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May 24, 2000

Oblivious

Dear Forgetters:

There are lots of good questions in this issue of themail. I'm sure someone among us knows the answers, and I'm looking forward to finding out, for example, how utility companies get their hands on those official “No Parking” signs, and who's digging up the streets during the digging moratorium.

So you say you have trouble with your memory? Are you unable to remember yesterday, let alone last week? Then send your resume to Mayor Williams — you're perfectly suited for a top job in the administration. On Monday, the City Council held a hearing about the suspicious deaths of wards of the city under the protection of the city's Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Administration. If you remember, this is the scandal detailed in Katherine Boo's series in the Washington Post. Those darned Councilmembers, notably               Kathy Patterson, David Catania, and Sandy Allen, were micromanaging again, trying to get to the bottom of what the Williams administration knew. (The notable exception was Councilmember Graham, who played up to the Administration so slavishly that the other
Councilmembers on the dais were openly laughing at his questioning.) The three top officials who testified — Deputy Mayor Carolyn Graham, Deputy Mayor and City Administrator Norman Dong, and Chief of Staff Abdusalam Omer — all appeared to have been afflicted with early onset Alzheimers. They didn't know anything. They couldn't remember anything about dozens of memos they had been sent, meetings they had been in, or early warnings they had been given. I haven't seen people say, “I can't recall,” so often since the Watergate hearings.

To be fair, the administration is in a terrible predicament. Either officials admit that they knew that there were problems and that they didn't follow up and do anything about it, or they have to claim that they never become aware of anything until it's printed on the front page of the Washington Post, and sometimes not even then. They have chosen to present themselves as oblivious rather than as irresponsible. That is probably the safer course, the course by which they will escape being held accountable.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Festivals
Stacey Patmore, DaisyPatmore@earthlink.net

Glover Park Day will take place on Saturday, June 3rd at the Guy Mason Recreation Center at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Calvert Street, NW.

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City Festivals
John Fanning, Johnfdc@cs.com

To BellSue@aol.com: you can contact the Office of Emergency Management at 727-6161 and ask to speak to Mr. Payne. You then can request the list of street closings. OEM coordinates the Special Events Task Force for the city, federal and local events.

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Ms. Persiflage Wants to Know!
Ms. Dorothy Persiflage, daniel@hers.com

Ms. Persiflage would like to help Gary help himself to get back to neighborhoods, and therefore would like to raise an issue which has been annoying her greatly of late. On the street where Ms. P. dwells, she notes that those nasty cardboard red and white “Emergency No Parking” signs have been showing up more and more frequently, tied to trees, and taking more and more parking spaces, for longer and longer time periods. These often seem related to planned digging in the street for some purposes associated with water or gas supplies, or suspected treasure hunting. In the past three weeks, nearly a THIRD of the Ms. P's street was put off limits for some ridiculous hours, e.g., 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM, for up to SIX days, and of course no one even bothered to show up until the third day — if then!

As the signs said this was by order of the police, Ms. P of course called her district headquarters to inquire. No one knew anything about the signs, and instead suggested that it was the city DPW, or their contractors, who determined how much room they needed, how many spaces would be taken out of service, and how long they would be off limits. Ms. P then uttered some very un-ladylike things about the local residents receiving unwanted romantic advances from the city, and the near total lack of concern for the residents who, after all, do need places to park their vehicles, who pay taxes, and who pay for their residential parking permits.

So, Ms. Persiflage would ask, is she alone in this concern? Is, as she suspects, this same abuse occurring elsewhere in the District? What are the checks or disincentives against abuse of this "no parking" power? Who is looking out for the interests of the residents? Should Ms. Persiflage organize a movement to simply cut the signs off the trees right after they go up? What does our Mayor have to say about this? The City Council? Ed Barron? Ms. P wants to know! Please contribute. Merci beaucoups....

