you cut them up first.” As a realtor for 16 years at Coldwell Banker Capitol Hill, she touched hundreds of people’s lives in ways she never imagined. Corey and Lillian Ruiz Ramsden were a young couple who had no idea what they were doing when they came to Karen to buy a house. “We only knew we wanted to live on Capitol Hill and raise our family,” Corey said. “She patiently showed us every house we wanted to see. Finally when we found the one that was perfect, we couldn’t pull the trigger because of this little worry or that little doubt. Karen said, ‘Don’t be stupid. Buy this house.’ We did. We stayed, and raised our family here. We love our neighborhood, our friends and our village and in no small way it started with Karen and her friendly but tough push.” I could always depend on Karen. She had a wealth of practical knowledge and a deep sense of right and wrong. She was always full of good advice, (sometimes not always appreciated).
Don Denton, the branch vice president at Coldwell Banker, remembers Karen as, “someone who I could go to for an honest and ‘to the point’ answer. She was a consummate team player. She was also important to me and to my family. I remember bringing my son to the office as an infant and she was always there to give that nurturing touch. She was also there to give me parenting advice. It was a real loss to us when she decided to return to her home in upstate New York.” Karen’s business partner, Wes Grooms, credits Karen for mentoring him and encouraging him to switch from his corporate job into a real estate career. She not only gave him the wisdom from her professional experience, but taught him life lessons. He recalls one in particular that reminded him of Karen’s wisdom and kindness. She was a fantastic cook. “It was one of those times I was over to dinner. We were chatting at the table. I was talking about a painful issue I had with a friend. Karen said, ‘You don’t always have to be right.’ She meant ‘right’ as in ‘correct’ with the other person being incorrect. She spoke from experience. Being ‘right’ often got in the way of a valued friendship. Karen helped a myriad of friends and family over the years, all with the desire to help them have a better life.” Karen’s cousin Chris Kirby expressed what I’m sure many of us feel. “We took different life paths, but always managed to circle back to each other. We loved and supported each other through thick and thin, boyfriends and husbands, divorce and widowhood. We loved each other and supported each other like sisters. I will truly miss her for the rest of my life.” Karen’s survivors include her daughter, Patricianne (Trish) Criscione, Poestenkill; her son Anthony (Tony) Voellm, Redmond, WA; three brothers, Frederick Voellm, Alexandria, VA; Eric Voellm, Coxacki, NY and Mark Voellm, Wynantskill, NY; three grandchildren, Alexis Criscione and Lillian and Julia Voellm as well as several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her sister, Lynn King. A memorial service for Karen will be held at St. Peter’s Catholic Church on 2nd Street, SE on Thursday, March 9 at 5pm. The celebration of Karen’s life will continue immediately following the service at Tunnicliffs Tavern at 222 7th Street, SE. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in memory of Karen to the American Heart Association, 4 Atrium Drive, #100, Albany, NY, 12205 or the American Lung Association, 418 Broadway, 1st floor, Albany, NY 12207. u
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NEW LISTING
536 14th Street SE
Sophisticated and sleek New Vision Properties’ 4 bdrm, 3.5 bath, exceptional design and exquisite finishes, parking and one block to metro. Call to see!
Dee Dee Branand
“At home on the Hill”
605 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003 Office: 202 547-3525 Cell: 202 369-7902 Email: dbranand@cbmove.com Web: www.deedeebranand.com
H y p e r L o c a l | hīpər
. lōk(ə)l |
Hyperlocal connotes information oriented around a well defined community with its primary focus directed toward the concerns of its residents. synonym:
HillRag.com
Daily online. Monthly in print.
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{real estate}
Real Estate Matters by Heather Schoell Cash or No, It’s Time to Buy When it comes to purchasing a home, you’ve got a number of things to consider – your cash on hand, access to credit, current interest rates, your five-year plan, and access to assistance programs if you need them. Saving up cash can be hard to do and it takes a long time, but it sure is rewarding to see your balance grow. The more you have, the better you might look to lenders. Saving shows financial stability and responsibility, which can translate to lenders as less of a risky investment than someone who has no cash on hand. Plus, the bigger your down payment on a mortgage, the better your offer will look when you’re bidding on a home. So, for example, if I’m looking at two offers on my client’s property, and all else being equal, I’d advise the seller to pick the buyer with a 25 percent down payment over the offer with only 3 percent down. That’s because the one with the higher down payment will be more likely to obtain the loan. Between the two, the buyer with the 3 percent may be more likely not to get that loan after all, and then my seller is out a buyer, the mortgage and operating costs will continue to carry, the number of days that the property is on the market will continue to build (making people wonder what’s wrong with it), and no one wants any of that. Look ahead when you’re making purchase plans because there are considerable closing costs to factor in every time you buy and sell. If there’s a chance that you’ll be relocated for your job, consider if you’ll want to sell or rent the property you’re going to purchase, and how marketable the home might be (steps from the Metro or downwind from the water treatment plant). If you
anticipate a life change (you and your partner are getting serious; you and your partner are throwing stuff at each other; or you want to take up canoe building after you retire next year), you may want to factor that in. Depending upon your financial situation, you may need down payment assistance, and at least as of the day I’m typing this, these programs still exist. I’m talking about programs such as DC Open Doors, Home Purchase Assistance Program (HPAP), and the Good Neighbor Next Door (GNND) program. You can check out DC’s Housing Finance Agency at www.dchfa.org for more information. Not
There are many free online one on dchfa.org, where you mortgage calculators, including the can read about assistance pro grams.
all lenders have access to all down payment assistance programs, so click on the Participating Lenders tab from the left menu. Different programs have different criteria (household income thresholds, for example). Don’t assume you make too much – they are surprisingly accessible. You might also look into these programs sooner than later, as we don’t know if they might be suspended (like cuts to FHA mort-
gage insurance rates) or suddenly disappear (like climate change data). As always: 1. Keep your eyes on your credit report (you can pull it for free), because the higher your credit rating, the better your chances to get the best interest rates. Some of the assistance programs have a credit rating threshold. 2. Shop around. Yes,
March 2017 H 111
you need banks to lend to you, but they need your patronage. Comparison shop for lenders, and don’t assume that the lowest interest rate equals the best deal. Google “lender comparison worksheet” to find a Federal Reserve publication to walk you through. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t feel like they’re not going to give you a loan if you’re asking too many questions. If they are finding it hard to provide transparency and understanding to your satisfaction, you might move on. 3. Stay well within your budget. House poor is not for people who don’t like constant financial worry and do enjoy the occasional dinner out. Don’t put yourself in a tight spot. Do you really need the cosmetic upgrades in your property purchase if you’re not rich as Roosevelt? No, you don’t. If you’re on a budget and you don’t like the backsplash or the floor tile or the non-stainless appliances, deal with it for now, and replace later when you’ve got some equity in the home. Living in a space before renovating can be beneficial. You get a chance to see what works for you in the home and what you might like to change.
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Bedroom vs. Den
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316 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Suite 402 Washington, DC 20003 www.tjcocpa.com
Sometimes you’ll see a listing that says the place is three bedrooms, but when you get there the third bedroom is pretty much the size of a crib. In the District a legal bedroom is a room with a door, a window, and a closet. If it doesn’t have two ways out (points of egress, if you want to talk fancy-like) and a closet, then it’s not a legal bedroom and may be referred to as a den. You’ll see this in a lot of condos on the Hill,
such as Jenkins Row, advertising a property as offering a “bedroom plus den,” which usually means there’s a room on the interior side of the property that doesn’t have a window. Note: the requirement that the bedroom have a closet is not true of all jurisdictions in the world. It can be really annoying when you go to an open house thinking you’re going to see an actual, “normal-sized” bedroom, but it’s not, and you leave disappointed and feeling like you’ve wasted your time. No one wants that! Agents are in a tough spot here because technically, if it is a legal bedroom, then it’s in our seller’s interest to advertise it as such. Maybe the perfect buyer for this property won’t care that the third bedroom is a little smaller than the others. But if we advertise it as a two bedroom, then it won’t come up in that buyer’s home search for a three-bedroom. They won’t see it listed, and that’s a missed opportunity for them and for the seller. This, my friends, is why I love for floorplans to be included in the listing. Then my seller’s property gets maximum exposure in searches, and buyers may not feel duped when they get there.
Questions? Email me a real estate-related question, and I’ll put it in next month’s issue. Please indicate if you wish your identity to remain a mystery. Heather Schoell is a Capitol Hill REALTOR with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices PenFed Realty and can be reached at heathersdc@ gmail.com, at the office at 202608-1880, or by cell at 202-3210874. ◆
Call Carolina Lopez 202-400-3503 or Carolina@hillrag.com for more information
PROUD TO BE AGENTS WITH THE #1 CENTURY 21 FIRM IN THE WORLD! Joan Carmichael Realtor 202.271.5198 joanvcarmichael@gmail.com Bridgette Cline Realtor 202.271.4196 bridgette.cline@c21nm.com FOR ALL YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS 1000 Pennsylvania Ave., SE Wash., DC 20003 office # 202-546-0055 March 2017 H 113
{real estate}
Changing Hands Changing hands is a list of most residential sales in the District of Columbia from the previous month. A feature of every issue, this list, based on the MRIS, is provided courtesy of Don Denton, manager of the Coldwell Banker office on Capitol Hill. The list includes address, sales price and number of bedrooms. neighBorhood
Price
Br
chiLLuM
fee siMPLe 16th street heights 1508 WEBSTER ST NW
anacostia
1413 RIDGE PL SE #1,2,3,4 2353 S ST SE 1900 Q ST SE 1909 FAIRLAWN AVE SE 2314 SHANNON PL SE 1816 MINNESOTA AVE SE
BLooMingdaLe 120 THOMAS ST NW
Brentwood 1350 ADAMS ST NE
Brightwood 6623 HARLAN PL NW 5819 7TH ST NW 6202 12TH ST NW 314 MADISON ST NW
BrookLand
1249 LAWRENCE ST NE 674 KENNETH STREET NE #813 1525 KEARNY ST NE 549 REGENT PL NE 1819 IRVING ST NE 924 UPSHUR ST NE 2630 10TH ST NE 4364 VARNUM PL NE 1232 HAMLIN ST NE 4410 7TH ST NE 138 WEBSTER ST NE 641 EMERSON ST NE
caPitoL hiLL
126 3RD ST SE 623 E ST SE 639 5TH ST NE 706 G ST SE 8061/2 E ST SE 641 MORTON PL NE 204 17TH ST NE 1230 DUNCAN PL NE 441 15TH ST NE 1519 NORTH CAROLINA AVE NE 1 GESSFORD CT SE 432 24TH ST NE 1318 NORTH CAROLINA AVE NE
cheVy chase
6003 34TH PL NW 7059 WYNDALE ST NW 3254 PATTERSON ST NW 3300 STUYVESANT PL NW 3278 ABERFOYLE PL NW 5333 42ND ST NW 5873 NEBRASKA AVE NW 3335 MILITARY RD NW 3617 JOCELYN ST NW 5320 CONNECTICUT AVE NW
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4233 JENIFER ST NW
$771,000
4
$445,000 $430,000 $390,000 $285,000 $213,500 $110,000
4 3 3 3 0 2
$1,171,250
4
$495,000
3
$904,500 $735,000 $410,000 $399,990
4 4 4 3
$1,139,990 $873,025 $850,000 $735,000 $522,500 $510,000 $497,000 $475,000 $465,000 $390,000 $326,400 $305,000
6 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 5 4 3 2
23 MADISON ST NW 38 KENNEDY ST NE 5500 1ST ST NE 5915 3RD ST NW 221 MISSOURI AVE NW
cLeVeLand Park 3429 34TH PL NW 3035 RODMAN ST NW
coLoniaL ViLLage 7606 16TH ST NW
coLuMBia heights 3321 16TH ST NW 1008 PARK RD NW 1334 IRVING ST NW 1312 GIRARD ST NW 435 PARK RD NW 1008 EUCLID ST NW 611 HARVARD ST NW 3220 PARK PL NW 1221 SHEPHERD ST NW 1052 QUEBEC PL NW 1010 SPRING RD NW 642 COLUMBIA RD NW 923 SHEPHERD ST NW 2625 SHERMAN AVE NW
congress heights 3330 10TH PL SE 346 RALEIGH ST SE 1252 BARNABY TER SE 858 YUMA ST SE 734 MISSISSIPPI AVE SE 422 ORANGE ST SE 3305 BROTHERS PL SE
deanwood $1,285,000 $1,100,000 $1,005,000 $802,500 $747,500 $725,000 $650,000 $645,000 $570,000 $474,500 $575,000 $585,000 $1,150,000
4 3 4 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 4
$1,135,000 $1,045,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 $985,000 $936,300 $920,000 $901,000 $881,000 $820,000
5 3 3 4 5 4 4 3 4 3
141 36TH ST NE 5007 AMES ST NE 4704 EADS ST NE 5419 E. CAPITOL ST SE 5302 CAPITOL ST NE 4914 AMES ST NE 839 50TH PL NE 520 49TH ST NE 124 56TH ST SE 4800 JAY ST NE 4247 CLAY ST NE 849 51ST ST NE 4231 CLAY ST NE 5053 SHERIFF NE 308 63RD ST NE
duPont circLe 1711 19TH ST NW
eckington
19 RHODE ISLAND AVE NE 22 SEATON PL NW 83 S ST NW 29 U ST NE 24 T ST NW
$650,000
3
$860,000 $640,000 $507,000 $450,000 $390,000
7 3 3 3 3
$1,900,000 $1,256,000
5 4
$818,000
6
$1,225,000 $1,169,000 $1,100,000 $899,000 $823,500 $780,000 $750,000 $745,000 $580,000 $569,900 $550,000 $540,000 $525,000 $520,000
5 6 4 3 5 3 3 4 3 3 4 4 3 3
$302,500 $295,000 $280,000 $250,000 $215,000 $207,000 $118,000
3 4 3 3 3 3 2
$399,999 $349,000 $324,500 $320,000 $318,000 $309,000 $285,250 $270,000 $265,000 $249,900 $200,000 $179,000 $160,000 $145,000 $132,000
8 3 3 5 3 3 2 3 3 2 3 2 2 3 3
$2,795,000
7
$915,000 $900,000 $879,000 $875,000 $753,500
4 4 4 4 4
73 FLORIDA AVE NW 53NE R ST NE
$690,000 $620,000
4 3
$425,000 $422,500 $361,000 $330,000 $308,160 $220,000 $172,500 $166,000
4 3 3 3 3 3 2 2
3294 ROBERT CLIFTON WEAVER WAY NE $517,000 3102 35TH ST NE $410,000
2 3
fort duPont Park 1125 44TH PL SE 1208 45TH PL SE 618 RIDGE RD SE 4218 FORT DUPONT TER SE 1539 FORT DUPONT ST SE 1107 44TH PL SE 812 BURNS ST SE 4208 HILDRETH ST SE
fort LincoLn
georgetown
3310 P ST NW 2816 O ST NW 2725 N ST NW 3258 O ST NW 1342 28TH ST NW 1413 29TH ST NW 2721 O ST NW 3639 SAINT MARYS PL NW 3134 O ST NW 3284 N ST NW 1414 29TH ST NW
gLoVer Park 2124 37TH ST NW
hiLL crest
2730 FORT BAKER DR SE 3117 W ST SE 1242 ANACOSTIA RD SE 1125 BRANCH AVE SE 1105 ANACOSTIA RD SE
kaLoraMa
1832 24TH ST NW 1928 BILTMORE ST NW 2515 CLIFFBOURNE PL NW
kent
$4,400,000 $3,900,000 $2,635,000 $2,630,000 $2,600,000 $1,975,000 $1,725,000 $1,615,000 $1,531,000 $1,460,000 $1,300,000
5 5 4 3 4 5 3 3 3 3 6
$750,000
6
$515,000 $366,000 $360,000 $317,000 $315,000
4 3 4 3 3
$5,500,000 $1,750,000 $1,400,000
4 6 6
LET US MAKE YOUR
HOME BLOSSOM! 5035 GARFIELD ST NW 5142 KLINGLE ST NW
$1,755,000 $1,208,000
Ledroit Park 229 RHODE ISLAND AVE NW 118 THOMAS ST NW
$815,000 $605,000
Marshall Heights 5461 CENTRAL AVE SE 5204 QUEENS STROLL PL SE
$250,000 $83,500
Michigan Park 1836 VARNUM ST NE 4131 18TH ST NE 4309 20TH ST NE
$685,000 $550,000 $446,250
Mount Pleasant 3213 ADAMS MILL RD NW 3339 18TH ST NW 1711 KENYON ST NW
$1,435,000 $950,000 $795,000
Mount Vernon 468 RIDGE ST NW
$795,000
North Cleveland Park 4318 36TH ST NW
$1,100,000
Old City #1 1440 A ST NE 1604 MASSACHUSETTS AVE SE 1334 CAPITOL ST NE 648 L ST NE 329 18TH ST NE 1173 ABBEY PL NE 426 K ST NE 333 17TH ST SE 729 18TH ST NE 1143 ABBEY PL NE 510 24TH ST NE 400 M ST NE 1607 D ST SE 1627 ROSEDALE ST NE 1110 3RD ST NE 1321 E ST NE 756 13TH ST SE 1637 KRAMER ST NE 924 15TH ST SE 116 17TH ST SE 1627 F ST NE 1621 ROSEDALE ST NE 1348 CONSTITUTION AVE NE
$1,150,000 $892,500 $890,000 $851,000 $785,000 $692,500 $665,000 $645,000 $634,000 $600,000 $599,000 $575,000 $560,000 $560,000 $555,000 $554,000 $549,999 $540,000 $525,000 $515,000 $500,000 $375,000 $620,000
Old City #2 1720 WILLARD ST NW 1737 CORCORAN ST NW 1531 KINGMAN PL NW 1430 FLORIDA AVE NW 201 BATES ST NW
$1,505,000 $1,270,000 $1,200,000 $939,000 $778,000
Park View 787 MORTON ST NW #H 787 MORTON ST NW #F
$1,125,000 $1,100,000
Petworth 5705 9TH ST NW 727 GALLATIN ST NW 820 DELAFIELD PL NW 402 EMERSON ST NW 436 EMERSON ST NW 5616 7TH ST NW 5507 8TH ST NW 504 BUCHANAN ST NW 4418 5TH ST NW
$780,000 $749,999 $742,500 $729,900 $725,000 $675,000 $649,900 $640,000 $600,000
5 5
LD S! SO AY D 6
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Just 2 blocks from Potomac Ave Metro and the renaissance of Penn. Ave. shops and cafes, standing tall alongside fellow Federal-front homes and sleek new loft condos. Classic foyer welcomes you to 2,000 sf of finished living space over 3 levels. Large wide-open living and dining, with exposed brick and oak floors, leads to an expanded, renovated kitchen. Just beyond, a low-maintenance deck and private parking garage!
