May 01, 2015

Chief Lanier attends 4D CAC meeting 4/30

May 01, 2015/ Drew

The 4th District Citizen’s Advisory Council met last night at 4D MPD headquarters at 6001 Georgia Avenue NW. Police Chief Cathy Lanier came by to discuss recent issues in the area, as well as current MPD resources, status, etc.

There were around 60 or so residents in attendance, along with Councilmember-Elect Brandon Todd, At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman, Ward 4 liaison Khalil Thompson, ANC 4A05 Commissioner Patience Singleton, ANC 4C Commissioner Timothy Jones and ANC 4D05 Commissioner Krystal Braxton. 4D Commander Wilfredo Manlapaz was there, as was Inspector Vendette Parker and another Commander that I didn’t get a chance to meet...

April 29, 2015

1st time's the charm: Southwest Petworth "Lemonade Social"

April 29, 2015/ Drew

Petworth is all about the neighborhood and your neighbors.

Tonight was a good example as neighbors from the “southwest Petworth” area had their inaugural “Lemonade Social” at the triangular park between Quincy and Kansas Avenue.

Like the Grant Circle Social held, coincidentally enough, in the middle of Grant Circle, the Lemonade Social is about getting local neighbors together for an informal, one hour meet & greet. It’s residents meeting residents in a low-pressure setting — with lemonade and a nice crudité platter.

I arrived late, but in enough time to see the little park was crowded (40-50 people must have been there). I was “that guy” walking around with a camera talking to people and taking pictures, and the two simple questions I asked were “Why are you here?” and “What does this mean to you?”

April 27, 2015

CM Orange walks through Petworth with residents

April 27, 2015/ Drew

Councilmember Vincent Orange is working to prohibit pop-up conversions in R-4 zoned areas around the city (with his proposed Prohibition on Single Family Dwelling Conversions Emergency Amendment Act).

CM Orange went on a neighborhood walk-through with several residents and ANC 4C Commissioners Joe Martin (SMD 4C09) and Kathleen Crowley (SMD 4C10) to look at alleged permit violations at recent or ongoing construction of conversions, pop-up and complete redevelopments of existing properties.

“Councilmember Vincent Orange, chair of the Committee on Business, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, walked with me and Kathleen for about 90 minutes in our SMDs,” said Commissioner Martin.

April 25, 2015

New "Brightwood Mart" coming to Petworth?

April 25, 2015/ Drew

Looks like the (not that) old Safeway pharmacy at 4034 Georgia Ave is set to become the "Brightwood Mart," with the tag line "Your Neighborhood Convenience Store."

Note: I don't think they know where Brightwood is... mebbe they meant "Petworth"?

April 25, 2015

"Public Safety" Meet & Greet at the Swift

April 25, 2015/ Drew

The Public Safety Meet & Greet was this morning at the Swift apartments, above Safeway on Georgia Avenue. (Nice building, by the way!)

As a summary, the meeting was more presentation than any meet or greet, and covered the same information we’ve heard at the emergency PSA 407 meeting on March 21 and other ANC meetings. The difference this time was that two different DC Councilmembers attended (as well as two candidates, Leon Andrews and Brandon Todd), shining more attention on this issue and hopefully bringing more government action to a solution.

April 24, 2015

Powell ES Principal Docal leaving this summer

April 24, 2015/ Drew

Powell Elementary Principal Janeece Docal just sent an email that she is leaving the school this summer. She started at Powell 6 years ago and helped turn a failing elementary school into an example of what a successful school can do (just ask President Obama, who visited the school last year). She's done amazing things for Powell, and was recognized as the Principal of the Year recently.

Docal is moving back to Spain to be with her husband's family, as her father-in-law is not well. In her email, she discussed the process for finding a new principal that involves the parents:

April 24, 2015

New tavern coming to old hardware store

April 24, 2015/ Drew

Remember that hardware / locksmith store at 3655 Georgia Ave?

They went out of business and the place has been sitting empty. According to a blog post on the Park View blog by ANC 1A08 Commissioner Kent Boese, the plan is to renovate the store into a new tavern called Reliable Tavern & Hardware. They'll offer food and drinks and other activities like comedy, trivia, and televised sports.

What I remember about this place comes from the first year we moved to Petworth more than 10 years ago. I saw the place and thought "cool, local hardware store!" Then my wife and I went in and I thought "how the heck does this place stay in business?" The shelves were barely stocked and some guy there kept following my wife around the store with a grin asking if he could help her.

