It’s all about the neighborhood
The 3rd Annual Spring Fling at the Armed Forces Retirement Home, put on by the Friends of the Soldiers Home, was a great time and a fun day.
Great jazz and music, great food and some really tasty beer, combined with a ton of residents and kids having a great time made for a wonderful day.
Read MoreWow, the Petworth Community Market is kickin’ this morning. I just got back and it’s crowded with residents and a ton of vendors.
There’s meat and sausage from the Meat Crafters, really cute (and tasty looking) individual-sized pies from Teeny Pies, tomato-free ketchup from ‘Chups, kimchi from Number One Sons and lots of veggies and bread. I seriously would not be surprised if this is the biggest opening day the Market has had...
Read MoreThe 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...
Read MorePetworth 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?”
Read MoreCouncilmember 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.
Read MoreLooks 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"?
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.
Read MorePowell 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:
Read MoreRemember 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.
Photo courtesy of ParkViewDC.com
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.
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.
Read MoreTurns 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...
Read MoreANC 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...
Read MoreWell, 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...
Read MoreThe 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...
Read MorePetworth News, a neighborhood blog on local news, information & events about the Petworth area in Washington DC.
Petworth News is a news site about Petworth area neighborhoods in Washington DC, written by Drew Schneider and other amazing contributing writers. It features facts and objective reporting, as well as an occasional subjective point of view and opinion.
Volunteer with the Friends of the Soldier's Home!