742 13th St. SE $1,075,000 $85k ABOVE LIST! 5BR/3.5BA
LD S! SO AY D 7
1605 E. Capitol St. SE $949,000 4BR/3.5BA
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Capture your chance to call East Cap home! The latest transformation by Quest Home Builders delivers superior construction and attention to every detail. 3 levels, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths plus rear deck and private parking. Entirely rebuilt inside and out: new roof, structure, systems, plumbing, mechanicals, wiring, and windows. Fully finished lower level offers bonus living space - den/media room, bed, and full bath. All perfectly placed 3 blocks from both Lincoln Park and the Metro escalator.
4
5 3 2 4 3
1420 K St. SE 3BR/2BA $770,000
Perfectly positioned a short stroll from Metro, Groceries, Waterfront Trail, and Watkins Elementary, this fully-renovated Hill home is the GIANT you’ve been seeking! 3 Lvls, 20 feet of frontage, and 2700 sf of living space with WIDE open flow! Large renovated kitchen features copious cabinets and counters, plus French doors to your massive 200 sf deck perfect for grilling, dining, and entertaining.
2 2
4 4 3 3 4 3 4 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 4 3 3 3 2 4 2 2
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1605 H St. SE $949,000 4BR/3.5BA
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This exquisite Connell & Schmidt renovation offers thoughtful details in every corner. An enormous 5 BR/3.5 BA three story home OR owners’ residence UP with 2 BR/1BA DOWN – perfect for guests, full time rental, or Airbnb. But wait, there’s more! Two rear decks, a real back yard, and secure off-street driveway. The craftsmanship, finishes, and spacious interior make this home a stand out! Perfectly positioned steps from Metro and a short stroll from the restaurants, bars, and shops of Barracks Row and Pennsylvania Avenue.
1335 E St. SE $1,300,000 4BR/3.5BA
Prepare Yourself for ONE-OF-A-KIND! We know you’ve heard that label before, but come experience it for yourself! Nothing “flip” about this home - painstakingly prepared and executed over 18 months with innovative space plan, super-efficient new systems and mechanicals, best-in-class fixtures, and rich reclaimed materials and customcrafted textures at every turn! 2600 SF of Heart pine, mahogany, oak, marble, and more! Call for details.
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YOUR HOME HERE
We work to prepare and present ONE BEAUTIFUL NEW LISTING each week. If you are considering a sale anytime this year, NOW IS THE TIME to have us visit for a free consultation on the steps to success!
3 3 4 3 3 4 4 3 4 4 7
joel@joelnelsongroup.com 202.243.7707
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5014 4TH ST NW 5401 ILLINOIS AVE NW 311 WEBSTER ST NW 4702 5TH ST NW 5739 9TH ST NW 813 BUCHANAN ST NW 3801 NEW HAMPSHIRE AVE NW
$575,000 $565,000 $535,000 $482,500 $475,000 $381,150 $295,000
Randle Heights 1506 MISSISSIPPI AVE SE 2552 16TH ST SE 1829 FREDERICK DOUGLASS PL SE 1611 25TH ST SE 2488 SKYLAND PL SE 3508 21ST ST SE
$605,000 $421,000 $338,000 $335,000 $298,000 $275,000
Riggs Park 6003 3RD ST NE 401 PEABODY ST NE 300 PEABODY ST NE 412 OGLETHORPE ST NE 524 RIGGS RD NE 4711 13TH PL NE 5704 5TH ST NE 5009 13TH ST NE
$575,000 $545,250 $504,950 $495,000 $449,000 $398,000 $315,000 $315,000
4 4 3 3 4 3 1 4 3 3 6 3 3 4 3 5 3 3 3 2 3
$1,140,000 $935,000 $720,000
Shepherd Park 1327 HOLLY ST NW
$1,575,000
4 4 4 5
Takoma 6510 NORTH CAPITOL ST NW 625 DAHLIA ST NW 6419 2ND PL NW
$265,500 $725,000 $517,500
2 4 5
Trinidad 1227 TRINIDAD AVE NE 1221 TRINIDAD AVE NE 1607 WEST VIRGINIA AVE NE 1239 OATES ST NE 1945 BENNETT PL NE 1312 QUEEN ST NE 830 19TH ST NE 1413 TRINIDAD AVE NE 1282 16TH ST NE 1262 HOLBROOK TER NE
$776,000 $705,000 $610,000 $510,000 $469,999 $455,000 $400,000 $399,000 $370,000 $365,000
Wakefield 4522 38TH ST NW $1,050,000 Wesley Heights 3227 45TH ST NW $1,375,000
4 4 3 4 3 3 6 2 2 2 4 4
Woodridge
3717 30TH PL NE $885,000 6 2302 MONROE ST NE $450,000 5 3722 24TH ST NE $375,000 3 2907 MILLS AVE NE $355,000 3 2216 CHANNING ST NE $277,500 1
$665,000 $640,000 $519,000 $410,000
American University Park 4101 ALBEMARLE ST NW #523
$480,000
Barry Farms 2607 DOUGLASS RD SE #102
$220,000
Bloomingdale 6 RHODE ISLAND AVE NW #5
$388,400
Brentwood 1720 CAPITOL AVE NE #3
Shaw 1625 4TH ST NW 817 Q ST NW 131 P ST NW
2550 17TH ST NW #213 1700 KALORAMA RD NW #305 2301 CHAMPLAIN ST NW #112 2424 17TH NW ##102
$215,000
Brightwood 523 BRUMMEL CT NW #523 422 BUTTERNUT ST NW #203 6645 GEORGIA AVE NW #111 6645 GEORGIA AVE NW #207
$510,000 $335,000 $250,000 $165,000
Brookland 2724 12TH ST NE #17 613 HAMLIN ST NE #1
$574,900 $180,000
Capitol Hill 410 5TH ST NE #14 313 6TH ST SE #2 116 6TH ST NE #304 333 2ND ST NE #105
$700,000 $555,000 $377,000 $211,000
2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 2 1 0
Central 1155 23RD ST NW #7E 1414 22ND ST NW #35 1111 25TH ST NW #921 1155 23RD ST NW #8L 2425 L ST NW #406 777 7TH ST NW #508 2201 L ST NW #319
$2,650,000 $1,590,000 $1,075,000 $1,000,000 $980,000 $424,000 $267,000
Chevy Chase 5410 CONNECTICUT AVE NW #518 5406 CONNECTICUT AVE NW #801 5201 WISCONSIN AVE NW #203
$352,000 $231,000 $399,900
Cleveland Park 3850 RODMAN ST NW #A229 3847 RODMAN ST NW #F42 3670 38TH ST NW #F252 3530 39TH ST NW #C 651 3028 WISCONSIN AVE NW #B8 3601 WISCONSIN AVE NW #305 3100 WISCONSIN AVE NW #203 3701 CONNECTICUT AVE NW #611
$550,000 $509,000 $495,000 $337,000 $330,000 $260,000 $244,500 $179,000
Columbia Heights 2511 12TH ST NW #2 3415 SHERMAN AVE NW #2 779 MORTON ST NW #C2 1012 HARVARD ST NW #9
$1,021,000 $752,000 $745,000 $700,000
Congress Heights
2 1 1 2 3 2 1 1 1 1 0 3 3 2 2
CONDO
212 OAKWOOD ST SE #114 713 BRANDYWINE ST SE #B3
16th Street Heights
Dupont
1346 NICHOLSON ST NW #101 1346 NICHOLSON ST NW #201
$382,000 $370,000
Adams Morgan 2351 CHAMPLAIN ST NW #C3
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$765,000
2 2 2
1301 20TH ST NW #511 2114 N ST NW #47 1727 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW #110 1721 P ST NW #C 1727 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW #619
$190,000 $56,000
3 2 2 2 2 1 0
$506,500 $393,000 $225,000 $1,100,000 $334,000
1 2 2 1 0 2 1
Eckington 16 T ST NE #1 1920 3RD ST NE #6 1920 3RD ST NE #5 1920 3RD ST NE #3 1718 1ST ST NW #4 1920 3RD ST NE #4 147 R ST NE #11 220 T ST NE #3 128 U ST NE #2
$699,000 $514,900 $494,900 $491,150 $489,000 $480,000 $465,000 $399,900 $587,500
Foggy Bottom 955 26TH ST NW #411 2401 H ST NW #409 955 26TH ST NW #702 2401 H ST NW #210
$427,000 $345,000 $325,000 $202,000
Forest Hills 4701 CONNECTICUT AVE NW #301 2939 VAN NESS ST NW #724 2726 ORDWAY ST NW #2
$627,000 $525,000 $405,000
Fort Lincoln 2853 31ST PL NE #2853 3141 BERRY RD NE #17
$275,000 $225,000
Friendship Heights 4343 HARRISON ST NW #8 4343 HARRISON ST NW #7 4343 HARRISON ST NW #5 4343 HARRISON ST NW #3
$655,000 $635,000 $607,500 $560,000
Georgetown 3030 K ST NW #PH 106 1613 30TH ST NW #3S 3250 N ST NW #2-A 1080 WISCONSIN AVE NW #201- W 3020 DENT PL NW #12W
$3,850,000 $950,000 $597,500 $580,000 $490,000
Glover Park 3915 FULTON ST NW #PH6 4012 EDMUNDS ST NW #5 2233 40TH PL NW #1 4000 TUNLAW RD NW #426 4000 TUNLAW RD NW #903
$1,050,000 $575,000 $479,900 $399,000 $345,000
H Street 1026 8 NE #B Orren ST NE #208 815 5TH ST NE #2 815 5TH ST NE #1 1110 STAPLES ST NE #1 1111 ORREN ST NE #504 1111 ORREN ST NE #100
$965,000 $369,900 $865,000 $817,000 $600,000 $559,900 $249,900
Hill Crest 2009 37TH ST SE #101
$77,000
Kalorama 2029 CONNECTICUT AVE NW #43 1837 WYOMING AVE NW #C 2225 CALIFORNIA ST NW #302 2127 CALIFORNIA ST NW #105 1831 CALIFORNIA ST NW #21 1812 WYOMING AVE NW #303 2138 CALIFORNIA ST NW #408 1851 COLUMBIA RD NW #310 2032 BELMONT RD NW #534 1906 BILTMORE ST NW #1
$2,290,000 $1,400,000 $1,399,000 $644,000 $620,000 $515,000 $399,000 $310,000 $295,000 $1,384,000
Logan Circle 502 RHODE ISLAND AVE NW #2 1311 13TH ST NW #501
$499,900 $869,900
3 3 3 3 2 3 2 2 3 1 1 0 0 2 2 1 3 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 1 3 3 2 2 0 1 4 2 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 3 1 2
MarshaLL heights 50 49TH ST SE #103
Mount PLeasant
1612 BEEKMAN PL NW #D 2328 CHAMPLAIN ST NW #410 3220 17TH ST NW #309 3155 MOUNT PLEASANT ST NW #301 3420 16TH ST NW #407S 1763 COLUMBIA RD NW #305 1867 PARK RD NW #2
oLd city #1
715 FLORIDA AVE NE #PH-B 215 I ST NE #209 715 FLORIDA AVE NE #A 1337 K ST SE #201 1391 PENNSYLVANIA AVE SE #414 1391 PENNSYLVANIA AVE SE #463 245 15TH ST SE #302 1433 K ST SE #202 301 G ST NE #26 660 MORTON PL NE #7 1391 PENNSYLVANIA AVE SE #439
oLd city #2
Park View
513 KENYON ST NW #UNIT B 3542 WARDER ST NW #203 3542 WARDER ST NW #201 3542 WARDER ST NW #102 3542 WARDER ST NW #103
Petworth
4326 GEORGIA AVE NW #401 4126 8TH ST NW #2 516 SHEPHERD ST NW #1 4326 GEORGIA AVE NW #202 4710 NEW HAMPSHIRE AVE NW #4 700 JEFFERSON ST NW #206 700 JEFFERSON ST NW #105 738 LONGFELLOW ST NW #412
rLa (sw)
1101 3RD ST SW #315 1101 3RD ST SW #206 800 4TH ST SW #413N 1425 4TH ST SW #A107 240 M ST SW #E711
1 2 1 1 1 1
$23,000
1
$850,000 $785,000 $585,000 $455,000 $383,000 $283,000 $675,000
3 2 2 1 1 1 2
$775,000 $715,000 $660,000 $634,300 $549,000 $490,000 $465,000 $449,000 $399,000 $390,000 $365,000
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 1
240 M ST SW #E813 1435 4TH ST SW #B313 700 7TH ST SW #P163
shaw
1503 4TH ST NW #2 1503 4TH ST NW #1
sw waterfront 525 WATER ST SW #107 525 Water ST SW #211 700 7TH ST SW #720 454 M ST SW #1 839 3RD ST SW #304
takoMa
343 CEDAR ST NW #323
trinidad
1239 SIMMS PL NE #3 1239 SIMMS PL NE #2 1714 WEST VIRGINIA AVE NE #4 1280 RAUM ST NE #102 1302 CHILDRESS ST NE #4 1280 RAUM ST NE #202
2 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
$1,049,000 $690,900 $659,900 $615,000 $599,900
5 2 2 2 2
$534,900 $499,900 $469,000 $358,400 $339,900 $320,000 $125,000 $115,900
2 2 2 1 1 3 1 1
$575,000 $425,000 $349,900 $310,000 $265,000
3 1 1 1 1
0 1 0
$1,240,000 $995,000
3 3
$689,900 $409,900 $371,000 $840,000 $570,000
2 1 1 2 2
$427,500
2
$439,000 $349,000 $345,000 $305,000 $290,000 $290,000
3 2 2 2 2 2
$351,600
1
$399,000
2
$300,000
1
$1,465,000 $799,000 $445,000 $240,000 $174,000
2 2 1 1 0
$380,000
1
$336,508 $324,900 $227,000
1 1 0
$332,500 $220,000 $178,358
1 0 2
$151,200
1
$525,000
3
$547,500 $225,000
2 0
cooP caPitoL hiLL 516 A ST NE #303
$1,495,000 $575,000 $575,000 $500,000 $479,000 $449,950 $440,500 $430,000 $427,000 $399,787 $291,000 $285,000 $244,900 $241,200 $215,000 $184,000
$255,000 $254,900 $23,000
coLuMBia heights 2633 15TH ST NW #5A
duPont circLe 1701 16TH ST NW #325
foggy BottoM
700 NEW HAMPSHIRE AVE NW #504 700 NEW HAMPSHIRE AVE NW #517 2500 VIRGINIA AVE NW #606-S 950 25TH ST NW #327N 950 25TH ST NW #202-S
kaLoraMa
2122 CALIFORNIA ST NW #454
naVy yard
1000 NEW JERSEY AVE SE #1213 1000 NEW JERSEY AVE SE #1205 1000 NEW JERSEY AVE SE #1121
oLd city #2
1915 16TH ST NW #504 2039 NEW HAMPSHIRE AVE NW #307 1440 W ST NW #402
Petworth
235 EMERSON ST NW #207
rLa (sw) 350 N ST SW
Van ness
3001 VEAZEY TER NW #633 3001 VEAZEY TER NW #521 ◆
RESIDENTS LL UR AD RIG CO I H YO U HT LD 0 G N 0 EIN O W 0 E !
