MIDCITY JUNE 2010
2 â—† DC midcity | June 2010
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CONTENTS JUNE 2010 10 Hit the City 12 Calendar out and about 18 20 22
Insatiable • Celeste McCall Retail Therapy • Hunter L. Gorinson Jazz Avenues • Steve Monroe
your neighborhood 24 25 26 28 29 30 32 34
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The Nose • Anonymous 14th and U • Tanya Snyder Logan Circles • Mark F. Johnson Shaw Streets • Ralph Brabham Bloomingdale Bytes • Amanda Abrams Khabeer Salaam Heading to Howard at 16 • Monica Utsey District Beat: Yes He Can • Mark Segraves The Numbers: The Recession Hits Home • Ed Lazere
kids and family 36 40 42 46
Roosevelt Culinary Arts Academy • Jazelle Hunt Tubman Elementary School • Heather Schoell Kids and Family Notebook • Mary-Frances Daly Educating the District • Lisa Raymond
at home 48 50
Home/Style: Design Stars Fall Freely If You Know Where to Look • Mark F. Johnson Changing Hands • Don Denton
52 Classifieds COVER: Barry Smith
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8 â—† DC midcity | June 2010
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By Hunter L. Gorinson
Dark Horse’s “Oleanna”: He Said, She Said, We Judged Washington’s resurgent theater scene can now add one new group to its roster of capital city provocateurs -- the Dark Horse Theatre Company -- and the fledging arts collective has set itself up for an auspicious debut this month with their production of David Mamet’s “Oleanna” at DC Arts Center in Adams Morgan. A two-person, one-set play, “Oleanna” is indicative of the prizewinning playwright’s oblique and morally overcast character studies. When domineering and single-minded university professor John (Doug Mattingly) allows one of his students, Carol (Arianne’ Warner), into his office for an after-class advisory session, the events that follow leave both very different perceptions of what has just occurred and culminates in a sexually-tense power struggle full of lies, abuse and one-upmanship that could have ramifications on both sides of the lectern. An intimate piece it may be, but “Oleanna” director and Dark Horse’s Managing Artistic Director, Natasha Parnian, hopes their distinct take on the material will set her group apart as “a company of not just theater practitioners, but artists.” “I love the theatre that’s around [Washington] and it’s a very rich area, but I don’t see a lot of mixed media collaboration,” said Parnian. “We have a musician writing and recording original music for the show, a graphic designer creating the programs, fight choreographers… There are a lot of different team members making this show happen.” Dark Horse’s “Oleanna” is set for a threeweekend run at the DC Arts Center from June 4-19 with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $15 for the general public and $10 for seniors, students and DCAC members. 2438 18th St. NW • www.darkhorsetheatrecompany.com
2010 International VSA Festival “Those who assume a photographer has to be able to see, a dancer has to be able to walk, or a percussionist has to be able to hear are about to 10 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
The Dark Horse Theatre Company takes up the case of David Mamet’s “Oleanna” this month at the DC Arts Center. (Photo: Deb Cobb)
have their preconceptions challenged.” So reads the mission statement of this year’s VSA Festival -- the metro area’s only event dedicated entirely to highlighting the resiliency and accomplishments of disabled artists from around the globe. Featuring more than 600 participants from six continents, the VSA Festival -- sponsored by the International Organization on Arts and Disability -- will showcase up-and-coming talent and recognized innovators alike during its weeklong run from June 6 to 12. Alongside events hosted by the likes of R&B Pattie LaBelle and actress Claire Danes, audiences can look forward to performances from 17-year-old pianist Matt Savage (heralded by Dave Brubeck as “the next Mozart”), “Last Comic Standing” winner Josh Blue, globetrotting “physical integrated dance” company AXIS and Grammy Award-winning jazz chanteuse Diane Schuur. And that’s just scratching the surface. The 2010 VSA Festival includes more than 40 events in music, theatre, dance, fine art, film and literature, and spans some 11 metro areas venues, including the mid-city region’s own DC Improv, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall and Lansburgh Theatre. It’s a short and crowded schedule to keep pace with, but even after the festival formally draws to close at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage on June 12, some of it works will be sticking around Washington. The Smithsonian’s International Gallery, for instance, will be keeping their VSA installation of artwork from 54 contemporary artists living with disabilities -“Revealing Culture” -- on display through August 29. Price points and ticketing varies between venues, so check with the VSA website for more information, including a full schedule of festival events. www.vsarts.org
Dead Meadow Blooms Again Surviving in a town colloquially known to many as “Dead City” has always been a matter of fight or flight for DC bands, so one can’t really can’t fault former hometown psych rock outfit Dead Meadow for finally packing up and head-
LEFT: The AXIS Dance Company appears courtesy of Dance Place and VSA this month at the Atlas Performing Arts Center. (Photo: Trib LaPrade) BELOW: Something wicked this way comes: DC expats Dead Meadow bring “Three Kings” back home.
Through
ing west to Los Angeles in 2007. After all, they’d been toiling away on the Washington club circuit for nearly a decade and even after landing a contract with indie rock grande dame Matador Records -- the label that launched Pavement and Interpol into dorm rooms nationwide -- still continued to find more love on the road than at home. Which isn’t to say that a band with a predilection for five-minute long, Blue Cheeresque jams, the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and acid test-style, liquid light show backdrops was ever a natural fit for a music scene preoccupied with angular art rock and hyperbolic dance DJ collectives. Three years after departing for good, however, it would appear that the land of Helter Skelter and theLizard
King has been good to DC’s waylaid sons of rock’n’roll and, this June 15, Dead Meadow will be returning to The Black Cat to show us on just how much we’ve all missed out. In support of their a newly released concert film and accompanying live album, “Three Kings,” the trio will be running through the greatest “hits” of their six-album deep discography in the intimate confines of the Black Cat’s back stage -- a club they used to frequent both as patrons and performers. Joining them for a one-off date will be the fuzzy garage rock swagger of Miami’s Jacuzzi Boys, who’ll be making their DC debut. Tickets are $12. Doors open at 8:30. 1811 14th St. NW • www. blackcatdc.com ◆
July 4, 2010
These exhibitions examine the history, culture and art of Afro-Mexicans beginning in the colonial era through the present. For general info call 202.633.4820; for required reservations call 202.633.4844.
Public Programs at the Anacostia Community Museum (reservations required) June 5 Teach the Beat: Go-Go Music from West Africa to Washington, D.C., 1 p.m. POSTPONED. June 12 Afro-Mexican Instruments, 10:30 a.m. In a hands-on demonstration, educator Bill Jenkins discusses traditional Mexican Instruments. June 12 Artist Miguel Covarrubias Depicts African Americans, 2 p.m. Educator Teresa Grana presents on this Mexican anthropologist/artist who rendered many noted African Americans in stylized form. June 13 Decorative Tile, 1 p.m. East of the River artist Wanda Aikens shows you how to create your own special painted tiles, following the traditional Mexican decorative style. June 15 Doll Making Workshop, 10:30 a.m. Join doll artist Francine Haskins in the creation of an art doll. Fee Required. June 19 Mambo on Air, 2-4 p.m. Metro Mambo series continues with a panel of pioneering DJs and presenters discussing how they spread the gospel of Latin dance music in concert and over Washington airwaves. Dance party with Sin Miedo salsa band follows. *** June 20 Juneteenth: A Celebration of Liberation, 2-4 p.m. Rhythm Café features DJ. Cowboy Fred of WPFW 89.3 FM and other performers in an historical musical journey into Juneteenth. *** June 26 Family Fiesta: ¡Viva México!, 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Bring the entire family to spend a day at the museum and celebrate México! The day includes dance, music, costumes, arts and other fun activities for all ages. *** June 27 Ojo de Dios (Eyes of God), 1 p.m. Artist and educator Camilla Younger leads this workshop on creating this special and personal item of protection. June 29 LaTercera Raiz/ The Third Root , 10:30 a.m. This 30 minute documentary film directed by Rafael Rebollar Corona focuses on the daily life and cultural traditions of Afro-Mestizos living in the Costa Chica region of México’s Pacific coast. July 3 Imagining a Gullah World, 11 a.m. Kelly Marie-Berry will lead families and others in creating song, dance, and story games in the Gullah tradition. SHUTTLE ANACOSTIA is back offering free weekend roundtrip rides from the National Mall to the Anacostia Community Museum. Take the shuttle to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival from June 24–July 5. Visit anacostia.si.edu/shuttle for the schedule. ***Extended schedule through 4:30 p.m. LAST CHANCE: Visit The African Presence in México: From Yanga to the Present exhibition closing July 4. *Organized by the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, these exhibitions received federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian LatinoCenter. Exhibition programs and special events are presented in collaboration with the Smithsonian Latino Center, the National Museum of African Art, the Mexican Cultural Institute, and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
1901 Fort Place SE Open daily 10 am-5pm, closed Dec. 25 anacostia.si.edu
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JUNE
ART EXHIBITS
ART + Space. June 5-July 10. Project 4. ART + Space is an extensive art consulting service emphasizing trends in contemporary art and design for corporate clients. This exhibition highlights several of the studio’s artists, whose large-scale works currently adorn law firms, restaurants, condominiums, airports and public spaces. 1353 U St. NW. 202-232-4340, www. project4gallery.com. Carl Anderson: The Ribbon Series. Through June 12. International Visions. The artist’s signature “ribbons” of color contrast light against darkness to create motion in 2-dimensional space. The movement and dimension in Anderson’s work evidence a strong influence of Kinetic Art and Op Art. 2629 Connecticut Ave. NW. 202-234-5112, www.inter-visions.com.
Alex Todorovich: “How to Get Off a Well-Traveled Road…” Through June 12. Alex Todorovich (1950-2009) was an untrained artist, who first turned to art when she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at the age of 54. Her diverse body of work—collage drawings, assemblage sculptures and beaded jewelry—integrates years of experience in folk art, decorative arts, and ornamentation. 1632 U St. NW. 202-483-8600, www.smithfarm.com. “Abstract Realities.” Through June 13. DC Arts Center. Featuring work by Allen Levy, Ann Elizabeth Gedicks, Zoé Hathaway, Cherie M. Redlinger, Felisa Federman and Damian Yanessa, these six contemporary artists in explore the nature of reality with their abstract presentations in a variety of media. 2438 18th St. NW. 202-462-7833, www.dcartscenter.org. Works by Beatrice Mellinger and Scherzade Garcia. June 16-July 31. International Visions. A dual exhibition featuring new solo works from two multicultural artists, originally from Martinique and the Dominican Republic respectively. 2629 Connecticut Ave. NW. 202-234-5112, www.inter-visions.com. Marc Roman: “Veritas Obscura.” Through June 19. Flashpoint Art Gallery. Marc Roman combines photography, drawing and painting on mounted plexiglas sheeting and cast resin to give sculptural form to traditionally two-dimensional techniques. His interest lies in the unusual application of layered abstraction to create a body of work that chronicles the relentless pursuit of physics and its ever-shadowy presence in our lives today. 916 G St. NW. 202-315-1329, www.flashpointdc.org. Works by Karen Hubacher and Tory Cowles. Through June 20. Gallery Plan B. Hubacher and Cowles both create abstract works using widely varying textures and vivid colors, but their approaches to the surfaces are almost opposite. Hubacher’s works are carefully orchestrated and constructed while Cowles are organic and spontaneous. 1530 14th St. NW. 202-234- 2711, www.galleryplanb.com. Steed Taylor: “Portrait of a Road Tattoo.” June 23-July 25. Opening reception June 24, 6-8 PM. Gallery Plan B. Featuring installations of Taylor’s “road tattoos” -- expansive painted designs on streets or highways that commemorate the struggles of individuals and communities -- each display will include text from the prayers used in the blessing of the design, sketches and photos of the project. 1530 14th St. NW. 202-234- 2711, www.galleryplanb.com. Carlos Muñoz Jiménez: “Abstractions.” Through June 30. 2015 Q St. NW #2 ½. This exhibit represents the imagination at its most creative and abstract form, inviting the viewer to an in depth conversation. The artist will be present for engaging and thoughtful conversation. Free and open to the public. 202-257-5752, www.carloscreatesart.com. Work by Gabriel Pons. Through July 25. Caramel. A mixed media artist who constructs paintings using multiple layers of collage material, Pons’s latest series of paintings explore mythical and historical icons in a contemporary style. 1603 U St. NW. 202-2651930. www.caramelfashion.com.
The Rhythm Road: Charlie Parker Quartet and The Student Loan June 17, 6 PM. National Geographic Live. The Charlie Parker Quartet open with a fiery and intelligent approach to jazz that is both forward-thinking and steeped in tradition, while The Student Loan follow with a progressive style of bluegrass blends jazz, rock, jam and classical styles. Free. 1600 M St. NW. 202-857-7700, events.nationalgeographic.com.
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“ColorForms.” Through January 2011. This selection of artworks from the Hirshhorn’s collection, along with several paintings on loan from the National Gallery’s renowned Mark Rothko holdings, date from the post-war era to the present and demonstrate color’s inimitable capacity to evoke spatial structures as well as more elusive effects. Independence Ave. & Seventh St. SW; 202-633-1000, www.hirshhorn.si.edu.
DANCE Here I Stand 2010 Awards featuring Rita Moreno. June 12, 7:30-10 PM. The Lincoln Theatre. Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy award-winner Rita Moreno will be interviewed live on stage, alongside performances from Furia Flamenca, Dance Asia Alliance, Clavekasi, Dance Institute of Washington, and the Hung Tao Choy Mei “Lucky Lions”. $27.50.
1215 U St. NW. 202-328-6000. www. thelincolntheatre.org. Step Afrika! June 16-20. Landsburgh Theatre. This critically acclaimed company is celebrated worldwide for its performance of “stepping,” an exciting dance form combining rhythmic footwork, body percussion, and spirited vocalizing. In its biggest production of the year, the company will present a range of works featuring ten worldclass performers. $29.50-$39.50. 450 7th St. NW. 202-547-1122, www.stepafrika.org. “Jungle Book.” June 19, 8 PM; June 20, 3 PM. Dance Place. Director and choreographer Adrain Bolton presents this dramatic dance retelling Rudyard Kipling’s children’s classic, “The Jungle Book,” featuring the Davis Center Dancers. $20/advance; $25/day of show; $15/advance rate for groups of 15 or more. 3225 Eighth St. NE. 202-269-1600, www. danceplace.org. “REVOLUTIONARY! Isadora Duncan.” June 26, 8 PM; June 27, 7 PM. Dance Place. This multimedia production from the World Dance Company celebrates the life and times of celebrated American artist, philosopher and activist, Isadora Ducan, with authentic reconstructions her choreography. Covering a wide range of her works, this tribute will illustrate why Duncan is considered the founder of Modern Dance. $22/general; $17/artist, student, senior (age 55+), member, teacher (pre-k-12); $8/child, 2-17. 3225 Eighth St. NE. 202-269-1600, www. danceplace.org.
