Guns, Statehood, and Parking

Dear Correspondents:

I say it again and again, and I'll say it again: there aren't many rules here, but here are two — sign your messages with both your name and E-mail address, and keep the messages short. I hate to send your messages back to you, rather than posting them. Oh, sure, occasionally a long one gets through — the listing of E-mail addresses for members of Congress in this issue should be useful for many of us, even though it's long; but I try to be fair.

By the way, a few people wrote that their messages to themail late last week got bounced back to them. I think the problem was that Uunet was down for nearly a whole day, and that there were system wide Internet blockages as a result. In any case, the address is good, so if you ever have a problem, try, try again — it's themail@dcwatch.com

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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The Mayor’s Report Card
Anne Drissel, drisselab@aol.com

It is unfortunate that the popularity of the “First 100 Day” myth tempts people to think that the continued existence of major problems after a few months under a new public official is a sign of inferior leadership. Mayor Williams' campaign and Transition Committee tried to avoid making false promises about quick solutions to major problems. Despite people's belief to the contrary, the Mayor and his Transition Team of city residents dug deep into the city's problems and bureaucratic structure in preparing the Mayor's new administration. It is important to remember that the election of Mayor Williams emerged from a citizen's campaign for a new government. We chose CFO Anthony Williams to represent us as our identified leader. The campaign was made up of very involved city activists who didn't have any illusions about the depth of problems of the city. Neither Mr. Williams nor any member of the campaign was naive enough to think that a turn-around of the city could be accomplished in a few months. We were well aware that many city government departments were virtually incapacitated by employees with little concern for delivering effective services. We knew full well that it would be years before these attitudes would be changed — and in many cases, only retirement or death would shake the system free from the grasp of some heavily entrenched people.

I agree we need to keep the pressure on and demand solutions. At the same time, we should support the new city leadership in their efforts to make changes. They need our support as they try to enforce laws intended to maintain order in our community and protect people's rights and security. We can congratulate those who serve us well — even as we report dissatisfaction with poor service and require resolution of our problems. We can try to do our own small part even if it's only sweeping our own sidewalks and gutters and alleyways and reporting problems to the DC hotline at 727-1000. One other thought: If you haven't gone to a meeting and met Police Chief Ramsey, I recommend you do. He's a sharp direct leader working to correct huge problems in the DC Police Department. He has a broad grasp of the city's problems. He predicted, for example, that once clean-up began on the Metro area in Columbia Heights there could potentially be a flare-up of competitive gang forces in the neighborhood. He told us the plans they were developing to respond to any emergent problems. We saw those plans enacted swiftly last weekend as he moved to quell the fights when they began. He also predicted that damping down gang behavior and breaking up drug marts throughout the city would require multi-jurisdictional cooperation lest problems move from neighborhood to neighborhood. He needs our help and collaboration. Again, we can demand the best from our Police. And it wouldn't hurt for us to give them a little positive support also.

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Deja Vu, All Over Again
Greg Rhett, Eastland Gardens, jrhett3009@aol.com

Statistically speaking, there still remains an unacceptable level of crime and fear of crime in neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River. “This neighborhood is like living in hell.” “We need help and police protection.” “The drug dealers have controlled the playground since...” “The open-air drug markets, shootings and dice games have been going on out here for a long time.” “There are still a number of unresolved rapes in our neighborhood.” “We rarely see patrol officers on weekends.” “This year, there have been nearly a dozen arsons of businesses along MLK, Jr., Ave., SE, and still no arrests.”

These shootings recently occurred within the 6th and 7th Districts: Monday: In East Capitol Dwellings, a gun battle claimed the life of 55 year old, grandmother, Helen Foster-El as she ushered neighborhood children to safety. This happened in a public housing complex that has a well documented history of rampant crime being perpetrated against innocent residents, who happen to be African-American. Presently, there are approximately 900 children residing in East Capitol Dwellings. Where were/are the District's Housing Agency Police? Why have we not heard from them? What is the "troop" strength of this PSA? Friday: A SE mother and her 5-month-old son were shot and wounded, while sitting on their front stoop. A man sitting next to them was shot and killed. Saturday: A man is shot in the foot about 10 pm at Minnesota and Penn Avenues, SE. A man is shot in the chest on Livingston Rd., SE. A man is shot in the leg about 11:35 pm in the 400 block of Minnesota Ave., SE. All caught the District Police by surprise when there apparently was a shortage of officers on the streets!

