Petworth News

Pottery show

Pottery by Petworth resident Carol Herwig will be part of Hinckley Pottery's Annual Show & Sale, Sunday [5/1] from 11-5pm.

Hinckley Pottery is in Adams Morgan at 1707 Kalorama Road.

www.hinckleypottery.com

Sunday morning TV

Sunday at 9:30am on WHUT-TV, the show Foreign Exchange will feature a production by Petworth-based New View Films:

Hosted by Fareed Zakaria, FOREIGN EXCHANGE probes the global questions of the moment from not only an American perspective but through the eyes of newsmakers, politicians, diplomats and journalists from around the world.

Here's what's coming up on this week's episode of FOREIGN EXCHANGE:

In Focus:

"Afghanistan's Most Powerful Woman" - A profile of Massouda Jalal.

-- produced in conjunction with New View Films

May Day Smorgasbord

[from Kera Carpenter via the Petworth listserv]

Join Domku Bar and Café for a special May Day Smorgasbord Brunch. May 1st is Labor Day for many countries of northern and eastern Europe. It is traditionally celebrated with a large mid-day meal and dancing around the May Pole. While we can't provide the May Pole, we can provide a good meal to the working masses.

$16.50 per plate
When: Sunday, May 1st, 10am-3pm
Where: Domku Bar & Café, 821 Upshur St

Normally closed on Sunday evenings, Domku will open for dinner on Sunday, May 1st only to kick off the start of our Spring/Summer menu. The restaurant will close at 3pm, as usual, and reopen for dinner service at 5pm.

El Torogoz

[new comment by Bailey W.]

My husband and I went to El Torogoz the other night for dinner. We enjoyed our meal and would return. However, when we asked the waiter about their hours, she indicated that currently they are open 7 nights a week until 10:30 pm, but once they have their liquor license, they'll be open until 3 am.

It seems to me that if they are open until that late 7 nights a week, they will quickly draw the chronic drinkers, not families and folks just out for a nice evening. I am concerned. I'd like them to stay in business, but not become another problem location, which I'm afraid they will with that goal of being open so late to serve liquor.

What are other people's thoughts? What can we do to influence this process?

Georgia Ave development

[from Ward 4 Councilmember Adrian Fenty's web newsletter]

This week the National Capital Revitalization Corporation (NCRC) is preparing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to select a developer for a parcel of property in Petworth. The 31,000 square foot parcel is on Georgia Avenue between Shepherd and Randolph Streets NW. I have worked with the community and the NCRC on the development strategy for this site and have pressed for the type of public RFP process which the NCRC will be pursuing. The proposal will encourage either a mixed-use (retail, residential, and office) development; or retail only, with a preference for a sit-down restaurant, book store, or a market. When the RFP is sent to the Council I will work to get Council approval this spring. Upon Council approval, the RFP will be released and posted on the NCRC's website.

Anti-drugs working group

[from Petworth listserv]

Subject: Drug-related nuisance properties meeting TONIGHT

If you are interested in taking a LEADERSHIP role in fighting drug-related nuisance properties in your neighborhood, please come to a working-group meeting THIS evening at 6:30 pm being held by Kathleen O'Connor, the Assistant US Attorney. The meeting will take place in the community room of the Fourth District Station, 6001 Georgia Avenue NW. 

This strategy meeting is one aspect of the renewed initiative to shut down open-air drug markets and drug houses in our neighborhoods.

Please also consider joining 4D-Neighbors to stay informed of our work: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/4D-Neighbors/

Thanks very much for your time and consideration.

Joseph Martin, ANC 4C09 Commissioner

Referral of the day

Checking out Petworth News visitor stats today, I came across a referring site called NewsBloggy.com, dedicated to "how journalism and blogs will intersect". In the sidebar they listed a nationwide sampling of community blog 'newspapers':

A list of blogs and Web sites that are becoming sources of community news. We aren't looking for cookie cutters, but sites that are strong examples of local news outfits or have the potential to become one.

Top of their list? Petworth News! Nice.