FESTIVALS & FUN EVENTS “The Lowercase” Poetry Reading Series. First Wednesdays, 7 PM. “The Lowercase” is a creative outlet for the volunteers at 826DC (formerly Capitol Letters). They get together every month to share their writing in an “informal and relaxed atmosphere.” Anyone is welcome. A limited drink menu is available. 1700
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First St. NW. 202-470-5543, www. bigbearcafe-dc.com. Sunday Road Ride. Every Sunday, meet at 8:30 AM, depart by 8:45 AM. The Bike Rack. A 40-mile, moderately paced ride that emphasizes group riding techniques, newcomers to the group riding are welcome as riders regroup throughout, so that nobody is left behind. Helmets mandatory. Free. 1412 Q St. NW. 202-387-BIKE, www.bikerackdc.com. Saturday Road Ride. Every Saturday, meet at 10 AM, depart by 10:15 AM. The Bike Rack. The Saturday ride is more of an introductory ride and caters to road riders who are new to the sport, hybrid riders intimidated by the faster pace of the Sunday ride, and anyone who just wants a shorter (approx. 20 to 30 miles) and slower (12 to 14 mph) pace. Helmets mandatory. Free. 1412 Q St. NW. 202-387-BIKE, www.bikerackdc. com. Results for Haiti. June 6, 11 AM2 PM. STROGA. Results Gym and STROGA, Adams Morgan’s newest Yoga and group training studio, are teaming with Global Volunteer Network assist with relief efforts in Haiti. Members, friends and staff of Results will make up the three teams of volunteers who will travel on two-week trips this summer. A silent auction fundraiser is being held to help support their efforts Items include, vacation getaways, artwork, event tickets and much more! 1808 Adams Mil Rd. NW. 202-238-9642. www. stroga.com. “Jerry Wolman: The World’s Richest Man.” June 16, 7 PM. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. Go behind the never-been-told true story of the former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles and real estate mogul. Wolman, now 83, will speak with author Joseph Bockol about his meteoric rise and fall, and the thousands he touched along the way. $8/advance; $10/ day of; $26/two tickets with book. 600 I St. NW. 202-408-3100. www. sixthandi.org. “Cheryl’s Gone” Reading Series. June 17, 8 PM. A monthly reading and performance series, usually falling on the third Thursday at 8pm. Big Bear provides a limited menu of drinks available for donation which help pay for any traveling artists. Free. 1700 First St. NW. 202-470-5543, www.cherylsgone.com. Hillyer Open Mic Event. June 18, sign-up at 6 PM, performances at 7 PM. Hillyer Art Space. Every third Friday, host Fred Joiner presents a
14 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
Free Community Yoga Class. June 6, 11:30 AM-1 PM. Shakti Mind Body Studio. Offered on the first Sunday of every month. Stay after the class and enjoy a yoga mixer with refreshments. 1302 Ninth St. NW. 202-783-6463. www.shaktimindbodystudio.com. Family Stories: Sons, Fathers and Zaydes. June 6, 1-5 PM. National Museum of American Jewish Military History. Throughout the afternoon, in conjunction with the Dupont Kalorama Consortium Walk Weekend, the NMAJMH will allowing writers, artists, comics and storytellers of all sorts to share their memories of Jewish family members in the military. All will allotted 10 minutes to tell their stories through words, video, drama or art. 1811 R St. NW. 202-265-6280, www.nmajmh.org.
Lori Gottlieb June 21, 7 PM. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. In her bestselling book “Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough,” Gottlieb explores whether single women are looking for partners with qualities that make for true long-term romantic fulfillment or if they’re wrongly holding out for a mythical Prince Charming. Gottlieb will be in conversation with Scott Stossel, Deputy Editor of The Atlantic. $8/advance; $10/day of; $26/two tickets with book. 600 I St. NW. 202-408-3100. www.sixthandi.org.
stunning array of the District’s poetic talent in a variety of styles. Free/members. $5/non-members. 9 Hillyer Ct. NW. 202-338-0680, www.artsandartists. org/artspace.php. The 2010 Miss District of Columbia Pageant. June 20. The Lincoln Theatre. This official preliminary to the Miss America pageant will see 18 finalists from the metropolitan area vie for the jeweled tiara with presentations in a variety of categories. $40. 1215 U St. NW. 202-328-6000. www.thelincolntheatre.org. In Your Ear: Avant Garde Poetry. Third Sunday of every month, September-May. DC Arts Center. The best in alternative, avant garde, experimental, innovative and/or non-mainstream poetry from DC and around the country.2438 18th St. NW. 202-4627833, www.dcartscenter.org.
FILMS, CLASSES, LECTURES & WORKSHOPS Cherries, Cherries, Cherries. June 23, 7-8:30 PM. The Columbia Room at The Passenger. Students will learn how to make the iconic garnish of the Manhattan and numerous classic cocktails, and will leave with jars of their own creations. Demonstrations include the Manhattan, Blood and Sand, Tom Collins and Old Fashioned. $65. 1021 Seventh St. NW. 202-393-0220. www. passengerdc.com.
Moving Bodies, Moving Stories. June 7, 14 and 21, 6:30-8:30 PM. The Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts. This program is designed for people living with illness and caregivers. Take inspiration from the body, language, and visual images as we express curiosity and honesty in a process that honors our bodies as our allies. Dress comfortably for gentle movement. All levels welcome. No dance experience necessary. Please call to register. $35. 1632 U St. NW. 202-483-8600. www.smithfarm.com. U Street Movie Series: “Michael Jackson’s This Is It.” June 8, Doors at 7 PM; Film around 8:30 PM. (Rain date June 15). Harrison Recreation Center. This year’s free movie series celebrates the musical history and culturally diverse roots of the U St. neighborhood. Free popcorn for the first 100 entrants. 1330 V St. NW. 202-673-6865. movies.ustreet-dc.org How to Make Drinks of the Caribbean. June 9, 7-8:30 PM. The Columbia Room at The Passenger. Students will learn how to swizzle and muddle along with other techniques which make these great hotweather classics sizzle. Cocktail demonstrations will include Mojito, Swizzle and Ti’ Punch. $65. 1021 Seventh St. NW. 202-393-0220. www.passengerdc.com. Hollaback Transgender Support Group. June 9 and June 23, 6:30-8 PM. Washington DC Community Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People. Hollaback, a social and support group for the transgender community designed by the DC Community AIDS Network, hosts meetings in the DC Center’s activity room on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month. 1810 14th St. NW. 202682-2245, www.thedccenter.org. Trees 101: An Introduction to Trees. June 12, 9 AM-12PM. Casey Trees Headquarters. o you want to learn more about the benefits of trees? Would you like to be able to identify an oak from a maple tree? Then Trees 101 is the class for you. Trees 101 introduces students to the District’s urban forest and teaches basic tree identification and care and ways to help add trees across the city. A Tree Walk is included on the day of class. Comfortable walking shoes and water are encouraged. Free. Pre-registration required. 1123 11th St. NW. 202-349-1907, www.caseytrees.org. Healing Vessels. June 12, 10 AM-1 PM. The Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts. Cylindrical containers are captivating for what they hold that cannot be seen. In this interactive workshop, Tina Lassiter will take us along, delving into the healing power of the sculpted, paper vessel and guiding us
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“Born Among Mirrors: Lebanon 50 Years After.” Through June 25. The Jerusalem Fund Gallery. This exhibit showcases photographs of Lebanon taken 50 years apart by San Francisco’s Najib Joe Hakim and his father, Elias Hakim. Elias’s black and white photos document the young Hakim family’s emigration from Lebanon to the US in 1956. Najib’s color photos explore the country upon his return in 2006, barely three months after war with Israel destroyed much of the country. 2425 Virginia Ave. NW. 202-338-1958, www.thejerusalemfund.org.
as we make our own. Please call to register. $35. 1632 U St. NW. 202-483-8600. www.smithfarm.com. Nerd Nite DC: Glowing Fish, Financial Meltdowns and Some Smart Apes. June 12, 6-9:30 PM. DC9. Nerd Nite is an informal gathering at which nerds and nonnerds alike gather to meet, drink and learn something new. This month’s presentations examine genetically modified animals, the exact nature of Wall St. “derivatives” and the difference between monkeys and apes. $10. 1940 9th St NW. 202-483-0666. www. dcnine.com. Collector’s View: Heather & Tony Podesta. June 13, 4-6 PM. This series, sponsored by the Transformer gallery, sees prominent DC collectors invite a select audience into their homes for a tour of their recently installed works. This trip is one of the first times the Podestas will be showcasing their recently acquired photographs, paintings and sculpture. $50. Advance registration required. 202-483-1102, allison@transformergallery. Berlinale Favorites: Sixty Years of Outstanding Film. Goethe-Institut Washington. Handpicked selections from the director of the Berlin Film Festival celebrate its 60th anniversary. June 14, 6:30 PM. “Trace of Bears.” June 15, 6:30 PM. “To Russia with Love: The Great Radio War.” June 21, 6:30 PM. “Veronika Voss.” June 28, 6:30 PM. “Life is All You Get.” Films are in English or have English subtitles. $6 per screening. 814 Seventh St. NW. 202-289-1200, www. goethe.de. The Science of Healing. June 17, 6:30 PM. Smith Farm Center for Healing and the
16 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
Arts. Author and medical researcher, Esther Sternberg, M.D., introduces a free screening of her PBS special, which investigates the brain’s role in healing and how we each take charge of our health by creating places of peace through her own story of illness and recovery. Free. 1632 U St. NW. 202483-8600, www.smithfarm.com. Green Cleaning. June 17, 8-9 PM. Greater Goods. Many common household cleaning products contain chemicals that can have adverse health effects. Have you thought about making your apartment or house more environmentally friendly and healthy but don’t know where to start? Come find out how to get started. Free. 1626 U St. NW. 202-449-6070. www.greatergoods.com. Urban Composting. June 19, 11 AM-12 PM. Greater Goods. Who knew composting in the city could be so easy? It is the best way to recycle your yard and kitchen wastes, and is a critical step in reducing the volume of garbage needlessly sent to landfills for disposal. Soil and healthy plants depend on compost. Join us in learning how to make compost with no smell, no fuss, and no muss! Free. 1626 U St. NW. 202-449-6070. www.greatergoods.com. Housing Search Clinic. Every Thursday, 4 PM. Housing Counseling Services. Learn what resources are available to you when looking for a rental property and how to prevent housing discrimination from making your search more difficult. Free. 2410 17th St. NW. 202-667-7006. www.housingetc.org. Gentle Morning and Evening Yoga at Smith Farm Center. Tuesdays, 10:1511:30 AM, and Wednesdays, 5:30-6:45
A Great Way For Children To Learn - Grades Pre k-12
PM. Designed for people living with illness and caregivers. $10/session; $25/month. 1632 U St. NW. 202-483-8600. www.smithfarm.com.
MUSIC Jazz in the ‘Hoods: Adams Morgan. June 1-12. While the DC Jazz Festival offers more than 80 performances over 10 nights, this mid-city-centric string of shows brings acts to Adams Morgan venues including Cashion’s Eat Place, Columbia Station, Madam’s Organ, Savour and Tryst. Check online for dates, times and a complete line-up of acts. www.dcjazzfest.org. Jazz in the ‘Hoods: U Street. June 113. While the DC Jazz Festival offers more than 80 performances over 10 nights, this mid-city-centric string of shows brings acts to Adams Morgan venues and restaurants including 1905, Ben’s Next Door, Bohemian Caverns, Café Nema, Dahlak, JoJo’s, Sala Thai, The Islander, Smith Farm, Twins Jazz and Utopia. Check online for dates, times and a complete lineup of acts. www.dcjazzfest.org. 3-11: A Concert of New Music. June 6, 7:30 PM. DC Arts Center. Three composers present 11 new concert works. 2348 18th St. NW. 202-462-7833, www.dcartscenter.org.
“American Buffalo.” Through June 13. The Studio Theatre. Arguably David Mamet’s greatest work, this modern classic about petty crooks and the pitfalls of American business percolates with Mamet’s unmistakable style. In a Chicago South Side junk shop, three smalltime thieves conspire to steal a valuable coin collection from a wealthy man. As these self-defined entrepreneurs plot a crime that never happens, they prove to be dark soul mates to those making headlines today. $56. 1501 14th St. NW. 202-3323300, www.studiotheatre.org. “Mrs. Warren’s Profession.” June 8July 11. Sidney Harman Hall. Originally banned from the stage, George Bernard Shaw’s stage play scandalized audiences upon its debut in 1893. The world of the idealistic Vivie is turned upside down when she learns that her family’s considerable wealth comes from her mother’s management of a chain of brothels. $36$70. 610 F St. NW. 202-547-1122, www. shakespearetheatre.org. “Gruesome Playground Injuries.” Through June 13. Woolly Mammoth Theatre. Two eight-year-olds’ lives collide in the nurse’s office and, as they mature from accident-prone kids to self-destructive adults, their broken hearts and broken bones draw them ever closer. But how far can one person go to heal another’s wounds? $27-$62. 641 D St. NW. 202393-3939, www.woollymammoth.net.
DC Listening Lounge. June 9, 6:30 PM. Goethe-Institut Washington. Since 2004 this group of audio enthusiasts has been making the ordinary somehow extraordinary through audio installations and experimental collection of “found sound”. Their latest Sound Scene 2010 installation project is on the theme of “Work and Play.” $6 suggested donation. 814 Seventh St. NW. 202-289-1200, www.dclisteninglounge.com.
“Lypsinka in Legends!” June 16-July 4. The Studio Theatre. The wigs are ready, the heels are out and the claws are sharpened! In order to revive their dying careers, two aging divas, played by John Epperson (aka Lypsinka) and acclaimed actor James Lecesne, must battle it out in this hilarious comedy full of glitz and glamour. $57. 1501 14th St. NW. 202332-3300, www.studiotheatre.org
NEA Jazz Masters Live Concert: All-Star Tribute to James Moody. June 10, 7:30 PM. The Lincoln Theatre. Special guests Regina Carter, Roy Hargrove, Roberta Gambarini & NEA Jazz Masters Kenny Barron and Paquito D’Rivera join the Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars for this special presentation of the DC Jazz Festival. $30. 1215 U St. NW. 202-328-6000. www.thelincolntheatre.org.
“Home is Where the Heart Is.” June 25, 8 PM; June 26, 2 and 8 PM. Atlas Performing Arts Center. A successor to stories like “A Raisin In The Sun” and “Soul Food,” writer/director Michael W. McCorkle’s contemporary Gospel play studies the Anderson Family and their strength that comes from the love they share for each other and their home. $35/general. $25/ groups of 10 or more. 1333 H St. NE. 202399-7993. www.atlasarts.org.
THEATER
“New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza.” June 26-July 25. Washington DCJCC. This witty theological drama -- and Theatre J season finale -- follows a young philosopher who faces excommunication from the Jewish community of 17th century Amsterdam for his provocative, subversive new ideas. $30$55. 1529 16th St. NW. 202-518-9400. www.washingtondcjcc.org.
“Bola: Cuba’s Ambassador of Spoken Song.” Through June 27. Gala Hispanic Theatre. Afro-Cuban singer and composer, Ignacio Villa, was an international sensation from the 30s through 60s. This zesty musical highlights important moments in the private and professional life of the artist through his own captivating songs and those of other composers from the unforgettable golden age of Latin American popular music. In Spanish with English supertitles. $45-$60. 3333 14th St. NW. 202-234-7174, www.galatheatre.org.
Want to see your event listed in the calendar? E-mail calendar@hillrag.com by the 20th of the month prior to publication. Submissions may be edited. Publication not guaranteed. ◆
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out and about I
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+ Dining
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By Celeste McCall
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recent early evening seemed the perfect time to try DC Noodles, that spiffy Asian eatery in the 1400 block of U St. NW. The interior is startling to say the least, with bright red walls emblazoned with cartoonish figures. Chairs are molded plastic; the floor a trendy concrete. Our server poured our water into senuous curved glasses, and presented us with vermillion chopsticks which matched the walls. The dining room opens up into an avant garde boutique called Stem. While awaiting our Singha beer, we browsed the store’s offbeat jewelry, clothing and those same curvey water glasses. Stem’s walls, decorated with mounted collections of giant insects, sent me scurrying back into DC Noodles. The luncheon menu—except for appetizers (spring rolls, seaweed salad, pumpkin empanadas—consists of noodles: noodle salads, noodle soups, noodle coconut curries. I ordered “Drunken” squid ink spaghetti with seafood (chicken and tofu were also choices). Presented in a stark white bowl, the black pasta was studded with bell pepper strips, onions, squid, scallops and a shrimp or two, all smartly seasoned with soy sauce. Peter chose noodles tossed with peanut sauce and Vietnamese-style sausage, which looked and tasted more like pork slices. Other options were pad Thai, Burmese Kao Soi (curried noodles with choice of chicken or tofu with pickled vegetables), and a wide assortment of spicy and soy-flavored soups. Many options are vegetarian. Our lunch for two came to around $35, which included Singha beers at $5 apiece. DC Noodles 1410 U St. NW 202-232-8424 Open daily for lunch and dinner Carryout available with a $15 minimum 18 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
Classic British fare, such as this dish of Bangers and mash are available at AGAINN. Photo: Powers and Crewe Photography Heirloom Apple Cobbler. Photo: Powers and Crewe Photography
E
Oriental Dreams Mount Vernon Square near the Washington Convention Center is morphing into “Little Asia” with a side trip to West Africa. Last month, with a splashy opening soiree, the dramatic, pan-Asian Bar Buddha arrived at 455 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Earlier, an upscale sushi/grill called Kushi settled into the sprawling City Vista develop-
ment at 465 K St. NW. (See Insatiable, May 2010.) There’s more to come. Sometime next fall, look for Mandu next door to Kushi. Created by Korean-born Yesoon Lee and her son and biz partner Danny Lee, Mandu (Korean for “dumpling”) is the spinoff of the well-received Adams Morgan parent restaurant
at 1805 18th St. NW. For updates, call 202-588-1540 or visit www. mandudc.com And, showcasing the spicy cuisine of Ghana is Akosombo. Tucked into the space at 613 K St. NW, the down-home, cafeteriastyle eatery is especially well-liked by Ghanian locals, as well as travelers who have visited that nation. Among favorite dishes are curried
goat; peanut soup; oxtail stew; boiled plantain and spinach stew. You can also find American dishes like meatloaf and Salisbury steak. Akosombo serves no alcohol and is closed Sunday. For more information call 202-408-1133.