MPD Officials called a press conference to express their “outrage” and announce plans to deploy more patrol officers on the streets. “Our priority calls were backed up because we had no cars available,” said Executive Assistant Police Chief Gainer. Yeah, right, and I feel safer already. Haven't we seen and heard all this before? Are we not paying extraordinary salaries to a number of “new” high level MPD officials, mostly from Chicago, to remedy this? Have the citizens not clearly made the point that we demand results — not excuses, P.R. campaigns, and press conferences? Mr. Ramsey, Mr. Gainer, and Mr. Williams: you should reflect on the fact that each of your predecessors are no longer on the public payroll. Can you guess why? Should we pay another $5M to Booze-Allen & Hamilton to tell us what we, still, already know about the management of our MPD? My fellow DC neighbors, what say ye? Suggestions?

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Air Conditioners, Criminalize, Decriminalize
Aaron Hirsch, aaron@aaronhirsch.com

Two weeks ago, I moved into a home I purchased in Columbia Heights, one block from both Friday shooting incidents. It is an outrage that people attempt to solve their problems with firearms. Everyone knows that something must be done about this unacceptable situation immediately. I contribute three ideas that I believe will curtail gun violence in the District: 1. Distribute free window unit air conditioners. On hot summer evenings people become agitated and uncomfortable and are more prone to violence. Additionally, people have a tendency to go out of their homes into the cool night air to escape buildings that have been heated by the sun during the day, contributing to the number of chance interactions between people and potential for conflict. 2. Make firearms illegal in the District of Columbia. This will get broad support from District residents. We can be an example for the rest of the country. (Um, I was told that firearms are illegal in DC; funny how I never knew that, no?) 3. Decriminalize drugs. Drug addiction is a medical problem and should be treated as such. The illegality of drugs creates black markets that are controlled by drug gangs who use violence to enforce “rights” to distribute in specific locations.

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Gangs, Police, Faulty Comparisons, Drummers, and Birds
Mark Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com

Gangs: The Post reported (“Flood of Officers Hits DC Streets...”) that the two gangs involved in the Columbia Heights shootings were rival Hispanic gangs — one called “BU” (Brown Union), the other “La Mara R” (The R Clique). They said La Mara R hangs out around 17th and R NW. Where? That's a block from my home. I'm either blind, or this gang looks harmless. Are they hanging out at the Italian Kitchen? Police: Sunday there were three police officers walking around Dupont Circle, telling people not to sit on the backs of the benches. Gee, that made me feel safer. Faulty comparisons: The Times today (“Williams eyes further cuts to work force”) showed a chart comparing DC to similar sized cities. DC has 33,300 employees (down from 50,348 in 1992 when Mayor Kelly started trimming), compared to an average of 7,687 for Columbus, Jacksonville, and Milwaukee. While interesting, those cities don't have federal, state, and county responsibilities. More often, The Times compares DC to states. Drummers: are back in Dupont Circle on Sundays: usually Africans, African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Euro-Americans... all drumming away while people are around relaxing. They're great. Anybody know their story? Birds: does anyone know what birds cohabitate with us in DC? I ask because lately I'm hearing one, both day and night, and in different parts of town, that has an amazing number of calls — loud, interesting sequences. Don't know if they have favorite trees (as with monkeys), but they hop from branch to branch, calling out. Have some tropical birds moved to town?

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Alice Tries to Park
Paul Penniman, unclepaul@aol.com

On 23rd Street near the Foggy Bottom Metro, there is a new bizarre parking regulation: to park backed in at an angle (at what angle -- 45? 90? — it doesn't say, and there were no “angular” lines painted on the street a la 18th Street in Adams Morgan.) The really bizarre part is you apparently must park like so from 8 am - 2 pm on Sundays only, then before and afterwards have your car in normal parallel parking mode. Needless to say, scores of cars had tickets on them when I happened on the scene early Sunday afternoon.