A tout ta' Do

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Is There a Moratorium, or Isn’t There?
Nick Keenan, Shaw, nbk@gsionline.com

Is there really a moratorium on digging up the District's streets, or is it just hype? I am a business owner on the 400 block of 7th street NW, and on Thursday and Friday of last week my business was disrupted as a construction crew dug a large hole in 7th street. Now there are four steel plates in the road, which I don't expect to be disappearing any time soon.

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Whatever Happened To?
Bruce Snyder, Adams Morgan, besnyder@hotmail.com

Does anyone know what happened to Alvin who had a tailor shop on 18th Street, a block or two above U? I'd been by a few months ago and a couple of weeks ago I walked by and it was gone — no sign, forwarding address, nothing. Is there a story here?

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Fire Engines and Medical Emergencies
Marcus Rosenbaum, mrosenbaum@usa.net

Fourteen years ago, my son (then 1 year old) slipped and fell while chewing on a piece of plastic. The plastic broke, he inhaled, and it got caught in his throat. He turned blue. My wife called 911, and a fire engine arrived within a couple of minutes. Thank God, because the fire engine was equipped with oxygen, and when the firefighters put the oxygen mask over my son's face, he immediately “pinked up,” though he was still struggling for breath.

An ambulance, meanwhile, had been dispatched, but had not arrived by the time my son should have been taken to the hospital, so the fire engine met the ambulance at the corner, and the ambulance whisked my son to Georgetown Hospital. So if you're wondering why fire engines are dispatched to medical emergencies, the answer is simple: in some cases they can get there faster, and when they do, it can save a life.

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It Figures
Mike Livingston, livingstonm@earthlink.net

Len Sullivan of NARPAC now calls Ackerman's critics “amateurs in the gallery.” Gosh, I thought we were “voters” or “taxpayers” or “stakeholders” or “constituents.” I stand corrected; who are we to hold our public servants to standards of performance? (Sarcasm aside, my comment here is not about Ms. Ackerman, but about this latest paternalistic bit of Narpackery from our colleague in area code 301.)

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DCPS Loose Ends
Ralph Blessing, rblessin@pd.state.gov

One of the more blatant examples of Arlene Ackerman's non-responsiveness has been her treatment of the Paul Jr. High feeder schools. Last fall when the charter board gave approval to Paul as a new charter school, parents from some of the old Paul's feeder schools wrote to Mrs. Ackerman asking which junior high those schools would now feed into, inasmuch as some/many parents would not want their kids to attend a charter school. Despite follow-up letters from the parents, there still has been no response from Mrs. Ackerman, unless you count her announcement to start a magnet math-science school in the Paul facility. That plan, however, appears no closer to becoming a reality than when she announced it. No building has been located, and to the best of my knowledge, neither a principal nor teachers have been identified to staff it. So where does that leave 6th graders in the feeder schools just weeks before the end of the school year? For most of them, very much in a state of limbo. One DCPS official was quoted in a community newspaper as saying that out-of-boundary requirements would be waived this year for those students. That would probably come as a big surprise to principals at some of the more popular junior highs (e.g., Deal) that have already hit their enrollment ceilings. And, given the way this matter has been handled to date, you can be sure that it hasn't been discussed with any of them either. Meantime, hundreds of kids about to enter junior high are literally without an assigned non-charter public school in which to enroll. I hate to engage in micromanagement, but isn't this the kind of issue that school superintendents are paid to solve?

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Portland-DC
Donald Lief, dwlief@cnnw.net

Mark Richards' comments on Portland's resemblance to DC, in respect to police-crowd behavior, non-performing schools, etc., were on the mark. There's even an ill-conceived effort here in Portland to attract a major-league baseball franchise! Familiar? Having seen the Senators depart twice — to Minneapolis and Texas — it is a sore personal subject. In any case, the similarity between the two cities extends to the very few persons who see neighborhood health-and-welfare as more important than new downtown pork barrel edifices.