New Near U At 14th and Church streets
NW, Cork & Fork Fine Wines & Foods (not to be confused with Logan Circle’s Cork Wine Bar and nearby Cork Market) opened last month. Cork & Fork has sister shops in Gainesville, Virginia (the five-year-old flagship store), with a newer spinoff in Bethesda. Created by French winemaker Dominique Landragin, his Armenian-born wife Anna, their daughter Antoinette
Still More
AGAINN, the British-style restaurant/pub at the corner of 11th Street and New York Avenue NW, known for its British Classics such as bangers and mash and Shepherds Pie welcomes summer on two fronts: a trio of beer floats prepared by AGAINN pastry chef Genevieve So, and a festive Father’s Day brunch. Priced at $9 each, the “adult” floats are various concoctions of home-made ice cream, beer and topped with whipped cream, such as Guinness Beer Float with Madagascar Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. On Father’s Day, June 20, AGAINN salutes Dads with a threecourse brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The $35 pre-fixe menu (tax and gratuity excluded) offers appetizer, entrée and dessert: chilled tomato/ bread soup; house-baked scones with orange marmalade and Devonshire cream; English-style breakfast (fried egg, baked beans, tomato, bacon, black pudding, English muffin); French toast with berry compote and bourbon whipped cream; chocolate pecan tart with The dining room of AGAINN. Scotch whipped cream. AGAINN’s a la carte menu will be available and partner Marco Scappa, Cork & all day. Open daily. Fork carries hundreds of foreign and domestic wines and beers and holds AGAINN is open daily. Valet parkmonthly wine seminars. When we ing is available, but the restaurant is visited in mid-May, we found the just a block from the 11th Street exit wine selection very impressive. The of Metro Center (Red/Orange/Blue gourmet victuals had not arrived, lines). For reservations call 202but were expected shortly. For up- 639-9830 or www.againndc.com. dates, call 301-841-7204 or www. ◆ corkandforkva.com. capitalcommunitynews.com ◆ 19
out and about
+ Shopping = RETAIL
By Hunter L. Gorinson
Stock up for summer with rocket pops -- and sundry other picnic fixings -- this month at Home Rule.
THERAPY
Home Rule 1807 14th St. NW 202-797-5544 www.homerule.com Barbecue season is upon us once again and 14 Street’s dispensary of “toys for grown ups,” Home Rule, is up for the challenge with its usual high-minded mix of form and function. Though its shelves are always stocked with nearly every conceivable accessory for the home, bath and bedside, the shop is spurring its clientele outdoors this year with warm-weather accoutrements equally suited to back patio beer sessions or a daytrip well beyond the city limits. For instance, Bodum’s squat and highly portable Fyrkat Pinic charcoal grill ($49.99) is a hibachi-sized unit that, unlike your typical tailgater, comes lit up in bright yellow, blue, orange or lime green. InSet’s interlocking salad servers ($16.99) pull off space-saving practicality without looking like Boy Scout surplus and Home Rule’s own reusable plastic party plates ($4.99 apiece) manage to make their paper equivalent irrelevant once and for all. Still, there’s something to be said for staying close to home on those hottest of summer days -- if only for the frozen delicacies they afford. Let the kids have a go with Tovolo’s star, rocket and “groovy” shaped popsicle molds, while the 21 and ups throw in for a semi-pro margarita with a Waring Polycarbonite Blender ($74.99).
Derringer Friday www.derringerfriday.com www.twitter.com/DerringerFriday With power ties and pinstripes too numerous to count, Washington has long been little than more a collection of clichés when it comes to men’s fashion. No surprise then that it took three entrepreneurial out-of-towners, Scott Permar, Joshua DuClos and Luke Smith, to put the thaw on the city’s fashion stasis with their first -- and all DC-made -- men’s line, Derringer Friday. The three untested designers launched Derringer as an online boutique last January and, this month, will unveil their first proper summer line. Derringer only trades in ties and pocket squares -- “the most meaningful ways that a man can express himself when he gets dressed in the morning,” as they put it – and, while this season’s new neckwear ($100-$120) will retain the company’s signature vivid colors, two-tone blades and tails, and sharp angled ends, the summer months are also allowing Derringer Friday to experiment with a new sensibility. “I see summer dressing as functionally more casual... [The ties] are still appropriate for the office, but they’ll look just as good at a summer wedding or picnic,” said Permar. The first of six to seven new designs are slated to start appearing this month in materials like seersucker, lightweight cotton and linen. If all goes according plan look for limited edition items and expansion plans to be announced soon. Derringer Friday: Sharpening DC’s style sense, one tie at a time. (Photo: Joshua Yospyn) 20 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
Millennium Decorative Arts 1528 U St. NW • 202-483-1218 www.millenniumdecorativearts.com U Street today may be rife with home furnishings outlets, but the real treasures of yesteryear are stashed safely below street level at Millennium Decorative Arts -- the corridor’s number one depot for vintage furniture and the occasional “design oddity” since the pre-gentrification days of 1992. And, while some of their pieces would be right at home in a Sotheby’s catalog, Millennium doesn’t traffic in design snob snark. “You go into some stores and they’re just so serious. Ultimately, these are just objects,” said store coowner Richard Chartier. “There’s nothing in my house that you’re not allowed to sit on.” Nevertheless, one might want to think twice before besmirching showcase pieces like an authentic Arne Jacobsen Swan chair ($1850) or settee ($3200). Though Millennium has thorough selection of fellow minimalist Danish modern rarities -- another notable entrant being a 1950s Haslev side table, designed by Severin Hansen Jr. ($455) -- the store’s stock caters to wide range of tastes and unabashedly incorporates, in Chartier’s words, “a smattering of kitsch.” Those with a predilection for outsider ephemera, in particular, would do well to look in on Millennium’s collection of risqué Parisian postcards ($35) or co-owner Glynn Romero’s trash couture collages ($25). Assembled from discarded Camelot-era issues of “Good Housekeeping” and the like, Romero’s “re-facements” succinctly sum up Millennium’s sensibilities -- no hip tagline necessary.
The American ideal “re-faced” at Millennium Decorative Arts.
When one just isn’t enough -- MIJA Jewelry’s bangle bracelets.
MIJA Jewelry www.mijajewelry.com
From humble beginnings as a one-woman operation in Glover Park just two years ago, MIJA Jewelry has gone onto reverberate into the upper echelons of high society -- even if the price tag is anything but. Leaving her gig as paralegal behind, MIJA designer Michelle Guest initially set out to make inroads as children’s jeweler -- only to soon find her customers picking up silver and gold plated pieces for themselves. “When the economy crashed, the children’s market kind of took a hit,” recalled Guest. “That was kind of a good turn because we call our women’s collection ‘affordable luxury.’ It’s all real gemstones and real precious metals, but your not paying for that gold weight.”
Today, Guest has parlayed that concept into international renown with the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie sporting her wares. And, fortunately for the fledgling designer, MIJA’s bestsellers are also amongst her personal favorites: gem button necklaces featuring lapis or smoky topaz encircled by white sapphires ($121 and up); stackable birthstone rings ($48 and up); and, most of all, her jewel-studded bangle bracelets ($205 and up). Although Guest’s pieces can be now available in stores available from Dubai to Tokyo, they can be found closer to home at Dupont boutique Lou Lou or Georgetown’s Sherman Pickney, and, of course, can always be purchased through the MIJA website. ◆ capitalcommunitynews.com ◆ 21
out and about
+ Music
Jazz Avenues by Steve Monroe composing and playing, did he feel it was a shame that he was A few years ago, at what I believe was the last playing so well but it time this listener had the opportunity to hear was a sparse crowd some music at the cozy Twins Lounge (previ- that night? ously Alva’s Lounge), after many years of some Cary gave me great times at that upper Northwest nightspot, that wry, but respectMarc Cary was featured on one of his now spe- ful smile he must cial trips back to his “home” territory. frequently give to We Washingtonians consider Cary – due in older folks asking town this month for performances during the dumb questions, and Trumpeter and bandleader Roy Hargrove (center) leads a big band during this year’s DC Jazz Festival. DC Jazz Festival June 1-13 – our own, because, just said, no, and inas jazzroots.com calls it, he spent his “forma- dicated, like other tive” years in the “Chocolate City.” On that oc- artists do, that each other year of wide ranging jazz in the nightcasion at Twins Lounge, it was the first I had opportunity to play is a time to create and furspots and the concert halls. One signature heard him live, his reputation via radio station ther his art form, and if there is a large crowd, event is the June 10 “NEA Jazz Masters Live” WPFW having educated me to this youngish fine, but that is not the point of his doing what concert at The Lincoln Theatre featuring an multi-talented pianist, composer and visionary. he does. All-Star Tribute to National Endowment The music was vibrant, both mainstream If you have not had the opportunity, or just for the Arts Jazz Master James Moody, with and over the edge, avant-garde at times, and want to experience more of our “homeboy” furthe Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars, and special guests always compelling stuff. But what I remember thering what is an already an impressive artistic Regina Carter, Roy Hargrove, Roberta Gammost vividly was, when asking him about his legacy, check out Cary with barini , along with NEA jazz masters Kenny his Focus Trio at the Bohe- Barron and Paquito D’Rivera. Then there is mian Caverns, June 5. Vocalist Roberta Gambarini returns to perform at this year’s DC Jazz Festival June 10 at the the June 11 night of Latin Jazz “Under the Lincoln Theatre. “The Focus Trio objec- Stars,” the festival’s first program at the Carter tive is to bring indigenous Barron Amphitheatre, with the Poncho Sanrhythms together with chez Latin Jazz Band and Colombian Jazz American jazz to create new harpist Edmar Castaneda, with special guest pallets of sound,” says the D’ Rivera. notes on Cary’s last recordJazz ‘n Families Fun Day at The Phillips ing, “Focus.” It’s an exam- Collection is actually a two-day event, June 5 ple of a CD that is a good and 6, that celebrates “the synergy between jazz reviewer’s nightmare – be- and the visual arts.” Featured artists include cause it is hard to find a dud the Berklee World Jazz Nonet, Brad Linde, or a filler tune or something George V. Johnson, Reginald Cyntje, the DC thrown in as an experiment Jazz Collaborative, Susan Priester, Noble Jolley, that doesn’t work, as many Charles Woods Quartet, Michael Bowie Trio, recordings have. From “Ap- Victor Provost and the Sousa Middle School pointment in Ghana” to Dance Ensemble, with activities for kids that “Gentle Wind,” this disc of include storytelling, hands-on art workshops Cary originals is all poetry and a petting zoo. in rhythm. There’s much more too – Thad Wilson June 5 at the Madison Hotel, and Dianne Reeves and the Roy Hargrove Big Band June 12 at Honoring Lisner Auditorium are just two other noteworMoody... thy events – so go to dcjazzfest.org and plan Elsewhere, the DC your festival schedule. Jazz Festival presents an-
Marc Cary: Indigenous artistry
22 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
Martino’s return One of the artists performing during the festival, Pat Martino, at Blues Alley, has had a unique and trying time pursuing his career as a remarkable guitarist. The Philadelphia product has performed with artists including Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Richard Groove Holmes, John Handy, Bobby Hutcherson, Chick Corea, Jack McDuff, Don Patterson, Woody Herman and Charles Earland among others. He also succeeded in coming back from a serious medical condition to return to playing jazz. See patmartino.com for his intriguing story.
June Highlights: Marc Cary, June 5, Bohemian Caverns … Stanley Clarke Band, June 5,6, Blues Alley … George V. Johnson, June 7, Blues Alley … Buck Hill, June 11, Westminster Church … Diane Schur, June 11, Kennedy Center … Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars, June 11,12, Bohemian Caverns … Pat Martino, June 11-13, Blues Alley … Paquito D’Rivera: The Jelly Roll Morton Latin Tinge Project, June 13, Kennedy Center … Steve Novosel, Paul Carr, June 25, Westminster Church …
June Birthdays: Josephine Baker, Dakota Staton 3; Oliver Nelson, Anthony Braxton 4; Monty Alexander 5; Jimmie Lunceford, Grant Green 6; Tal Farlow, Tina Brooks 7; Kenny Barron 9; Chick Corea, Geri Allen 12; Jaki Byard, Erroll Garner 15; Lucky Thompson 16; Eric Dolphy 20; Jamil Nasser 21, Milt Hinton 23; Reggie Workman 26; Andrew Hill 30. ◆
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the by Anonymous
R
ecently, The Nose watched a reality TV show in which a random and somewhat bizarre group of people tried to navigate through a crisis. One of the main characters was a guy named Jack, and there was a smoky monster looming over the group called the Financial Control Board. This was the fiscal version of Lost, otherwise known as the twoday broadcast of DC Council budget deliberations last month. Dear Readers, forget the candidate propaganda and Colbert I. King rants and certainly The Washington Post election editorials. If you really want to learn about the candidates on the ballot this fall, invest an hour or two in watching this municipal mini-series. Be warned: At times it is a bit raw, and it can be scary. The camera actually shows how our elected officials think. The 13-member tribe led by DC Council Chairman Vince “The Undertaker” Gray congregated outside the council chambers to rescue the city from Mayor BlackBerry’s proposed budget that The Undertaker said would leave DC residents “nickel and dimed.” A quick spoiler: Did the council replace the more than 70 traffic tickets and fees the mayor proposed? No. In the grainy, dimly lighted room sat our DC Council: There was David “Can’tStandya” Catania, armed with his calculator and spreadsheets and highlighter pens. Directly across the table from him was Tommy “In the Name of the Father” Thomas, behind a fort of Gatorade and Muscle Milk, ready for battle over the so-called soda tax. He was flanked on both sides by Team At-Large Brown— Kwame and Michael —who didn’t seem to come with much of any24 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
thing. Given the single-lens view of the chairman’s conference room, the screen looked like a cross between HBO’s The Wire and a televised school board meeting in Lake Wobegon. What about our self-proclaimed financial wizard? Mayor for Life Marion S. Barry Jr. made a cameo appearance. In the middle of the table sat The Undertaker. It was not The Undertaker’s choice to broadcast the proceedings—he brought in the cameras at the last minute only after a group of good government types threatened the council chairman with betrayal for meeting behind closed doors. But the camera presented a perfect opportunity for The Undertaker to showcase his brand of leadership and present a stark contrast to his mayoral nemesis, Mayor BlackBerry. The Nose will sum up that style here: Snoooozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzeeee. Sure, The Undertaker kept under control the diabolical rants of Jack “For Rent ” Evans, the grandstanding of Jim “Grahamstander” Graham, and the complete nerddom of Phil “Mendo” Mendelson. He also prevented Can’tStandya from putting Tommy “Bleeding Heart” Wells in a chokehold when Wells stumbled on questions about squeezing more money out of the human services agencies he oversees. And The Undertaker certainly can complain: He complained about BlackBerry’s “nickel-anddime” approach. He complained about the ballooning schools budget, and Chancellor Michelle “Red Queen” Rhee. He complained for many hours about how the mayor was draining the city’s bank account, called the fund balance.