Can someone explain this regulation? Here's another reason why not to do it. This street is a major artery to Virginia and needs two lanes. The “angular” parking cuts down the number of lanes to one. To add to Sunday's confusion, hundreds of bicyclists were finishing their four day AIDS ride down a partly one-lane (some cars did figure it out — I don't know how), partly two-lane 23rd Street. I am not making this up.

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What Fresh Hell Is This?
Steph “It’s About Parking, of Course” Faul, steph@intr.net

So I have a house guest coming for just over two weeks. So at around 10 p.m. I drop by the Second District station to get a temporary parking permit for the guy. While I am there the policewoman on duty writes up a permit, but also offers the following items of troubling information: 1. The permit has to start the day you come in, never mind that the guest doesn't show up for four more days. “This is new,” I said. “No, it's always been this way,” she said. “If somebody did something else, they just messed up.” This is, dare I say, is Not True. I've had delayed starts several times, and I've been getting guest permits since zoned parking started. 2. They're going to abolish the visitor permits anyway. “The students were abusing them so they figured they're too much trouble and they're getting rid of the whole thing.” “What am I supposed to do when I have guests who drive?” I asked. “I don't know,” she said helpfully. 3. If there is a new visitor permit system, it won't be administered from the police stations — residents will have to go downtown to the DMV to get the permit. “But that'll mean I'll have to take off work to get a permit every time I have a guest,” I said. “Well, that's what I hear,” she said.

All right, O Wise Ones. Here are the questions: 1. Is all this true? 2. Who do I talk to about keeping the present system, which for this neighborhood works just fine? 3. Why does the city need to punish the innocent because a few are guilty? Resident parking regulations are bad enough. I don't see why they need to make us go to heroic lengths so our guests won't get a ticket every day. Is this some attempt to force visitors to stay in hotels and pay for parking, or what?

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D.C. and the Y2K
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com

We have now read in the Post the horror story of the lack of preparedness of all of the agencies of the D.C. government to handle the turnover to the new year with D.C.'s myriad computer systems, pagers, and other devices that rely on software code that was generated in the dark ages when only two digits were used to identify the year. That report probably presented the truth in a very favorable light (i.e.: things are probably a bit grimmer than they may seem). It is clear from the real preparations in work that Plan B is in effect which will take us back to pre-computer days with manual systems.

There will likely be a bit of chaos in the very first days of the new year beginning with the big “shew” downtown on New Year's Eve at the Mall. Those attending the festivities who come in by Metro should bring comfortable walking shoes since their coach might turn into a pumpkin at midnight entailing a walk up Massachusetts Avenue to get home the next morning in Bethesda. The message here is — Don't drive to D.C. until they get the traffic signals working or you may not get here until Wednesday. For D.C residents whose driver's licenses might expire in January or February, it would make a lot of sense to renew it in December. And stock up on bottled water for drinking. The diesel locomotive sized generators the city has leased to distribute water might work just fine but the treatment plants might be pushing out non-potable water. The real message is to stay calm, sit back and watch the fun. Don't lose your sense of humor.

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Hechinger Mall
David Harvey, DSHarvey@compuserve.com

Does anyone know what CVS is planning for Hechinger Mall? A “Coming Soon” sign appeared there recently in the forecourt of what used to be the Seventh Heaven children's clothing store. Anything done on that site will be an improvement — it's one of the worst eyesores in northeast and that's saying something. Now with Hechingers in bankruptcy there's good reason to fear for the integrity of that whole site. Or does CVS have a grand plan? If so, more power to 'em.

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Trash Containers, Real Estate Signs and Jim Moran
John Olinger, jolinger@downey-chandler.com

A week ago, everyone in our neighborhood received new heavy-duty trash cans, as part of the Mayor's effort to combat rat infestation. This morning, I noticed several of my neighbors had their trash in plastic bags sitting at the curb. Clearly some folks still have not got the message. Which leads me to wonder whether the problem is a hardware problem or a software problem. Is there any way to rewire folk's thinking on this issue? Also, this morning while walk around Lincoln Park, I found a real estate sign advertising an open house stuck in the grass in the park. I just hope that in the ecstasy induced by recovering real estate prices on the hill, we don't copy the suburban blight of real estate signs posted along our streets.