Thank god for Annie's Ace Hardware!

And while bars and restaurants are great... would love to see more local-owned retail stores in Petworth.

Source: Park View blog.

April 20, 2015

Petworth Community Market Fundraiser a successful evening at Chez Billy

April 20, 2015/ Drew

The Petworth Community Market fundraiser was this evening at Chez Billy, and I think it was a total success! There had to be more than 200 people who came out to support the Market, and there were dozens of items up for auction to help the Market serve the community.

"The money raised tonight supports the fees we have to pay to the city for permits, meters, insurance and more," said Erin Lane, the president of the Market's Board. "Plus, it helps us to serve neighbors in need by affording us the ability to double SNAP/WIC payments."

"The event raises enough funds to cover 30%-40% of our annual operating costs," continued Erin. “It’s great to see this place packed with so many people, and to have them all out to support the Market and the community,” she said.

April 16, 2015

New PSA 404 Lt Raul Figueras

April 16, 2015/ Drew

Turns out there's been a change to the MPD PSA 404 management. The new lieutenant for PSA 404 is now Lt Raul Figueras. (I previously reported it was Lt. Hargrove, but according to 4D Commander Manlapaz, that has changed and Hargrove is now with PSA 405.) I reached out to the new LT to welcome him to the neighborhood and to share some background on him...

April 14, 2015

New ANC 4C03 Commissioner Elisa Irwin

April 14, 2015/ Drew

ANC 4C Commissioner Joe Martin sent out an email regarding the empty 4C03 seat (previously held by Jeff Standish, who resigned in March to move to Minnesota). Elisa Irwin (1500 block of Varnum St NW) is the only person to submit nomination papers by the deadline. Without any other candidates, it now goes to a 5-day challenge period. If no challenges, then Ms Irwin can be sworn in as early as the next ANC 4C meeting (May 13th).

I reached out to Ms Irwin previously for an interview but...

April 13, 2015

Doug Sloan withdraws from Ward 4 Council race

April 13, 2015/ Drew

Well, Doug Sloan has withdrawn from the Ward 4 race for Council. An email went out from him just a little while ago stating that the race should be about what's best for the Ward, not who has the most money or the blessings of the administration. He feels he should withdraw in order to decrease the number of candidates and give someone else a fighting chance. That leaves 11 candidates now... more to come? Here's the gist of the email...

April 09, 2015

ANC 4C Meeting Notes for April 8, 2015

April 09, 2015/ Drew

The ANC 4C meeting was Wednesday night (April 8th), and my notes are awesome (meaning they're long). As always, if anything was misquoted or wrong, that’s my fault. If you disagree with anything, that’s the ANCs fault. The TL;DR (the short of it):

It was an interesting meeting. DC Attorney General Karl Racine and his staff stopped by, as did some Ward 4 candidates and Fox 5 News. MPD was a no-show and WMATA talked about a 14th St express bus (if they only had money for it). Grants were granted, a church was opposed, and a Golden Paradise was approved...

April 08, 2015

Petworth News April 08, 2015 at 09:39PM

April 08, 2015/ Drew

Live east of Georgia Ave in Petworth? Then you might be interested to know that PSA 404 has a new lieutenant. I found out today that Lt Michael Whiteside was transferred to 3D last week. The new 404 manager is Lt. Kenneth Hargrove.

I reached out to the LT today to welcome him to Petworth. Lt Hargrove said he was happy to be in 4D (this was his first week here on the job) and that he is assigned to the midnight tour of duty.

Lt Hargrove has 26 years with MPD and is a life-long DC resident. He added that he looks forward to working with the citizens in PSA 404. You can reach him at kenneth.hargrove@dc.gov.

I'm sure he'll be at the next PSA 404 meeting on May 29th at 801 Shepherd Street.

from Petworth News April 08, 2015 at 09:39PM

April 07, 2015

Petworth News April 07, 2015 at 11:34PM

April 07, 2015/ Drew

I went to the Ward 4 Candidates Forum at the Takoma Baptist Church this evening. While I'm not posting any notes from the forums or endorsing any candidates, I thought you might want to see some photos of the candidates during the event. **Note: I'm not posting or endorsing because I also run the http://bit.ly/17jDEC2 website, and I believe ensuring the neutrality of that site is important. So make sure you visit it often!

from Petworth News April 07, 2015 at 11:34PM