But where was the leadership? What solution or alternative did The Undertaker offer? Nickel-and-diming still in there? Yup. Schools budget still growing and seemingly untouchable? Yep. Fund balance still raided? Most definitely. Let’s look at how The Undertaker took on the thorny, controversial issues. First, the millionaire’s tax. The Undertaker built a career on fighting for the city’s most vulnerable, and what did he say to those allies when they proposed raising taxes on the top 5 percent of taxpayers to pay for critical programs that try to keep families off the street and healthy? When advocates finally cornered him, he said it was an election year. He didn’t think there were many votes in securing the city’s safety net. And even though he happily posed for pictures with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack promoting Mary “Angry Woman” Cheh’s healthy schools initiative, he was mum about her soda tax proposal to fund it. He talked a lot about the “consensus in the room.” In these meetings, Gray said he was supportive of funding for the city’s $1.5 billion plus streetcar program. Yet funding for the program was mysteriously missing when the council met to vote on the budget, a surprise to Bleeding Heart and the Grahamstander, who have championed the project. Then the streetcars evangelicals pounded the blogosphere and email and phone lines. A few hours later, Gray found new streetcar money in the form of a high interest payday loan. Hardly a profile in courage. So who was the real star of the
show? Can’tStandya. Can’tStandya has always been a bit of a drama queen at these sessions, and was about one fist length away from coming to blows with former At-Large Councilmember Harold Brazil in a closed-door budget meeting years ago. But he stood out for a different reason this time. He was the only member who came to the table with a thorough knowledge of his budgets, the budgets of his colleagues, and the general fiscal outlook of other states and cities. When For Rent ranted on about cutting $165 million from the budget, Can’tStandya called that “reckless.” When the Grahamstander snuck in his pet programs, Can’tStandya pulled out his calculator. When Bleeding Heart clearly didn’t have a grasp on his critical human services programs, Can’tStandya talked about recession-related pressures and the need to challenge Dr. Natwar “Not a Beancounter” Gandhi’s assumptions. The Nose will say it now: Can’tStandya for Mayor in 2014. Have a tip for The Nose? E-mail thenose@hillrag.com. ★
your neighborhood
14th and U by Tanya Snyder Screen on a New Green HBO just relieved widespread panic that they were canceling Screen on the Green – Washington’s favorite summer tradition. Last year, only a grassroots insurrection convinced HBO to change its mind about cutting the funding for the outdoor movies, and they had us strung along this year, too. (They finally released the summer film lineup.) But if you found less handwringing and breast beating around 14th and U about the possible demise of Screen on the Green, it may be because they’re getting their own screen on their very own green, thank you very much. The U Street Movie Series on the Harrison Recreation Center field (on V Street between 13th and 14th Streets) starts June 8 with “This Is It,” the bizarrely-timed Michael Jackson movie that came out just at the height of Jackson fever right after his death, for just the briefest of runs. It continues throughout the
summer with monthly showings, the second Tuesday of each month through September. Each movie they’re showing on this inaugural year of the series has a music theme, in celebration of “the musical history and culturally diverse roots of the U Street neighborhood.” Following the MJ extravaganza is “Buena Vista Social Club” in July, “The Soloist” in August, and a double feature in September: “Soul Power” and “Duke Ellington’s Washington.” Getting there early won’t just get you a choice spot for your blanket. The first 100 people in each night get free popcorn, too. It won’t be the same without the HBO dance, but we’ll make do. The U Street Movie Series is sponsored by the Friends of Harrison Recreation Center and other community organizations. movies. ustreet-dc.org.
See and Be Seen The city’s newest hotspot for the
Summertime favorite Screen on the Green has some competition in the U Street neighborhood. Photo: Adam Gerard
in-crowd just opened in March. The owners of the U Street Music Hall – DJs themselves – kept their focus squarely on what’s important: the dance floor and the sound system. All the other bells and whistles come in with the clientele. No VIP areas, no dress code. Four-dollar Natty Boh at the bar. But they spared no expense or attention to detail when it came to the sound system – a state-of-the-art operation that doesn’t muddy up the music, like at other DC clubs – and so powerful it can reportedly shake a glass of beer off the bar. And the dance floor is hardwood on cork, which provides a little bounce to your tired feet. After all, U Hall (1115 U St. NW) was designed for dance music, not rock, and caters to DJs, not bands. These details make a difference to the DJs they host – and, apparently, to the patrons who line up to get in. Of the six people that dreamt up U Hall as a sort of collective vision, two of them are Eric and Ian Hilton. If these are not yet house-
hold names in your home, they will be soon. The Hilton brothers are partners in some of the hippest joints in the neighborhood, including the Eighteenth Street Lounge, Dragonfly, Marvin, the Gibson … and a new bouquet of establishments set to open soon. By the end of this year, we should be blessed with not one, not two, but three new Hilton ventures: one on Ninth and U; another in Petworth on Georgia Avenue; and another (with the intriguing, though tentative, name “Blackbird Warehouse”), which is going in right next to Marvin on 14th Street. Not to mention the new and muchheralded wine bar, Dickson, which is co-owned by Eric Hilton’s wife, Tien Claudio, with her son, James, doing the cooking. U Street Music Hall: 202-5881880, www.ustreetmusichall.com. ◆
capitalcommunitynews.com ◆ 25
your neighborhood
Logan Circles by Mark F. Johnson
Memorial Day Started in Logan Circle
Heritage Trails come under the auspice of the District’s Department of Transportation (DDOT), which has been the source of funding for the city’s other 10 trails. Two new trails are slated to begin this year. DDOT has run out of money to cover all the costs involved in starting a Heritage Trail in Logan Circle, Levy stated. Therefore, if a Logan Circle trail is to be established, it will depend on sizable community financial support. According to her, the project will cost about $400,000. Levy said that about 15 stops on the trail would probably be appropriate to tell the Logan Circle story. Some neighborhood trails are smaller than others. The nearby Columbia Heights trail has 19 stops and is one of the longest at 2.9 miles.
While it’s still fresh in your memory, can we rewind back to the recent Memorial Day holiday weekend for a quick minute? You DID know that the day set aside to honor our war dead was officially started by the guy on the horse in the middle of Logan Circle, right? OK, time for a 30-second history lesson. Basically, the first holiday of summer got its start right here in the `hood. General John A. Logan, for whom the circle and surrounding neighborhood are named, first introduced the holiday after the Civil War to honor war dead. Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868, by the Union Army general who was then national commander of the Grand Army of the ReLogan Circle public. It was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the Walking Tour graves of Union and Confederate solNow that the weather is warm, diers at Arlington National Cemetery. get ready for even more activity in the Some southern states refused to observe streets. A few weekends ago, for examthe holiday initially, preferring to honple, there was a block-long flea market or the Confederate dead on their own near the circle and a block party or two terms. After World War I, the holiday as well. In fact, block parties are planned was changed to honor all war heroes, not for various blocks in the `hood throughonly those who died in the Civil War. out the summer as neighbors make an After serving as a Union Army general during the Civil War, John A. Logan created Memorial After the Civil War, Logan went Day to honor war dead. effort to meet each other and enjoy the back to a career in politics and served summer weather at the same time. in both the House of Representatives Tim Christiansen of the Logan Civil War-era neighborhood has witnessed, it and the US Senate as a representative from Il- only makes sense. Columbia Heights and Shaw/ Circle Community Association, and also a local linois. In honor of the general, Chicago has Lo- U Street already have their own Heritage trails, historian, led a walking tour of the neighborhood gan Square very near to Lincoln Park on the and the DC Office of Cultural Tourism is now on a sunny weekend in late May, pointing out city’s north side. It, too, is an area of beautiful exploring the creation of a trail in Logan Circle. various neighborhood must-see locations inVictorian buildings. But it is not upstaged by The Heritage Trails are designed to be a self- cluding the Mary McCloud-Bethune house on DC’s glorious Logan Circle. guided walking tour of DC’s historic neighbor- 13th Street, and General John Logan’s former hoods. According to Jane Levy, a historian who mansion near the circle. The LCCA is the orgaworks with Cultural Tourism DC, the program nization that conducts the Logan Circle Holiday Logan Circle Heritage started about 10 years ago “to help lead tour- House tour at Christmas. That tour is one of the Trail Proposed ists off the Mall and bring them into the city.” city’s most popular winter house tours. And speaking of the old Logan Circle glory, Neighborhoods must first decide if they want to there is talk of memorializing it in Logan Circle’s establish a trail and then do the work to get the U Street Movie Series very own Heritage Walking Trail. Like its historball rolling or the trail blazing, as it were. “It is up But sometimes you just don’t want to walk ic neighbors to the north and east, Logan Circle to the neighborhood community to let us know anymore. Sometimes you just want to chill. has a story to tell. With all the history that this what stories they want to tell,” said Levy. What better way to experience summer than to 26 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
relax on a warm weekend evening on a blanket under a starry sky while watching a movie? A few years ago, you’d have to go down to the Mall to do this but not anymore. Playing off its historic background as one of the city’s foremost entertainment venues, the U Street Filmfest begins its al fresco offerings this month at Harrison Field on V Street, between 13th and 14th streets and directly behind the Ellington. Film aficionados from Shaw, surrounding neighborhoods, and really, all over town, will be treated to a different film each week through the middle of September, according to the current movie schedule. The following films are included in the schedule: June 8: Michael Jackson’s This Is It (rain date June 15) July 13: Buena Vista Social Club (rain date July 20) Aug 10: The Soloist (rain date Aug 17) Sept 14: Duke Ellington’s Washington and Soul Power (rain date Sept 21) There are also plans to have a live DJ before the movies begin! Gates open each night at 7 p.m., movies will start at sundown around 8:30. Also, organizers promise free popcorn for the first 100 people. As if the thought of lying on a blanket and watching a movie while crowds try to jam into clubs and restaurants just a block away wasn’t enough to feel great about on a summer night. ◆
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your neighborhood
Shaw Streets by Ralph Brabham
Shaw Businesses Show Appealing Trend
W
hile advertising may draw in a customer, it is no substitute for the first impression made by a business’s storefront. An attractive and well maintained storefront signals that the business inside provides quality goods and services. One that’s unattractive or poorly maintained suggests inferior goods and services. Recent improvements to storefronts along Shaw’s commercial corridors are reflective of the area’s fabulous businesses and are helping attract and retain patrons. A few months ago, Shaw Main Streets completed its Storefront Improvement Pilot project, in which the economic revitalization nonprofit leveraged about $14,000 to improve three Shaw businesses’ street presence. As evidenced by the introductory project, Shaw Main Streets aims to bring about enhanced storefronts through improved signage, lighting and facades on Seventh and Ninth streets.
A Vibrant Queen The flagship project of Shaw Main Streets’ Pilot project was restaurant Queen of Sheba’s extensive and eye-catching makeover at at 1503 Ninth St. NW. With the new bright orange with green accents paint scheme, it boasts confidence and character. Making Queen of Sheba stand out was one of the goals of the redesign, as the building’s formerly dreary paint scheme, lack of lighting, and minimal signage made the restaurant easy to miss at day or night. 28 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
As background, the three-story Victorian structure was vacant and boarded up for several decades until the early 2000s. Upon renovation for office tenants on the upper floors and a retail tenant on the first floor, the building’s façade received a neutral paint scheme. Although a vast improvement over the previously neglected street frontage, the rehabilitated building was far from eye-catching. Queen of Sheba opened in February of 2006, and its Ethiopian-centric menu has since garnered much praise and many loyal followers. The interior was built out to exude personality, with a bright orange and gold colored dining area and bar. With the exception of the restaurant’s name and a logo adhered to the front bay window, however, the exterior of the building did not change. In 2009, Shaw Main Streets identified Queen of Sheba as having a storefront in need of some upgrades. Executive Director of Shaw Main Streets Alex Padro reminisces that “Queen of Sheba really needed help, especially since there’s a tree that blocked the nearest street light and plunged the building into a black hole at night.” Queen of Sheba’s transformation is remarkable. At night, the business glows, and during the day, its new blade sign and popping color scheme draw much attention. Owner Embzam Misgina is grateful to have had his business chosen to participate. Nearby neighbor Paul Hughes
ABOVE: Queen of Sheba prior to renovation appeared drab and lacked character. Photo: Google Streetview RIGHT: After Shaw Main Streets’ comprehensive storefront improvement, Queen of Sheba is bright and inviting. Photo: Drew Porterfield
comments, “Before, I barely noticed the building. Now, it’s literally impossible to miss Queen of Sheba. While it’s definitely a bold color combination, I think it’s fun and draws people in to a great neighborhood business.”
Just the Beginning In addition to Queen of Sheba’s comprehensive upgrade, the pilot program also bestowed signage upgrades on Wagtime Pet Spa and Boutique and Long View Gallery, both in the 1200 block of Ninth Street. The signs are creative and beautiful, and add to the businesses’ visibility. The pilot program’s three projects are intended to serve as best practices for other area businesses and as the beginning of a broader storefront improvement campaign by Shaw Main Street. A design guide and other improvements are expected in the coming year. Independent of Shaw Main Streets’ direct assistance, businesses throughout the neighborhood have invested a lot in their storefronts in recent times. For example, in summer 2009, Wagtime completed a dramatic top to bottom, inside-out gorgeous renovation to its building. And earlier this year, Axum Ethiopian Restaurant in the 1900 block of Ninth St. completed beautiful improvements to its exterior. It seems that the sprucing up of storefronts is contagious, as projects big and small can be seen throughout the business district of Shaw. And each project makes the area a more appealing place to work, live, shop and dine. For more information about Shaw Main Streets, call 202-265-7429 or visit shawmainstreets.com. ◆
Bloomingdale Bytes by Amanda Abrams
Two real-life artists making a living in the neighborhood
I
s it possible to make a living in DC as an artist? If you double up, maybe. Meet Sean Hennessey and Rania Hussan, Bloomingdale residents since 2003 and two halves of an artist couple. “Everything’s doable,” said Hussan, in response to a question about making ends meet as visual artists. Doable, yes, but from the sound of their activities, it’s not always easy. The two are constantly working on something: Hussan makes oil paintings that incorporate knitted yarn, and also creates lunch bags, cards and notebooks with designs printed on them that she sells online. Hennessey used to be a set and prop designer for theater companies in the area (the couple met 10 years ago while both were working as designers for the Shakespeare Theatre Company) but quit to have more time for his sculpture – and his life. “The hours were crazy, like 110 hours per week,” he explained. These days, he makes sculptures out of everyday objects cast in concrete, and also works in glass; he sells his pieces online, at street fairs, and through individual buyers. To boost his income, Hennessey’s a decorative designer, painting stencils, faux finishes and murals in private homes. Those efforts earn the couple some money, but they also have a secret weapon: Hussan’s job as a designer for the federal government. Yes, each federal agency employs
graphic designers who make posters and books and invitations for the department. In fact, Hussan used to work for the White House, where she and four other designers created things like coloring books and the State of the Union speech-book. With her steady paycheck plus their other creative efforts, the couple has been able to make a living. “Our whole house is a studio,” said Hassan, of their Randolph Place row house, which they purchased at a time when buying was cheaper than renting. “Where you’d normally have a living room, that’s one of my studios.” Both are currently showing work at the National Institutes of Health, but they have another, notso-traditional exhibition coming up: the two were separately chosen to be part of the Urban Forest project, which features various artists’ tree-themed designs on banners throughout downtown. The banners should be up in early fall. For more information on the artists, visit http://dcsean.com/ home.html or http://raniahassan. com/home.html. For information on the Urban Forest project, visit http://ufp-global.com/.
More healthy eating options around Howard University Sure, the Bloomingdale farmers’ market is nice, but did you know that Howard University has a twiceweekly farmers market, too? It’s not so big, though: on a recent Friday in late May, there was only one vendor. Tim Bromhal of Dragonfly Farms (Mount Airy, Md.) was standing behind a table holding perfect tomatoes, spring
Sean Hennessey and Rania Hassan. Photo: Amanda Abrams
onions, radishes and flowers and greeting a steady stream of customers: visitors, employees, local residents. Angela Young and Patrice Carroll, nurses from dialysis, stopped by. Young said she likes the strawberries – “anything that’s sweet.” Sitting nearby was a group of workers who call themselves the “lunch bunch.” While several of them mentioned that they’re looking forward to the summer’s corn, greens and peaches, a couple of them had McDonald’s sacks in front of them. “$5.99 gets you a cheeseburger, fries, and a medium soda,” quipped one of the women. And she was right: the options at the farmers market weren’t as varied, nor as cheap. But Davene White, the director of Howard’s Nursing Maternal Child Health, said the market will have more vendors soon. “By mid to late June, [the farmers] will have a lot more,” she said. “So we’ll have a grand opening on June 18.”
