October 16, 2015

This is what dysfunction looks like: Notes from ANC 4C October meeting

October 16, 2015/ Drew

When I attend an ANC meeting and write up my notes, I try to be objective and capture what I can from the night. As this is my blog, I might throw some opinion in here or there, add a useful link or two and offer photos of those who spoke so readers can get a clearer idea of the meeting. After all, if you live in the ANC, you should care about what happens.

I’ve been watching ANC 4C slowly deteriorate over the past 10 months under the chairmanship of Vann-Di Galloway. Wednesday night was just a culmination of all the problems hitting at once.

Read the notes. They're long but there's a lot to say...

October 11, 2015

Guest post: "Clean to the curb" can keep Petworth beautiful

October 11, 2015/ Drew

Local Petworth neighbor Carrie Johnson-Clark contacted me recently about “Clean to the Curb,” an initiative that encourages people to keep the area around their houses clean. Carrie asked if I’d publish something to get the word out. I offered one better — I offered to publish an article that she wrote. And here it is. I’m happy to offer an article from a Petworth neighbor who cares about how we can all do our part, even a little bit, to help keep the community looking beautiful.

October 09, 2015

Fighting to clean up vacant properties, one house at a time

October 09, 2015/ Drew

Walk around Petworth and you'll see houses being renovated on block after block, dumpsters parked on the street with duct-taped "no parking" signs on the trees. Inside you'll hear tools and men's voices as walls go up, floors are redone, new landscaping put in.

Walk around Petworth, and you'll see many examples of houses that are sitting untouched and empty, slowly falling apart with trash strewn yards and a construction permit on the window -- with no signs of construction.

Neighbors are fed up with developers buying properties and leaving them to rot while waiting for housing prices to rise. The city loses out on taxes, and everyone loses out when those properties attract rats and illegal activity.

But KSDA and ANC 4D Commissioner David Sheon are working to fix it.

October 04, 2015

Petworth residents find success with sardonic JadedAid card game

October 04, 2015/ Drew

Petworth resident Wayan Vota, a fan of Cards Against Humanity, teamed up with friends Jessica Heinzelman and Teddy Ruge to create a new card game specific to their careers in international aid and development. They brainstormed on ideas and partnered with another Petworth resident, Maria Mandle, who runs CreativeCouch Designs, to create the card deck and branding. They then reached out to aid workers around the world for ideas. The result is JadedAid, a card game to save humanitarians… from themselves. Read more about JadedAid and see the HuffPost interview, after the break:

October 03, 2015

Meet ioby, a non-profit that wants to kickstart DC community projects

October 03, 2015/ Drew

Neighborhood change comes from active neighbors — clean ups, community gardens, block parties and socials. Some of these events are easy to do and don’t cost much, if anything. However, other projects do have a cost, and often the question is how best to organize and fund them?

Enter ioby. ioby is a non-profit organization that helps communities crowd-source money to fund local-based projects...

Read more about ioby, their upcoming fundraiser on October 8th and see a video:

October 02, 2015

Rain spoils Oktoberfest at AFRH, event canceled

October 02, 2015/ Drew

Regen, Regen, geh weg! Komm an einem anderen Tag zurück!

Thanks to Hurricane Joaquin and lots of rain, Oktoberfest at the Armed Forces Retirement Home has been canceled. Feel free to wear your lederhosen at home though (if you do, send pics!).

Read the full article after the break:

September 30, 2015

Grant Circle gets its stripes

September 30, 2015/ Drew

I spent way too much time sitting at Grant Circle in the past two weeks watching cars navigate the new traffic patterns set up by the new painted lines. But apparently, it was to good effect...

Read more about the latest efforts at increasing safety at Grant Circle:

September 29, 2015

Goodbye Riyad, hello Ruta del Vino

September 29, 2015/ Drew

Riyad Market, the inconvenience store at 800 Upshur St busted for selling synthetic drugs, is supposed to close by November 13th, according to the Office of the Attorney General. To replace it? A new Latin-inspired wine bar and restaurant

Read more about the new wine bar after the break:

September 27, 2015

Photo gallery: Season finale of Petworth Jazz & Dance Projects (huge)

September 27, 2015/ Drew

The final Petworth Jazz Project of the 2015 season was Saturday, September 26th. This time it was a combo event with the Petworth Dance Project, giving Petworth's newest cultural program some much needed exposure.

As I've said before, these two shows are really stand-out events that help make Petworth a wonderful neighborhood. See the full (and quite large) photo gallery, after the break.

(Page may load slowly...)

September 26, 2015

Photo Gallery: Clean up at the park with Friends of Grant Circle

September 26, 2015/ Drew

This morning twelve residents and members of the National Park Service worked at Grant Circle to clean up the park, pick up litter, pull weeds and ivy and even pull out a small honeysuckle tree that was quickly taking over its little corner. (I totally dug up that tree... with the expert help of Doug Rowley from NPS. For every shovel full of dirt I "dug up," he had twice as much ground moved and the tree ready to come out. Experience matters!) See a photo gallery from the clean up after the break >

September 24, 2015

Oktoberfest at the Old Soldier's Home

September 24, 2015/ Drew

It's time to dig your dirndl and lederhosen out of the closet, and get ready for the annual Oktoberfest celebration at the Armed Forces Retirement Home (sponsored by the Friends of the Soldier's Home).

Read more to see the events of the day:

September 23, 2015

Will new lane markings in Grant Circle increase pedestrian safety? (updated)

September 23, 2015/ Drew

A DC DDOT contractor crew was out today painting the new lane markings around Grant Circle. Pedestrian safety at the Circle has been a concern for the people who live around and need to cross the traffic circle. DDOT has finally responded to resident concerns by painting new lane markings as well as using the paint to denote turn lanes and parking lanes. But will these new lines actually make people safer?

Read more and see photos after the break >

September 21, 2015

Come celebrate Petworth Citizen's 2nd anniversary tomorrow

September 21, 2015/ Drew

Petworth Citizen turns two years old on Tuesday, September 22nd, and they're celebrating with an all-night happy hour from 5pm until closing.

Paul Ruppert opened up Petworth Citizen at 829 Upshur St NW in 2013, replacing the problematic "Island Cafe" that had been there previously and closed after numerous violations, fights, stabbings, etc. It's now a much better place to meet friends, have dinner and grab a few drinks.

They turned the back room (which once featured mirrored walls and couches) into a small library, and made it the Reading Room (now home to many social gatherings and a Comedy Hour on Sundays). Read a recent interview I did with Paul Ruppert.

I'll be at the Citizen tomorrow night after 9pm or so, stop by to enjoy a drink and say hi!

Colin / Russ: It's time to collect those beers I owe you for finding typos! ;)

September 21, 2015

Don't miss: last Petworth Jazz & Dance Projects this Saturday

September 21, 2015/ Drew

You know Summer is coming to an end when the Petworth Jazz Project has its season finale show. But don't frown, this show sounds like it'll be awesome.

It's also a combo show with the Petworth Dance Project, which was rained out a couple of weeks back. Between Baba Ras D for the kids (and c'mon, you like him too), Dance, Jazz and some tasty Timber Pizza, Petworth Park is going to be THE place to be on Saturday night, September 26th.

Read more >