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E B
1401 Q ST NW #604 44 N ST NW #B 1731 S ST NW #4 1001 L ST NW #809 1201 Q ST NW #103 910 M ST NW #1001 555 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW #810 1125 11TH ST NW #604 1421 T ST NW #4 1225 13TH ST NW #708 1816 NEW HAMPSHIRE AVE NW #407 2000 16TH ST NW #4 1718 P ST NW #318 2120 VERMONT AVE NW #20 1825 T ST NW #103 80 NEW YORK AVE NW #201
$839,90 $650,000 $519,900 $459,000 $425,000 $409,900
3 0 ,
1311 13TH ST NW #301 1306 O ST NW #201 1311 13TH ST NW #PH-9 1210 R ST NW #B9 1401 R ST NW #310 1311 13TH ST NW #508
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{arts & dining} The ultra-satisfying and surprisingly light solomillo de cerdo al whisky con papas fritas: tender pork tenderloin cooked in brandy with spiced frie
Joselito Casa de Comidas
A New Neighborhood Spot Doesn’t Disappoint At The New Tapas Restaurant, Nods To Tradition, Winks To Modernity
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by Meghan Markey, photos Andrew Lightman
need to confess something up front: I love tapas. I love Spanish food. I am biased toward the cuisine. I took a trip to Madrid last summer and fell in love with the Mercado de San Miguel, a bustling food market replete with all the best things you’d expect – huge glass carafes of sangria, a hundred different kinds of olives, some stuffed with roasted red peppers or cheeses, a calamares counter, varieties of steaming paella, a sherry bar, hefty legs of jamon Iberico affixed across an entire wall. Basically it’s a little piece of what my personal heaven would look like. There’s no lack of Spanish restaurants in the city; and residents still love tapas (as seen in the continued popularity of long-time 14th Street favorite Estadio, newer neighbor Barcelona, and the consistently stellar Jaleo from Jose Andres), though the tapas craze peaked years ago. When Joselito Casa de Comidas took over the former Sona Creamery space in 2016, I was cautiously optimistic about the addition of yet another tapas-style restaurant. My skepticism was for naught. Much like its cuisine, the restaurant is warm and nostalgic while avoiding feeling outdated. Portraits hung high on the walls are brightened with focused light, while the dining area below basks in inti-
Chef David Sierra hails from Madrid and is an alumnus of the prominent DC kitchens of Taberna del Alabardero and Fiola Mare.
mate soft glow. The bar area is beautiful, large in light gray marble, sitting below massive mirrors. Joselito offers traditional Spanish dishes with little winks here and there that serve as reminders that although the menu looks familiar, it is decidedly forward-thinking. A delicious sangria isn’t stored in containers laden with fruit; rather, the restaurant freezes chunks of fruit in large ice cubes, and the sangria is poured over from an adorable beaker, mixing with the fruit juices as the ice melts. Thin wedges of manchego are paired with a tomato marmalade with a hint of heat, and addictive rosemary “picatostes,” hunks of bread that have been flash fried, turn them a deep crispy golden brown. Take, for example, the chicken pate, dotted with small pearls of sherry that burst when you take a bite. A delicate mound of smoked cod is placed at the bottom of a bowl, while a mouthwatering gazpacho is poured over and adorned with what at first looks like feta but is actually dehydrated olive oil. The resulting dish is filled with umami and rivals a memorable iteration of the traditional dish I had in Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. One of the frequent complaints about tapas-style
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{arts and dining}
A trip to Joselito is not complete without snacking on jamon Iberico; the handcut jamon is highly coveted due to it origins in Jabugo, a village in southwestern Spain renowned for its ham.
kitchens is that sometimes you just want a normal portion of food. Joselito solves that desire. Most of the menu items can be ordered Pate de higaditos de pollo (chicken pate) sits atop a berry in three different sizes – appetizcompote and is adorned with pearlized drops of sherry. er, entree, or family portion (no more fighting over the last sliver of jamon Iberico). Beginning to feel sated, but not willing to miss the opportunity to try the pork tenderloin with garlic fries, my dining companion and I ordered the smallest portion of the dish, although we were assured the dish was actually rather light. I trusted our delightful bartender Stacy, who hadn’t led us astray all evening as she suggested items to A delicious gazpacho envelopes delicate pieces of smoked cod, and is dusted with dehydrated EVOO.
Behind the bar, Stacy pours the perfect sangria - complete with chunks of fruit frozen in large cubes.
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us, but tenderloin and fries didn’t exactly sound like a dainty selection. My skepticism was proven wrong for the second time that evening. Three slim pieces of pork sat atop translucent onions and herbs, and tasted markedly tender (and light!), the cooking brandy bringing out the sweetness of the meat for the melt-in-mouth sensation usually reserved for filet mignon. This is one dish I’ll be back for, upping my snack-size to a full entree. The beverage program is also not to be missed. In addition to the stellar sangria with its iced fruit cubes, the cocktail menu is modern and includes components such as azahar water (orange blossom water), pink pepper bitters, and a hibiscus infusion, for a list of creative concoctions that DC bar denizens have come to expect. Yet Joselito also pays homage to tradition, reflected in the selection of sherry (the perfect pairing to tapas), cava, and Spanish wines. Joselito boasts what may be the best happy hour deal in the area. Everything is 20 percent off at the bar, 4-7 p.m. Yes, the entire menu. The restaurant is approachable and homey and a fine addition to the city’s Spanish offerings. Much more a neighborhood spot than its counterparts downtown, Joselito Casa de Comidas feels like walking into a beloved local eatery in a quieter part of Madrid and sitting down for good conversation and a meal. For this Spanish cuisine lover, I’m thankful I don’t need to book a flight to be transported to one of my favorite cities. u
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{arts and dining}
Two Schools of Bluegrass & The Bottle Rockets
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wo bluegrass currents cross Capitol Hill this month, and while they might be heading in different directions, both flow from a wellspring of fancy picking and strong songs. The band FY5, which plays the Hill Center on March 9, is billed as “new school Americana.” The five players in the group are firmly grounded in bluegrass ways, but most of their songs are new and are as likely to be mid-tempo as pedal-to-themetal fast. “We definitely cut our teeth on traditional bluegrass, and I find myself listening to that more than anything,” said banjo and pedal steel guitar player Aaron Youngberg. “But we’re not a traditional bluegrass band.” The departure wasn’t deliberate, he said, but was dictated by the group’s original songs. For example, banjo doesn’t seem right for some of the tunes,
by Charles Walston so Youngberg switches off to the pedal steel, a mainstay of country music but definitely not bluegrass. That approach enhances the songs rather than forcing them into the confines of a genre. FY5’s songs feature first-rate musicianship, but they also shine from their lyrical merits. One of the strongest is “Nebraska,” written by singer and guitarist Mike Finders. It tells a story of settlers on the Great Plains from a woman’s point of view, based on journals that Finders read. There’s nothing newfangled about Only Lonesome, which comes to Mr. Henry’s on March 30. The band’s website bills it as “Old school, caveman bluegrass” with an emphasis on the hard-driving sound that was popular in Baltimore and DC in the 50s and 60s. Sam Guthridge grew up listening to the Ray Davis bluegrass show on WAMU, and picked up the banjo after starting as a country guitarist. A few years
Only Lonesome returns to Capitol Hill on March 30 at Mr. Henry’s. Photo: Rosalyn Linshaw
The Bottle Rockets play The Hamilton with Chuck Prophet on March 28. Photo: Todd Fox
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back he was hosting a monthly bluegrass night at SOVA coffeehouse on H Street. He recruited Neel Brown (guitar), Stefan Custodi (bass), John Seebach (mandolin), and Tom Lyons (fiddle) to sit in. The combination jelled and they decided to form a group. The decision to focus on vintage material was easy, Guthridge said. “We were all playing in groups that did more contemporary stuff, so this was an outlet to do something we really enjoyed.” A typical Only Lonesome cover is Buzz Busby’s “Lost,” which combines breakneck picking and lovely three-part harmonies. The formula works well. Only Lonesome has opened for the Seldom Scene at the Birchmere and played at the 9:30 Club and several regional festivals, as well as holding down a regular bluegrass night at the Argonaut. The show at Mr. Henry’s will be the band’s first on Capitol Hill since the Argonaut closed last summer. Guthridge hopes they can
pick up where they left off. “There aren’t many bands playing old school bluegrass having as much fun as we’re having.” www.hillcenterdc.org, www.fy5band.com, www.mrhenrysdc. com, www.onlylonesome.com
660 Pennsylvania Ave SE 1718 14th St. NW Union Market www.peregrineespresso.com
M
ark Ortmann and Brian Henneman have been playing in bands together since the early 80s, when they were high school classmates near St. Louis. In 1993 they started The Bottle Rockets, playing countryfied songs with a muscular rock bent, and they haven’t let up since. On March 28 they come to The Hamilton with Chuck Prophet and the Mission Express. Years of touring behind some great records (and through a few dry spells) have honed The Bottle Rockets into an explosively cohesive force that’s best experienced in a club or bar, where you can see them sweat and feel their joy in playing together. “There are ups and downs in anyone’s career,” said Ortmann, the group’s drummer. “If you can average them out and stick with it, it kind of pays off.” Lead singer and guitarist Henneman writes most of the songs, which range from a declaration of loyalty to his dog to the curse of a cheap car. It’s blue collar music that has earned The Bottle Rockets an intensely loyal following. “As a working musician you just appreciate being able to work at music these days,” said Ortmann. “We’ve outlasted a lot of trends in the music business.” www.bottlerocketsmusic.com, www.thehamiltondc.com u
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{arts and dining}
Kids Get Behind the Mic at The Corner Store
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by Bridey Heing
he Corner Store has long been a place for storytellers to come together at monthly open mic nights to share their latest work with a welcoming audience. Late last month, the neighborhood creative space invited a very different group of performers to take part by sharing stories from their lives: children. Families were invited to take part in an open mic on Feb. 25 by sharing five-minute tales they crafted based on their own lives. The organizers and participating families hoped to hone their storytelling and public-speaking skills, while the kids had some fun.
A Fun Way to Learn Organizer Vera Oye Yaa-Anna has been working with children on storytelling for several years. When she became the DC liaison for the National Storytelling Network, Vera found that the children she worked with were having a hard time expressing themselves. She immediately recognized the role storytelling could play in helping them develop those skills, in part because of the importance of storytelling in her native Liberia. “Storytelling is the oldest form of education,” she said. “In Liberia storytelling was a method of passing down beliefs, traditions, and history to fu-
Lessons include how to adjust a mic.
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Kris Swanson (left), owner of the Corner Store, helps Vera Yaa-Anna manage the storytelling open-mic session with eager participants.
ture generations. Stories are at the core of all that makes us human.” Several years ago, Vera founded Oye Palava Hut, a West African cultural center that invites children to learn storytelling skills. She works with kids across the DC Public Schools to help them shape their stories and their performances. Her partnership with The Corner Store gave kids on Capitol Hill the opportunity to get on stage and share a little about their lives with peers and members of their community. The rules were simple: each had five minutes to tell an original story that drew on their own lives. One boy who was excited to take part was Raghav Sarawgi, barely four years old, who has
been telling stories for about half his life. His interest in stories started around age two, when he made a game out of the stories his parents would tell him. “He loved hearing stories from us, especially of day-to-day events once we came back home from work, and then recreated them with his toys,” said his mom, Tina Sarawgi. One of the retellings, “The Bump,” became a household favorite. After being told about a fender-bender his mom suffered one day, Raghav would act out the entire story with his toys for any audience he could find. He shared every detail – from the passengers in the SUV that rear-ended his mom’s car to the officers who responded to the rental car the family used for a month.
That early story showed not only how well Raghav understands the world around him, but his interest in stories tied to real-life events. Currently his favorite is an ongoing story about a family of world-traveling ants. “These days, every time we sit for a meal, we take an ant family on a journey to any place we choose, especially those we have visited before, integrating the experiences in these places into the story,”
tell stories is multifaceted. On one hand, kids are able to reflect on their own lives and have fun. On another, they are gaining skills that can serve them in numerous ways throughout their lives. “This setting and approach will foster self-confidence, critical thinking, creativity and teamwork, as well as build essential literary and self-affirming performance skills,” she said. Vera has the kids do more than just read a story they have written. She wants to ensure that they engage not only with the material, but with their audience, adding a social factor that can be missing from simple recitation. “Without the book as a barrier, the [story]teller looks directly into the eyes of the audience and is free to use gestures, facial expression, and Raghav Sarawgi, shown here getting some prop body movements to enhelp from his dad, has always enjoyed telling and hance the telling and hearing stories. help the audience unSarawgi said. “When we asked him derstand the story better,” she said. why he liked the ant story, he said, “The reader sees only the words on ‘Just so that I can learn more about the page, while the storyteller sees the countries.’” the wonder and excitement on the faces of the listeners.” Lessons for a Lifetime For Raghav, events like the For a natural storyteller like Raghav, open mic are fun nights out, althe opportunity to share stories with though his enthusiasm for storytellan audience was something his paring can be a little overwhelming. ents were thrilled to find. The work “During one event he wanted to done with the children ahead of keep going back to tell stories of the the open mic was also of great valmost ordinary things in his life, such ue. “The open mic event seemed as waiting for a bus or watching a like a perfect platform for Raghav squirrel. We had to pull him back to to share his enthusiasm of storytellgive other young storytellers a ing,” Sarawgi said. “The supportchance,” Sarawgi explained. ive and nurturing environment, To learn more about Oye Palahearing stories from other young ver Hut’s storytelling programs, viskids, and Vera’s leadership have it www.oyepalaverhut.org. To learn been amazing.” more about open mic nights at The According to Vera, the outCorner Store visit www.cornercome of getting kids on stage to storearts.org. u
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{arts and dining}
Discover the Wines of Piedmont
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by Elise Genderson he Piedmont region of Northwestern Italy, or Piemonte in Italian, can literally be translated to “at the foot of the mountains,” as it’s located at the base of the Alps. The food of Piedmont is earthier than cuisine in southern Italy, with rich cheeses, pastas, meats, and truffles. The region is admired and loved around the world for producing Barolos and Barbarescos, the king and queen of wines. Barolo tends to be masculine and powerful with dark fruit and grippy tannins, while Barbaresco has a softer, brighter, more feminine character. Both are made from the same grape, Nebbiolo, and both regions illustrate the truest expression of the variety. Barbaresco has a two years minimum aging requirement while Barolo requires three years minimum aging. Reserva designations require an additional two years in the bottle prior to release. The history of Nebbiolo dates all the way back to the 12th or 13th century in Piedmont. It is a thin-skinned and tannic grape with a delicate ruby color that offers notes of rose petals, violets, and spice. These bold, deeply concentrated, and luscious reds are reserved for festive occasions and celebrations as they generally fetch some of the highest price tags in the world of wine. If you’re honoring a life event and you’re searching for that special bottle to remember the occasion, these are some of the best options from northern Italy. My personal favorites that showcase the best of both growing areas are:
2011 Cascina Adelaide Barolo ($39.99): It is rare to find a Barolo of this high quality for only $40. 2011 Cascina Adelaide is a blend of Nebbiolo from some of the finest vineyards in Barolo. They’re matured for 24 months in small oak barrels, then 6 months in the bottle before release. The result is a wine with an intense ruby color, aromas of wild tart cherry, rosemary and a hint of vanilla and toasted oak. The palate is balanced by fine tannins and fresh acidity. It pairs perfectly with red meat, wild game, truffles, and blue or mature cheese.
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2010 Ratti Barolo Marcenasco ($49.99):
Dark red cherries, baking spice, tobacco, and savory herbal aromas explode from the glass. Full-bodied with velvety tannins, and ripe dark fruits appear on the palate. The Marcenasco is made from grapes sourced from the famed La Morra vineyard.
2012 Sassaia Barbaresco ($49.99): Soft ruby in color with aromas of violets, rose petal and a hint of spice. Ripe dark cherry, chocolate, and hints of licorice on the palate mean this wine will continue to improve for decades in the bottle. Since we all can’t drink like kings and queens every night, there are many other grapes of Piedmont that make excellent weeknight wines and are still exciting and interesting to drink. These beauties will enhance your weeknight meals and bring elegance to your dinner table. Some examples are Arneis, Moscato, Barbera, and Dolcetto.