I asked White if she and the hospital staff were going to try to get the first lady to attend the opening event. “We’re hoping to attract Michelle Obama’s attention,” she said, “but if we can attract the attention of the residents of Ward 1 and particularly the families of the area, then we’ll have been successful.” The market is held in the courtyard in front of Howard University Hospital on Tuesdays, 3-6 p.m., and Fridays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
A 25-year-old history buff shares his passion There’s something that stands out about the blog Left for Ledroit. Maybe the topics, which strike me as more substance-y than those of some other blogs. Or maybe the authoritative writing style. Whatever it is, I like it. So I contacted the blog’s author, Eric Fidler, to write a short profile about him. Turns out he’s only 25! That capitalcommunitynews.com ◆ 29
was one surprise. Another was that, although his posts are often about urban planning and city history, he actually works as a computer programmer. “But I’ve seriously considered going to planning school to get a master’s,” he explained. Fidler, who grew up in Bethesda, is simply into city planning issues. While an undergrad at the University of Maryland, he had a blog called Rethink College Park. So when he got out of school and eventually began contemplating buying a house, he knew he wanted to start blogging about the neighborhood. Luckily, the area where he wound up, Ledroit Park, has a lot of history to be discovered. “There’s so much to find,” he said. “I don’t have enough time to research it all.” If you read his blog, you’ll know that research is his thing. In a recent post, he segued from a reminder of that evening’s civic association meeting to an 1881 newspaper account of a Ledroit Park property owners’ association meeting. Fidler said he gets his info from the normal sources – MLK Library’s Washingtoniana collection, the Library of Congress – and does a lot of reading. According to him, Ledroit Park’s layout was influenced by an architect who believed that people should live in quaint country cottages, so the area is supposed to be an idyllic suburb. And apparently residents were all white until Octavius Williams, a black barber at the Capitol, moved in around the turn of the century. “He was greeted by a bullet through his window, but he stayed on,” said Fidler. ◆
30 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
Khabeer Salaam Heading to Howard at 16 by Monica Utsey
K
habeer Salaam is just 16 years old, yet this fall he’s headed to prestigious Howard University on a full scholarship to study mechanical engineering. Khabeer began this path to Howard University long before he even knew it. His parents, particularly his mom, made sure math was a part of his everyday learning experience. Lifoma Salaam, a professor of math at Howard University, believes that children can learn everything they need to know about math by age 5. “Everything you need to know up until the fifth grade is practical. If you don’t teach it in its practical sense, they are missing it,” says Lifoma. “If I was cooking, doing laundry or at the bank, they were
right in front of me doing the math. They could do everything in their heads, even adding three- to fourdigit numbers. If you make it real for them as a part of their life, they will learn it that way.” Lifoma has homeschooled all four of her sons at various points. When they were not being homeschooled, they attended Nation House, an independent African-centered school in the District. Her oldest son, Saboor, already a student at Howard University, will be followed by Khabeer, while the two youngest, Cesa, 13 and Amoa, 7, will continue to be homeschooled. Lifoma’s Brightwood home is always abuzz with activities of one sort or the other. Most homeschool
Khabeer Salaam demonstrating projectiles for his brothers and friends. Photo: Monica Utsey
Khabeer Salaam, Photo: Monica Utsey
days start with the children working independently on science projects of their choosing. Late morning begins the core blocks of learning, where children get their assignments for the week and are fully expected to complete them on time in order to participate in extracurricular activities that are scheduled on Fridays. After their SAT scores won them coveted spots in Duke University’s Talent Identification Program, Khabeer, 13 at the time, and Saboor, 14 at the time, decided that they wanted to graduate early. “I didn’t encourage it, but I didn’t discourage it either. I told them I’m not going to work to make it happen, you’re going to make it happen. And they did. So I took it as a sign from the universe,” says Lifoma. Duke University was her children’s first foray outside of their insulated cultural community. “They lived a limited social life between being homeschooled and Nation House. They didn’t go to parties and hang out and had the same set of peers all of their lives,” says Lifoma. “It mitigated some of the negative things kids pick up in middle school.” Khabeer is unassuming and humble. He thinks his accomplishments should be measured more by how he fares as a student and what he does afterward. “I think
my accomplishments will be more judged by what I do in college and after college. This is just the start of everything that I want to do,” says Khabeer who plans to study bioengineering in graduate school. Last month Khabeer traveled to Haiti for the second time do additional information gathering for his senior research project, a documentary that he hopes will humanize Haiti. Well-rounded and confident, Khabeer believes that everything has prepared him for this moment in time. “My brother went to college early, too, and from hanging out with him, I know all of his friends. Socially it will not be that hard to fit in. Academically I think all of the programs that I’ve been in [helped prepare me]. Every summer I’ve done some type of academic program,” says Khabeer. Extremely mature compared to most young men his age, Khabeer sees no reason to waste time partying and goofing off his first two years in college. “I want to take summer classes and finish early. A lot of students have fun during their freshman and sophomore year and then realize during their junior year that they’ve got to get serious. I see no reason why I can’t start off serious. I believe I’ll be able to balance hanging out and focusing on my work.” ◆ capitalcommunitynews.com ◆ 31
your neighborhood
+ District Beat
Yes He Can by Mark Segraves
A
lot of people think DC Council Chairman Vince Gray doesn’t have a chance in his quest to unseat Mayor Adrian Fenty. The smart money ($4 million and counting) is on the incumbent. And it’s easy to see why. Fenty is running on a pretty good track record of significant accomplishments. Crime is down, that’s a fact. I could use an entire column to make the case for how the DC police crime statistics are skewed, but that’s for another time. But no matter how you look at the numbers, crime is down. And like her or not, Chancellor Michele Rhee has made things better in the public schools. Not perfect and not nearly adequate, but Rhee has brought about change, and test scores are up. People have a sense that change is afoot. For many voters that’s enough to give Fenty another four years. But Fenty has a problem. He’s not the same guy who won 142 out of 142 precincts four years ago, and many people who once loved the guy, now can’t stand
him. The erosion of his popularity started in the African-American community and has been spreading. It wasn’t a shock that at a recent Ward 8 Democrats straw poll the mayor was booed. Recent polls have shown his East of the River approval numbers are bad. But just last month, Fenty was booed in Ward 6. It was the 33rd annual Peter Bug day. It was a candidates dream, a beautiful day, hundreds of happy voters all in one place. Let the glad-handing begin. Several candidates made the rounds, Doug Sloan who wants Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton’s job was there, mayoral candidate Leo Alexander worked the crowd, of course Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells was present and accounted for, and the top two contenders for mayor were there. But in very different ways. Both Fenty and Gray showed up about the same time. Watching them work the crowd was very much like watching how they govern. Both had advance staff at the festival well before the candidates ar-
Fenty campaigns hemmed in by the Green Team. Photo: Mark Segraves 32 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
Gray works the crowd assisted by neighborhood activist Chuck Burger. Photo: Mark Segraves
rived. Fenty’s team was just that – a team. All of them decked out in the Fenty green jackets and hats, all armed with rolls of Fenty stickers and petitions for getting on the ballot. Fenty, surrounded by a sea of green clad volunteers, dove into the crowd shaking hands with everyone, posing for pictures and listening to individuals for a few minutes and then off to the next group. Never standing still, never allowing for any real conversations or dialog. The proverbial “meet and greet.” Before walking away from anyone, Fenty or a team member would slap a big green sticker on your chest. Including Herb Feester, of Peaches and Herb, and Congressional Candidate Sloan got one too. Both did what many of those whom Fenty tagged did – as soon as the mayor turned his back, they tore off the sticker. By contrast, Team Gray operated in a more stealthlike and deliberative process. Much like the way Gray governs. Gray’s advance team had the advantage of being neighborhood
residents who people recognized and who knew who was who in the crowd. But they were otherwise unidentifiable. No Gray hats or shirts, no rolls of Gray stickers, very low key. When Gray arrived he too worked the crowd, but unlike Fenty who darted from person to person, Gray would engage in deep, long conversations with people, listening and responding in an informed way. Where Fenty took two minutes to make a contact, Gray took 20 minutes. Not an efficient way to campaign. And that’s what Gray is going to need to work on if he is going to win. And yes, he can win. The election will likely break down along racial lines. Gray has a lock on the African-American vote, and Fenty would seem to own the white vote. At a glance that would seem to give Fenty an advantage. But no matter how many press events Fenty has in black neighborhoods, and that’s where most of his press events are held since his poll numbers began to drop, he won’t be able to win back the black vote. On the other hand, Gray can chew into the white vote. While the majority of white voters still lean toward Fenty, they’re just leaning. It won’t take much to push them into
the arms of someone else. Another DYRS juvenile escapee killing a popular school principal, another frat brother caught with his hand in the taxpayers cookie jar, another secret trip to Dubai or China. Gray only needs about 20 percent of the white vote to give Fenty a run for his money. The problem is that Gray is slow out of the gate. He’s been bogged down with the budget, and his internal campaign bureaucracy is much like the budget process. Slow and deliberate.
Don’t Believe Everything You Read If you read the Washington Post and the Washington City Paper you’re probably laboring under the misconception that the DC Council under the leadership of Chairman Vince Gray recently took a giant step forward in advancing open government. The headline in City Paper was “Power To The Peephole.” The Post wrote “Gray, a Democratic candidate for mayor, has gone even further to let more sunshine into the budget negotiations this year.” Allow me to set the record straight. What Gray did was a blow to open government and a slap in the face to the public. The last year when the council decided to meet behind closed doors to hash out the budget several reporters, including myself, complained and threatened to force Gray to throw us out of the meetings. Gray conceded and allowed reporters into the meetings. Gray kept the public out. This year as Gray and his colleagues were preparing to meet about the budget Ed Lazere of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute complained of the lack of transparency just as he had done the previous year. But this is an election year, and Lazere knows how to work politicians. He penned a letter demanding the public be allowed in this time. Lazere got about 40 other groups to sign
on, and he sent it to the councilmembers and the press. Gray took the bait and decided to make a change. Doing so without consulting the public, the press or any councilmembers, Gray came up with a solution. He installed a government-controlled camera and four microphones in the small room and broadcast the deliberations on the government TV channel. To make room for the government-controlled camera, Gray kicked the press out of the meetings. So, one small step forward and one giant step backward. While having a camera in the room gives the public a view they have never had, taking reporters who cover the day-today activities of the council and the budget out of the room made for less accountability. Watching an event on a government-controlled camera where you have only one angle and poor audio is no substitute for having the press in the room watching and recording the arm-twisting and deal making that goes on in the corner. And if anyone thinks this was anything other than a way for candidate Gray to broadcast himself as a leader, you’re fooling yourself. And proof of that is the other little reported step taken to ensure the public wouldn’t see what was actually going on. Security guards set up a perimeter outside the meeting room and would not let the public gather in the hallway. A hallway that is filled with citizens on a daily basis. Gray tells me he was unaware of the hallway closure and thought his compromise with the camera as fair. He’s says he’s open to allowing reporters back into the next round of budget meetings. An easy promise to make for someone who won’t be the council chair next year. Mark Segraves can be reached at msegraves@wtop.com. Watch NewsPlus with Mark Segraves on DC 50 TV and listen on WTOP. ★
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your neighborhood
+ The Numbers
The Recession Hits Home Hardship is on the Rise in DC by Ed Lazere
W
hat has the Great Recession done to you? Nearly everyone has been affected one way or another — whether you or someone you know has lost a job, the value of your home or retirement savings has tanked, or your business has struggled to keep customers. Yet the reality is that the impact of the downturn has been uneven. Even with record 12 percent unemployment – and 40,000 jobless residents looking for work – there are 280,000 DC residents who are still working. Most of us have maintained most of our incomes even if our assets on paper have fallen. For me, other than being worried about the drop in our college savings fund, my family has not suffered. Yet I know many residents have. There are increasing signs that the recession is pushing more vulnerable DC families and individuals
REPORTS OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT ARE UP SHARPLY 8,000 6,000
over the edge, with many facing trouble with the basic tasks of feeding their families and paying housing bills. We’ve all heard about foreclosures, but there’s more. Thousands of households have had their utilities cut off. Family homelessness has skyrocketed, as have reports of child abuse and neglect. The District’s response to the recession also has been uneven. While support for programs, such as health care, has been maintained, several programs that are vital in a recession, including emergency rent or utility assistance, have been cut. The city’s budget crisis has led to lots of service cuts, but scaling back help for residents in crisis at a time when more and more people are in need makes little sense. It’s like finding out your child is failing math — and then pulling him out of tutoring. It shows a stunning lack of vision over how the city’s resources should be used, and it will hurt the city in the long-term as we will deal for years with the aftereffects of families in crisis.
6,112
DC Recession-Proof? No More
4,670
4,000 2,000 0 2009
2007 Source: DC Child and Family Services Administration.
A GROWING NUMBER OF DC HOUSEHOLDS ARE FACING UTILITY SHUT-OFF Electricity Shut-offs for Non-payment Natural Gas Shut-offs for Non-Payment
2007
2009
Change
5,812
8,359
44%
6,875
Source: Data provided by DC Public Service Commission.
34 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
8,849
29%
There was a time when DC used to be called “recession-proof.” Our unique situation seemed to make us immune from what states would go through when the national economy nosedived. But if that was ever true, it certainly isn’t now. As unemployment soared to the highest level in more than 30 years last year, some 11,000 residents fell into poverty in 2009 (less than $22,000 for a family of four). That’s the biggest one-year jump in at least 15 years. Unemployment affects families, of course, but en-
tire communities also suffer. The jobless rate has reached nearly 10 percent or higher in every part of the city except Wards 2 and 3. Neighborhood businesses are hurt when residents have less money in their pocket. Schools face challenges when children of the unemployed bring the stresses of home to their classroom. The signs of financial stress on DC residents are abundant. Struggling to Paying Housing Bills: Housing is outrageously expensive in DC – it is the single largest budget item for many of us. So when incomes fall, the biggest impact is on the ability of families to keep paying mortgage, rent and utility bills. The number of DC families falling behind on housing bills has jumped in the recession. One sign: 8,400 households had their electricity shut off in 2009, an increase of 44 percent since 2007. Another sign: There are more than 2,500 people in homeless families with children. That’s 37 percent more than in 2008. Hunger on the Rise: Two of five DC households with children said that they had difficulty affording enough food in 2009. More residents are turning to school lunches, and the number of food stamp recipients has grown 30 percent since the start of 2008. Demand for emergency food assistance has jumped, too. The Capital Area Food Bank reports that 88,400 people in the DC region now receive emergency food assistance each week from a food pantry, or soup kitchen – 19,000 more than four years ago. Some soup kitchens, like SOME, have seen a 20 percent increase in visitors in recent years Child abuse and neglect: The stresses associated with poverty are among the most serious contributing factors to child neglect. So when the economy suffers, children suffer, too. There were 6,112 reports of child abuse and neglect in 2009, an increase of one-third over the past two years, according to District figures.
DC Budget Cuts Have Made Matter Worse The District has faced challenges responding to this rising need, because the recession also has left the city with fewer resources, as tax col-
lections have fallen. But budgets are about choices. And the choices made by DC’s leaders over how to respond to the recession have in many cases put the victims of the recession squarely on the budget chopping block. The District closed two social service intake centers in the past year, even though there has been a huge increase in demand, and homeless shelters were overcapacity all winter. Yet the budget for 2011 includes no increases in homeless services. The budget proposed by Mayor Adrian Fenty and just approved by the DC Council provides less money for emergency energy and rental assistance than the city provided in 2008 — when there wasn’t even a recession. The child welfare agency has fired 100 workers. Not only does it reflect a lack of compassion, it also is dangerous for the city. The federal government understands that expanding assistance in a recession — like unemployment insurance and food stamps — is critical to stabilizing families and keeping the economy from spiraling down even more. If residents in crisis don’t get help, their problems can spiral, too, which can end up costing the city more and make it harder for communities to take advantage of the economic recovery whenever it comes. That lesson apparently has not been learned here. Maybe the mayor and council need some tutoring. Ed Lazere is the director of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute (www.dcfpi.org), which conducts research on tax and budget issues that affect lowand moderate-income DC residents. ★
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kids and family Roosevelt Culinary Arts Academy Training Students for Careers in Culinary and Food Service Industries by Jazelle Hunt
F
or a handful of students at Roosevelt Senior High School, lunchtime is class time. Each day at 11:45 a.m., half of the student body heads to the cafeteria to enjoy their lunch while these studentchefs head to the state-of-theart kitchen classroom to prepare theirs. They each have a distinct contribution in building the recipe; and after a class period of intense chopping, measuring and stirring, their delectable classroom work stimulates their taste buds, satisfies their hunger, and strengthens their gradepoint averages. The group is enrolled in Roosevelt’s Culinary Arts Academy, a program designed to train students for success in the culinary and food service industries. The academy features three elective courses over two years. In Culinary Art I, students learn the basics in a classroom setting and are given the opportunity to earn their ServSafe certification. Culinary Art II allows students to suit up in their chef uniforms (complete with the toques) for hands-on application in the kitchen. By Culinary Art III in senior year, students are autonomous—they get an assigned recipe for the class period and perform the task solo. The ServSafe Food Safety Certification requires a 75 percent or better on a 90-question exam offered by the National Restaurant Association. This certification is nationally recognized and accredited and is required for managerial positions 36 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
in the food industry. So far, 12 of the 28 students enrolled in the program have earned their certification. Chef Fredrick Monroe, the program’s chef instructor, is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University and holds an associate’s in culinary arts, a bachelor’s in food service entrepreneurship, and a master’s in food service education. He has done everything from cooking at a nursing home, to coordinating catered events, to teaching classes, but this is the first job which he “feels excited walking through the doors.”