Bill Crandall

Petworth filmmaker

[from the North-Petworth listserv]

Movie Premiere - One Night Only

Tachist Films invites you to join us on April 23rd at the Goethe-Institut, for the premiere film screening of a new documentary by DC filmmaker Scott M. Phillips.

Simultaneously Coincidental is the hilarious and poignant 72-minute guerrilla documentary that explores the unique outsider life of DC resident John Lamm. The story is told through his own personal narrative and interviews with the people who know him best. In 1999, after being clean and sober for seven years, John suffered severe brain trauma. Most people were not prepared for how he was changed. It is a bizarre and hypnotic story of drugs, religion, romance, homicide, paranoia and friendship.

Saturday, April 23rd, 6PM and 8PM
$7.00 admission, cash only
Goethe-Institut
812 7th St NW (between H & I St NW)
One block north of Gallery Place metro

For more information, please contact Scott M. Phillips at [email protected]

Mugging at 5th & Allison

[from a male resident, forwarded to Petworth News]

Dear Neighbors,

I am sad to report that last night [4/21] I was jumped coming home from the Petworth Metro. It was about 9:35pm and as I walked up the west side of 5th St above Grant Circle, I noticed someone following me. A husky man jogged past me as I approached Allison St. and then he stopped and walked very slowly down the middle of Allison a few steps. I was already walking quickly, crossed Allison and sped up my pace. He came up behind me saying "Gimme whatcha got. Gimme it now." I started to cross to the other side of 5th but he closed in on me and I turned to confront him. He tried to grab me and I gave him a shove back, but he came back at me and knocked me to the ground. I managed to bring him down and wriggle free and he came after me again. We wrestled a second or two and down I went a second time, again managing to bring him down with me.

Suddenly, he got up and started running away down 5th St toward the circle. I came home and called 911 about 9:45pm to report the assault. I didn't realize until later that although I still had my wallet, my Palm Vx (PDA) was missing. That is an inconvenience but not a huge hassle. Hopefully they won't find it very interesting. It took police an hour and ten minutes to show up at my door, at which point I was ready for a good long night's sleep. I told the officer I would make the report today, which I am on my way now to do at the ROC on 8th & Shepherd.

All I can say about the robber is that he was about 6'2" (my height), husky, weighed about 215, had a black bandana over his head, and dark jacket and pants. Luckily for me, he didn't have a weapon, just his bare hands.

Be safe,

D.

Petworth Rec Center

A representative of landscape architects Edgecombe Group presented plans for the Petworth Rec Center last night [4/21]. Click to see photos bigger.

E-cycling

[from Gillian Cook]

This is a great time to clear out old computer and electronic equipment from your home and do the earth some good by taking it to be recycled.

The city's full news release is here. An excerpt:

As part of the District's celebration of Earth Day, the DC Department of Public Works and the Office of the Clean City Coordinator are partnering with federal agencies, George Washington University and the Dell Corporation to sponsor a special electronics-recycling event on Saturday, April 23 from 9am–3pm at Carter Barron Amphitheatre on 16th and Kennedy Streets, NW.

Recycling

The new blue bins are arriving. Click here for good info from the Office of Recycling. It's now ok to recycle newspapers and other papers with everything else.

Recycling is to be collected on the same day as trash.

Domku in the Post

The Washington Post had a write-up of Domku today [4/20]. To read the article click here.

Kennedy St drugs meeting

[from 'AR' via the 4D-Neighbors listserv]

Thanks to everyone who came out to our meeting last night at the Gethsemane Church to follow up on progress made on eradicating the open-air drug market. It was great to have so many people present!

From the anecdotal information, it does appear that things are going well. Citizens are reporting a decrease in runners/drug activity and an increasing police presence. Statistics indicate that crime in the designated hotspot is down 20 percent from last year. We are shooting for a 25 percent reduction in crime compared to last year. There have been 52 arrests in PSA 403 for drugs. 

We were honored to have Chief Ramsey in attendance. He firmly stated that the MPD is fully committed to the efforts of eradicating the open-air drug market along Kennedy Street and will stay engaged in this effort until the drug market is gone. Furthermore, he stated the MPD will work with the community to ensure a maintenance plan is in effect so the market does not return. 