2014 Cornarea Roero Arneis ($19.99): This white Italian grape is grown on the hills of Roero in Northwest Alba. The Arneis varietal almost became extinct in the 20th century as Barolo producers began focusing only on Nebbiolo. Today, there has been a renaissance for the variety as exhibited by this lovely, medium-bodied wine. Look for notes of white flowers, ripe pear, peach, and apricot on the nose and the palate, with rich texture and balanced acidity.
2015 Cantina Alice Bel Colle Moscato d’Asti ($16.99): This fizzy, fresh white wine offers a delightful sweetness and tones of ripe tropical fruit, nectarine, apricot, zesty orange peel, and honey. Barbera is an amazing and affordable alternative to Nebbiolo. It is not considered as prestigious as Nebbiolo therefore it is not planted on the best vineyard sites. However, it still earns a great reputation for its juicy, red berry fruit, fresh, racy acidity, and food-friendliness. Barbera is the every-day, approachable wine of the people – meant to be consumed in its youth. Pair Barbera wines with pizza, dark meats, veal, root vegetables, mushrooms, and blue
cheeses. Pop them in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving as the chill will make the aromas even more pronounced. Some outstanding Barbera wines to drink now:
2011 Cascina Adelaide Barbera d’Alba Amabilin ($39.99): This is a special single vineyard Barbera with more intensity and character as 15% Barolo is added to the blend. A long, velvety finish with juicy acidity make for one stellar bottle.
2013 Cascina Adelaide Barbera d’Alba Mie Donne ($15.99): Mie Donne is the baby brother to Amabilin. This is a delightful light-bodied red with so much mouthwatering acidity that it’s a brilliant accompaniment to almost any cuisine. It’s so refreshing that it will excite your appetite and enhance your meal. It is accessible, delightful, and loaded with tart red cherry flavor.
2013 Reva Barbera d’Alba ($19.99): A bit more structure than the Mie Donne, the Reva is deeper and more rustic in style. Darker fruits like blackberry, and ripe black plum with hints of dried strawberry on the nose and palate. A long, lingering and enjoyable finish.
2012 La Spinetta Ca’ di Pian Barbera d’Asti ($27.99): Barberas from the Asti zone tend to be lighter-bodied with more tart red fruit flavors and bright acidity than Barbera from Alba. The Spinetta is a beautiful ruby color with bright aromas of blueberry and candied orange peel. Full-bodied with silky tannins, juicy acidity and finesse. Take a virtual vacation to Italy this Spring by tasting the wonderful wines of Piedmont! These wine selections are available at Schneiders of Capitol Hill and other fine wine purveyors. u
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At the Movies
Two Serious New Features on Race Relations, Plus a Cartoon Figure for Leavening by Mike Canning ‘A United Kingdom’ A surprise hit of the movie season has been “Hidden Figures,” a modestly budgeted but uplifting picture that tells a 1960s true story of a victory over racial repression whose actual background few knew about. Now, on its heels, comes a modestly budgeted yet uplifting movie that tells a 1940s true story of a victory over racism which almost nobody knows about. The new release is the moving “A United Kingdom” (Rated PG-13 and running 111 minutes, the film is now in DC area theaters.) The story turns on the leadership struggle of Seretse Khama, the prince of Bechuanaland (now independent Botswana), a British protectorate surrounded by South Africa. It is 1947 and Khama (David Oyelowo), studying law at Oxford, is informed by his regent uncle that he must return to lead his people. Khama, however, becomes thoroughly smitten by a white English office worker, Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike). They bond over jazz and marry after a sweet courtship. Though scorned by her own family, Ruth agrees to venture to a country she has never known as its newly minted queen. Khama’s biracial marriage also does not sit well with the people back in the Bechuanaland capital, Serowe. His own family, including Uncle Tsekedi (Vusi Kunene) and his younger sister, Naledi (Terry Pheto), are outraged, as are the local British authorities in the protectorate. Complications ensue when
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Uncle Tsekedi demands an annulment of the marriage and disowns Seretse, while local authority Rufus Lancaster (Tom Felton) and Sir Alastair Canning (Jack Davenport), the crown representative in the Union of South Africa, look to frustrate Khama’s rule. After Ruth becomes pregnant, Seretse returns to London to make his case, but he is held there by British authorities, then sensitive to protecting their mineral rights before the new South African apartheid regime, which forbids mixed-race unions. At home, Ruth slowly gains local sympathy and wins over Naledi, while Khama boldly challenges his exile by returning to Serowe and advocates local rule, a prelude to his historic triumph as the first president of an independent Botswana. David Oyelowo, who pushed this project for some time, is the glue that holds this film together. He’s using a different accent (he is splendid with accents), and the backdrop could hardly be more different, but in spirit the part reflects his stirring role as Martin Luther King Jr. in “Selma” (2014), being almost as inspiring. Also in the inspiring vein, he matches his recent appearance in “Queen of Katwe” as a Ugandan teacher. Here Oyelowo is dignified in enduring racial snubs and is rightly passionate when evoking home rule for his Bangwato people. He also proves to be charming and gallant in winning his lady during their London courtship.
Rosamund Pike and David Oyelowo star as Ruth and Seretse Khama in “A United Kingdom.” Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Rosamund Pike (last seen by filmgoers as a schemer in “Gone Girl”) is appealing as the naive Ruth, trying to adjust to her newfound environment, but the role is mainly reactive and the actress doesn’t have that much to do, though she is very good at showing apprehension. Davenport is absolutely dastardly as the vile Sir Alastair, swirling his gin-and-tonic while demeaning Khama at every turn. All he lacks is a twirly mustache. South African actress Terry Pheto (“Tsotsi”) convincingly brings trepidation then empathy in the role of Naledi. In her third feature, Ghanaian-English director Amma Asante, who helmed the well-received “Belle” in 2013, gets full marks for the smooth handling of her bicultural cast and for shooting on location in the real Botswana. The flat plains of its carrot-colored soil add much authenticity in grounding “A United Kingdom,” a heartfelt piece of history that’s good to remember.
James Baldwin (center) is the subject of “I Am Not Your Negro,” a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo: Magnolia Pictures, ©Dan Budnik, all rights reserved
‘I Am Not Your Negro’ This striking documentary channels the life and times of James Baldwin through offering his prescient, still relevant words about US race relations. The text of the film is based on Baldwin’s memories and musings on the lives of three African-American giants murdered in the 1960s: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. The creator of this homage is Haitian director Raoul Peck, who frames Baldwin’s reminiscences triggered by a letter and outline he wrote to an editor in 1979, contemplating an unfinished book about the three fallen leaders. Peck said he “envisions the book James Baldwin never finished,” and in homage the film uses the credit “written by James Baldwin”. That framing premise is used throughout, with quotes from Baldwin’s writings read by Samuel L. Jackson standing in for the writer. More telling, though, are numerous clips of Baldwin himself in television and film images, speaking in his distinctive, preachertrained style, graced by a precise and practiced cadence, though often delivering fiery language, He is particularly eloquent on the theme of the black man in a white world during a 1965 speech to the Cambridge (England) Union. Peck himself, in describing how he fashioned the work, said: “Baldwin gave me a voice, gave me the words, gave me the rhetoric. All I knew through instinct or through experience, Baldwin gave it a name and a shape. I had all the intellectual weapons I needed.” Baldwin’s growing up is described, with movies being particularly influential, and he comments on his relationships with the three leaders and his whereabouts when he heard of each man’s death. All this, the core of the man and his words, is, however, marred somewhat by Peck’s constant interventions with short blasts of newsreels and clips, period photos, pop tunes, and random coverage of current racial strife in Ferguson, Mo., and in Black Lives Matter rallies. Peck seems to be aiming at the effect of classic film montage where disparate, even clashing, images are supposed to combine into some revelatory unity, yet for every effect that comes off (a glossy Doris Day close-up cutting to a grisly lynching), there are several
that just cause head-scratching. He might have left some of the jump cuts to just concentrate more on that mournful yet still hopeful face of one James Baldwin. (The film, now at selected cinemas, is rated PG-13 and runs 93 minutes.)
‘The LEGO Batman Movie’ Yeah, yeah, it’s a kid’s movie. However, as happens often now with major animated releases, this one is cleverly crafted to appeal as much to mommy and daddy as to the kids. First of all, it is bright as LEGO blocks themselves and visually most inventive. You somehow buy those plastic pieces talking! Second, it has comic Will Arnett voicing LEGO Batman in a semi-menacing growl that isn’t menacing at all, and whose seriousness is undercut by his curt, deadpan jokes. Third, the movie’s message that even a superhero needs friends and needn’t go it alone is nicely underlined. Fourth, adults will get plenty of guffaws at the movie’s off-the-wall pop references and goofy non-sequiturs. And fifth, LEGO Batman is ably backed by a cadre of buddies, voiced by Rosario Dawson (Batgirl), Michael Cera (Robin), and Ralph Fiennes (Alfred), and a parade of ditzy villains headed by the barely controlled Joker, voiced by a raging Zach Galifianakis. The movie (rated PG) is probably too long for young kids – 104 minutes – and the pace is often wildly frenetic. The kids probably won’t care; they will just giggle at the fevered action as it washes right over them. Meanwhile their parents will realize that they are missing half the gags and one-liners in the hyper-dialogue and wonder whether they should see it again to take it all in. Which is just the repeat business that DC Studios is hoping for. Hill resident Mike Canning has written on movies for the Hill Rag since 1993 and is a member of the Washington Area Film Critics Association. He is the author of “Hollywood on the Potomac: How the Movies View Washington, DC.” His reviews and writings on film can be found online at www. mikesflix.com. u
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“Pyramid,� 2016. Ink and gouache on paper, 21 x 15 inches.
Artist Revisit Profile:
Ben Tolman by Jim Magner
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“Forward,” 2017. Ink on paper, 21 x 15 inches.
yourself seduced by Ben’s ever evolving, ever-searching exploration of the mysteries of the ordinary, the familiar. They flow from the pen that connects to a mind that is always on the alert for unexpected vacillations of reality. Therein lies the magic. It is the disassociated elements of each drawing that give it the power to entrance, to keep you captive. Neighborhoods decay. Featureless new construction is balanced on crum-
bling buildings with ubiquitous graffiti. There are stairways to nowhere. Floating brick panels. People walking in obedient lines or climbing stairways like mindless robots. Blobs that lurk in dark doorways or ooze from colorstained neocortical mounds. There may be a social message, but is it condemning, or simply an observation? Ben says his work is not so much about art as it is creativity. But it is. It controls your eye as well as your mind. The difference is that his art is not always intentional, it’s intuitive. It’s incidental to the notions and visual ideas that escape to the paper. Ben Tolman follows the path that winds back through all of art history, back to the caves and beyond. He’s tracing the mind’s endless exploration of the images of thought. www.bentolman.com
Jim Magner’s Thoughts on Art Ben Tolman sits in a dark corner of a cluttered warehouse on Capitol Hill, for 8-10 hours at a stretch, immersed in his own mind. He is in a silent conversation with the inhabitants of the drawing paper in front of him. He sets them free to talk back, to be equal partners in the conversation. A conversation interpreted only by the pen. While Ben has a BFA from the Corcoran School of Art and an MFA from American University, he says his drawings are more about creativity than “art.” While it is true that almost all art contains some level of creativity, not all creativity is art. Ben is one of those who accomplishes both at a very high level. He uses the tangible traditions of drawing, design, and color to explore the intangible realm of ideas. It’s his search for delightful surprises.
artandthecity
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hey chase the ambiguities of existence in a boundless zone of suggestion – all possibilities and no answers. Each drawing is his personal exploration, with no attempt to translate it for you. You’re on your own as you search for doubts and dreams in the dangerously seductive intricacies of Ben Tolman drawings. I wrote that seven years ago. Maybe you, like countless others, have found
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It’s difficult to say exactly what creativity is, but it is not doing the same thing over and over, no matter how good it looks. There has to be an extension, a conscious push for the “different” or the extra. Sometimes it’s a thrashing about in the artistic tent you pitch for yourself. Or a quiet and controlled expansion of vision – one work leads to another. Granted, not every new work of art has to be creative. Some of the great artists found their niche and stayed right there, producing masterpieces. But there is something in the searcher, the thrasher, or the chronically dissatisfied with whom many of us can identify. We are never going to reach perfection, or even a lofty perch on the tree of life. But who cares? It doesn’t matter. As long as we try something a little bit different, or look at something
in a new way, the world will continue to be fresh.
“The Hill Rag’s Art and the City” Hill Center Galleries Old Naval Hospital 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE March 2-April 30 Opening: March 8, 6-8 p.m. For the past year I have revisited artists whom I profiled years ago. I wanted to catch up, see how they have progressed in their ideas about art and life. What I found was wonderful. This is the concluding show of the work of those 12 artists at the Hill Center in March and April, opening March 8. The range of ideas, theories, and techniques is truly exciting. They are top professionals and recognized leaders in their respective
“Path,” 2016. Ink and gouache on paper, 21 x 15 inches.
“Occupied,” 2016. Ink on paper, 14 x 11 inches.
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fields: Alan Braley, Tom Bucci, Tati Kaupp, Matt Sesow, Jan Kern, Andrei Kushnir, Anne Marchand, Ellen Cornett, Dana Ellyn, Patrick Campbell, Barbara Nuss, and Bruce McNeil. My “REvisit” profiles will accompany each artist’s exhibit, as well as excerpts from my “Thoughts” about the themes and subjects of their work. This is not to be missed. You won’t see a show of this quality and stunning professionalism again. If you are thinking about buying, get there early because each artist has an extended collector base and wide following.
The show is sponsored by the Hill Rag. This month I begin the 15th year of the column by revisiting Ben Tolman, but I will profile new artists as well. Pam Rogers Capitol Hill Art League 545 Seventh St. SE Duration of Residency: March 1-April 18 Public Hours: March 1, 6, 10, and 11, 14, 15, 21, 23, 25, 29, and 31 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. April 3, 5, and 6 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Demo and Happy Hour: Friday, March 10, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Opening reception: Friday, April 7, 6:00-8:00 p.m. With “Botanica Magnifica” Pam Rogers, artist in residence at the Capitol Hill Art League, will begin an installation “that is sculptural in form.” It will be mounted throughout the gallery. Her work is always open and filled with light. She makes her pigments and sculpture materials from wherever she is, native or invasive. It’s all about how we connect with a particular place and with the planet. Pam will be creating narrative scrolls and largescale paper works in the gallery, so you will have a chance to see the process, watch them develop from start to finish. Besides the Demo/ Happy Hour event on March 10, including “libations and light bites,” she will be available to engage with visitors on multiple weekdays and Saturdays through March and April. For the schedule see www.chaw.org or call 202-547-6839. “Emulsion” Pepco Edison Place Gallery 702 Eighth St. NW March 3-16 “Emulsion” is the annual large juried show, 66 artists this year, exhibiting the whole span of media, technique, and subject. Prize money has been awarded for first, second, and third place, plus two honorable mentions. The opening reception is March 3, and closing reception is March 16. It’s always a great show with a terrific group of people. A Capitol Hill artist and writer, Jim Magner can be reached at Artandthecity05@aol.com. His award-winning book, “A Haunting Beauty,” can be acquired through www.ahauntingbeauty.com. u
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CHAW’s Resident Gallery Artist Program Presents Pam Rogers’ “Botanica Magnifica.” by Phil Hutinet
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ntroduced in August 2016, the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop’s Resident Gallery Artist program connects the Capitol Hill community with working artists and their process. CHAW is now in its 45th year as an organization with a track record of “building community through the arts.” CHAW’s Resident Gallery Artist program provides a space for experimentation while functioning as an artist incubator that interacts with the public. Carolina Mayorga inaugurated the Resident Gallery Artist program on Aug. 26, 2016, with “Life of a Pink Fly.” During public open studio hours in CHAW’s gallery, she drew a series of studies, all pink, resulting in a 10 x 12-foot mural of a pink fly. Just as Mayorga’s residency allowed visitors to examine her artistic process and culminated in a final exhibition, so will Pam Rogers’ “Botanica Magnifica.” Rogers begins her residency on March 1. Hannah Jacobson, CHAW’s director of marketing, development, and strategy, states that with this particular iteration Rogers’ residency “will take the mystery out of the artist open studio hours.” The open studio format at CHAW during the residency will allow vis-
itors to see how Rogers creates her work, literally from scratch. In addition, through a series of informal discussions between Rogers and the community during open hours, participants can ask questions of the artist and deepen their understanding of her creative Artist Pam Rogers process. CHAW Gallery Residency Manager Ellen Cornett adds that Rogers will in effect “create [three dimensional] artworks that wrap around the gallery.”