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DC Drivers’ Licenses Are Not Valid ID
Leila Afzal, Leila.Afzal@hdq.noaa.gov

Perhaps Jean Lawrence can confirm this story for me. I was flying back to D.C. from Tucson when I struck up a conversation with the young lady sitting next to me. Until recently she was a cashier at a Fryes' grocery store, a subsidiary of the Koger Chain. A young man walked in to buy beer and had to show identification. He produced his DC driver's license. The store refused to accept it because the company policy was that the only valid driver's license came from one of the 50 states, and, since DC was not a state, his ID was invalid. They refused to sell him the beer. By the way, red-light runners abound in Tucson. We can barely hold a candle to them.

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D.C. Marginalized; And Confession of a Party Flirt.
Mark Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com

Occasionally, someone asks whether having equal Congressional voting rights would really make much difference to D.C. Some think the main beneficiaries would be wealthy elites, who historically argued for Congressional voting rights — but not local self-government. I don't think the advantages and benefits of equal constitutional rights (both full voting rights and local self-government) have been spelled out clearly — the subject is nearly always discussed as a principle or in the abstract, but rarely in a way that shows how being disenfranchised impacts real people and why they should care. In a conversation with Timothy Cooper, International Director of the Free China Movement, he said that in working in opposition to the China Trade Bill in partnership with organized labor, he was impressed by how organizations lobbying so intensely for their positions never bothered to contact D.C.'s Non-voting Delegate. D.C. citizens — both those in opposition to or in support of the China Trade Bill — were not a part of the decision, so nobody cared. D.C. citizens are cut out of every decision that is made in the name of the people of this nation — and they have been for 200 years.

To Thomas Smith, who encouraged me on May 17th to give the Statehood Party credit for their twenty years of hard work (http://dcstatehood.org): you are right. Today, nearly 60% of D.C. citizens favor D.C. statehood, and I credit the Statehood Party for much of that support. I have never been active in political parties — I'm more of an independent, issue based, and maybe even a party flirt. We can contribute in different ways — as a party activist or otherwise. I would like to see more party competition in D.C. I think the Statehood Green Party plays an opposition role, as does the Republican Party. And many D.C. Democrats are in reality moderate Statehooders, but do not want to limit their already limited voting rights. D.C. must appeal to the major national parties for whatever they expect to gain my survey of Progressive elected officials shows that they largely support D.C. statehood, and 95% are registered Democrat). In most areas, I tow the middle. I'm registered Democrat, but vote across party lines — in D.C. for Statehood Greens and local Republicans (who argue the case for local self-government with their national Party). I will support either statehood or an Equal Constitutional Rights Amendment (same rights as citizens who live in states). I recognize a federal interest (that should be spelled out very clearly — most intervention has been for parochial reasons). However, I think the economic argument for statehood needs to be explained more effectively. I believe economist Andrew Brimmer once had the most credible economic arguments, but I don't expect him to lead the battle cry after having taken an oversight position that ended up deflecting D.C. citizen anger from Congress onto himself (perhaps destroying another D.C. advocate). I fear the same for Alice Rivlin, and though I am not happy with her “parachute package” for V. Holt, I hate to see D.C. destroy its own.

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Beyond the Monuments
Kathleen Mitchell, National Endowment for the Humanities, kmitchell@neh.gov

In the May 21st themail, Margaret Siegel referred to new materials available about the lesser known parts of Washington. I'd like to elaborate. “Washington, DC, Beyond the Monuments” is a uniquely drawn map of nine of Washington's neighborhoods coupled with a series of brochures about these neighborhoods. It is designed for both visitors and residents, and will be available in Metro stations, area museums, and the Convention Center following the June 1st launch. The featured neighborhoods are Shaw-U Street, Brookland, Capitol Hill, Downtown, Southwest, Lafayette Square, Dupont Circle, Georgetown, and Adams Morgan. There are also brochures on Washington's historic houses and its parks and gardens. Look for a poster campaign with great vignettes about Washington in the Metro system this summer.

A marvelous working partnership created “Washington, DC, Beyond the Monuments.” It is a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities' Rediscovering America initiative, the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., the D.C. Heritage Tourism Coalition, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro), and the Washington Convention Center. By bringing together Washington cultural institutions — both federal and local — with the region's transit system and its convention center, this project demonstrates the cooperative potential of linking cultural heritage tourism interests with a region's transportation system in order to bring about both enhanced public understanding of history and culture but also increased economic development.