There was some concerns about the frequency of foot/horse/bike/scooter patrols. Chief Ramsey and Cmdr. Burton agreed that they could send out notification at the beginning of each week on the listserve to let residents know how often these will occur in that week.

The pocket bikes were a hot topic, especially since guys are using these to scout for the dealers. These are not allowed on the streets (since none of them are registered) and police should confiscate one if they see it. If you see a pocket bike on the street, immediately call 311. 

The US Attorney's Office (USAO) asked for our help in identifying known drug houses/apartments. The USAO can take action, but must have information from citizens. Please send any information on drug houses to Kathleen O'Connor ([email protected]). 

Issues with the 311 dispatch system were discussed. The MPD will work with the Communications Office to address these issues and ensure officers are getting correct information when we call in. I will provide more information on this as I receive it.

Overall, this meeting was a great success. We continue to have a firm commitment from the MPD to eradicate this drug market along Kennedy Street and we also have a very high level of participation from ABRA, DCRA, USAO, and DPW. All of these agencies have been great at doing their part to clean up Kennedy Street. Cmdr. Burton, Cpt. Poteat, Lt. Brown, and AC Newsham have all done an excellent job at staying committed to this endeavor.

Last (but certainly not least) special thanks to Councilmember Adrian Fenty for continuing to lead this fight and make our neighborhood a safer place for all our residents.

Sincerely,

AR

Petworth Rec Center

[from Karen Archer, ANC 4C Chair]

The Friends of Petworth Recreation Center
Special meeting: update on new playgrounds
Thurs 4/21, 6:30 pm, 801 Taylor St

The Petworth Recreation Center will be getting two new playgrounds. One will be for toddlers and the other for children up to 12 years old.   

This is an opportunity to give your input on this project.

Karen W. Archer 

Photo of the Day

[photo by Bill Crandall]

The picture was taken at this time of year two years ago, when my wife and I had first moved to Taylor Street and were starting to fix up our place. He actually hung around on my screen for quite awhile. Nosy, guess he was wondering about the new neighbors.

Bill.

Petworth Parents listserv

[from Charmaine Torma]

Parents living in the Petworth neighborhood have formed a new group called Petworth Parents. It was formed so parents can meet, interact, and discuss matters that are important to them.

Currently, the group plans to have:

• Weekly meetings for stay-at-home parents, for the adult interaction and the chance for their children to play together

• Monthly brunches

If you are interested in joining Petworth Parents, please join our Yahoo listserv. You can search under Petworth Parents or you can join via email, just send a message to:

[email protected]

Questions? Contact Charmaine S. Torma at [email protected] or call 202-248-8381.

[Editor's note - I was glad to hear Charmaine has already received "a ton of responses" since her first post about Petworth Parents. With so many young couples moving to the neighborhood in recent years, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a Petworth baby boom coming soon...]

Clark ES field

[from Alicia Rucker, MPD Community Outreach]

Hello Everyone,

I was contacted yesterday by a coach at Clark Elementary school who said he has been hitting a blank wall trying to get the sports field behind the school in order for the kids to be able to play safely. The field has a soccer area with no nets, a T ball area that needs to be marked off and a football area that needs to be cleaned. With the budget problems in the DCPS he has not been getting any help. I am asking anyone that can help to please adopt this school and help out in this matter. We need to keep our young kids off the streets and in a safe enviroment. I plan to set up a meeting with the coach and principal next week to see how we can get this done. Anyone who is interested in helping please give me a call.

