Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Vol. XX, No. 28
Serving Burleith, Foxhall, Georgetown, Georgetown Reservoir & Glover Park
THE GEORGETOWN CURRENT
Hardy to get full-time principal
Revised law targets noise disturbances
WHITE-OUT
■ Police: Arrests possible for
By JESSICA GOULD
disorderly conduct violations
Current Staff Writer
Hardy Middle School will soon get a full-time principal, Interim Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson announced last week. Meanwhile, Hyde-Addison principal Dana Nerenberg — who was appointed to take the reins at Hardy last year — will focus solely on the elementary school. “The last year has been a difficult one for the entire Hardy community,” Henderson wrote in a Jan. 25 letter to parents. “We share responsibility in making mistakes which have contributed to the challenges that Hardy now faces.” Henderson’s decision comes after a year of turmoil at the Georgetown middle school, which became a flashpoint for debates about former Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s leadership. In December 2009, Rhee announced that longtime Hardy principal Patrick Pope would be leaving his post to plan and lead a new arts-focused middle school. Rhee said the job would build on Pope’s leadership of Hardy’s awardwinning arts program. And she promised a smooth transition under See Hardy/Page 21
By KATIE PEARCE Current Staff Writer
Effective yesterday, an amended D.C. law gives police officers discretion to make arrests for nighttime noise that is “likely to disturb or annoy” nearby residents. The provision, one of several amendments recently tacked onto the city’s disorderly conduct laws, allows such arrests for “unreasonably loud noise” between 10 p.m.
Bill aims to clear way on snowy sidewalks ■ Council: Cheh, Wells seek
to simplify fines for scofflaws By BRADY HOLT Bill Petros/The Current
Brothers Sam and Max Regardie of the Palisades took to the hill at Foundry Branch Valley Park Saturday.
EastBanc switches offices to residential By KATIE PEARCE
The addition will join to the rear of the original 1850s post office, once a customs house and office of the last mayor of Georgetown. Developer EastBanc has Martin said the switch to residenchanged course again on a planned tial use came about after city planaddition to the Georgetown Post ners deemed commercial use in that Office at 1215 31st St. space inconsistent with the city’s Following a directive from the Comprehensive Plan. city’s Office of Planning, EastBanc Bill Petros/Current File Photo “They felt they could not support is planning a residential project commercial usage,” he said. behind the post office, abandoning The developer will build behind This marks the third major reviprevious plans for an office build- the Georgetown Post Office. sion for the project, which was iniing. The project will be a three-story, nine-unit building tially proposed as high-end town houses. The Georgetown Post Office will remain open, but is with 13 parking spots, architect Guy Martin said at Monday night’s Georgetown advisory neighborhood downsizing operations as the cash-strapped U.S. Postal See EastBanc/Page 21 commission meeting. Current Staff Writer
NEWS ■ School Without Walls receives autonomous designation. Page 4. ■ Council bills target unemployment, power outages. Page 3.
and 7 a.m. At a Georgetown meeting Monday, Lt. John Hedgecock said Metropolitan Police Department officials had been “getting all kinds of legal opinions on what we can and cannot do” with the new measure. But at-large D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson, who introduced the disorderly conduct amendment last year, characterized the noise measure as more of a clarification than a significant change of operations for police. “It’s actually not anything new,” See Noise/Page 20
SPORTS ■ Gillespie reaches 1,000 points, but Cubs fall to Falcons. Page 11. ■ Visitation’s swim and dive team pulls upset. Page 11.
Current Staff Writer
As the D.C. Council prepares for a hearing on legislation that would allow fines for residents and business owners who don’t clear snow from their sidewalks, one member is suggesting another way to improve pedestrians’ winter safety: make it the city’s responsibility. Last month, Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh and Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells proposed that the District simplify enforcement of its existing law that sidewalks must be cleared within eight daylight hours of the snowfall’s end. In their Winter Sidewalk Safety Amendment Act, they suggest replacing a city-filed lawsuit against non-compliers with a simple fine. After the safety act was introduced last month — a year after a similar bill stalled in committee — community response on both sides quickly became as active as this
PA S S A G E S ■ Arena Stage honors student playwrights. Page 13. ■ Georgetown pair turns design ideas into new business. Page 13 .
Bill Petros/Current File Photo
The city would fine homeowners $25 and businesses $250 if the bill becomes law. year’s winter weather. Advocates of the legislation say it would provide a much-needed incentive to follow a critically important law; others say it could prove too problematic for the elderly or infirm and difficult to enforce. In an interview, Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham put forward an alternate concept that he said would make sidewalks safe while avoiding the complications of fining residents and offering a critical boost to the See Sidewalks/Page 5
INDEX Business/7 Calendar/22 Classifieds/30 District Digest/4 Exhibits/25 In Your Neighborhood/16 Opinion/8
Passages/13 Police Report/6 School Dispatches/14 Real Estate/17 Service Directory/26 Sports/11 Theater/25