Serving Dupont Circle, Kalorama & Logan Circle
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Vol. IX, No. 31
THE DUPONT CURRENT Walgreens, neighbors sign accord
G R AY ’ S D AY
Inauguration foretells mayoral, council amity By ELIZABETH WIENER
End: Store agrees to alter plans for beer and wine
■ West
Current Staff Writer
At a boisterous inauguration ceremony Sunday and news conference afterward, Mayor Vincent Gray set a straightforward agenda for his first months in the executive suite: putting the city’s finances on firmer footing, continuing education reform and getting unemployed residents trained and back to work. But in vari■ COUNCIL: ous remarks at D.C. legislators the Walter E. tout priorities for new term. Wa s h i n g t o n Page 5. Convention Center, Gray also focused repeatedly on the city’s quest for voting representation in Congress and his own even more ambitious goal, making the District the 51st state. “I’m not going to ask for our money back,” Gray said, referencing long-standing complaints about taxation without representation. “I say, keep my money and give me what I bought — mem-
By JESSICA GOULD Current Staff Writer
bership in America.” Gray’s agenda dovetails neatly with that of Kwame Brown, his longtime friend and neighbor in Hillcrest who was sworn in the same day as D.C. Council chairman. Brown, facing reporters side by side with Gray, listed the same priorities: “getting our fiscal house in order, young people educated and people back to work.” The easy alliance between the new mayor and council chairman seemed a sharp contrast to the sour relationship that developed between former Mayor Adrian Fenty and the council — a rift that may have contributed to Fenty’s loss to Gray in the Democratic primary after only one term. See Mayor/Page 15
Bill Petros/The Current
New Mayor Vincent Gray, above, touted financial discipline and education reform as top priorities at Sunday’s event, which also featured the swearing-in of D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown.
West End customers looking to pick up some Pinot with their prescriptions will soon have their chance. The Walgreens at 1217 22nd St. submitted an application this summer to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board seeking permission to sell beer and wine seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. At the time, manager Bethany Kuechenmeister said Walgreens outlets across the country were looking to add alcohol in response to customer demand. The Cleveland Park Walgreens, for instance, began selling alcohol in May. But many West End residents expressed concern about the proposal, and 72 neighbors ultimately signed a letter to the alcohol board objecting to the application. Gary Griffith was one of them. See License/Page 10
Cyclists make safety a resolution
Locals coast into 2011 at Inertiad
■ Transportation: Group hopes to
get more riders to obey regulations
By JESSICA GOULD
By KATIE PEARCE
Current Staff Writer
Current Staff Writer
You could say that Palisades resident Michael Dolan has made a New Year’s tradition of doing as little as possible. But he says he simply likes to let the good times roll. So every year, Dolan and his friends participate in the “Inertiad,” an annual tribute to the law of inertia. Here’s how it works: People on wheels — usually bicycles — meet at the top of a hill on a stretch of the Capital Crescent Trail in the Palisades. Participants then roll down the hill, competing to see how far they can coast without See Inertiad/Page 29
NEWS ■ Convention center might partner with society. Page 7. ■ Biddle wins backing from Brown, other D.C. legislators. Page 3.
Palisades resident Michael Dolan glides along the Capital Crescent Trail each New Year’s Day.
At the urging of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, hundreds have signed onto a seemingly straightforward New Year’s resolution to bike responsibly this year. But the pledge has a more complex political motive: to clean up the reputation of cyclists at a time when local governments are making critical decisions about bike infrastructure. The bicyclist association’s “Resolve to Ride Responsibly” campaign, which also includes a 6.5-mile bike ride looping through Northwest D.C. on Saturday, comes partially
in response to a fatal accident in November. Quon Chu, a 78-year-old Chinatown resident, was walking in an alley near the conSee Bikes/Page 18
EVENTS
PA S S A G E S
INDEX
Bill Petros/The Current
■ ‘Arabian Nights’ set to open at Arena Stage. Page 23. ■ Sackler exhibition looks at Persian ‘Book of Kings.’ Page 23.
■ Remember 2010 with The Current’s annual wrap-up in verse, from Snowmageddon to Fenty administration’s departure. Page 13.
Bill Petros/Current File Photo
The city has improved bike infrastructure to encourage less reliance on cars.
Business/19 Calendar/20 Classifieds/30 District Digest/4 Dupont Circle Citizen/11 Exhibits/23 In Your Neighborhood/16
Opinion/8 Passages/13 Police Report/6 Real Estate/17 Service Directory/26 Theater/23 Week Ahead/4