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Warning Against Starpower
Aries Keck, (formerly of Mount Pleasant & Dupont), Cambridge, MA, AriesKeck@aol.com

In the past year, I posted messages to this listserv about the wonderful TV reception, channels, and service, I had received from Starpower cable. Unfortunately, I may have led several people astray. When I moved from DC, I called Starpower to ask what I should do with my cable box and remote. I was told to leave them with my apartment manager and they'll come pick it up. I wrapped the box, cables, and remote in clear plastic, slapped a white sticky label on it with my name, address, and (new) phone number and placed it myself on a shelf in the office at 1616 16th St., NW.

Here in Boston, a copy of my last monthly bills was forwarded. I paid it happily. Now, seven months later I received a bill from Starpower titled: Service Charges = $425.00. That's it, no explanation of what the charge was for, no letter, nothing. I can only imagine that they're hoping I pay this outlandish fee, never asking why. I've written them, suitably irate, and I'll let the list know how they respond.

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Anti-Theft Devices for Your Car
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com

Despite what has been written in the Post and other places about the “Club,” I continue to see cars in AU Park and in Spring Valley (those parked on the streets) with the Club locking the steering wheel. The Club as an anti-theft device is totally ineffective in preventing someone, who wants to, from stealing your car. Any ten-year old with a simple tool can disable and remove the Club in about thirty seconds. Yes, it would take about a week to saw through the Club with a good hacksaw and lots of blades. Unlike the Club, which is made of Impervium, car thieves merely take a piece of a hacksaw blade (easily concealed in the socks of their Nikes) and saw right through the steering wheel (which is made of pure unadulterated crap).

A few years ago NY City police were finding locked Clubs lying on the street (where there formerly was an automobile). They probably have a dumpster full of these Clubs by now. There are effective anti-theft devices that work much better -- automatic ignition shut-off, automatic fuel shut-off — etc. Car thieves now, however, will just disable the audible alarm and pull the car up onto a trailer and take it away, thus defeating all the shut off devices. If you have to park your car on the street in places where it might be a target of car thieves then your only real best bet is Lojack. That's the system that is turned on by the local police in all of the major cities when you report your car as stolen. A signal is sent out by the local police that turns on a homing transmitter. Police cars home in on the signal and the car is recovered. The latest statistics I have seen indicate a recovery in under four hours of more than 80% of the cars equipped with Lojack.

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You Thought Cleveland Park Was In-Elian-able, Right?
Charlie Wellander, jfa-cwr@CapAccess.org

Wrong. See Wednesday's Washington Post Metro section: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58093-2000May23.html. Looks like we will have another famous resident, at least for a while. How will this affect traffic at 34th Street and Newark?

[For interesting sidenotes on Youth for Understanding and Rosedale, Elian's new temporary home, see “Elian in the Hood” in today's “Undernews” by Sam Smith, http://prorev.com/indexa.htm. — Gary Imhoff]

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Fun with Currency
Steph “Heart of gold-plated copper and zinc” Faul, steph@faul.com

Those who never watch television, such as myself, need to find other sources of harmless amusement. Fortunately they're easy to come by. Lately I've taken to paying for all my small purchases with the new gold Sacagawea dollars, and it's been great fun. (The dollars are readily available at any bank.) So far responses have ranged from ”Huh? Oh.” to “You gave me a dollar and a quarter.” So far nobody has asked “What's this?” but it's sure to happen.

Folks! You CAN try this at retail establishments across our fair city. Every minor purchase becomes a full-scale exploration of unknown territory — will I get my grande latte? Will there be a scene if he feels short-changed? What response will I get THIS time? Whee!

