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The Northwest Current

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Dockless bike sharing draws mixed reviews

Upgrade at Fort Reno raising water pressure

LEGALLY BLONDE

■ Infrastructure: Properties

By GRACE BIRD

with lead pipes may face risk

Current Staff Writer

As dockless bicycle sharing multiplies on local streets, some residents are raising safety concerns as officials say the city’s seven-month pilot program is being closely monitored. D.C. began its dockless bike trial period Sept. 20, permitting private companies to release and operate up to 400 rental bikes each across the city through April. Bikes can be tracked, locked and unlocked with a mobile app — without relying on specific locations to collect and return them like Capital Bikeshare, where riders sometimes end up with no free slot to end a bike rental. While users are asked to park their bicycles in appropriate places upon ending their rentals, like on a sidewalk near the curb, critics say they’ve been finding the bikes left blocking sidewalks and on parkland such as the C&O Canal towpath. Four of the five companies participating in the trial — Mobike, See Bikes/Page 13

By GRACE BIRD Current Staff Writer

A water pressure increase at the Fort Reno Pumping Station began to take effect Monday in a twoweek project that will impact about 5,000 Northwest properties — and also risks increasing lead concentration at some residences. Properties within the 4th High West Water Service Area — a sprawling, meandering area that includes sections of Chevy Chase,

Friendship Heights, Tenleytown, Cleveland Park, Cathedral Heights and Wesley Heights, among others — will see a pressure increase. Higher water pressure will improve fire protection, allow for shorter showers and enable customers to operate several appliances simultaneously, the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority wrote in an email to The Current on Tuesday. Residents with low to average pressure will notice an increase immediately. “In recent years, there has been great community concern regarding low water pressure in sections See Water/Page 13

C&O Canal revitalization concept designs unveiled ■ Recreation: Options seek

to boost appeal of towpath

Brian Kapur/The Current

Wilson High’s production of the Broadway hit “Legally Blonde: The Musical” opens Friday night, with additional performances Saturday and the following weekend.

By GRACE BIRD Current Staff Writer

Lured by student, muralist decorates Janney By ZOE MORGAN Current Correspondent

When local second-grader Sanah Hutchins wrote a letter to North Carolina-based artist Matthew Willey asking him to paint a mural at her school, she wasn’t even sure she’d get a response. She certainly had no idea that he would agree to spend six weeks in D.C. completing the project. Willey recently finished the mural of honeybees and other pollinators on a rear wall at Tenleytown’s Janney Elementary as part of his larger “The Good of the Hive” initiative to individually paint 50,000 honeybees (the number in a healthy hive) around the world. The project aims to bring

Vol. L, No. 44

Serving Chevy Chase, Colonial Village, Shepherd Park, Brightwood, Crestwood, Petworth & 16th Street Heights

Photo courtesy of Nabeeha Kazi

Sanah Hutchins, right, invited artist Matthew Willey to Janney.

people together and boost awareness of the importance of protecting bees, he told The Current. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly completed mural took place at Janney last Thursday, where attendees included Karen Pence, wife of the vice president;

Sonny Ramaswamy, director of the the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture; and Ward 3 D.C. Council member Mary Cheh. At the event, Willey talked about his fascination with bees and said the project is able to bring people together and find common ground. Throughout the process of creating the Janney mural, Willey involved students, fielding hundreds of questions and allowing them to paint parts of the mural, although Willey painted the bees. “What blows me away more than the questions is the curiosity,” Willey told the crowd at the ribbon-cutting. “The idea of making all these paintings, and painting all See Janney/Page 13

Ideas for a planned overhaul of Georgetown’s mile-long section of the C&O Canal include a wider, more accessible towpath as well as outdoor seating, additional educational materials and greater connectivity to nearby attractions, according to new concept designs released Nov. 2. Georgetown Heritage — a nonprofit created to promote and share the history of D.C.’s oldest neighborhood, with revitalizing the C&O Canal as its top priority — is leading the renovation of the historic public space, which has suffered years of neglect and deterioration. It’s working with the National Park Service, the Georgetown Business Improvement District and the D.C. Office of Planning. “We want people to just enjoy it, and marvel in the beauty — both natural and industrial — of the canal,” Alison Greenberg, executive director of Georgetown

Courtesy of Georgetown Heritage

The renovations rendered here aim to spruce up Georgetown’s section of the historic canal.

Heritage, told The Current. “We want people to be able to recreate on the canal, to run on the canal, to paddle in the canal.” Plans developed by architect James Corner — who helped design New York City’s popular High Line — target the canal’s safety as well as its appearance. In particular, proposed updates include widening and regrading the narrow, uneven towpath; building a new visitor center; installing outdoor tables and chairs; planting trees and shrubs; constructing a boardwalk along Rock Creek under K Street NW See Canal/Page 3

SHERWOOD

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CURRENTNEWSPAPERS.COM

INDEX

Salutes to history

Conquering Cadets

Check out our new website, where you’ll find more of the communityoriented news, features and sports you read weekly in The Current.

Calendar/16 Classifieds/22 District Digest/4 In Your Neighborhood/14 Opinion/6

Memorials advance to honor Dwight Eisenhower, World War I around National Mall / Page 6

St. John’s takes its first WCAC girls soccer title since 2011 in penalty-kick thriller / Page 9

Police Report/8 Real Estate/15 School Dispatches/11 Service Directory/21 Sports/9

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