Petworth Playground at 8th & Taylor is officially open

Petworth Playground at 8th & Taylor is officially open

After many years of planning meetings, back and forth arguments over play-surface materials and a $2 million budget, the Petworth Recreation Center at 8th and Taylor Streets NW is officially open again.

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DC’s Winter Ready grant program helps Petworth restaurants prepare for colder months

DC’s Winter Ready grant program helps Petworth restaurants prepare for colder months

In colder temperatures, folks may increasingly have to choose between dining indoors, at higher risk to Covid, or give up restaurants altogether.

So Mayor Muriel Bowser and Shawn Townsend, the Director of the DC Office of Nightlife and Culture, came up with a plan: they opened a $4 million grant to provide funds to restaurants seeking to winterize their space. The Streatery Winter Ready Grant Program provides up to $6,000 per restaurant for sidewalk cafes, summer gardens, and streaterys, located in DC. The grants can be used for tents, heating, lighting, furniture, and marketing – all in hopes of sustaining outdoor dining during the chillier months.

Here’s what some local restaurants are doing.

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Truesdell finally gets a new playground and residents are happy

Truesdell finally gets a new playground and residents are happy

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.

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Local school PTAs organize fundraisers to help their students and families

Local school PTAs organize fundraisers to help their students and families

While COVID-19 has definitely thwarted schools’ ability to fundraise, local Petworth schools are still holding holiday fundraisers to benefit their students. Many local families have been hit hard by COVID-19 and are still in need of assistance. Donating to your neighborhood school if you are able is a great way to give back to your hyperlocal community. The schools thank you in advance!

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

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

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?

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Autumn slowly falls over Petworth with warm colors for the colder days

Autumn slowly falls over Petworth with warm colors for the colder days

The fall colors in the neighborhood have been especially good this year. All the rain over the summer helped the trees hold onto their leaves longer than last year and the results have been spectacular.

If you’ve found yourself walking around our beautiful neighborhood admiring the flowers and wondering what you’re looking at, we’re here to help. Welcome to "Petworth Blooming,” a popular series featuring some of the most common plants and flowers seen around Petworth. Follow @petworthblooms on Instagram for additional photos of our neighborhood flora.

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

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

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.

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Let Petworth restaurants make your Thanksgiving easy and delicious

Let Petworth restaurants make your Thanksgiving easy and delicious

COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in many of our Thanksgiving plans, but that does not mean it should keep us from having a delicious holiday meal. Whether you are looking to cook an entire meal or want to skip the cooking altogether (we don’t blame you, 2020 has been exhausting) we have rounded up the best Turkey Day options in Petworth.

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Photo gallery of the Socially Distant Halloween Parade!

Photo gallery of the Socially Distant Halloween Parade!

The Petworth News Socially Distant Halloween Parade was a success! Really couldn’t be happier with how smoothly the parade went, how many people showed up, the kids and the costumes — awesome. It couldn’t have happened without the whole neighborhood pulling together!

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La Coop Coffee Shop in struggle with landlord who tried to force them out of their property

La Coop Coffee Shop in struggle with landlord who tried to force them out of their property

An ongoing feud between a new small business and their landlord spilled out onto the sidewalk as the landlord tried to board up the building in the evening of November 3rd. There has been a strong outpouring of support for La Coop Coffee Shop by the community, and questions remain about what will happen next.

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What you need to know if you're attending or want to watch the Socially Distant Halloween Parade

What you need to know if you're attending or want to watch the Socially Distant Halloween Parade

The main priority is Covid-safety, followed by fun for our neighborhood kids. The US Park Police will be onsite to help with vehicle traffic and local safety. DDOT will have cones out. We’ll have more than a dozen volunteers onhand to help.

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Fungus among us: ANXO creates a club for mushroom aficionados

Fungus among us: ANXO creates a club for mushroom aficionados

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.

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October is Breast Cancer Awareness month... prevention is the best way to beat it

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month... prevention is the best way to beat it

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and as a recent breast cancer survivor and Petworth neighbor, I thought now would be a good time to tell my story and raise awareness of this all too common disease.

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Petworth neighbor launches business to create masks and promote women

Petworth neighbor launches business to create masks and promote women

Erika Goodwin, a Petworth resident and a native Washingtonian, founded Creations by EME after sewing cloth masks for friends and family at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. She initially made masks to help cover her family and to keep them safe from the epidemic. She then started to make masks for her friends and extended family, to make sure that they were safe. Friends started to make large requests that never abated, and she realized that her hobby could become monetized and help fund her retirement.

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