Pam Rogers DC-based artist Pam Rogers was born in Boulder, Colo., and studied art history and anthropology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She holds a BA from Wellesley College and an MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design, as well as a certificate in
Summer Solstice, plant, mineral and soil pigments, graphite and ink, 28 x 36
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botanical illustration through a program based in Kew Gardens, England. A lifelong love of nature and a fascination with humankind’s relationship to it inspires and informs Rogers’ work. Her examination of human intervention in nature and nature’s reclamation of the manmade
Last Day, graphite, ink, watercolor, handmade soil and plant pigments, mica and carbon, 40 x 30”
1025 FIRST ST SE 202.652.1009 IN THE VELOCITY CONDO BUILDING
“OFFICIAL NATIONALS BAR OF 106.7” ement of the non-human. By adding the elements of beauty found in nature, presented with a twisted side, I challenge the viewer to question what lurks beneath. It is at this point that the work begins to take on the persona of botanic magic realism.”
‘Botanica Magnifica’ To realize “Botanica Magnifica,” Rogers will create a series of “narrative scrolls using Hajji, mulberry, and large-scale paper with artistmade pigments and inks sourced from plants, soil, and minerals with a local connection.” From these scrolls she will bind plants in the gallery space, “offering visitors a chance to see the process, watch it You Left When the Forsythia Bloomed, plants (locallydevelop in the space and ultimatesourced forsythia, English Ivy, magnolia, hydrangea, thyme, ly seeing the final creation.” sage, rosemary and others), metal, fiber, 80 x 4 ‘ Site specific CHAW encourages those infor Carroll Square Gallery/Hemphill terested to stop by during public hours to watch “Botanica Magnifiresults in a visual dialectic. Recognizable forms ca” take form . confront one another in large colorful compositions through the use of classic botanical illustration and abstractions in the form of spilled Hours and Location ink or objects that appear familiar yet have no Duration: Residency, March 1-April 18, 2017 recognizable equal in nature. Public hours: March 1, 6, 10, and 11, 14, 15, Regionally renowned for her paintings and 21, 23, 25, 29, and 31 from 9:30am to 3:30pm. drawings, Rogers also creates sculptures and siteApril 3, 5, and 6 from 9:30am to 3:30pm. specific installations with found plant materials, Events: Demo and Happy Hour: Fri., March often incorporating twine, nails, and other man10, 6:00-7:30pm. made binding materials that contort and confront Opening reception: Fri., April 7, 6:00-8:00 pm. the natural elements of her work. She makes her own inks and washes from natural elements, such CHAW’s Gallery is located at 545 Seventh St. as soil and plants, and her paper from both invaSE, Washington, DC 20003. Reach the gallery sive (introduced by humankind) and noninvaby phone at 202-547-6839 or visit CHAW onsive (native) plant species. Rogers concludes that line at www.chaw.org. The Gallery Residency “materials and process drive my work.” at CHAW is generously sponsored by longtime Rogers’ finished drawings and sculpture Capitol Hill resident Wade Carey. To sponsor describe the often contentious and yet somefuture residencies contact Hannah Jacobson at times symbiotic relationship between human202-547-6839. kind and nature. As Rogers collects plant materials to make inks and to create forms both Phil Hutinet is the publisher of East City Art, DC’s visual arts publication. See this month’s two- and three-dimensional, she manipulates Hill Rag insert for more information or go to the natural world while gently letting it influwww.eastcityart.com for daily updates on DC’s ence her. vibrant art world. u Rogers hopes her audience will “find the wilderness that each person holds inside, the el-
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LITERARY HILL
A Compendium of Readers, Writers, Books, & Events
Crowds chat with authors at a recent BookFest. Photo: Bruce Guthrie
BookFest 2017! Join us on May 7 for the Sixth Literary Hill BookFest, where you’ll meet the writers below as well as more than 30 other local authors. Capitol Hill booksellers, publishers, and other members of our literary community will also be on hand, and we’ll have author talks and a full lineup of stories and activities in the Children’s Corner. The BookFest is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the North Hall of Eastern Market. At 3 p.m., stroll across the street for Poets’ Corner@Tunnicliff’s, a reading and open-mic event on the patio at Tunnicliff’s Tavern. This event was SRO last year (in the rain!), so come early to get a seat and hear some of the finest and freshest voices in DC’s contemporary poetry scene. Volunteer, donate, and keep tabs on all the latest at www.literaryhillbookfest.org and follow us on social media @theliteraryhill.
Answering the Call of Duty It was March 30, 1967, when Lieutenant Richard “Butch” Neal, newly arrived in Vietnam, moved out with his pla-
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toon to take Hill 70 and walked straight into a battalion of the North Vietnamese Army. As he reports it, “Hell erupted around us. Mortar rounds rained down, and machine gun fire had pinned us in place. We were stuck.” As Neal tended to his fallen commanding officer, he realized that the other soldiers were looking expectantly at him. That moment not only defined his career in the military, but it also gave him the name for his recently published memoir. In “What Now, Lieutenant?” Neal describes the battle, which only three of seven officers survived, and its life-changing impact on him. Due to that experience, he writes, “I became a great believer in eye-ball level leadership.” He also realized that the trust his men showed toward him “was something I wanted to continue to earn, and live up to, for as long as I was given the opportunity.” It turned out to be quite an opportunity. Neal went on to serve for 35 years in the Marine Corps. He returned to Vietnam and later became deputy director of operations and Central Command briefer for Gen. Schwarzkopf in Desert Storm. He became the face of the 1991 war, fielding a media barrage that constituted a different kind of “What Now, Lieutenant?” moment. “No, there were no bullets flying around,” he writes, “just a lot of questions from a somewhat hostile group of folks.” Neal’s final posting was as assistant commandant of the Marine Corps here on Capitol Hill. He retired in 1998 as a four-star general and settled on the Hill with his wife Kathy, a nurse (and expert in packing up and moving). Neal continues to consider it his “solemn duty to remember” the 15 Marines who died in that 1967 battle, and can frequently be seen walking along the Vietnam Wall. “What Now, Lieutenant?” is a stirring account of A retired four-star general shares lesan extraordinary sons in leadership life, as full of grit, and loyalty from valor, and compasVietnam, Desert Storm, and beyond.
sion as the remarkable man who wrote it. Gen. Neal will read from and answer questions about his book at the Hill Center on March 21 at 7 p.m. For more visit hillcenterdc.org.
Local author Garrett Peck leads a sudsfilled tour of DC’s brewing history on March 24.
A Heady Experience Local author, historian, and tour guide Garrett Peck has written a book on the sudsier side of DC. He is, quite literally, the author of “Capital Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in Washington, D.C.,” and this month he’s offering another of his popular Smithsonian Associates tours. “Capital Cheers: A DC Brew Tour” is a daylong excursion that starts at the Heurich House Museum in Dupont Circle, home of brewer and philanthropist Christian Heurich, and proceeds to the Navy Yard for lunch and a sampling of what’s on offer at Bluejacket Brewery. In the afternoon, it’s on to Congressional Cemetery for Peck’s walking tour of the famous brewers buried there; then to New York Avenue for a spin through the 90-year-old warehouse that houses New Columbia Distillers, maker of Green Hat Gin; and a final stop at Atlas Brew Works for a tour and flight tasting. Hop on board for a steeping in both the history and the contemporary taste of DC’s brewing scene. March 24, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., www.smithsonianassociates.org
Order in the Court Jessica Childress is a DC attorney who has used her children’s book, “The Briefcase of Juris P. Pru-
dence,” as the springboard for the Juris Prudence Academy, a DC-based legal educational program for kids ages 8-12. The 90-minute workshop teaches students basic legal principles and walks them through a mock trial addressing such topics of interest as driving age, length of school recess, and whether kids should have school on Saturdays. A Juris Prudence Kids Mock Trial Academy will be held at Trinity University, March 18, 10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. For more visit www. jurispprudence.com.
On the Hill in March East City Bookshop hosts the ECB Fiction Book Club, discussing Patricia Highsmith’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” March 6, 6:30 p.m., and the Reality Literature Book Club, discussing Tom Wolfe’s “The Right Stuff,” March 22, 6:30 p.m.; and presents readings by Ellen Prentiss Campbell, author of “The Bowl with Gold Seams,” March 9, 6:30 p.m.; Shanthi Sekaran, author of “Lucky Boy,” March 10, 6:30 p.m.; Elizabeth Winder, author of “Marilyn in Manhattan,” March 15, 6:30 p.m.; and Christina Kovac, author of “The Cutaway,” March 29, 6:30 p.m. www. eastcitybookshop.com Folger Shakespeare Library presents “Class in the Black Community,” a PEN/ Faulkner Fiction reading with authors Angela
Flourney, Margo Jefferson, and Marcus Guillory, March 6, 7:30 p.m.; and “We Wear the Masks: Poetry and Fiction Inspired by Comic Books,” an O.B. Hardison Po e t r y / P E N / Faulkner FicLocal lawyer Jessica Chiltion event with dress stages mock trials for Manual Gonzakids at the Juris Prudence les, Yona HarAcademy, March 18. vey, and Gary Jackson, March 13, 7:30 p.m. Tickets and information at 202544-7077 or www.folger.edu. The Hill Center offers “From Stanford to San Quentin: California’s Lamson Murder Mystery,” a reading and signing with author Tom Zaniello, March 13, 7 p.m.; “What Now, Lieutenant?” with Gen. Richard “Butch” Neal, March 21, 7 p.m.; and “World War I and America,” part of the PEN/Faulkner at Hill Center Reading series, with writers Elliot Ackerman, Maurice Decaul, Kayla Williams, and Nicole Rizzuto commemorating the 100th anniversary of the US involvement in the war by reading texts from the era, March 28, 7 p.m. Free but register at www.hillcenterdc.org or 202-549-4172. The Library of Congress presents a Books and Beyond reading with Sylvia Albro, author of “Fabriano: City of Medieval and Renaissance Papermaking,” March 7, noon. www.loc.gov A four-part series by Smithsonian Associates, “Reading the Gilded Age Authors,” continues with Henry James’ “Daisy Miller” and Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening,” March 13, 6:45 p.m.; and offers “The Craft of Travel Writing,” a day-long workshop with Andrew Evans, March 18, 9:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; and “Maisie Dobbs and Stories from the Great War” with author Jacqueline Winspear, March 20, 6:45 p.m. www.smithsonianassociates.org u
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Come Learn About the Future of the Anacostia River Waterfront
The Poetic Hill
by Karen Lyon
K
enneth Carroll III was selected by Words Beats & Life as the 2017 DC Youth Poet Laureate. He began performing as a sophomore at Wilson High School and continues to participate in poetry slams and readings throughout the Metropolitan DC area. Carroll, who self-identifies as “a total nerd,” is interested in issues of identity and social justice. Part of the latest generation in a tradition of the black literary arts movement in the District, Carroll’s work speaks to the inspiring resilience of DC’s cultural heritage.
Puddle Jumping
The Committee of 100 on the Federal City and the Anacostia Waterfront Trust invite you to attend a public presentation on the future of the Anacostia River waterfront. With over 1,200 acres of park land and 15 miles of shoreline, the Anacostia Waterfront could become one of the District of Columbia’s greatest assets, just as other urban waterfronts have become for cities around the world. Join them on a fascinating visual journey to learn about the history, current state and potential of this magnificent area in the heart of the District. Opening remarks by former DC Mayor Anthony Williams, chairman of the Anacostia Waterfront Trust.
Tuesday, March 14, 6:30-8 p.m. First Congregational UCC 945 G St. NW Contact aclark@anacostiatrust.org with any questions or to RSVP 138 H Hillrag.com
We grew up sucking our thumbs Chewing on our bottom lips like salt water taffy We grew up with our hands buried in our pockets like pockets of seeds beneath the soil We grew up with dirt between our fingers We grew up biting our nails till they were stumps We grew up stubbing our toes so often Our soles cried mercy Cried uncle Our throats cried hushed curses with cracking voices Back when corners were everywhere And our bodies were still trying to find a way out of them
We grew up overflowing Brimming up over the bathtubs we once sat in Erupting like the fountains that beckoned us to come dance in them We grew up filling the world with our bodies Always awaiting the feel of the splash Loud and bold beneath our feet We grew up puddle jumping We grew up with wet shoes We grew up with chlorine We grew up with mildew Whether we kept our chin up or our nose down We all grew up smelling something We all grew up smelling like something We all grew up like something Something good We all grew up back when something was good
We grew up falling Into, away from, and back again Grew up trying to find the balance in the center Where the scales don’t tip like the seesaws on the playground We grew up on playgrounds Whether they were hard plastic, wood-chipped, or concrete All you ever needed was a dream And your creativity would grow wings and carry you there Back when our creativity carried us and not the other way around Back when we couldn’t turn ourselves off Couldn’t be any less than who we were Back when no one knew how to Back when no one wanted to How we seemed to overflow with the fruits of the world When the world tasted sweet Sweet enough to chew like bottom lips
If you would like to have your poem considered for publication, please send it to klyon@literaryhillbookfest.org. (There is no remuneration.) u
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{health & fitness}
a g o Y t o H Expanded Programs and a Community Connection by Pattie Cinelli
E
leven years ago I wrote about the newly opened Bikram Yoga Studio on H Street NE. Bikram Yoga was the latest craze that migrated here from the west coast. The classes were hot (105 degrees) and crowded with sparsely-clad yogis. I struggled through the 26 Hatha yoga postures and two breathing exercises feeling elated that I completed the class without passing out. No matter which class one attended participants were guaranteed to get the same postures in the same order every time. These days you can still get your Bikram yoga fix on H Street, the 90-minute series crafted by Bikram Choudhury more than 30 years ago, but you can get so much more at the newly named studio, Hot Yoga Capitol Hill. “Our Bikram-style class is the base but we now have Vinyasa classes (flow), yoga nidra (one hour meditation) and restorative yoga (it’s in a warm room but not hot),” said Lara Atella, the co-owner of the studio who joined forces last year with the studio’s original owner Elizabeth Glover.
New Programs Lara first practiced at the studio for a year, then became a teacher seven years ago. Before becoming a co-owner she was a neuro-behavioral scientist at Johns Hopkins and National Institute of Health. One of the new programs at Hot Yoga Capitol Hill is her brainchild – Body Composition and Fitness Assessments – and it is one of the best deals in town. “We’d like you to be your own health guru,” explained Lara. “We give people on idea of where they are and want them to use the information to take more responsibility for their own health.” The assessment provides detailed, quantifiable information about your current body composition, flexibility and tissue health that you can track over time. Body composition num-
At Hot Yoga Capitol Hill on H Street co-owners Elizabeth Glover and Lara Atella continue to keep yoga hot and local!
bers include percentage of body fat, metabolic rate, blood pressure, heart rate, flexibility. A post assessment consultation is also included. Another new offering at Hot Yoga is a “Hot Pilates” class. “It’s a high-intensity Pilates-inspired workout in a room about 90 degrees,” said Lara. They’ve also got a hip yoga class – Club Yoga (happy hour yoga on Fridays at 6 p.m.) with music and lights. If that’s too calm for you try “Glowga.” Lara explains. “On the last Friday of every month we offer a hot yoga class with black lights. By changing lights it changes where you perceive yourself in the room. Research has shown that by changing proprioception new neuro pathways are
created in the brain and body. The class is also a lot of fun!” Another offering, ‘Barrelates’ is a combination of classic Barre work and hot Pilates.
Programs for Children Yoganastics is a class where kids ages 5 to 8 can learn gymnastics and age-appropriate yoga stretching and postures, mindfulness and meditation. Children can also acquire a sense of how the mind and body are connected and improve their proprioception. Hot Yoga also has a non-heated yoga class for children 2 to 7. Parents can participate in the class as well.
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Allen A. Flood, M.D.
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Chiropractic Adjustment Helps Adenoiditis Gentleman walked in complaining of constant need to clear his throat of phlegm, especially after eating or drinking. Adenoiditis. A doctor recommended removing his adenoids.
Community Connections Hot Yoga prides itself on its comprehensive work/study program. Work Study was created to help those with difficult financial situations and/or students who are attending Hot Yoga’s to Teacher Training. Students in the program are able to attend unlimited yoga classes. Hot Yoga reaches out to members in the community in creative and innovative ways. “We have potluck dinners. We have movie nights for kids where parents can drop off their children and have a date night. We also have adult movie nights. Often families come with pillows.” In what is perhaps the most unconventional activity Hot Yoga offers is their collaboration with One Breath At A Time, an organization that combines effective teachings of yoga, mindfulness, and stress reduction techniques into every interaction for children and adults attending its programs. Hot Yoga Capitol Hill and One Breath At A Time will once again hold a Women’s Empowerment Forum which uses yoga and mindfulness to help underserved women and their children. The forum is free of charge and will serve as an educational and inspirational platform for holistic wellness and empowerment. Next month Lara and another instructor will be taking a group of yogis on a return retreat to Casa Om in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. The trip includes two hot yoga classes daily, meals prepared by a master chef, hot Pilates and relaxing on the beach. For more information on programs at Hot Yoga Capitol Hill visit the website: www.hotyogacapitolhill.com.