Speaking of the suburbs, it looks like Jim Moran will be able to join us Washingtonians at happy hour now.

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Democracy for DC
Ann Loikow, Cleveland Park, john1@erols.com

Mark Richards asked for opinions from DC residents on whether they support statehood or not. I support whatever will get us full self-government at the local, state, and federal level. It would appear that the best ways to achieve that are either statehood or retrocession to Maryland (both of which get us a “state”). In either case, one would leave a small federal enclave around the Mall, White House and Congress. I wonder how many of the folks who live here but don't support full self-government for DC really claim a legal residence (and vote) elsewhere. I would bet that it is a fairly significant number. I'm sure a lot of the movers and shakers in this town (including Bob and Libby Dole and Ralph Nader, for example) fall into this category. As a result it is no surprise that it has been hard to raise the cry for democracy in DC, even though it is the capital of what is supposedly the greatest “democracy” in the world. PS — As my grandfather wrote in a letter in 1948 that I recently found, DC means “don't count.”

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Because We Said So
Mike Livingston, livingstonm@earthlink.net

One reason I support D.C. statehood is it's the expressed will of the people. We seem to forget that there was a completely legitimate initiative on the ballot in 1980 (I think it was 1980... I was in elementary school in Wheaton, MD, at the time) in which the people of DC voted to seek admission to the Union. Since the territory in question meets all the other usual criteria for statehood and the District clause of the Constitution can be satisfied by redrawing the District to include only the actual federal quarter, that oughta be enough. Congress perpetually makes a political — and racist — decision to ignore that citizens' initiative, just as Congress more recently has suppressed the outcome of the Initiative 59 vote.

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Gun Control
George S. LaRoche, George_S._LaRoche@csgi.com

“Ms. Persiflage,” discusses her “second amendment rights” to own and keep personal firearms. While there are interesting and worthy questions whether there should be a general “right” to keep firearms in the home, the Second Amendment does not protect that purported right. As has been roundly settled and was universally acknowledged until shortly after the Civil War, the Second Amendment protects organized State militias, providing that they shall not be stripped of effectiveness by being deprived of weapons. Before the days of the National Guard and armed police, organized militias kept their arms in armories, not at home.

This doesn't mean that the Constitution doesn't allow the keeping of private arms otherwise. It only means that the Second Amendment does not go so far as to guarantee a lone person's “right” to keep firearms in the home. Rather than argue this issue under the guise of a “constitutional rights” question, it must be argued on its own merits. At the very least, an argument must be made why it does no violence to the Constitution to strip the Second Amendment of its opening clause, which predicates the language cited by Daniel (“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”).

[For those interested in this subject, Akhil Reed Amar criticizes both Mr. LaRoche's “statist” and Ms. Persiflage's “libertarian” readings of the Second Amendment and gives a third interpretation in the current issue of the New Republic: http://www.tnr.com/magazines/tnr/current/amar071299.html — Gary Imhoff]

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The Nonsense of Delegate Norton
James E. Taylor, Jr., The Park Skyland Civic Association, jimt25@erols.com

Ms Dorothy Persiflage's attack on Delegate Norton is about as ludicrous and extraordinary as the attempts of Representative Goode to negate the gun laws of the District of Columbia. This arrogance is embedded in the minds and hearts of people who embrace the attitude to keep this city, and it's people in bondage “By any means possible.” If Representative Goode wishes to be generous to the citizens of Washington, D.C., then fight as hard to close down the illegal gun traffic in his own state, single member district, and the nation. We in D.C. will be forever thankful for his doing so.