Thank You
Alicia Rucker
MPD Community Outreach
801 Shepherd Street NW
(202) 576-7285 office
(202) 439-5474

Shepherd St hotspot

[from the office of Adrian Fenty]

Community meeting: Status of the Shepherd Street 'Hotspot"
Thurs 4/14, 7pm
Regional Operations Center - North (ROC-North)
801 Shepherd St NW

Confirmed Attendees:
Hilton Burton, Commander, 4th District
Edward Reiskin, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice
Ward 4 roving leaders
Timothy Jones, ANC Commissioner (4C08)

For more information:
Office of Councilmember Adrian Fenty, Ward 4
202.724.8052
[email protected]

Art at Metro

Apparently the Georgia Ave-Petworth metro station will be getting public art of some kind. In response to David Jannarone's inquiry on the Petworth listserv, Alexandra MacMaster of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities wrote:

The Georgia Avenue - Petworth Metro Station is progressing very nicely. We are now working with WMATA to revise the artist's engineering plans and get Metro's approval to proceed. As you can imagine there are many issues when securing a large sculpture in the public realm and these drawings are crucial to the safety and longevity of the project. I am hoping to have approval in a month or so from Metro. There are many stages before it can be installed, but one of the major stages is the production stage, which also has several components... sculpting a small scale model, sculpting actual size model from the miniature, fabrication in bronze, and preparation of the ground on metro's site.

Based on all the related components at the present time we are looking at installation to be Spring/Summer 2006.

Illegal dumping of the week

[photo by Bill Crandall]

Rear of 500 block of Taylor Street, early Sat. afternoon [4/9]:

I, and several other neighbors, had noticed a pickup truck with a load of tree branches pulling into the alley. Somehow no one actually saw him take off, bequeathing his branches to us.

727-1000 (which has generally been pretty effective lately) was a bit sluggish, saying Dep't of Public Works doesn't work on the weekends and nothing could be done until Monday. Fortunately, our man Merrit Drucker - former Ward 4 services coordinator, recently promoted to Clean Cities coordinator - was answering his cellphone on a Saturday. He called EMA, which coordinated the removal with DPW. Voila, the stuff was gone the same day. Kudos to DPW's Street and Alley Cleaning Division.

Merrit said he considers illegal dumping a crime against the community. If you ever see trucks loaded up and cruising your alley, keep an eye on them (I only wish we could have caught our lumberjack). Merrit encouraged all of us to call in all such cases to both 727-1000 and 911.

Bill Crandall.

March home sales

Here's a select list (edited for space) of houses that sold in Petworth in March. Courtesy of Lesley Aranha.

327 Allison    $337,750   
203 Rock Creek Ch    $395,000
4817 Kansas    $399,000
4922 7th    $335,000
815 Emerson    $396,000
521 Randolph    $450,000
534 Shepherd    $426,000
4511 7th    $431,000
4717 Georgia    $345,000
229 Rock Creek Ch    $495,000
4924 3rd    $375,000
4711 4th    $435,000
719 Gallatin    $371,000
4519 5th    $391,750
5118 5th    $350,000
4820 Illinois    $380,000

Summer housing

Anyone who has a room or basement in Petworth that they would like to rent for the summer, please let me know at [email protected].

If there's enough demand, I could assemble and post some kind of contact list/classifieds, perhaps linked to reputable internship programs and the like. For example, a Petworth resident told me environmental law students from Oregon have a summer program in DC and always need cheap short-term housing.

Just a thought, totally preliminary. Ideas?

Bill Crandall.

El Torogoz

A small sitdown restaurant called El Torogoz has opened at 4231 9th St (202-722-6966), a few doors up from the post office. One resident wrote to Petworth News:

I just stumbled upon it last night on my way to El Tamarindo on Georgia with my family. The food was tasty and the people are nice. It's Salvadorean with a few Italian and Mexican dishes sprinkled on the menu as well.

Reportedly they hope to receive their liquor license by the end of the month.

Cherry tree planting

Great turnout Saturday [4/2], in the rain, for the planting of three cherry trees just south of Grant Circle. Thanks are due to:

Carol Herwig for getting the grant; DC Greenworks' Bethie Miller and the National Cherry Blossom Festival's Diana Mayhew for all of their support; Don Kirk of the National Park Service; Adrian Fenty, Ron Austin, and Captain Poteat for coming by; ANC commissioners Karen Archer, Joseph Martin and Joseph Henson; Reverend John Goodloe; and all the residents who made it a real community event.

A selection of photos are in a new gallery (see Photo Albums).