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Pattie Cinelli is a holistic personal trainer who has been writing her columns on health and fitness topics and practitioners for more than 25 years. Email her questions or comments to: fitness@pattiecinelli.com. u
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{health and fitness}
Let’s Get Physical
Stress Relief While Building Your Inner Worrier
A
by Stacy Peterson re you looking for some stress relief? er students engaged in progressively more Maybe you would like to incorporate challenging movements to prepare them more physical activity into your regifor an upcoming karate test. men? At Samurai Training Academy We beginners started with a warmup, A collection of practice and ceremonial weapons for traditional Japanese martial arts. you can reap the benefits of both stress then transitioned into a series of punches relief and physical activity, getting two birds with and kicks with and without the punching urai Training Academy has weekly and weekend one stone. Learning and improving your martial arts and kicking shields. Next we partnered to classes, offering plenty of options for kids skills in karate, jujitsu, and sword can help and adults alike. enhance your physical strength and your “Our school is a direct connection mental focus and calmness too. with Japan. We have a deep and meaningThe Samurai Training Academy’s ful lineage to the founders. Our senior indojo is located in the heart of Capitol Hill structor is Yoshikazu Nakamura. You do on the same block as Mr. Henry’s, on Pennnot see that in many schools,” stated Sensylvania Ave SE, directly above Barrel besei Bob Lowry. tween Sixth and Seventh streets SE. The instructors adapt to the individuAfter walking into this prime locaal’s strengths and weaknesses, in addition tion to participate in a karate class one eveto patiently providing coaching cues that ning, I was greeted with welcoming smiles, enable participants to learn the challenga clean environment, and a dojo that was ing movements with ease. comfortable even for a beginner like me. Building your inner worrier and proOur informative instructor, Tom, dividing stress relief from your hectic week vided us into two groups, consisting of a Sensei Bob Lowry (middle) with his students after a successful rank are two of the many benefits students gain larger more experienced group and a small test and Tom Rivera’s (middle left) First Dan black belt test. in attending Samurai Training Acadebeginner group. Our beginners group was my. Students have mentioned how they have lost taken through a series of exercises while the othpractice our new movements with each other. The weight, feel stronger, stand taller, and have better moves advanced our balance, total body posture. What do you have to lose? strength, and focus, especially when tranFor more information or to attend a class sitioning from one movement to the next. at Samurai Training Academy visit www.samuThe class was challenging, educaraitrainingacademy.com. You can also contact tional and fun, something individuals of Bob Lowry directly at boblowry@samuraitraininall ages and levels can enjoy. gacademy.com or visit the dojo at 613 PennsylvaOne of the students, Jmaw, who nia Ave. SE. works on the Hill, has been active in ka-
Students perform sparring drills to judge distance and timing with an opponent.
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rate and jujitsu classes since November. “I needed something that would be a stress reliever due to the election. I felt like this was the perfect fit,” Jmaw stated. “The teachers are amazing in their ability to break down the multiple movements into single movements before having us put them all together.” The classes bring individuals of various background and locations together, learning from and with each other. Sam-
Stacy Peterson, MS, CSCS, CHHC, is a functional nutrition educator, holistic health coach, and strength and conditioning coach practicing whole-foods nutrition and physical training for individuals of all ages and activities on the Hill. She offers an integrative aspect to everyone’s healthcare and performance team. For recipes and nutrition and exercise tips sign up for the monthly newsletter at www.accelerationsports.net. To see how we can help you achieve your health and/or fitness goals contact Acceleration Sports by emailing stacy@accelerationsports.net or calling 805-704-7193. u
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{health and fitness}
Urinary Health In Pets
A
s mammals we all pee. Urine, produced by the kidneys, is an essential part of physiology: it eliminates excess water, helps electrolyte balances, rids the body of toxic metabolites and waste products and drugs, and helps maintain acid-base balance within the bloodstream. Therefore, it is essential to maintain proper kidney and urinary health. Let’s start with drinking sufficient amounts of water. Always keep your pet’s water bowl full with fresh water. Change it daily and be certain to wash the bowls with soap and water frequently. A healthy dog should drink between one-half to one ounce of water per pound of body weight per day. In essence, a 65-pound dog, a small Labrador, should drink between one-quarter to one-half a gallon per day. On hot days this may be more. If your dog eats a canned diet, possibly a bit less. Cats should drink 5-10 ounces per day, but
by Dan Teich, DVM remember, many eat canned food, thus needing much less water. Drinking too little water results in dehydration and a host of issues. Conversely, too much water can be problematic as well. If your dog has been out playing hard, of course let them drink post exercise, but not too much. Have your pup take a break for a few minutes when drinking. When an otherwise healthy dog overdrinks, the excess water may cause sodium and potassium imbalances, leading to serious illness. Many dogs and cats will have excessive drinking secondary to medical problems. Causes can include diabetes, kidney disease, bladder or kidney infections, Cushing’s disease, and certain cancers. See your veterinarian if you notice excessive drinking. Kidney disease may cause problems with urination. First, decreased kidney function usually leads to increased urination. Why you ask? It is because of kidney physiology. Here’s the short version. Blood enters the kidneys, and the kidneys take out much of the fluid from the bloodstream, then the kidneys selectively put back into the bloodstream that which is needed, including water. When kidneys start to fail, the first item they fail to replace is water, thus the pet urinates excessively. This leads to dehydration and loss of electrolytes and other essential nutrients. Many dogs and cats develop kidney stones or bladder stones. The reasons for this are myriad, but treatment for most is similar. A bladder stone is what it sounds like: a rock within the urinary bladder. It forms slowly, similar to a pearl: layers of stone are added over time. Risk factors include
breed (Westies, Dalmatians, Schnauzers, Bichon Frises, miniature poodles, Yorkshire terriers, Shih Tzus), diet, and other factors such as drinking too little water. Many cats develop bladder stones too. There are several different types of common stones. Some can be dissolved and cured with diet, while others must be surgically removed. For all stone types, preventing recurrence involves diet and being certain that your pet drinks plenty of water. Stones are diagnosed via x-rays or abdominal ultrasound in combination with urine analysis. Bladder infections are a common occurrence in female dogs and cats, and less so in males of both species. Cardinal signs of bladder infections include increased drinking and urinating, urinating in inappropriate places, leaking of urine, blood in urine, and foul odor to the urine. These are diagnosed via sampling the urine and examining it under a microscope. Many infections are readily treated with either oral or injectable antibiotics. In more complicated cases the infection ascends from the urinary bladder into the kidneys. This condition is called pyelonephritis and can be life-threatening. Many bladder infections can be caused by poor conformation, such as excessive skin folds around the vulvar region. This is complicated by dogs or cats being overweight. Excessive hair in this region may also trap debris, similar to the folds of skin, resulting in bladder infections. Good hygiene in female dogs and cats may help to lessen the occurrence of infections. This includes trimming hair as needed. In dogs with redundant skin, clean the region frequently, as instructed by your veterinarian. The urinary system is essential to life as we know it, and it can also develop numerous problems. We will discuss more of them another day. Today’s takeaway: monitor your pet’s drinking and urination carefully, and if you notice any problems call your veterinarian as soon as possible. Dan Teich, DVM, is at District Veterinary Hospital, 3748 10th St. NE. Email questions to desk@districtvet.com. u
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Be a part of our community. March 2017 H 147
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Free to excel 148 H Hillrag.com
{kids & family}
N O T E B O O K
by Kathleen Donner
Arts on the Horizon: Nutt and Bolt at the Atlas Nutt and Bolt are robot rivals. They spend their days using the random junkyard objects around them in games of skill and sound rallying the audience for support. As the competition builds to a frenzied pinnacle, Nutt and Bolt realize that by cooperating they can make something even more wonderful. Together, sounds become stories, notes become music and the world becomes full of possibility. $6 to $10. Performances are March 29 to April 2, at the Atlas, 1333 H St. NE. atlasarts.org.
Saturday Morning at The National Visit the National Theatre on select Saturday mornings for free programs. The programming is best suited for ages 4 to 10. Performances take place Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. in the Helen Hayes Gallery. The National Theatre is at 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Tickets may be reserved one week prior to the performance. The reservation system closes at 10 a.m. on the Friday before the performance. Walk-ins are welcome if there is room. Register and get more information at thenationaldc.org. Here’s the lineup: March 4, Mr. G; March 18, Christylez Bacon; March 25, Bilbo’s Journey; April 1, Papgeno!; and April 8, Unified Jazz Ensemble.
Séneca: Ratón de Biblioteca
Earth Explorers is at the National Geographic Museum through Sept. 10. Photo: Carol Woodward/National Geographic
NatGeo Earth Explorers National Geographic Earth Explorers is an interactive family experience showcasing the work of some of the most innovative and exciting National Geographic explorers. Kids imaginations run wild as they become world explorers and embark on an epic adventure to discover new species, study animal behavior and learn about the important roles that technology, innovation and ingenuity play in making and documenting these discoveries. Through interactive and immersive areas, children explore six regions of the world and can even use the methods employed by National Geographic explorers in the field. Visit a base camp in a life-sized explorer’s jeep. Take a simulated hot-air-balloon ride and document the migration of herds across Africa. Board a deepsea submersible for a virtual dive to survey life at all levels of the water column from abundant coral reefs to deep-sea thermal vents. Earth Explorers is at the National Geographic Museum, 1145 17th St. NW, through Sept. 10. Tickets are $15 for adults; $12 for seniors/students; and $10 for children (3-12). natgeomuseum.org.
When Séneca, a serious little mouse, returns to his adventures with the street-wise barrio mice, a cat and a dog, these unlikely companions learn the lessons of friendship and tolerance. A lively bilingual musical for children 4 to 10-years old, Séneca: Ratón de Biblioteca (The Library Mouse) runs March 13 to 25. Tickets are $12 for adults; $10 for children. GALA Theatre, 3333 14th St. NW. 202-234-7174. galatheatre.org.
Discovery Theater March Shows On Friday, March 17, 10:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., celebrate Paddy’s Day with dancer-musician Shannon Dunne and musician Alex Boatright in their joyful show includes old-style sean nós dancing, singing and the sounds of traditional instruments. Experience a little taste of Ireland by joining the floor-stomping
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Film still from The Eagle Huntress, screening at the National Gallery of Art on March 25, 11:30 a.m., in the East Building Auditorium. English narration, and Kazakh with English subtitles. Shown in collaboration with the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital.
Kid’s Movies at the NGA Long Way North, March 18 and 19, 11:30 a.m., in the East Building Auditorium, is for ages 11, up. Set in 1892, this animated adventure follows 15-year-old Russian aristocrat Sacha as she leaves behind her comfortable Saint Petersburg life in the hopes of tracking down and saving her beloved grandfather, a famous explorer, who has gone missing near the North Pole. But Sacha’s parents strongly disapprove of her ambitions having already arranged her marriage. Defying her destiny, Sacha flees her home and launches a daring quest toward the Great North. (Rémi Chayé, France/Denmark, 81 minutes) The Eagle Huntress, March 25 at 11:30 a.m., in the East Building Auditorium, is for ages 11, up. Among the isolated Kazakh tribe in the mountains of northwest Mongolia, the long tradition of eagle hunting has only been practiced by men. This documentary follows Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl, as she trains to become the first female eagle hunter. This inspiring film captures her courage. (Otto Bell, US, 2016, 87 minutes) Seating is offered on a first-come, first-served basis. No advance registration is required. nga.gov. fun. All Ireland is for ages 5 through 10. On March 22 and 23, 10:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Monica can’t wait for the newest member of the family to arrive. But a broken leg sends her to the emergency room with her mom. In a musical medical adventure, Monica discovers that a hospital isn’t such a scary place. A baby brother might join you on the trip back home. “Monica Becomes a Big Sister” is for ages 3 through s7. On March 28 to 31, 10:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., the magic of earth science takes center stage in this fun, interactive Discovery Theater original as pa-
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trons explore the origins of our planet, the water cycle, and our important role in the ecosystem. Kick off Earth Month by pledging to become an Earth Warrior. Find out some great ways to start right away. “Mother Earth & Me” is for ages 5 through 10. These shows are at the Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr. SW, on the National Mall. Tickets are $6 to $8. discoverytheater.org.
Kites of Asia Family Day On March 25, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., celebrate spring at the National Air and
Space Museum’s Kites of Asia Heritage Family Day. Talk to kite experts. See pan-Asian kite displays. Marvel at indoor kite flying. Make your own kite. Maybe even take a dance lesson. airandspace.si.edu.
LEGO Lady Liberty Ever seen a nine-foot statue of liberty model made by LEGO? Experience “The Nation We Build Together” introduces the ideas and ideals that are essential to the American experience. The 300-brick high statue (9.44 feet) weighs 125 pounds and will be displayed through Jan. 2018. National Museum of American History, Constitution Avenue between 12th and 14th Streets NW. americanhistory.si.edu.
Stars Join Capital City Symphony Concert On March 12, 5 p.m., Capital City Symphony continues their tradition of presenting outstanding young classical solo artists in this year’s edition of “Great Masters, Young Stars.” Lynne Bai, 2016 winner of the Ylda Novik Memorial Concerto Competition for Pianists, will join them to perform Edvard Grieg’s one and only piano concerto. This beautifully orchestrated piece is full of dramatic contrasts. Their program also features two water-inspired works: Smetana’s symphonic poem The Moldau and Britten’s “Four Sea Interludes” from the opera “Peter Grimes.” Conducted by Victoria Gau. Capital City Symphony offers free tickets to kids age 16. The Atlas is at 1333 H St. NE. atlasarts.org.
Imagination Dance Show for the Very Young Imagination Stage presents “Paper Dreams,” its first dance performance-based production in the My First Imagination Stage series. A
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by Ted Prior, this colorful 35-minute show is filled with exquisite puppetry and the gentle storytelling that has delighted audiences around the world. It is the perfect performance for even the littlest theatergoers. “Grug and the Rainbow” is on stage at the Kennedy Center, March 18, 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.; and March 19, 1:30 and 4 p.m. It is most enjoyed by age 2, up. $20. All patrons must have a ticket. kennedy-center.org.
To Sail Around the Sun
Photo: Courtesy of VStar Entertainment Group
PAW Patrol Live! “Race to the Rescue” at the National It’s the day of the Great Adventure Bay Race between Adventure Bay’s Mayor Goodway and Foggy Bottom’s Mayor Humdinger. However, Mayor Goodway is nowhere to be found. PAW Patrol to the rescue! Ryder summons Marshall, Chase, Skye, Rubble, Rocky, Zuma and Everest to rescue the mayor and to run the race in her place. Using their unique skills and teamwork, the pups show that “no job is too big, no pup is too small.” They share lessons for all ages about citizenship, social skills and problem-solving as they make several heroic rescues on their race to the finish line. $22 to $68. March 11, 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 6 p.m.; and March 12, 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., at National Theater, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. thenationaldc.org.
collaboration with Mons Dansa Dance Company of Barcelona, Spain, Paper Dreams explores the many facets of creativity, including movement. It is a fun, interactive production that tells the story of two delightful, clown-like creatures. Can one’s greatest mistake turn into the next great innovation? Best for ages 1 through 5, it runs at Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda, MD, March 11 through April 9. Performances are Saturdays and Sundays at 10 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Tickets are $14, with a $5 lap seat for children under 12 months. Tickets may be purchased online at imaginationstage.org, at the Imagination Stage box office, or by calling 301-280-1660.
Colonial Career Day On April 1, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) holds a Colonial Career Day. Imagine selecting a career in the 1700s? A good carpenter? A weaver? An apothecary? Come learn some new skills and figure out how to survive in the time of George Washington. This is a walk-in
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event. Daughters of the American Revolution Headquarters is at 1776 D St. NW. 202-628-1776. dar.org.
From the Mouths of Monsters Loosely inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, this contemporary, highly theatrical world premiere commission features two actors who riff on the classic monster tale in unexpected ways with surprising relevance to today’s audiences. On stage at the Kennedy Center, March 10 to 12. Appropriate for ages 12, up. kennedy-center.org.
Grug and the Rainbow Grug is a small guy bursting with big curiosity. Beginning his life as the grassy top of a Burrawang tree, he is fascinated by the world around him, solving everyday problems with creativity and joy. In this whimsical tale, Grug goes on an epic adventure to find a rainbow. Though its spectacular hues seem always just beyond his grasp, he is full of determination and ever ready for whatever surprises come his way. Adapted from the beloved picture books
Four seasons. Four stories. Four dances! Directed by Paul Gordon Emerson, and choreographed by Mr. Emerson and Company, “To Sail Around the Sun” is a unique and moving display of imagination and enchantment set to the timeless music of Antonio Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons.” Superb dancers grace the stage as the gorgeous score is played by a quartet of National Symphony Orchestra musicians: Jennifer Kim and Wanzhen Li, violins; Tsuna Sakamoto, viola; and Eugena Chang, cello. The artists move seamlessly together to the music in this multimedia work. “To Sail Around the Sun” is on stage at the Kennedy Center, March 25, 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.; and March 26, 1:30 and 4 p.m. It is most enjoyed by age four, up. $20. All patrons must have a ticket. kennedy-center.org.