Times of strife, upheaval, and high crimes, sometimes warrant strong legislative action to make it safe, and keep it safe for all of the citizens. Representative Goode does not live and vote here and should leave the management of the city to those elected by the citizens. I hope most citizens in this city could be considered arrogant and ludicrous in our steadfast determination to be free. But we have done so not embracing the slogan “By any means Possible” that rattled the hell out of the ultra conservative mind when spoken by a black. Ms. Persiflage's slighted remark at the schools in this city should have been tempered by the fact that it has been Congress that has denied sufficient resources (including money) to maintain a free system, once second to none. The attack by conservatives now is to get rid of the
public school systems, privatize education so to speed up the process of re-segregation. Thanks to many members of the House who agreed with Delegate Norton that Representative Goode's interference was not necessary. You might call their votes ludicrous and arrogant, I call it freedom and democracy.

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Those Freedom/Gun-Loving Virginia Congressmen
R.J. Fox, fox.fox@mindspring.com

First, cheers for Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton for rightly responding to the absurd amendment by Rep. Goode to allow handgun ownership in DC. Funny how these suburban Virginia congressmen are all for the “rights” of DC residents when it comes to guns, but not for full voting representation. Please, spare DC residents from your need to practice grotesque social engineering at the expense of people's lives. In response to Ms. Persiflage, I believe with equal zeal that the so-called “right” to bear arms was not intended for individuals to facilitate murder and societal warfare. Then again, if you think that money equals free speech (as it apparently does now for political contributions — talk about judicial revisionism!), I guess it's not much of a leap to equate an individual with a “well regulated militia.”

The primary argument for gun ownership (other than the legal argument), that citizens need guns for protection from other citizens, only indicates that this society accepts, even prefers, the proliferation of deadly violence over common sense, compassion, and morality.

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Letter to the Mayor
Timothy Cooper, Democracy First, worldright@aol.com

Dear Mr. Mayor: I was shocked to learn of your consideration of instituting the death penalty in Washington, D.C. As the District's chief political leader, surely you must appreciate the multitude of studies which categorically demonstrate there is no casual link between the reduction of violent crime and the application of the death penalty. If the state cannot affirm the sanctity of life, who can?

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Streetlight Banners
Mike Hill, mhill@nbm.org

Regarding Charlie Wellander's question about advertising on light poles, I think if you look again, you will find that they are not advertising in the strictest sense. The banners are markers for the various retail districts around town, and are (supposedly) a way-finding system for pedestrians to know when they are in the Golden Triangle, Downtown Arts District, etc. You may notice that the Business Improvement District (BID) employees in various parts of town have uniforms in the same colors. Some large stores, such as the Discovery Store on F Street NW, have advertising on the poles also.

This is all part of a larger effort by city officials to create a uniform signage system for most of the city that will allow tourists to walk around and understand what part of town they are in, and what attractions they are close to. It's going to cost lots of money, and may be an amenity that is, once again, limited and geared to the most affluent neighborhoods. I encourage you all to weigh in (like anyone could stop you!).

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Cable Television
Catherine Rice, bevierc@aol.com

The D.C. Office and Cable and Telecommunications is in the process of considering a request by DCI to renew its cable franchise. By federal law the city is required to implement a cable-related community needs assessment to discern the communities future cable-related needs and interests. Our firm has been hired to implement this needs assessment. As part of this, we will be carrying out a consumer focus group on Thursday, July 1, at 10:00 a.m. I am still looking for one more person to volunteer their opinions for this focus group. If you are interested, please call Catharine Rice at (202) 328-0654.

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DC Cablevision
Bill Rice, ricebill@aol.com

Our NBC, Channel 4, cable reception has recently gone from bad to poor to unwatchable. Now the sound is unintelligible. I would like to hear from anybody else who has like problems with channel 4 and other cable reception problems. (We live at 48 & Brandywine, N.W., AU Park/Tenleytown.) Bill Rice, 483-2037.

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River Cruises
Connie Ridgway, kaniru@aol.com

There are boat rides for reasonable rates on the Potomac. We took a two hour ride with the Foggy Bottom Citizens' Association last weekend — cost was $10. Light refreshments were available for purchase on board. You can sign up for a boat at the Georgetown Harbor, near 31st and K Streets NW. It was a lovely day, and a nice way to see the monuments and other sights along the river. This was a scheduled event, but many people just signed up when they arrived for other boats. They seemed to be in abundance on that Saturday afternoon.