FROM TOP TO BOTTOM: Sophomore Malasia Hassan (right) and her classmate share a laugh while working together on their part of the assigned Caesar salad recipe. The students work on separate parts of the recipe (alone or in pairs) and communicate their progress to one another along the way. Photo: Tatiana Sanguinette Junior Lewis Dunn checks his work – fresh croutons from scratch for a Caesar salad. Photo: Tatiana Sanguinette A student chops lettuce for the class’s Caesar salad. Before entering the kitchen and handling supplies, culinary arts students spend a semester learning their tools and proper knife cuts, among other things. Photo: Tatiana Sanguinette A student taste-tests his Caesar salad dressing and reports to Chef Fredrick Monroe. Photo: Tatiana Sanguinette
“Most students take culinary arts because they want to learn how to cook, or they want the chance to eat!” Monroe explains. “I try to teach them more than that. All I ask is that they think, and think outside of the box.” The coursework is graded on a production scale, in which cleanliness, execution/technique, presentation and taste count for the whole grade. Students also critique each other and Chef Monroe each week.
On Thursdays, Culinary Art II and III students run a café known as The Roosevelt Inn. The Inn gives them restaurant experience—the patrons are charged, some students cook while others greet and serve their schoolmates and faculty who come for lunch, and everything runs on a tight schedule. Earnings go toward supplies and class outings to wellknown restaurants in the DC area. Malasia Hassan, 16, a sophomore and self-described “very friendly person,” always works the front of The Inn. She’s currently enrolled in Culinary Art II and received her ServSafe certification last semester. Although she wants to become an actress someday, she chose the program because she already liked cooking and eating. “Since I was 2, I was in the kitchen helping, and as I got older I started cooking by myself,” Malasia said. “But the program has helped me with my technique.” Since entering the kitchen, she has made everything from tacos to glazed salmon to Caesar salad, complete with homemade dressing. This semester, she job shadowed at L’Academie de Cuisine in Maryland and the Atrium Café at the National Museum of Natural History.
‘It’s not just cooking’ Chef Monroe makes it a point to incorporate basic math, reading, writing and technology skills into the curriculum. The students keep weekly journals (where they assess Chef Monroe), convert recipe measurements, and keep track of the inventory using computer software. Each student is also required to submit a resume, so Chef Monroe can place them in internship or
capitalcommunitynews.com â—† 37
job opportunities. “I believe that culinary arts is not only cooking; reading, writing, and technology skills are essential for this business,” Monroe said. “We are training these kids for what lies beyond this program.” This was a surprise for junior Lewis Dunn, who wasn’t even sure what “culinary arts” was when it showed up on his schedule last year. “I thought about switching classes, but I decided to try it,” Lewis explained. “When I first went [to class], I thought we would be cooking the first day, but Chef Monroe told us we wouldn’t be cooking for another two months.” One challenge he faced in those two months was recipe conversions and his difficulty with math. But it didn’t stop him from getting the most out of the program. “It’s not just cooking—I’ve learned about culture, like French cuisine, for example. I’ve learned about where things come from, like how a lot of stuff we call soul food really used to be slave food. And I always thought that anything you ate would give you energy,” Lewis explained, “But different foods affect you in different ways. You really are what you eat.” Lewis also plays defensive tackle for Roosevelt’s football team. Although he’s not sure what he wants to do after he graduates, his coach helped him see that a career in culinary arts is, at the very least, a good back-up plan. Eighteen-year-old senior Markus Freeman, on the other hand, has always been interested in a career in the food industry. He transferred into Roosevelt as a sophomore, unaware of the program until he had to choose an elective. “Cooking runs in my family,” Markus said. “Since I was 11, whether it was in my mom’s kitchen making deviled eggs or macaroni, or around the grill at a family reunion, I always wanted to be around the food.” Markus has already begun building a resume in his field. Last year he interned at Old Glory in Georgetown, where he is now employed as a prep and grill cook on weekends. At school he prepares for this year’s SkillsUSA Culinary Arts Competi38 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
tion in Kansas City, Missouri, where he will be competing with culinary students from across the country for scholarship money, national recognition, and the chance to compete internationally. “I like the program because it really prepares you,” he said. “Most people start as a dishwasher at restaurants, but I started on the line. I got lucky – I already had culinary experience. [My boss] liked my speed, and I learned so fast, I was a grill cook in two months.” He also expressed how invaluable his certification is in making jobs easy to come by. Since the academy’s inception in 1997, students have gone on to earn thousands of dollars in scholarships to schools such as Johnson & Wales, the Culinary Institute of America, and Lincoln Culinary Institute (formerly Florida Culinary Institute). Markus hopes to join the ranks of these past students by earning a medal at SkillsUSA and someday becoming a head chef or opening his own restaurant (though he’s not sure what kind of food he’d like to serve). “And I’ve always asked myself if I could work for the president one day,” he added. For now, he’s just waiting to hear back from the three culinary schools where he has applied and thinking about what he would like to work with next, beyond the grill. He graduates on June 10. Culinary arts students complete the program on their own steam—a student can withdraw and take up another elective from one semester to the next. For these three students, however, the culinary arts program is too enjoyable and worthwhile to walk away from. “I can think back and say I know I learned a lot – Chef Monroe taught me a lot about food,” Markus said. “I put my heart into my work and take pride in what I do. I learn from my mistakes, and I am always proud of myself.” Roosevelt Senior High School is located at 4301 13th St. NW. Call 202576-6130 or visit roosevelt.k12.dc.us for more information. Contact Chef Fredrick Monroe at fredrick.monroe@ dc.gov. ◆
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kids and family Tubman Elementary School by Heather Schoell
H
arriet Tubman Elementary is a renovated school on a lovely block in Northwest DC, led by a principal with lots of energy and a common sense approach to improving performance by students and staff.
Easy Fixes Tubman Principal Harry Hughes isn’t a seasoned educational professional, but a strategist. He started a career in law, became a fourth-grade teacher in 1999, and then went back to school to earn his degree in education administration. He joined Tubman as an assistant principal in 2006 and became principal in 2008, inheriting a school in Restructuring I (inadequate yearly progress for five years). Hughes took a look at what was working and what didn’t. “We had good staff in place, decent parental support. I probably wasn’t a great assistant principal,” Hughes said candidly. “The principal was always in her office, and I was dealing with discipline. So the first thing I did was to create a behavioral system, so we wouldn’t be bogged down with these issues.” Hughes says he has instilled a sense of accountability and urgency to the staff. “It sounds funny, but the message I had to communicate was to be at work on time and to collaborate. And I’m walking around to make sure it happens.” In his days as assistant principal, there was not this follow-up, but rather an assumption that collaboration was taking place. The next thing was the creation of single-gender classes for grades three to five. “I looked at the be40 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
havioral data – boys hitting girls, girls hitting boys. It was all during lunch and recess, so I split them at recess, too. It was an easy fix.” Maleyka in fifth grade likes the single-gender class structure. “We don’t have to worry about what boys say or think about us,” she said. Another fix for grades three to five is that Hughes has the students going to recess before lunch, so all the pains and sprains and bruises that would occur at postlunch recess that would have them in the nurse’s office during class time have magically disappeared, for no one wants to miss lunch. If that wasn’t enough to make Hughes one of your favorite common sense principals, he has switched fourth and fifth’s specials to morning, so that if they are late to school, they are missing part of P.E. or art, not math or reading. “It might be strict sometimes,” said fifth-grader Dangkhoa, “but we need to follow the rules.”
TOP LEFT: Pick me! Second-grader Edwin Guzman has the answer! TOP MIDDLE: Alvin and Dangkhoa in Ms. Samenga’s class. TOP RIGHT: Maleyka, Jesenia and Evelyn on the class computers. MIDDLE: Tubman’s Principal Harry Hughes LEFT: Kindergartener Francisco Hernandez rocks a popped uniform collar. Photos: Bel Perez-Gabilondo, courtesy DCPS
Clean Sweep “Reduction in Force was addition by subtraction,” Hughes said. “It got rid of naysayers who didn’t teach, who were better at playing games than doing the work. One of them wrote a five-page letter about how I was bullying her and making her life miserable. If she had only put that energy toward teaching. … We’re better off for it. I’ve been able to bring in fantastic teachers – some young and some seasoned.” Hughes admits that there is nothing outstanding about their instruction beyond it being solid, “but it’s the relationships – the most important component is relationships,” he said. “They want to please their teacher.” Ms. Samenga is one of the teachers who maintains a tight relationship with her students, including Dangkhoa and Alvin. She’s in her third year at Tubman. “I teach fifth-grade boys,” she said. “There are teachers in the building that are better planners than me, but I have lunch and recess with them, even though I’m not on duty. Our test scores have improved, but my strength is in relationships.” “Anything we implement we’re following up on – being in the classrooms, assessing, adjusting, evaluating,” Hughes said. “Getting input from the kids to see if they know the objective of the lesson.” Two “phenomenal, dynamic” instructional coaches, an assistant principal (referred to as his “best hire”) and a capable counseling team that handle everything but the most egregious problems make it possible for him to be in the classrooms daily. Tubman is working on improving reading – math scores have been high, but to get out of restructuring, Hughes needs to show the results of his new team’s efforts by making gains in the DC CAS (standardized test scores). Class warmups for reading and math are more focused and more rigorous. They’re using data and collaboration to work on targeted instruction, in addition
Ms. Black’s Kindergarten class
to bringing in outside support, including Grassroots Project, which brings 50 to 70 volunteers to school every Saturday to read to students, and making changes such as adding a before-school reading block.
What Modern Looks Like Tubman was modernized in 2009, meaning the building was renovated and outfitted with technology such as SMART Boards and in-class sound systems, and a spacious wing serves as the Ward 1 schools parent resource center. “It’s cool – we get to write on the SMART Board when we do math boxes,” said fifth-grader Jesenia. “I like the hands-on work and working as a group.” Each class has computers, and students use Study Island, a state standards-based computer assessment that is both academic and fun. Hughes has videos of SMART Boards at work on his iPhone – at play and work, really. One video is of a Jeopardy-style challenge in third grade, and another of students throwing a softball at a pattern on the screen to make questions pop up. It’s not all instruction of the future, of course. Alvin
in Ms. Samenga’s class prefers making 3-D paper figures to deskwork. The school boasts an interior courtyard with pine trees and other greenery, which is used as an outdoor classroom, and the main hallway is all windows to take full advantage of the view. “It says a lot to a kid when they walk into a school with a dirt field, crumbling brick, peeling paint, desks that don’t go together,” Hughes remarked. “Now, part of the excitement around here is with this new environment.” “The building looks nice,” said Evelyn. “We should keep it this way.” Tubman offers preschool to fifth grade, in uniform, from breakfast at 8:10 a.m. to the close of aftercare at 6:30 p.m. Tubman Elementary, 3101 13th St. NW. To learn more, call the school at 202-673-7285 or visit www.dcps.dc.gov. Heather Schoell is a regular contributor to Capital Community News and can be reached at hschoell@ verizon.net. ◆
capitalcommunitynews.com ◆ 41
kids and family
+ Notebook
ances Daly by Mary-Fr
Art Gala Helps Fund DC SCORES After-School Program On May 19, DC SCORES hosted its first Inspired Art Gala. All of the proceeds from the charity event benefited DC SCORES, a nonprofit after-school program that uses soccer, poetry and service-learning to inspire over 700 public elementary and middle school District youth. Held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the event was unique in several ways. A silent auction featured 70 pieces of art created mostly by local professionals that were inspired by the poems of DC SCORES students. The evening also featured performances by talented poets and spoken-word artists – of all levels. Eight DC SCORES poets – Saba Amare (MacFarland MS), Henry Lozano (Tubman ES), Ingrid Melendez and Ingrid Villacorta (Columbia Heights Education Campus), James Peters (Raymond Education Center), Daniela Shia-Sevilla (H.D. Cooke ES), Jasia Smith (Burrville ES), and A’dora Willis (Arts and Technology Academy) – and four professionals took the stage to wow guests with spoken-word performances. The professionals were: Gabriel “Asheru” Benn, a hip hop artist, educator and youth advocate who has won a Peabody award; Ayanna Gregory, a soul singer, songwriter and agent of change who has performed at major rallies with the likes of Stevie Wonder; David James, lead vocalist for Ndelible, an alternative/soul/hip hop band that has traveled to play shows with Common and others; and Christylez Bacon, who produces an eclectic blend of classical, jazz, hip-hop arrangements and lyricism. In between performances, DC SCORES Executive Director Amy Nakamoto awarded Allen Y. Lew, executive director of the mayor’s Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization, with the DC SCORES Inspiration Award. Approximately 200 guests attended the gala, including about 30 of the artists who donated their works. For more information on DC SCORES, call 202393-6999.
Teach the Beat: Go-Go Music from West Africa to Washington, DC Did you know that the beat that makes Go-Go music go can be traced to the beats that were developed in parts 42 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
MacFarland Middle School’s Saba Amare with the p iece of artwork inspired by her poem, “My Time of Sorrow.” She took part in the DC Scores Inspired Art Gala.
of Africa many years ago? Go-Go music co-authors of “The Beat! Go-Go Music From Washington, DC”, Charles Stephenson and Kip Lornell, will lead a discussion and demonstration on how Go-Go music emerged in Washington, DC, on June 5, 1 p.m., at the Anacostia Community Museum. Other guests include: Shuaib Mitchell, the director of the Straight Up Go-Go DVD; choreographer/dancer Melvin Deal; and musicians Thirtytwo of the Northeast Groovers and Go-Go Mickey of Rare Essence. Books and DVDs are available for purchase. Free. 1901 Fort Place SE. 202633-4844, anacostia.si.edu.
A-B-C’s of Stamp Collecting Workshop Join Janet Klug on June 6, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the National Postal Museum, for a stamp collecting workshop. Klug (immediate past president of the American Philatelic Society and member of the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee) guides participants through topical stamp collecting, using mounts and hinges and discovering more about their stamps. This workshop is popular with adults and kids alike. Free, but pre-registration encouraged. 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE. 202-633-5533, www. postalmuseum.si.edu.
Gala Fundraiser Reception for Hyde Leadership Public Charter School Hyde-DC is hosting a gala reception to help raise financial support for its upcoming move. The reception will unveil plans to relocate to a larger, state-of-the-art, newlyrenovated school building in January 2011, and serve as a showcase for the soon-to-bereleased documentary about Hyde’s outstanding student-athletes. Guests will enjoy unique tasty hors d’oeuvres and refreshments by Occasions Caterers, entertainment by Hyde’s step teams, and a 10-minute preview of the documentary. Hyde-DC alumni, students and parents will share insights into the value of a Hyde character-based education. The event takes place June 9, 6-8 p.m. at The Atrium of The Homer Building, 601 13th St. NW. Tickets are $150. Contact Tal Bayer, Hyde-DC director of development at 202551-0826 or tbayer@hydedc.org to purchase a ticket or make a tax-deductible donation to the school. Hyde is located at 101 T St. NE. Call 202-529-4400 or visit www.hydedc.org to learn more about the school.
Flag Day Family Festival Head over to the National Museum of American History June 12, for an all-day family festival in honor of Flag Day. The celebration includes a children’s citizenship ceremony, performances from the Fifes and Drums of New York, and a flag-folding activity. Free. 202-633-1000, americanhistory. si.edu.
The WEDJ Educational Foundation would like to thank its sponsors for their generous support of its 2010 Gala: Graduating to New Heights. Master’s Degree Quadrangle Development Corporation
Bachelor’s Degree
Urban Animals Workshop The National Building Museum hosts an “Urban Animals” workshop June 20, 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Children ages 6 to 18 can explore wild Washington as they walk around the museum’s neighborhood searching for animals in the architecture. The funfilled family activity is led by children’s book author Isabel Hill and concludes with a hands-on craft project. $10-$15. Advance registration is required. 401 F St. NW. 202272-2448, www.nbm.org.