Black Kids Swim The Black Kids Swim website celebrates and publicizes the truth that African-American children can and do excel in the sport of swimming. Black Kids Swim highlights the accomplishments of these children in the sport of swimming. It also serves as a resource for families with experienced swimmers and those with children who want to explore the sport. There are also multiple resources to help African-American children learn basic water safety skills. Black Kids Swim wants to see children do more than simply survive in the water. They want them to develop valuable techniques that can benefit them physically and professionally throughout their lives. blackkidsswim.com.
Locals for Locals Good-bye Winter 5K Locals for Locals 5K, March 19, supports CASA DC to help foster children here in the District of Columbia. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children of DC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to promote court appointed volunteer advocacy so that every abused and neglected child in the DC foster care system can be safe and establish permanence. This mission is carried out through the re-
For the 2017-2018 school year Bridges PCS is in our new location:
100 Gallatin St. NE Washington, DC 20011
Pre-K 3 through 5th grade Building a strong foundation for learning
APPLY FOR THE 2017-2018 SCHOOL YEAR APPLY TODAY FOR ALL GRADES ADDITIONAL SLOTS OPEN FOR GRADES 3, 4 and 5
Apply for admissions at:
www.myschooldc.org or call (202) 888-6336 APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED ON A CONTINUING BASIS
Open houses for the 2017-2018 school year will be held on: Fri. from 9:30 am - 10:30 am: March 17 & 31 April 14 & 28
Wed. from 6 pm - 7 pm: March 15 April 12
*You must register for these sessions by calling (202) 545-0515. Limit 30 people per session.
w w w. br i d g e sp c s . org
202.545.0515
Accredited by Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Voted one of the Best Preschools in DC, City Paper Readers Poll 2013 -2016!
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cruitment, training and support of volunteer advocates. Register for the run at localsforlocals5k.com.
DC’s School Lottery System Changes Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) has proposed the establishment of a “walkability preference” in DC’s School Lottery. The walkability preference will enable a public charter elementary school to offer a preference in admission to families living within half a mile of the charter school and more than half a mile away from their DCPS-zoned school. The optional preference will go into effect for the 2018-2019 school year.
Jack and the Beanstalk Fe-fi-fo-fum. A timely version of the classic children’s tale about the young lad that doesn’t know beans about trading, but still manages to climb his way to the top. Jack finds that happiness lies in helping others rather than mere personal gain. Told with rod puppets and some surprising twists, Jack has long been a favorite of Puppet Company audiences. On stage at Glen Echo through March 26. This show is recommended for ages 5 through 9. Running time is 45 minutes. Tickets are $12. thepuppetco.org. Remainder of 2016-2017 season shows: The Three Billy Goats Gruff, March 30 to April 30; and Cinderella, May 4 to June 11.
KIPProm: A School Dance for Grown-ups Want a “prom-over?” Recreate all the magic of prom night while supporting the amazing KIPPsters on their journey to and through college. KIPProm is March 24. The VIP dinner is 6:30 to 9 p.m. and the KIPProm is 8:30 to midnight, at Dock 5 at Union Market. Read more at kippdc.org/KIPProm.
LOC Young Readers Center Extends to Saturdays The Library of Congress’s (LOC) Young
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Readers Center in the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. SE, Room LJ G29 on the ground floor, is now open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., in addition to weekdays. Read more at read.gov/yrc.
Revolutionary War Camp Anderson House invites kids ages 8 to 11 to Revolutionary War CampWashington’s Spies. This day camp for boys and girls is about espionage and the American Revolution. During the week, campers will learn about the diverse people who acted as spies during the Revolutionary War. They will dress in period costumes and enjoy hands-on activities, including creating secret codes, writing with invisible ink and orchestrating covert drop points. The camp will conclude with an open house for parents and friends to see demonstrations of what campers learned during the week. $400. Camp is July 24 to 28; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information and to register, contact Kendall Casey, museum education manager, at kcasey@societyofthecincinnati.org or 202-495-7127. Anderson House is at 2118 Massachusetts Ave. NW. societyofthecincinnati.org.
Anacostia River Festival The third annual Anacostia River Festival is on April 9, 1 to 5 p.m., in Anacostia Park, at Good Hope Road and Anacostia Drive SE. This year’s festival will focus on biking in the District and will also celebrate the new extension of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail to Bladensburg, MD. This free event will encourage District residents and visitors alike to explore communities and parks east of the river. In 2016, the Anacostia River Festival attracted nearly 8,000 participants. nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/anacostia-river-festival. Have an item for the Notebook? Email it to bulletinboard@hillrag.com. ◆
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School Notes by Susan Braun Johnson Maury Elementary Master Engraver Meets Students The fourth and fifth grade students in Lauren Bomba’s print making class recently hosted Master Engraver Will Fleishell with the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Fleishell’s work includes the portrait of Abraham Lincoln on the $5 bill. He also teaches at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. Fleishell brought two engraved copper plates, several prints and drawings plus a selection of work he did while in his teens. The kids were fascinated to learn about Fleishell’s private commissions that include Oprah Winfrey’s personal book plate and Hillary Clinton’s stationery). He explained the techniques he uses on the job, the art he creates in his own studio and his training and education. Fleishell explained that engravers learn by serving apprenticeships and can trace their mentors back to Albrecht Duer (1471-1528). The students are currently learning the engraving process themselves, etching with burins on plexiglass plates. They particularly appreciated Fleishell’s feedback on their works-in-progress.
How to Spell Excellence Maury congratulates Julian Click (first), Oliver Paterson (second place), Camille Benedict (third), and Kingston Stephen (fourth) on their winning
Master Engraver Will Fleishell critiques the work of Maury student.
performance in the first round of the SCRIPPS spelling bee Julian is too young to move on to the next round. So, Oliver, Camille and Kingston represented Maury in the Cluster Five Bee where Kingston placed in the top eight. He will compete in the District-wide Bee this month.
Happy New Year As part of their introduction to Chinese language and culture, Maury students celebrated the Year of the Rooster with music and dance performances at both Maury and Deal MS. The highlight was the entrance of the dragons created by Ms. Wang and Ms. Marks. Maury Elementary, 1250 Constitution Ave. NE. To reach them call 202-698-3838 or log on to www.mauryelementary.com. – Elizabeth Nelson
motivated students to pursue careers in engineering and perhaps become astronauts exploring space someday. US Park Rangers also visited Payne this month. They delivered personal invitations to a very special birthday celebration, the 199th birthday of abolitionist Frederick Douglass. They taught students about Douglass in context of photography. Students transported themselves to a much simpler time where cameras were not carried in pockets. The rangers explained the elaborate process of capturing an image in a photograph. Students discussed portraits of Douglass, the moods conveyed and posed for portraits themselves. The visit to Payne was one of many inspiring programs sponsored by the National Park Service to honor Douglass’ memory and connect his legacy to communities in the city. The Frederick Douglass House, which he named Cedar Hill, was established as a National Historic Site in 1988. It is in historic Anacostia. Payne Elementary School is located at 1445 C St SE. Follow them at: paynedc.org; FB: PayneES; Instagram: PayneDCPS; Twitter: @PayneDCPS – Mary Fitzhugh-Johnson
Payne Elementary Black History in the Making
Fifth-graders at Payne Elementary School were visited by engineers and educators of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Engineer Leslie Garrett discussed NASA’s history and purpose. She emphasized the importance of a good Katina Knight with sons Noelle and Zyree, Principal education and recognizing one’s talents Cartland, and PTO President Keisha McDonald. early. Others shared how their experiences and careers in engineering landed them at Wheatley Education Campus NASA. Jerrod Young, an optical engineer, led Valentine’s Day Festivities the students in a structures activity. Wheatley Education Campus PTO held their ValGiven spaghetti noodles and marshmalentine’s Day Fundraiser in anticipation of this anlows, the students were challenged to build nual celebration of love. Gifts available for purchase a structure that could withstand the weight included roses, teddy bears, heart shaped chocoof a ping pong ball, golf ball and tennis ball. late boxes and singing cards. Many of the students Antoine Lewis’ structure was able to support bought gifts not only for their parents but also for NASA engineers mesmerized audience and winning structure. all three! The informative, exciting session their teachers. The funds raised will be used for field
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Capital Cycle Camp 2017 SUMMER CAMP ON WHEELS! DCPS Spring Break (April 18th April 21st)
Summer Week 1: June 19th Summer Week 2: June 26th (MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM OFFERED.)
Summer Week 3: July 3rd (4 day week) (OVERNIGHT MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM OFFERED.)
Summer Week 4: July 10th Summer Week 5: July 17th Open to children entering first grade through middle school, who can ride a two-wheeled bicycle.
www.capitalcyclecamp.com | capitalcyclecamp@gmail.com L O C A L LY O W N E D A N D O P E R AT E D
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trips in early education and an end of the year party for the eighth-graders. The school ended the week with a Valentine’s Day Dance on Feb. 14 in the school’s gymnasium. Dancing and treats made it an evening to remember.
Chili Cook off The Wheatley PTO is planning a chili cook off event in April and looking for participants to enter. There is no charge and there will be prizes. If interested, please contact Thuy Hoang at: tdh17603@ yahoo.com. Details will be announced in the April issue of School Notes. Wheatley Education Campus is located at 1299 Neal St. NE. Call them at 202-939-5970. – Thuy Hoang
Tyler Elementary Alchemy of Taste Tyler Elementary School’s biggest and most fun fundraiser of the year is coming up – Alchemy of Taste – March 11 at 7 p.m. at Eastern Market hall. Visit the Tyler website to purchase tickets now for a fun-filled night of tasting food, wine, beer and spirits from local businesses, a silent auction and great music.
Black History February was an action-packed month of Black History for Tyler Tigers. Grades kindergarten to fifth visited the Museum of African American History. Grades three, four and five participated in an Oracle Contest by reciting a poem or speech by an African American author or writing their own speech. Morning announcements each day featured a “Diamond in the District”, highlighting a different notable African American from DC. The final diamond was Tyler’s own Mr. Burnett who was one of the engineers to help create one of the first email platforms for AOL. Tyler Elementary is located at 1001 G St. SE. Visit them at www.tylerelementary.net. – Elsa Falkenburger
Capitol Hill Cluster School The Cluster Gala Capitol Hill Cluster School the Cluster Gala of 2017 will be held at OneEight Distilling on March 25 from 8 to 11 p.m. It is a fun adult night out sponsored by the Capitol Hill Cluster PTA, where Cluster parents gather to celebrate all of the Cluster School staff and everything they do every day for Cluster students! Dinner, dancing and merriment are included. All proceeds go to the Capitol Hill Cluster.
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Watkins Third-Graders Recite “The Gettysburg Address” and “House Divided” speeches at Ford’s Theater.
Highly Effective Educators Three Capitol Hill Cluster teachers have now been recognized this winter alone! Stuart-Hobson’s reading intervention teacher Beth Dewhurst was recognized as the District’s 2017 Teacher of the Year. On Jan. 24, the DC Public Education Fund surprised Ann Brogioli, social worker and girls’ basketball coach at Watkins Elementary School, with the ‘Standing Ovation Award for Excellence in Service.’ James Edwards, director of music at Stuart-Hobson, won the Rubenstein Award for Highly Effective Teaching! The Rubenstein Awards for Highly Effective Educators honors excellent teachers, school leaders and support staff and aides. The awards are funded through the generosity of David Rubenstein, co-founder and managing director of the Carlyle Group and chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Both Brogioli and Edwards will be recognized at the annual Standing Ovation for DC Public Schools event, hosted by DC Public Education Fund and held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Black History Month All three Capitol Hill Cluster campuses celebrated Black History Month in unique and meaningful ways. At Peabody, the kindergarteners studied famous African Americans and created visual presentations in preparation for a “Famous Black American” event for teachers and parents on Feb. 24. Watkins students dressed up as a famous African Americans on “African American Heroes Day,” held a panel on historically black colleges and universities for third-fifth-grades, and last, but not least, orchestrated the 13th Annual MLK “I Have a Dream” Speech at the Lincoln Memo-
rial, on Feb. 24. The entire school traveled to the Lincoln Memorial to be present as the fifth-grade students took turns reciting one line of the speech. At Stuart-Hobson, students were treated to a screening of the film “Hidden Figures,” the story of a team of AfricanAmerican women mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program. Watkins third graders also had the chance to deliver hallowed speeches at a Washington landmark. After working with Ford’s Theater Oratory faculty member for a month to learn the origins of Lincoln’s best known speeches and practice reciting them, students performed “The Gettysburg Address” and “The House Divided” speech at Ford’s Theatre, Feb. 7.
Urban Debates Stuart-Hobson’s debate team turned in a powerful performance in the Washington Urban Debate Team’s tournament, featuring about 80 teams from 27 schools. Stuart-Hobson students had the second strongest overall showing and have moved into fourth place in season-long sweepstakes competition. Despite this being Watkins Elementary School’s first year participating in DCIAA Elementary Girls Basketball, the Lady Panthers had an undefeated season making them the 2017 Regional champions. On March 6, the team led by award winning head coach Ann Brogioli and assistant coach Ms. O’Donnell, will represent Region D in the city-wide tournament. Watkins boys’ basketball team is also undefeated. The Capitol Hill Cluster School’s website is www. capitolhillclusterschool.org. Peabody is located at 425 C St. NE. Watkins Elementary School @ Eliot-
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Y Y A A W W D D A A O the RO B BR on
HILL!
Ages 6-12 g Arts Camp / in rm ic fo er P k 6-wee ance and Mus 29 / Acting, D Church y ul –J 9 1 ne Ju Methodist t) ited Eastern Marke Capitol Hill Un (3 blocks from SE , re ua Sq 421 Seward inates program culm
ning for families to come together for fun and relaxation. Lastly, several parents testified before the DC Council Committee on Education on school modernization, environmental health and lead in water. CHML parents have been very active in advocating for not only CHML but all DC public schools so that all schools are healthy and safe for the students to thrive. #fixallschools Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan is located at 215 G St. NE. To learn more go to http://capitolhillmontessorischool.org. – Sara Burns
Eliot-Hine Middle School Watkins Undefeated Girls Basketball Team.
Hine is located at 1830 Constitution Ave. NE. Stuart-Hobson is located at 410 E St. NE. Connect via Facebook.com/CHCS.DC and twitter. com/CHCSPTA.
Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan Le Chandeleur Every year at the beginning of February, Capitol Hill Montessori seventh and eighth-graders host a Crêpes Night to celebrate La Chandeleur (Candlemass). Weeks prior to the event the students studied the meaning of the tradition, ate at a crêpes restaurant and deciphered a French recipe. Then, they coordinated the annual crêpes night, designed flyers and staffed the ticket booth. In addition, the students set up and decorated the room. The students made the crêpes and filled them with sweet or savory fillings. Crêpes Night was also an opportunity for the students to perform in French. They sang French songs, including the anthem, read poems, played French music on their respective instruments and even taught the guests traditional French folk dances.
Family Fitness Night Later in the month, families came together for some fun and exercise for Family Fitness Night. Families learned about overall wellness and how to promote an active lifestyle. There were demonstrations from American Parkour, Tippi Toes Dance and yoga. It was a great eve-
Conversing with Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe The Eliot-Hine Broadcast Network snagged an interview on Feb. 10 with Thandeka TutuGxashe, eldest daughter of Desmond Tutu, human rights activist and Nobel Prize winner. Sixth graders Juan Vizcarrando, Jr. and Mekhi Mimido conducted the interview with Mrs. Tutu-Gxashe, who was in the United States to raise awareness of the Tutudesk Campaign. During the interview, the students learned over 95 million children in schools across sub-Saharan Africa have no access to a classroom desks and must write in their laps or on the floor. Tutudesks are made from a polymer blend. They serve as a portable writing surface a child can hold in their lap. So far over 1.5 million Tutudesks have been given to students, and the Tutudesk Campaign aims to deliver at least 20 million Tutudesks by 2020.
family 6 week-long This exciting, ner theatre performance – in a closing din invited! and friends are
Monday–Friday, 9:00am–5:30pm $2000 for 6 weeks ($333 per week) No extra charge for early drop off at 8:15 am or late pickup at 6:00 pm • Fun Rehearsals • Acting & Improvisation Games • Choreography • Music
• Character Creation • Scene Building • Set Designs • And More
performing arts camp
Register/Info at: 202-316-2258 www.sugarfoots.com/camp
Anacostia River Trash Traps Yield Important Data Members of the Junk Art Club spent a warm February day with the Anacostia Watershed Society collecting and sorting trash from the River Terrace Trash Trap. Trash traps are set up along the Anacostia River to prevent trash in storm water sewer outflows from entering the river. In addition to keeping trash out of the river, the students learned the trash traps provide valuable information to policy makers. Data gathered from the trash traps were important pieces of information that led to the five-cent fee on plastic bags and the recent ban on Styrofoam containers in the District. The five-cent fee on plastic bags led to a significant reduction in plastic bags found in the river. Today the trash traps along the riv-
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Coach Maurice Tome. This weekly mathematical playtime brings students and parents together to explore and grapple with various complex problems.