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Foodless Cruises
Lois Kirkpatrick, lois.kirkpatrick@co.fairfax.va.us

David Sobelson laments the dearth of foodless cruises on the Potomac. My husband and I took just such a cruise about a year ago, which left from the Washington Harbor in Georgetown and cost $20 each. As I recall, it was maybe 60-90 minutes long, and included a tour guide's explanation of the sights we passed. Now, if only somebody would offer an hour cruise for only $25 per couple, we'd be in business!

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Potomac River Cruises
Julie Makinen, makinenj@aol.com

I myself have never been on a Potomac cruise (except in a friend's boat), but I was in Georgetown this weekend at Washington Harbor (near Sequoia Restaurant). At the western-most edge of the dock there I saw a rather simple looking tourist boat and a little shack where they apparently sell tickets. This was not a dinner cruise type boat. I have no idea how much the cruises were, but judging by the looks of the boat, I'd guess it was reasonably priced.

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On Being a Good Citizen
Mark Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com

We all know what good citizens are supposed to do. Well, to make it easier for those of you who are “over-represented,” below is a list of DC's Congressional Oversight Committee members and E-mail addresses that were available on their web sites. Tip: I've been informed that if one is not nice, one will not get ones phone calls returned. Perhaps that is true for E-mail too.

The District of Columbia Subcommittee of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee (Tom Davis, R-Virginia, Chairman — tom.davis@mail.house.gov ; Connie Morella, R-Maryland — Rep.Morella@mail.house.gov , Vice Chairman; Stephen Horn, R-California, Joe Scarborough, R-Florida, Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-District of Columbia; Carolyn Maloney, D-New York — rep.carolyn.maloney@mail.house.gov ; Edolphus Towns, D-New York)

The Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia of The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee (George Voinovich, R-Ohio, Chairman, Richard Durbin, D-Illinois — dick@durbin.senate.gov , Ranking Member; William Roth, Jr., R-Delaware — Comments@roth.senate.gov ; Judd Gregg, R-New Hampshire; Robert Torricelli, D-New Jersey — senator_torricelli@torricelli.senate.gov )

The Subcommittee on the District of Columbia of the House Appropriations Committee (Ernest J. Istook, Jr., R-Oklahoma, Chairman; Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-California; Todd Tiahrt, R-Kansas — Tiahrt@Mail.House.Gov ; Robert Aderholt, R-Alabama; Jo Ann Emerson, R-Missouri — joann.emerson@mail.house.gov ; John E. Sununu, R-New Hampshire -- Rep.Sununu@mail.house.gov ; James P. Moran, D-Virginia — jim.moran@mail.house.gov ; Julian C. Dixon, D-California; and Alan B. Mollohan, D-West Virginia).

The Subcommittee on the District of Columbia of the Senate Appropriations Committee (Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas — senator@hutchison.senate.gov ; Chairwoman; John Kyl, R-Arizona, Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, Ranking Member — dick@durbin.senate.gov ).

NOTE: Both the Senate and the House provide a system to E-mail reps, without giving a direct E-mail address. Many of the reps that did not list their E-mail on their web sites use that system. However, this warning appeared on Senator Kyl's site: “Please note: though anyone can send me electronic mail, my account is for Arizona residents only, or those with ties to the state. Because my primary responsibility is to my constituency, and because I receive hundreds of E-mails a day, I or my staff cannot personally respond to e-mail from people who do not meet the criteria. The e-mail system is programmed to pull out only those messages that contain an Arizona address. Internet messages from non-Arizonans are deleted.” Do you think he means DC too, or are we special?

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Esperanto
E. James Lieberman, 202-362-3963, ejl@gwu.edu

On display through July at the Chevy Chase Public Library: Esperanto, the international language. See it and you'll know more than 95% of Americans about an idea whose time may have come.

