December 12, 2020

“Spray the Love” looks to bring new murals to the Kennedy Street corridor

December 12, 2020/ Cassandra Hetherington

Kennedy Street is having a hard time lately. From wild west style shootouts to police chases through alleys, the ongoing tragic deaths on Kennedy Street seem an almost insurmountable challenge. Covid has caused huge problems for small businesses all along the commercial strip, both long-established, and recently hatched. Through all of this, a beacon of hope shines in the form of a mural planned for the corner of 5th and Kennedy Street NW.

November 25, 2020

Truesdell finally gets a new playground and residents are happy

November 25, 2020/ Cesse Ip

On Friday, November 13th, Mayor Muriel Bowser held an opening ceremony for the new $1.5 million playground at Truesdell Elementary School at 800 Ingraham Street NW. The new playground replaced a nearly 40-year old playground that was too small and proved to be unsafe for multiple students, according to Fareha Ahmed with the Truesdell’s Family Teacher Organization.

November 21, 2020

Proposed library changes: Shepherd Park to close, Petworth to get refreshed, new Brightwood Park library

November 21, 2020/ Cesse Ip

DC Public Libraries released a new master plan on November 19th that proposes changes to the libraries in our area, including refreshing the existing Petworth library and replacing the existing Shepherd Park library with a new library in Brightwood Park. The plan, titled Next Libris, Latin for “from the books,” lays out its research over DC demographics, library usage trends, and its goals in the coming years.

November 16, 2020

Why were power and lights flickering across the area last week?

November 16, 2020/ Drew

On Wednesday, November 11th, the local Twitterverse and email listservs lit up about homes being in the dark. People from Park View up to Brightwood and over to Crestwood and 16th Street Heights all commented that their lights were flickering on and off. What was going on?

November 10, 2020

Opportunities for neighbors to help neighbors: Ward 4 Mutual Aid Network for #GivingTuesday

November 10, 2020/ Cassandra Hetherington

Mutual Aid groups have existed across time and cultures. Normally they develop within marginalized communities, harnessing collective power to provide basic needs for people failed by government systems. Mutual aids have operated within Wards 7 and 8 for years, but now there is one in every DC Ward.

As people began to lose their jobs during the pandemic, more local residents found themselves unable to purchase basic items for themselves or their families. Simultaneously, Washingtonians wanted to assist their neighbors. Volunteers from the already existing mutual aids worked across the city to support the creation of ward specific mutual aids.

October 29, 2020

New playable art on Kennedy intrigues the neighborhood

October 29, 2020/ Cesse Ip

If you have been by 5th and Kennedy within the last few weeks, you might have noticed this enormous new structure at the southeast corner…

October 28, 2020

Fungus among us: ANXO creates a club for mushroom aficionados

October 28, 2020/ Cassandra Hetherington

I used to dream about secret places in DC… dirt roads in the clouds over Georgetown that ended somewhere Mount Olympus-like, unmarked art galleries down dark alleys, houses utterly hidden from view. Turns out I was on to something — except I should have been looking down, not up, for the forests here are teeming with edible mushrooms.

October 05, 2020

The 2020 ANC 4C candidates, in their own words

October 05, 2020/ Drew

ANC 4C has 10 single member districts, of which 2 have no opposition. The rest have two people running, so there’s 18 candidates offering their information. Remember, you only vote for one commissioner for your Single Member District.