Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Vol. VI, No. 6
Serving Foggy Bottom & the West End
THE FOGGY BOTTOM CURRENT
Dupont sting nets arrest in holiday thefts
City agency finishes study of Klingle trail
COLONIAL PRIDE
■ Transportation: Project to
By JESSICA GOULD
include full creek restoration
Current Staff Writer
Officers with the Metropolitan Police Department say they think they’ve caught the culprit responsible for a spate of package thefts over the holidays. And they say generous help from neighbors helped them snag the suspect. “I’ve never seen a community come together like this,” Lt. Scott Dignan said at Wednesday’s meeting of the Dupont Circle advisory neighborhood commission. On Jan. 6, police arrested Wayne Bridgeforth as he allegedly attempted to pluck a package from a Corcoran Street porch. The owner of the Corcoran Street house, who asked not to be identified, said she first contacted police on Christmas Eve, when she found two empty packages sitting on her porch. The boxes, she said, had contained a cable box and some clothes, but were open and empty by the time she found them. Then, a week later, she discovered another barren box outside her door. This one, she said, was from her mother-in-law and was supposed to contain wedding china. But See Arrest/Page 7
By CAROL BUCKLEY Current Staff Writer
The D.C. Department of Transportation has settled on a path forward to convert a controversial section of Klingle Road into a 10foot-wide hike/bike trail with lighting and a newly built connection to the nearby Rock Creek Trail. The project will also restore and stabilize about 1,600 feet of Klingle Creek.
Watergate fights Park Service on new trees ■ NCPC: Federal panel delays
vote on waterfront upgrades Bill Petros/The Current
Mayor Vincent Gray and George Washington University President Steven Knapp share a moment during Thursday’s tribute to the new mayor, a 1964 graduate of the university.
Connecticut Avenue medians to get upgrades By TEKE WIGGIN
Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets is signing a maintenance agreement and will be responsible for the median’s upkeep, he said. After years of delays, restoration The beautification initiative of the Connecticut Avenue median comes on the heels of a median projbetween R and S streets in Dupont ect already in the works — though Circle is scheduled to begin this recently halted by a construction spring, according to the D.C. mishap — farther south on Department of Transportation. Connecticut, between K and L Partnering with the Historic Bill Petros/Current File Photo streets. Dupont Circle Main Streets, the The effort there is also largely Transportation Department will use Dupont Circle’s Main Streets focused on enlivening the $85,000 from a transportation group will maintain the median. streetscape through plant embellishenhancement grant to install an irrigation system, ornamental fencing and an array of ment and will likewise rely on a community organizaplants, according to John Lisle, a department spokesper- tion — in this case the Golden Triangle Business See Medians/Page 7 son. Current Correspondent
NEWS ■ Police officials offer 2nd District assurances on resources. Page 3. ■ Feds consider growth at Nebraska Avenue site. Page 3.
The options selected from a menu presented to the public last summer will total about $6.8 million to convert the 0.7-mile section of road and restore the creek, according to a final environmental assessment released last week. Although the options did not include restoration of the longblocked roadway — which, when open, funneled drivers across Rock Creek Park — the release of the department’s final assessment has sparked advocates of both road and trail to take up battle stations once again. See Klingle/Page 7
EVENTS ■ ‘Carpetbagger’s Children’ heads to Ford’s Theatre. Page 23. ■ National Gallery to show Dutch master’s work. Page 23.
By ELIZABETH WIENER Current Staff Writer
The National Park Service faced off this month against angry residents of the Watergate complex who fear some newly planted sycamore trees in Rock Creek Park will block their views and lower their property values. Caught in the middle of a surprisingly contentious dispute, the National Capital Planning Commission blinked. At its Jan. 6 meeting, the commission voted 8-2 to put off for one month a final vote on new plantings, pathways and other improvements to the narrow strip of parkland that borders the Potomac River near the Watergate. Commissioners have asked the Park Service to see if it can find shorter trees. “It’s a shame we’re at this point, since the waterfront project has generated so much goodwill,” said Rob Miller, who represents Mayor Vincent Gray on the commission.
PA S S A G E S ■ Hebrew goes digital at Wisconsin Avenue synagogue. Page 13. ■ GWU pitches in on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Page 13 .
Bill Petros/The Current
Watergate residents fear the new trees will eventually block views. “Is there any interest in exploring alternatives?” “I’m sympathetic to the Watergate, but aware of the precedent,” said Harriet Tregoning, the D.C. planning director who also sits on the federal commission. “We have hundreds of trees planted by the river. If every time someone’s view is obstructed, we cut trees down, it would be devastating to the city.” But even Tregoning wondered if shorter trees would do. “Can they be trimmed?” she asked officials. At issue is the last phase of a See Watergate/Page 10
INDEX Business/5 Calendar/20 Classifieds/29 District Digest/4 Foggy Bottom News/11 Exhibits/23 In Your Neighborhood/18
Opinion/8 Passages/13 Police Report/6 Real Estate/17 School Dispatches/14 Service Directory/25 Theater/23