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CLASSIFIEDS — DC SEARCH ENGINE AND COMPUTER SERVICES

DC Metro Search Engine
T. Hardman, thardman@earthops.org

Greetings all. It's still up, and on a nice fast new machine. The Greater Washington Metro Search Engine is still at http://earthops.org/Harvest/brokers/   — indexing some 3276 pages all about Washington DC. This is a public service of Earth Operations Central and TJH Internet SP. We do Linux and if you want it, we got it — especially if you're all about DC like we are. See also http://www.clark.net/pub/klaatu/district.html — Thanks!

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE

Bob Dylan/Paul Simon Ticket Available
Sarah Lanning, slanning@erols.com

I have one lawn seat ticket for sale for the Bob Dylan and Paul Simon concert at Nissan Pavilion on July 16th. $35. (Price of ticket and service charges — no markup.) E-mail slanning@erols.com if you're interested.

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Powerbook
Lisette Rook, lisrook@his.com

PowerBook G3/300 14.1TFT/128/8G/20x/56k bot 3/6/99. Under warranty until 3/6/00. Paid $3079. Perfect new condition, used 4 weeks on a trip. Too heavy for a senior citizen. Best price. lisrook@his.com

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Entertainment Center
Nancy Sullivan, Sullivan@ncqa.org

IKEA Black Entertainment Center for Sale! 15 inch. deep, 4 wide, and 5 ft tall. Fits 27 inch TV. 2 shelves run the width; 2 cabinet like features — one glass door, one wood. E-mail: sullivan@ncqa.org or call 202-238-9575 and leave a message.

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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING

Wanted to Rent
Jo Radner, jradner@american.edu

Friends of ours who will be spending the school year in Washington are looking for a furnished house or large apartment to rent. They prefer a northwest DC location and 3 bedrooms, to accommodate two adults and two adolescent children. We'd appreciate knowing of any possibilities; please reply to Jo Radner at jradner@american.edu

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Searching for Apartment
Mindy Reiser, mindyr@smdi.com

I'd like to continue to live in the district — the condo I rent is being sold and I am still searching for a new place. If anyone knows of a two bedroom apartment, with lots of light and near a Metro, in the Cleveland Park/Van Ness area or Foggy Bottom area; please let me know. I would like to move by August or September, latest.

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CLASSIFIEDS — DONATIONS WANTED

17-inch Computer Monitors Needed
Phil Shapiro, Chevy Chase, DC, pshapiro@his.com

One World Media Center, a new nonprofit video and multimedia training center in Adams Morgan, is looking some donated 17-inch monitors for the classes we teach. Donations are fully tax-deductible. Thanks for forwarding this request to friends/colleagues you know who have recently bought larger monitors. Contact Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com — http://www.owmc.org

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CLASSIFIEDS — CITY PAPER PREVIEW
Dave Nuttycombe, webmeister@washcp.com

From washingtoncitypaper.com's LOOSE LIPS column, appearing this Friday:
MISTAKEN IDENTITY: Just before the mayhem broke loose in Congress last week over the D.C. budget, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison traveled to One Judiciary Square for a visit with Mayor Anthony A. Williams. The Texas Republican wanted to update the mayor on the fate of the D.C. budget in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
It's not too often that members of the Senate step down from their Hill perches for away-game wonk sessions with D.C. leaders. Indeed, the mayor's aides took the visit as a sign of Hutchison's respect for the city's new leadership and, by association, home rule.
The city had chosen a different interpretation by Thursday afternoon, when Hutchison and her colleagues gutted the D.C. Council's proposed pay raise by 10 percent.
Read the entire Loose Lips column this Friday at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/lips/lips.html

From washingtoncitypaper.com's CITY LIGHTS page, here are a few early warnings for upcoming events:
Friday, July 2: South Texas Conjunto Dance Party, at 5:30 p.m. at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival's South African Luvhandeni Stage on the National Mall Grounds, 3rd & Jefferson Drive SW. Free.
Thursday, July 8 - Aug. 20: Made in Hong Kong film series, at the Freer Gallery of Art's Meyer Auditorium, 12th & Jefferson Drive SW. Free.
More details and more critics' picks are available online at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/pix/pix.html

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