Performances at Discovery Theater •
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AfroBEATS. June 8, 10:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Ripley Center. This percussion-focused jam features young performers from VSA Michigan’s artsJAM! Detroit Percussion Ensemble playing a variety of instruments. $4-$6. All Aboard! Songs and Stories from America’s Railroads. June 9, 10:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Ripley Center. Through songs and stories of the American frontier, Iowan Frank Strong Jr. (aka “Freight Train” Frank) delights young audiences with the melodies and memories of America’s collective past. $4-$6. The Magic Seeds, with Uganda Deaf Silent Theatre. June 10, 10:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Ripley Center. Using a sublime mixture of dancing, gesture, and sign language, Uganda Deaf Silent Theatre tells the story of a young man who is tricked into selling his pumpkins for a handful of seeds and ends up a hero. $4-$6. Dynamo Day of Dance. June 11, 10:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Ripley Center. Bringing together artists from Central America and the nation’s capital, VSA Guatemala’s Youth Dance Company and Maryland’s Wild Zappers contrast the flash and spirit of traditional flamenco with the contemporary jazz/
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Valedictorian Anonymous Corbett Construction Donatelli Development Friedman Computer Solutions J.E. Rice Insurance Agency, Inc. Quality Vision and Design Stephen Teach and Libby Jewett Washington Fine Properties Andrea Weiswasser
Congratulations to the Class of 2010 WEDJ PCS’ first graduating class!
Joe’s Movement Emporium Summer Arts Camps
West African Drum & Dance
Creativity Explored
Xtreme Movement
Dance Camp
Fine Arts Intensive
Contemporary Dance Academy Intensive
For more information or to register please visit www.joesmovement.org or call 301.699.1819
Adult and Youth classes available all year round! capitalcommunitynews.com ◆ 43
funk/hip-hop of the United States. $4-$6. • Giggles: “The Girl Who Made the Whole World Laugh.”June 12, 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Ripley Center. Giggles, the 10-year-old star of McDuffle’s Circus, takes center ring every night to share her contagious giggle with the audience. Born without a voice, but with the ability to giggle, Giggles was raised by the circus when her parents left to find a cure for Giggle’s giggles. $4-$6. • Secret Agent 23 Skidoo. June 18, 10:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Ripley Center. Everyone will groove to the positive beats, with an awesome balance of education and entertainment, this unique artist will have everyone on their feet, dancing, and shouting for joy. $4-$6. The theater is located at 1100 Jefferson Drive SW. For more information and tickets, call 202-633-8700 or visit discoverytheater.org.
2010 International VSA Festival: All Kids Can… CREATE!
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Each year, VSA issues a nationwide call for art through VSA state affiliates that encourages children and youth to share their creativity. This year’s theme, “State of the Art,” asked children to consider the roles they play within their communities. The resulting exhibition, which runs through June 12, at Union Station, features one piece of artwork from every state and the District of Columbia. All submissions are included in an online gallery. The exhibition debuts in Washington, DC, and will tour nationally for two years. This exhibit is free. For more information, call 202-6282800 or visit www.vsarts.org.
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Family Fiesta: Viva México Bring the family to spend a day at the Anacostia Community Museum, June 26, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and celebrate Mexico in conjunction with the museum’s current exhibition, “The African Presence in México: From Yanga to the Present.” Experience the sound, look, arts and culture of Mexico through dance performances, live music, costumes, storytelling, arts and crafts, and more. This day promises to be full of activities for all ages. Funded in part by the DC
Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Free. 1901 Fort Place SE. 202-633-4875, anacostia. si.edu.
Girls Make History Day at the US Navy Museum Children (and their dolls) are invited to spend June 26, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., discovering naval history through the eyes of their favorite American Girl characters. Authors Valerie Tripp and Jacqueline Dembar Greene sign books, plus there are hands-on activities that explore the eras of Felicity, Addy, Samantha, Kit, Kirsten, Rebecca and Molly. Free, but advance registration is required. The museum is located at 805 Kidder Breese St. SE. 202-4336826, www.history.navy.mil.
Children’s Programs at NCM The National Children’s Museum will host the following activities for children in June at the National Harbor’s Launch Zone: • Wee Wonders: The People in Your Neighborhood. June 8 & 15, 1011:15 a.m. Learn about firefighters, policemen and women, mail carriers, and other community heroes and the jobs they do alongside your young child in this fun, fast-paced program. For ages 2-3 with a parent/caregiver. Limit two children per adult; all non-infant children with an adult must pay and must participate; additional siblings are not permitted. $10 per child. Pre-registration and advance payment (by check or credit card only) is required by the Friday prior to the event. Please call 301686-0225 or e-mail RSVP@ncm.museum to register. • Firefly Frenzy. June 12, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Learn more about fireflies and celebrate the new game on the Ready, Set, Glow! website, www.ReadySetGlow. org, with firefly crafts and a special firefly story time. Free. • Shake, Rattle and Drum Roll. June 19, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Explore various musical instruments from around the world. Try your hand at the cow bell, guiro, maracas, claves, rain stick, finger cymbals, and seed rattle. Make your own instrument to take home and be part of impromptu musical parades. Free. • Once Upon a Time. June 21, 23, 25
and 26, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Explore the fairytale worlds of elves, fairies, goblins, trolls, giants, gnomes and magic during a story time followed by a craft. Free. • Fireworks and Patriotic Fun. June 28, 30, July 2 and 3. 11 a.m.4 p.m. Celebrate Independence Day with astonishing firework art. Designs feature images of the Washington Monument, so you can create art that looks like the firework spectacle you might see in and around the nation’s capital. Free. NCM is located at 112 Waterfront St., National Harbor, Md. 301-686-0225, www.ncm.museum.
Register Now for Hill Havurah’s Co-op Preschool on the Hill Hill Havurah is launching a two- to three-morning-aweek Jewish cooperative preschool on Capitol Hill starting this fall and has openings available. This teacher-led program with parental involvement will offer a warm and loving environment to help socialize children and expose them to Jewish culture, including holidays, Jewish music and rudimentary Hebrew while preparing them for a life of learning. Learn more at the Hill Havurah website (www.hillhavurah. org) and click on “Hill Jewish preschool.” There is no birthday cut-off, and a $75 deposit holds a spot. Have a listing for the Kids & Family Notebook? E-mail kidsnotebook@hillrag.com by the 20th of the month prior to publication. Submissions may be edited. Publication is not guaranteed. ◆
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capitalcommunitynews.com ◆ 45
kids and family Educating the District Making Sense of AYP By Lisa Raymond
T
he term “school choice” may sound enticing. I mean, who doesn’t like having options? But for many of us in DC, it can be somewhat terrifying. There’s a lot to consider when you’re choosing a school for your child or deciding if it’s where he or she should stay: parents look at everything from teacher experience and the effectiveness of the principal to playgrounds and field trips. But one thing that isn’t often at the top of the list, but possibly should be, is whether or not a school has met AYP. Put simply, Adequate Yearly Progress or AYP is part of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and is a measure of upward achievement. The score makes it easier to see how a school is achieving – or isn’t. AYP factored into my decision recently when I was considering schools across the city for my sixyear-old twins. I looked for those with diverse student populations because I believe that when kids of different ethnic backgrounds and income levels learn together, they all benefit. I also looked at test scores with three things in mind: the school
46 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
as a whole had a high percentage of kids scoring well (“proficient” or “advanced”) in math and reading, kids of all backgrounds were scoring equally well and the test scores were staying at high levels across a period of time or moving up if there was room to grow. In DC, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) and the DC State Board of Education sets “learning standards,” which spell out what every child, in every grade, in every subject, needs to know and be able to do (View DC’s Teaching and Learning Standards at http://seo.dc.gov). The U.S. Department of Education requires each state to test all students in grades three through eight and one grade in high school – generally tenth grade – to be sure they’re meeting these standards. The test used in DC is the DC-CAS. So how do we use the DC-CAS and what does it mean to “meet AYP”? Let’s say that Jeremiah is a fifth grader at Sunshine Elementary School. Jeremiah’s score on the DCCAS will help him, his family, his teachers and his principal see how well he has mastered the DC learn-
ing standards. His score combined with those of his classmates will help his principal understand how well Jeremiah’s teacher is helping his/her students meet those standards. If the school is able to get a certain percentage of its students, in every group (race, gender, socioeconomic status, special education or English learner status) to meet the standards, then they have met AYP. But just because a school fails to meet AYP doesn’t necessarily mean you should take it off your list. And the reverse is true as well: a school that meets AYP isn’t automatically a good school and the numbers could be masking other problems. One example of the first type of school is Brent Elementary in Ward 6. Parents, including me at first glance, were shocked that Brent, widely regarded as a successful school, had failed to meet AYP in reading in 2009. But then I took a closer look: the number of students taking the DC-CAS was small, which could throw off the results. There was only one class per grade in grades 3-5, for a total of 77 students in 2008 and 61 students in 2009. Between the 2008 and 2009
test, one class of fifth graders left and a new third grade class took the DC-CAS for the first time, meaning that many of the kids taking the test in 2009 were different from those who took it the year before. It’s possible that something in Brent’s academic program changed, but more likely the drop in scores can be explained by a difference in skill level between the kids who left and the new kids taking the test; or with such a small number of kids, it could have been caused by something as simple as a few students being absent on test day. A number of schools hold up well under the AYP magnifying lens. One example is Cleveland Elementary in Ward 1. Cleveland has met AYP for both reading and math for three years in a row; has a diverse population (about 70 percent black and 30 percent Hispanic) and between 2007 and 2009, scores went up significantly for black students in both reading and math and for Hispanic students in reading. There was a relatively small gap in achievement between the two groups in 2009: about 81 percent of black students and 73 percent of Hispanic students
scored proficient or higher in reading. AYP is just one way to measure how well schools are doing – and it should never replace getting to know the principal, teachers and academic program of a school – and it’s important to understand what it means, and what it doesn’t mean. But don’t go it alone; there are resources to help you understand AYP or learn more about DC public and public charter schools. The most detailed information on AYP comes from the OSSE report cards at http:// www.nclb.osse.dc.gov (see “School Test Score Data”). Fight for Children’s School Chooser has lots of valuable information and can be found online (http://fightforchildren.org) or by calling 202-772-0400. DCPS is currently developing a Schools Scorecard and the DC State Board just approved a new “report card” that’s designed to help parents understand AYP; look for those in the next few months. Or you can always ask me.
www.capitalcommunitynews.com
Lisa Raymond is the Ward 6 Member of the DC State Board of Education, a parent of two DCPS students and an education consultant. ◆ Councilmember Kwame Brown and his Staff Congratulate Michael and Jennifer Price on the Birth of their Daughter, Layla Catherine Price.
capitalcommunitynews.com ◆ 47
at home
+ Home / Style
Design Stars Fall Freely If You Know Where to Look by Mark F. Johnson
W
them what you’re looking for, they then provide a list of four or more designers who might be able to do the job. After that, it’s up to you and whomever you choose. Often a designer will offer a free initial consultation. In most instances, the consultation is designed, so to speak, to find out what your tastes and interests are so that they can create a plan for you based on what they tell them. It usually doesn’t happen all at once though.
hether you accept it or not, it’s still nice when family and friends offer their advice on home design. When it comes to things like picking colors, buying/arranging furniture and styling your space, lots of people consider themselves “experts.” Often, they base their design creds on compliments they’ve received in the past. While their makeover magic powers may be in question, the one thing that their advice comes with is a $0 price tag. But, if you prefer to skip the free friends and family advice and go to a real expert, there are ways to do it on the low, and I’m referring to price here.
Televised Design Shows Of course you could always go the very public route of trying to get a professional TV makeover team like Home and Garden Television (HGTV) or TLC to come out and design your space for viewers worldwide to see. Design devotees everywhere are aware that HGTV’s popular “Design Star” program is back on the air for a fifth season this month. The program often dispatches designers vying for the title to the homes of real people around the country to do makeovers. Although so far, no designers have shown up in Washington, DC. But if you’re not one to sacrifice privacy for a camera crew and much of the world watching, perhaps a televised makeover isn’t right for you. I always get the feeling from these programs that the designee is much more at the mercy of the designer than would be the case if he or she contracted a designer in one of the ways we’ll discuss later on. After all, programs like HGTV’s “Design Star” are made for television. Designers are bring48 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
Furniture Store Design Consultants ing their expertise into your home free of charge while design devotees all around the world watch, and you damn sure should appreciate it. That at least is how it appears when you’re watching the episode at home. But the upside is that you do get all that exposure and, very often, a lot of free stuff. These programs have budgets that allow them to give away furniture and accessories that come from sponsors. Is there possibly an expectation that you will patronize the sponsors in the future? Perhaps there is.
American Society of Interior Designers Listings Another way to get good design advice is to consult the directory at the American Society of Interior Designers (www.asid.org). They maintain a listing of designers across the country and allow you to search that directory by matching your search terms with their listings. You can find a designer in your area or far away by matching your style with his or her expertise. After you’ve told
Just like any butcher at a good food store can tell you about a cut of meat or how you might best cook it, design consultants at most of the area’s higher-end furniture stores can help you with creating a home design. Stores like Bo Concept in Georgetown, or Mitchell-Gold, Room and Board or Vastu on 14th Street, all have designers on staff to provide this service. They, too, will ask you questions and help you implement your design dream. At Bo Concept, for example, they will even do a home visit to help you figure out things.
Craig’s List’s One-Stop Shop Yet another way to find your own personal design star is through Craig’s List’s professionals listings. Just as you can find furniture stores listed in the For Sale-furniture category, you can find interior designers listed in the Services category under “creative.” A recent search turned up three designers. Two really stood out: Spacelift Staging and Interior (re) Design at www.spaceliftstaging. com and Pierre Jean Baptist design at www.pier-
reji.com. They both offer a bevy of design services and they look as though they have had considerable experience. When asking about their services, see if they will give you a no- or low-cost consultation. It goes without saying that you should base your decision on which designer to go with on how well you feel you can work with the professional, as well as on the strength of work in their portfolio. Honestly, personality is a big part of it, but the quality of work they have done in the past should carry a bit more weight. As you go through the process of making yours a house beautiful, you might be surprised at how well you work together.