SWS Family Night In early February, the SWS school community came together for a Family Night to enjoy the different activities students do in their specials class. The Eliot-Hine Junk Art Club kept a huge amount of litter out of Families created starthe Anacostia! themed art for our Gala er are collecting primarily plastic and glass bev& Auction; crafting Valerage containers. entine’s cards in French; walking on stilts, playing Eliot-Hine IB Middle School is located at 1830 four square and hula hooping in a mini PE Constitution Ave. NE. Reach them at 202-939class. A fun night was had by all! 5380; eliothinemiddleschool.org; @EliotHine; School Within School is located at 920 FB Eliot-Hine. – Suzanne Wells F St. NE. 202-727-7377. Learn more at www.schoolwithinschool.org. – Carolyn Banfalvi School Within School
@ Goding SWS librarian Barbara Ochmanek has been awarded the 2016 Rubenstein Award for Highly Effective Support Staff! Ochmanek, who has been a school librarian for many years, is truly dedicated. She has shaped the SWS library into a beloved place where students constantly pop in and out in search of their next book. Her achievements at SWS over the past four years include bringing three nationally recognized authors to speak, developing a popular Newbery Book Club, creating a summer reading program and implementing Accelerated Reader to support the Lucy Calkins Workshop curriculum used by SWS.
Super Math Solvers SWS third, fourth and fifth-graders have been arriving to school early on Wednesdays for Super Math Solver sessions with math instructional
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Capitol Hill Day School Middle Schoolers Lead and Collaborate
Each fall and spring, Capitol Hill Day School sixth, seventh and eighth-graders lead their parents and teachers through an in-depth discussion of each student’s progress. Students prepare by working with teacher advisors and reflecting on three areas: Academics, Social-Emotional Learning and Student Success Skills. Each year, students focus on a different theme: Progress (sixth), Effort (seventh) and Independence (eighth). Student-led conferences help students become more self-reflective and independent. When adolescents are active participants in conversaThe 2016 Rubenstein Award for SWS librarian Barbara Ochmanek. tions about their learn-
IS FROM
Encouraging Empowerment and Imagination in a Safe and Caring Environment For Children Ages 3-10
JUNE 19 to AUGUST
4
2017 TYLER ES
PENDING DCPS APPROVAL
ing, they gain important insights into the nature of learning, as well as the motivation to set goals and work towards them. Furthermore, the practice of presenting a balanced and detailed self-assessment prepares students for the transition to high school. As part of the school-wide Black History Month celebration of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, middle schoolers are working together to explore Writing and Advocacy, Biography and Identity, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Islam. Students will share their research at an allschool assembly in March. At Capitol Hill Day School, in every classroom and on the 300+
Younger children (ages 3-5) will engage in creative play, field trips, amazing classes, performers, the arts, language, movement, plenty of outdoor time and waterplay each week. Older ones (ages 6-10) will enjoy camp mornings focused on the arts, sports, critical thinking, sign language and cultural experiences. In the afternoon, there will also be a host of field trips, classes, performers, swimming and more.
KIDS CAMPS
CAMP
Small ratios for all campers-breakfast, snack, (maybe lunch), all performers, classes and trips included *children ages 6 and up must bring a SmarTrip card
Registration Begins February 6th
Download applications at www.politepiggys.com Mail to PO Box 31215, WDC 20030 OR Submit either at Maury ES,Tyler ES or School Within a School ES daily between 4pm-6pm
Flexible Scheduling: ages 3-5: ages 6-10:
Weekly $340 $370
Whole Day $68 $74
Half Day (any 5 hours) $41 $47
*25% sibling discount | *$100 registration fee | kids have to be 3 by 9/30/17
Early Bird Discount: $15 weekly discount for all prepaid weeks paid for by 4/3/2017.
More Info: 240-396-8957 ask for VanNessa www.politepiggys.com • politepiggysdaycamp@yahoo.com
CHDS sixth grade production of The Lion King at Atlas Theatre, supported by seventh and eighth-grade crew, pit band and costume and set designers. Students worked together over several months to learn the songs, dances, music as well as making the elaborate masks and props.
field trips, students are encouraged to ask questions, collect and analyze data, and present their findings. Visit the new website at www.chds. org, and join a small group tour this spring! Capitol Hill Day School is located at 210 South Carolina Ave. SE. Reach them at 202-386-9919, www. chds.org, Facebook @CapitolHillDaySchool, Twitter @explorewithCHDS. – Jane Angarola
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Friends Community School
search training in anxiety, mood and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, Kaplan will discuss the different types of clinical anxiety and how to proactively address symptoms of anxiety in children.
Students Study the Agricultural Revolution
Sixth-grade students at Friends Community School learned about the Agricultural Revolution in Mesopotamia through creatSt. Peter School is located at 422 Third St. ing help-wanted ads and holding a job fair. SE. Reach them at 202-544-1618; info@stpeAbout 10,000 years ago, as humans moved terschooldc.org or www.stpeterschooldc.org. – from hunting and gathering into organized Tony Militello. agriculture, time became available for individual people to take on specialized jobs. Each student chose a job that would have Blyth-Templeton Academy been done in Mesopotamia and created| New Habits St. Peter’s Mathletes Competing in DC MathCounts Competition. a help-wanted ad for that job. Jobs At Blyth-Templeton Academy’s (BTA) Term included royal bodyguards, con3 Launch Community Breakfast, students The hard work paid off. St. fectioners, veterinarians, viziers viewed and discussed Shawn Achor’s TED Peter School finished in the top 10 and even exorcists. Talk, “The Happy Secret to Better Work,” on the powof 16 schools and will compete in After students created the er of positivity. According to Achor, happiness “turns the DC State final competition on ads, they learned how to write an on all of the learning centers in your brain” that can March 11. application letter and held a job be rewired to return to optimistic thinking by practicfair to learn about the jobs othing his five recommended daily habits. Write down Reading is FUNdamental! er students had chosen for their three new things that one is grateful for each day. Avid readers in fourth through ads. They even went through a Journal about one positive event experienced over sixth-grade looking to go above simulated job interview and hirthe past 24 hours. Exercise, meditation and practice and beyond with their reading will ing process. random acts of kindness. be embarking on the adventure of “The kids felt quite empowAt the first Term 3 Community Meeting, staff, the Newbery Club. The Newbery ered from the entire project,” said teachers and students reviewed the five habits and Club calls interested students and Scott Gumosky, a middle school put them into practice. BTA students shared three Sixth grade social studies students at Friends Commudistinguished readers to read four social studies teacher at Friends things they were grateful for within the communinity School learned about the Newbery Medal Winner books, who led the project. “It was a neat ty. These included a safe and comfortable learnMesopotamian Agricultural pass the accompanying Acceleratway to have the kids learn about ing environment, independence given by faculty Revolution through creating help-wanted ads. ed Reader quiz for each book, and Mesopotamian jobs while pickand being part of a supportive community. Next, complete Newbery reports. ing up some real-life skills in the the students meditated for two minutes, went for a This year’s Newbery Book is My Side of the process.” ten-minute walk around the block. They finished Mountain written and illustrated by Jean Craighead Friends Community School is a located at 5901 Westthe meeting by enjoying a “random act of kindGeorge. The book features a chester Park Drive. College Park, Md. Learn more at boy who learns about courage, friendscommunityschool.org. – Eric Rosenthal independence and the need for companionship while atSt. Peter School tempting to live in a forested Mathletes area of New York State. Seven “mathletes” among St. Peter School sixth, seventh and eighth graders were invited along with over 100 of their peers from schools throughout the District to participate in the 2017 MATHCOUNTS DC Chapter competition. Working with students throughout the fall semester, Middle School Math Teacher Theresa Ferry helped challenge these bright minds to reach their full potential and excel during this local chapter edition of the national competition (www.mathcounts.org/programs/competition-series).
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Just Relax! Dr. Johanna Kaplan, director of the Washington Anxiety Center of Capitol Hill, will speak to the St. Peter School parent and faculty community on March 3. A licensed clinical psychologist with extensive clinical and clinical-re-
Blyth-Templeton Academy students practice the five habits for happiness and write three things they are grateful for in the BTA community.
Progressive Quaker Education Kindergarten - Grade 8
Experience the ness,” dessert from BTA faculty and staff. BTA continues to practice the five habits for happiness and incorporate brain research to best serve its students and the community. Blythe Templeton is located at 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. To get more info check out blythtempleton.org; FB and Twitter blythtempletonacademy. – Sarah Richards
Two Rivers Public Charter School Having Fun Funding the Arts The first ever Arts Night at Two Rivers was a roaring success – literally! Parents and students learned how to imitate bears, create mandalas and dance to African drums. In a quieter end of the corridor, parents and students learned how to take an excellent photo and count out beats and rests with colorful scarves. Arts Night wasn’t just about having fun, it was an opportunity for parents to experience a high-quality arts program firsthand. At Two Rivers, students from preschool to eighth-grade receive a robust arts education of drama, music and fine art. Arts Night is just one way that Two Rivers celebrates the arts. Each year, parents, elected officials and DC residents celebrate with us at the annual Framing the Future Gala & Auction, a fundraiser to support the Arts Program. Join the Gala on March 25 to experience the school’s high quality Arts Program through student performances and art. Enjoy the culinary arts through food and drinks from local businesses. Get loud with live music and a DJ. To learn more, visit tworiverspcs.org/framing to buy tickets or sponsorship. Two Rivers Public Charter School has three schools located at 1227 Fourth St. NE; 1234 Fourth St. NE; and 820 26th St. NE. Follow @TwoRiver-
sPCS on Twitter and Facebook. Questions? Call 202-546-4477, email info@ tworiverspcs.org, or visit www.tworiverspcs.org. – Katie Voorman
DC International School Artwork by DCI Students for Black History month. Last month, DCI celebrated Black History Month and Chinese New Year! Part of DCI’s mission is to inspire culturally competent global citizens. This was realized this month by sharing this Chinese holiday with the entire school! Cha Hua Hui club made traditional hung bao (red envelopes filled with goodies) for the entire school. They shared Chinese New Year traditions with their non-Chinese speaking classmates. Chinese track students also practiced being caring by volunteering at a New Year event at Washington Yu Ying PCS. With no majority race, DCI is one of the most diverse schools in DC. It strives to celebrate that diversity every day. Black History Month started with the whole school participating in a field trip to see the movie “Hidden Figures.” Students also participated in specialized classes, decorated the school walls with African American historic figures and attended a panel on celebrating diversity. DCI is also gearing up for the move to its permanent facility on the former Walter Reed campus. Delano Hall is in the process of being renovated and is on schedule to be open in August 2017! Follow @ DCISchool on Twitter for facilities updates and pictures. DC International School is located 3220 16th St. NW. Contact them at 202-808-9033, Twitter: @DCISchool; dcinternationalschool.org. – Lauren Games Have an article for School Notes? Email schools@hillrag.com. ◆
Joy of Extraordinary
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For details: www.friendscommunityschool.org 5901 Westchester Park Drive College Park, MD 20740 / Tel: 301.441.2100 Only 15-20 minutes up the Baltimore-Washington Parkway!
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m usiconthehilldc.com | (202) 733-3158 March 2017 H 163
Classifieds HOME SERVICES
OTHER SERVICES
PET SERVICES
AIR & HEATING
APPLIANCES REPAIR
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HANDYMAN
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LANDSCAPING
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Specializing in perennial gardens, landscaping design, yard maintenance, seasonal contracts-free estimates for major cleanups, spring/fall cleanups, mulching, pruning, trimming, weeding, debris removal, leaf removal, light hauling, planting and more. Pressure washing, decks patios. Emergency Services Available. Call today! 240-604-5390.
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IRON WORK
Suburban Welding Company
Over 20 Years of Experience ®
Welding & Ornamental Iron Work • Repairs of Original Cast Iron Staircases • Window bars and door security gates • Handrailings & Stair Railings • Fences, Sidewalk Gates, Tree Box Fences • DC code approved bedroom window security bars • Excavating, back hoe services and tree stump grinding • Certified welding
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March 2017 ★ 167
R.THOMAS
DANIEL ROOFING • New tin, copper & membrane roof systems • Inspections & repairs • Roof painting • Gutters, spouts & skylights
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OTHER SERVICES CHIROPRACTIC
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Dr. David Walls-Kaufman Chiropractor 411 East Capitol St., SE All are welcome to Dr. Walls-Kaufman's free Saturday morning Tai Chi class at 8 am in Lincoln Park
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CAPITOL HILL IN-HOME PERSONAL TRAINER ANCHOR C O M P U T E R S
On-site Service for Homes & Businesses Since 1994 Troubleshooting, Repairs & Upgrades Virus & Spyware Removal New & Existing Computer Setup Network & Wireless Installation Data Recovery, Transfer & Back-up TV & Phone Configuration Webpage Development
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MISCELLANEOUS FOR RENT THREE APARTMENTS ON CAPITOL HILL One B/R--W/D-A/C-Metro-$1750 -1 Year Preferred. 313 C St. SE Near Rayburn Bldg. monaghaneric@hotmail.com
Conveniently Located Just Outside DC
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• Pickup or Delivery • Large or Small Amounts • Over 10 years Serving Capitol Hill
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1BR APARTMENT Handsome, 1 bedroom apt, w/small patio, 3 blocks from Senate and big enough for 2. Stone floor, beamed ceiling in living room; huge closet in bedroom; small up-to-date eat-in kitchen with dw, disposal, washer/dryer; bathroom with shower. $1895 a month. Call 202-544-5698
HOUSEKEEPER-NANNY Call
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4521 Kenilworth Avenue, Bladensburg, MD - Rear Lot
FITNESS
PET SERVICES personally serving our neighbors since 1999
pets on the hill Support your local Hill business "We live, work and play on the Hill"
511 11th Street SE WDC, 20003 www.rootedpilates.com A welcoming and focused space for students of all backgrounds, skill levels, and in every stage of life
Mid-day Dog Walking AM & PM, Weekend Walks, Petsitting • Women Owned and Operated • Expert Cat Care - All Areas of the Hill • Medications, Plant Watering, Mail and Paper • Trustworthy and Reliable
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Our housekeeper/nanny of 7+ years is looking for extra work on Saturdays. She helps us with light housekeeping, picking our 7 year old from school, taking her to her lessons, caring for pets, folding laundry and organizing. I highly recommend her. For more information please call 202-213-6941.
ROOM WANTED $600 CAPITOL HILL Friendly, respectful woman 50s, non-smoking. Longtime Resident. Can exchange for helping hands. References available. Pet sitter, photographer. NO Face Book or Roomster please!!! Ellen, workerbeez3@yahoo.com, 202-446-7975.
Our website just got a whole lot better! capitalcommunitynews.com
petsonthehillDC@yahoo.com
March 2017 ★ 169
The C.H.R.S. Home Photo Contest And the winner is...
1st 2nd
T
he Capitol Hill Restoration Society is delighted to announce the winners of the photo contest celebrating of the 60th Anniversary of the organization’s Mothers Day House and Garden Tour. We challenged members, friends and neighbors to show us, with an exterior shot, what they think “makes a home a Capitol Hill Home”. It was extremely difficult to choose just one winner, so we gave up and chose four, each of whom will receive a pair of tickets to the upcoming Tour, May 13 & 14. They are:
Winner: “The Old Arch.” This image by Steven
Fall conveys the old guard strength of Seneca Creek sandstone found throughout the Hill while at the same time reminding us that all things are temporary. These heavy features give provide a sense of stability that undergirds much of the Capitol Hill housing stock.
Second: “Handle’s Messiah.” This image by Jamie Dunlop reflects on the importance of first impressions. Capitol Hill homes vie for distinction in many ways including the richness of door accessories. Third: “The Blue Transom.” This image by Oscar Alvarez reflects a playfulness the homeowner brings to the otherwise stately demeanor of the bay front Victorian. Its bold blue molding detail and colorful stain glass throws caution to the wind and says I am what I am! Fourth Place: “Hill Center Fencing.” This image by Robert Weinstein captures the long shadow cast by wrought iron fencing over space and time. The rich detail at the bottom of the fence hints at the grand stature of foregone days while the shadows lay out patterns that return day after day.
3rd 4th 170 H Hillrag.com
These and other images taken by the “runners up” are available on The Capitol Hill Restoration Society’s website at www.chrs.org/photo-contest/. Many thanks to the Hill Rag for co-sponsoring the competition. And many thanks to each and every person who submitted an entry; reviewing them has been pure pleasure. u