Area Schools of Design If you want to catch a rising star in the design field that you can say you knew when, consider contacting one of the area’s professional design programs. Students are often quite eager to try out their skills on real people and they certainly won’t charge you much for the opportunity. Try the Corcoran School of Design (www.corcoran.org), for example, or the Art Institute of Washington (www. artinstitutes.edu/arlington). Design school students are encouraged to get out in the real world and try their hand, although not necessarily free. Mark Johnson may be reached at mark@hillrag.com. Please contact him to share any design ideas that you might have or suggestions for future columns. ◆ capitalcommunitynews.com ◆ 49
Changing Hands compiled by Don Denton 1009 IRVING ST NW 438 MANOR PL NW 3551 HERTFORD PL NW 609 HARVARD ST NW 701 HARVARD ST NW 3117 WARDER ST NW 763 FAIRMONT ST NW 649 MORTON ST NW 3816 1ST ST SE
$399,999 $389,900 $354,900 $302,827 $235,000 $211,340 $155,000 $120,000 $279,000
4 3 3 3 2 3 2 2 4
$550,000 $399,900 $390,000 $307,000
5 4 5 3
ECKINGTON 1731 1ST ST NW 148 TODD PL NE 20 S ST NW 33 FLORIDA AVE NW
KALORAMA Neighborhood
Price
BR
FEE SIMPLE 16TH HEIGHTS 5706 GEORGIA AVE N 4322 15TH ST NW 1409 DECATUR ST NW 1224 CRITTENDEN ST NW
$249,300 $509,000 $401,000 $323,875
3 3 6 6
$855,000
6
$235,000 $190,000
3 3
$499,000 $425,000 $419,000 $375,000 $329,000 $319,000 $284,210 $275,000 $268,000 $199,900 $110,000
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2
$430,000 $408,000 $399,999 $387,000 $325,000 $270,000 $250,000 $244,000 $226,000 $190,000 $165,000 $155,000
4 5 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 3
$650,000
3
$760,000 $637,000 $625,000 $580,000 $575,000 $510,000 $504,680 $486,000 $480,000 $465,000 $465,000 $465,000 $454,900 $442,000 $430,000 $422,400 $415,000
5 3 6 4 4 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 4 4 3 4 5
ADAMS MORGAN 1849 ONTARIO PL NW
BRENTWOOD 1376 W ST NE 2312 13TH PL NE
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BRIGHTWOOD 1379 SHERIDAN ST NW 5714 3RD PL NW 1365 RITTENHOUSE ST NW 1503 UNDERWOOD ST NW 512 RITTENHOUSE ST NW 1234 ASPEN ST NW 6012 7TH ST NW 727 SHERIDAN ST NW 1381 RITTENHOUSE ST NW 524 SOMERSET PL NW 609 SOMERSET PL NW
BROOKLAND 1414 HAMLIN ST NE 1334 HAMLIN ST NE 1005 OTIS ST NE 516 AVA WAY NE 3208 14TH ST NE 724 CRITTENDEN ST NE 4713 7TH ST NE 2803 NORTH CAPITOL ST NE 4036 7TH ST NE 112 WEBSTER ST NE 4713 6TH ST NE 323 BRYANT ST NE
CENTRAL 2130 O ST NW
COLUMBIA HEIGHTS 1019 OTIS PL NW 1518 NEWTON ST NW 3311 13TH ST NW 3549 HOLMEAD PL NW 1200 SHEPHERD ST NW 928 QUINCY ST NW 1329 QUINCY ST NW 1445 MONROE ST NW 1000 MONROE ST NW 1034 QUEBEC PL NW 1031 QUEBEC PL NW 641 KENYON ST NW 4014 14TH ST NW 609 KENYON ST NW 3106 PARK PL NW 602 COLUMBIA RD NW 1413 MERIDIAN PL NW
50 ◆ DC midcity | June 2010
2425 KALORAMA RD NW 2458 WYOMING AVE NW 2137 R ST NW 1860 MINTWOOD PL NW 2359 ASHMEAD NW 1854 MINTWOOD PL NW 1852 MINTWOOD PL NW
$3,800,000 $3,150,000 $2,825,000 $1,280,000 $950,000 $850,000 $850,000
6 7 4 5 5 7 10
LEDROIT PARK 516 T ST NW 1934 4TH ST NW 541 FLORIDA AVE NW 2111 2ND ST NW 45 ADAMS ST NW 9 W ST NW 2011 4TH ST NW 330 OAKDALE PL NW
$680,000 $575,000 $555,000 $400,000 $399,999 $385,000 $355,000 $270,000
4 3 4 3 3 3 2 2
$495,000 $1,200,000 $630,000 $950,000 $839,000
0 5 5 3 3
$320,000
3
$830,000 $695,000 $670,000 $658,000
4 6 4 3
$630,000
3
$312,000 $230,000 $189,000 $180,000 $175,000 $168,000 $155,000 $146,000 $125,000 $90,000 $80,000
4 3 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 2
$629,000 $452,000 $920,000
2 2 3
$595,000 $549,500 $449,500 $324,000 $265,000 $245,000 $135,000 $130,000 $121,000 $93,177
6 4 3 3 3 3 2 4 4 3
LOGAN 1305 WALLACH PL NW 1326 CORCORAN ST NW 946 T ST NW 2100 12TH ST NW 1342 WALLACH PL NW
MICHIGAN PARK 4806 EASTERN AVE NE
MOUNT PLEASANT 1805 IRVING ST NW 1929 PARK RD NW 1874 INGLESIDE TER NW 1761 HARVARD ST NW
SHAW 1612 8TH ST NW
TRINIDAD 1215 STAPLES ST NE 1110 OWEN PL NE 1634 LANG PL NE 1724 L ST NE 1705 LANG PL NE 1278 MORSE ST NE 1631 11TH PL NE 1415 TRINIDAD AVE NE 1217 STAPLES ST NE 1607 LEVIS ST NE ##1 AND #2 1832 L ST NE
U STREET CORRIDOR 1333 V ST NW 1909 12TH ST NW 1235 W ST NW
WOODRIDGE 3314 20TH ST NE 1847 MONROE ST NE 1923 RHODE ISLAND AVE NE 2727 28TH ST NE 3604 24TH ST NE 1815 JACKSON NE 2205 NEWTON STREET NE 3515 26TH ST NE 2203 EVARTS ST NE 2832 FRANKLIN ST NE
CONDO 16TH ST.REET HEIGHTS 4620 IOWA AVE NW #B-2
$204,000
2
$1,150,000 $651,000 $485,000 $470,000 $449,000 $430,500 $429,000 $345,000 $259,050 $250,000 $232,500
3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 0
CENTRAL 912 F ST NW #505 2501 M ST NW #702 1099 22ND ST NW #304 912 F ST NW #901 1416 21ST ST NW #201 1140 23RD ST NW #101 400 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW #1118 801 PENNSYLVANIA AVE NW #1204 1133 14TH ST NW #403 777 7TH ST NW #915 400 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW #504
COLUMBIA HEIGHTS 2719 13TH ST NW #2 $899,000 1451 BELMONT ST NW #117 $569,000 1417 CHAPIN ST NW #507 $449,800 2541 13TH ST NW #1 $415,000 1451 BELMNT ST NW #PENTHOUSE # 415 $410,000 1417 CHAPIN ST NW #308 $389,000 1495 NEWTON ST NW #301 $342,000 1421 COLUMBIA RD NW #103 $305,000
4 2 2 2 1 2 1 2
ECKINGTON 1952 3RD ST NE #201 30 T ST NE #1 219 T ST NE #401
$277,000 $265,000 $217,500
2 3 1
$259,850
2
$675,000 $640,000 $639,000 $610,000 $541,500 $532,000 $499,000 $470,000 $381,250 $365,000 $760,000 $633,000 $552,500 $527,770 $527,000 $520,000 $492,500
3 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2
$599,500 $440,000 $399,999 $319,000 $274,500 $206,900
2 1 2 1 1 0
$387,000 $385,000 $350,000 $382,500
1 1 1 2
LEDROIT PARK 6 RHODE ISLAND AVE NW #5
LOGAN 933 M ST NW #3 1322 S ST NW #B 1408 Q ST NW #23 1441 RHODE ISLAND AVE NW #MO1 1010 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW #513 1117 10TH ST NW #1001 1102 R ST NW #302 1313 VERMONT AVE NW #19 1314 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW #405 1201 Q ST NW #103 1529 14TH ST NW #407 1300 13TH ST NW #706 1312 P ST NW 1515 15TH ST NW #609 1618 11TH ST NW #202 1210 R ST NW #113 1300 13TH ST NW #703
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MOUNT VERNON 444 M ST NW #9 440 L ST NW #213 444 M ST NW #2 555 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW #1315
PENN QTR/CITY VISTA/C-TOWN 440 L ST NW #902 912 F ST NW #905 631 D ST NW #845 631 D ST NW #633 400 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW #701 400 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW #203
$377,000 $1,200,000 $520,000 $498,000 $405,000 $339,900
1 2 2 1 1 1
$500,000 $429,900 $427,000 $399,999 $280,000
2 2 2 2 2
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Luxury Townhomes • 2 furnished models • 1 & 2 car garages • Walk to Fort Totten Park • 3 finished levels • Minutes to downtown D.C. shopping & dining • Near Catholic & Howard Universities • Urban enclave with sitting areas • Low maintenance exteriors • Gas fireplaces • Up to 1,942 sq. ft. • 2 - 3 BR • 2 ½ BA • Decks • GE kitchens with islands • Owners’ suites with walk-in closets & garden baths. To visit: Take US-50 towards Washington. Take South Dakota Avenue exit (follow signs to South Dakota). At the fork, keep right to go on South Dakota Avenue NE. Turn left onto Decatur Street and make a right onto 8th Street NE. Turn left onto Emerson Street. Sales Center will be on the left.
MOUNT PLEASANT 2906 18TH ST NW #1 1618 BEEKMAN PL NW #E 1651 LAMONT ST NW #2B 3426 16TH ST NW #606 3155 MOUNT PLEASANT ST NW #304 1613 HARVARD ST NW #304
Emerson Park in Washington, D.C.
Follow us on: *Not to be combined with any other offer. Prices, terms and features subject to a change without notice. Other restrictions apply. See sales consultant for details. **Select communities only. Earnest money deposit required at contract. Closing cost assistance cannot exceed seller contribution limits depending on your loan program. Not to be combined with any other offer. See sales consultant for details. Prices, terms and features subject to a change without notice. Prices reflect base prices and are subject to change. Lot premiums may apply and community association fees are required. Closing cost assistance valid only with the use of K. Hovnanian American Mortgage and approved title companies. Offer not good in CT, NJ and NY. Void where prohibited. MHBR#, 3149.
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SHAW 1742 6TH ST NW #2 440 RHODE ISLAND AVE NW #202 440 RHODE ISLAND AVE NW #302 440 RHODE ISLAND AVE NW #102 125 T ST NW #EB
U STREET 2029 13TH ST NW #2 2125 14TH ST NW #327-W 1937 12TH ST NW #UNIT 1 902 T ST NW #A 1390 V ST NW #120
capitalcommunitynews.com ◆ 51
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HANDYMAN RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL Moving, Hauling, Landscaping, Painting, Cleaning, Plumbing, Electrical, Cooling, Heating, Masonry, Carpentry, Roof, Floor, Wall. Call 202.368.2628, 240.281.5513 or 703.789.4445. Email GCMANAGERS@aol.com
HELP WANTED FOOD- TRUCK OPERATOR
Since 1990
Food- Truck Operator needed. More information call (202) 299-8688 or (202) 558-9060.
www.wilcox-electric.com
202-546-1010
LANDSCAPING
www.polar-bear-hvac.com
ATTORNEYS
WhelanStrengthTraining.com
THE HILL’S ELECTRICIAN
202-333-1310 LICENSED BONDED INSURED FALL & WINTER SPECIALS FREE ESTIMATES
PERSONAL FITNESS TRAINING 202-638-1708
ELECTRICIAN Polar Bear
W.F. Bowman Landscaping
Residential & Commercial New Work • Rewiring • Repairs • Interior/Exterior Lighting
Awarded the Super Service Award from Angie's List in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Stephen D. Wilcox Master Electrician References Available Licensed - Insured - Bonded
START HAVING THE YARD OF YOUR DREAMS · Comprehensive Design and Maintenance Services · Installation, arbors, retaining walls, walkways, lighting, water features · Patios, roof top gardens, townhomes, single family homes • Trees & shrubs, formal & informal gardens • Custom Masonry, Fencing and Iron work · Restoration and Enhancement
Redefining Beauty One Client at a Time
FITNESS & HEALTH
301.642.5182 www.thomaslandscapes.com
DEEP TISSUE MASSAGE
THOMAS LANDSCAPES
Deep Tissue Massage, stretching for neck/back pain, injury/sports rehab. 7dys/wk till 11pm. 17th/Kalorama NW. Tim, CMT 202.957.1559. www.dcpromassage.com.
Derek Thomas / Principal - Certified Professional Horticulturist, Master Gardener. Member of the MD Nursery and Landscape Association & the Association of Professional Landscape Designers
Specializing in urban landscapes since 1989
202-234-6282 Yard Clean Up • Sodding Mulching • Trimming Shrubs Aeration • Dethatching Planting Leaf Removal Mowing Seeding & Fertilizing Hauling
MOVING & HAULING
MOVING & HAULING COMPANY • Bulk Trash • Appliances • Basement Furniture • Yard Cleanup • Weekly Trash Pickups • Evictions • Demolition • Local or Long Distance • Residential or Commercial MD DC VA • 24 Hour Same Day Service “No job too small or big”
202.396.0105 license # 1948
PAINTING
Our Prices Won’t be Beat!
PET SERVICES
DANIEL PARKS Roofing & Gutters
PLEASE RECYCLE THIS PAPER
WE DO IT ALL RUBBER & FLAT ROOFS WATER PROOFING SLATE ROOFS LEAK REPAIRS METAL ROOFS GUTTER REPAIRS SHINGLE ROOFING CHIMNEY REPAIRS FACIAL/SOFFITS ALUMINUM ROOF COATING
ROOFING AND WATERPROOFING DC Lic. 6012
WAIT NO MORE PLUMBING
Just Say I Need A Plumber®
Dial A Plumber, LLC®
• Licensed Gas Fitter • Water Heater • Boiler Work • Serving DC • References John • Drain Service • Furness Repair & Replacement
Licensed Bonded Insured
Kenny
202-251-1479 DC P
L U M M E R
’
S
L
I C E N S E
#707
WHS PLUMBING & HEATING Superior Service and Quick Response
We are Repiping & Drain Cleaning Specialists · Competitive On The Spot Pricing · Same Day, Nights, Weekends & Emergency Service · Licensed Plumbers and Gasfitters · Underground Domestic Water and Sewer Line Leak Detection · Underground Pipe Locator
Hill Family Owned & Operated Call William at
(202) 255-9231 20 years of experience Licensed, Bonded and Insured LSDBE Certified
www.whsplumbingandheating.com
PLEASE RECYCLE THIS PAPER
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. LIC.
&
INSURED.
AT
REASONABLE PRICES!
Residential/Commercial • Over 40 years in Business Chimney Repairs • Storm & Wind Damage Repair
• New or Re-Roofing • Tear-Off & Replacement • Flat Roof Specialist • Copper, Tin, Sheet Metal & Rolled • Seamless & Flat Roofs • Re-Sealing • Tar, Asphalt, Gravel, Hot Coats • Modified Bitumen • Ask about our gutter specials Insurance Claims • Free Estimates • 24Hr. Service
Fully Insured • Licensed • Bonded “No Job Too Large or Small” Senior & Military Discounts Available!
202-486-7359 All Work Inspected by Owner...Deals Directly with Customers! All Work Fully Guaranteed
• Roof Repairs • Roof Coatings • Rubber • Metal • Slate
licensed, bonded & insured
WELDING
• Tiles • Chimneys • Gutters • Waterproofing • Roof Certifications
We Do Everything!
BOYD CONSTRUCTION INC. LIC. BONDED. INS
75 years in service
BBB Member
202-223-ROOF (7663)
MIDCITY DC CLASSIFIED RATES LINE CLASSIFIEDS: $25 for the first 15 words; 25 cents for each additional word BOX CLASSIFIEDS: $25 per column inch, two inch minimum; $25 each additional inch; 3 month minimum Multiple paper discounts available. Paid in advance and billed quarterly
• CHIMNEY REPAIR • BRICK POINTING • GUTTER REPAIR/GUTTER REPLACEMENT • INQUIRE ABOUT OUR SPECIALS • FREE ESTIMATES
FREE CATEGORIES: Lost and Found, Items to Give Away, Club Meeting Notices
FREE MAINTENANCE! Licensed • Bonded • Insured Family owned & operated 40 Years Experience
202-607-4038
10% off with this ad
WE STOP LEAKS!
“Try a new coating vs. a roof replacement.”
www.JohnstonandJohnstonRoofing.com
* Government and Senior Special Rates
FLAT ROOF SPECIALIST
Johnston & Johnston Roofing • FLAT ROOF SPECIALIST • WATERPROOFING • BASEMENT LEAKS • ALUMINUM ASPHALT COATING • SLATE REPAIRS • SHINGLE REPAIRS
- 24 hour Emergency Service - Free estimates - Family Owned and Operated
SPECIALIZING IN SEAMLESS GUTTERS
15% off with Ad
Keith Roofing
Credit Cards Accepted
Licensed, Bonded & Insured Free Estimates Senior and Government Discount 10%
202.486.7184
EXPERT WORKMANSHIP
All Types of Roofing • Seamless Gutters Chimney Repairs • Carpentry • Attic Insulation
202-489-1728
24 Hour Emergency. OVER 30
40 years of experience
EMERGENCY REPAIRS
ABC
24 hour plumbing service. Master plumber. No job too small. DC license # 1164. Darrell White. 202-575-1885 or 202-812-7115 (tf)
202-247-1516
“Stopping Leaks is Our Specialty”
ROOF PROBLEMS?
PLUMBING
Flat Roofs, Slates & Shingles
NO JOB TOO SMALL!!!
ROOFING
Flat Roof specialist, New Roofs, Slate, Shingle, Tin, Seamless Gutters, Copper, Waterproofing, Chimney, Brick Pointing.
Moses & Sons Roofing
202
271 4377
E-mail your ad with credit card information to carolina@hillrag.com or call 202.543.8300 x12 capitalcommunitynews.com ◆ 53
54 â—† DC midcity | June 2010
MidCity Business Association www.midcitylife.com