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Problem with themail
David Sobelsohn, dsobelso@CapAccess.org

I have been having regular technical problems with themail. For weeks, after I downloaded and opened it, about one third through the text each line would start being underlined, then about half-way through each line would be struck out. That was mostly just an annoyance. But when I downloaded and tried to open the May 21 issue, it regularly caused my word-processing program to crash. Any idea what's going on? Has anyone else reported any technical problems?

[This is the first time I've heard about this kind of problem, and I don't know what could be causing it. Has anyone else had anything similar happen, or does anyone recognize the problem and have a suggestion for solving it? — Gary Imhoff]

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Hank Greenberg Finally Hits It Home in Washington
Jennifer L. Katz, jrkatz@erols.com

DC-based Filmmaker Aviva Kempner is bringing home her long-awaited documentary film, The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, for its commercial release in the Washington, DC-metro area on Friday, May 26 at the Cineplex Odeon Outer Circle Theater in DC and at the Cinema Arts Theatre in the Fair City Mall, Fairfax, VA. This award-winning film, 13 years in the making, is a humorous and nostalgic look at an extraordinary baseball player who transcended ethnic and religious prejudice to become an American icon. For more information, call or E-mail 301-365-0660; jrkatz@erols.com.

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The Possibilities for Community Video
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com

“The Possibilities for Community Video” is a free event being held in the meeting room of Mt. Pleasant Library on Saturday, June 10, from 2 pm to 5 pm. The event will show and discuss some of the possibilities for “community video” — video made by community members about community-related subjects. We'll be looking at the new video production tools: digital video cameras and Apple's iMovie video editing software, as well as explaining the process for putting video up on the web. We'll also be discussing why it's so important for communities to create their own images of themselves, rather than relying on the news media's inaccurate images and representations. The event is free, but if you'd like to reserve a place for yourself you can register in advance by sending an E-mail to Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com, or by phone by leaving a message at 703-812-9547. (In the subject line of the E-mail, please use the subject “community video.”)

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Tenant Workshop
Kurt Vorndran, Kvorn@nteu.org

In response to the crisis surrounding the properties condemned by the DC government and the issues of repair and eviction, two workshops are being held to help tenants learn how to get repairs made and how to form a tenant organization to collectively respond to this situation. The workshops will be held at the Gavan Center of Sacred Heart Church at 16th Street and Park Road, NW. The first will be on May 24th at 7:00 pm and will be held in English. The second workshop will be on 6 June at 7:00 pm and will be held in Spanish. The workshops are co-sponsored by Sacred Heart Parish and Housing Counseling Services, Inc. For more information, call 667-7006.

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TasteDC’s Late May/June Calendar of Wine and Food Events
Charlie Adler, wine@tastedc.com

1) May 22nd, Monday, “Sushi-Ko Omakase (Chef's Dinner) and French Wine Event” is sold out. 2) May 25th, Thursday, “More Wine Basics,” Radisson Barcelo Hotel, 2121 P St., NW. Valet parking, Metro Dupont Circle (Red Line), 7-9 PM, $39 per person. Wine Basics 101 is our most popular event, but what comes next? Join Ann Berta, wine columnist for Washingtonian Magazine, as we explore wine through our senses: blind tasting. 3) June 25th, Sunday, “1st Annual Washington Harbour Lobster and Wine Festival,” Washington Harbour Waterfront, 3050 K St., NW. Parking in the building, 2-5 PM, $65 per person, tax and tip inclusive. Rain or Shine. If you love lobster, this is the event for you! Here's what is included: fresh New England lobster, lobster prepared in various gourmet presentations by Tony and Joe's catering, ten wines perfectly paired with the juicy meat, live jazz, our own private area overlooking the waterfront, and a commemorative wine glass. All wines at this event are imported by Kysela Pere et Fils portfolio and are available for special order at a D.C. retailer at a reduced price. Don't wait, our private space is limited to the first 500 people! Attire is very casual, we'll provide the bibs! Reservations: http://www.tastedc.com or call 202-333-5588.

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE

Multi-Household Yard Sale
Cal Eigsti, ceigsti@nih.gov

Saturday, May 27, 9:00 am - 2:00 pm. Come one, come all to a multi-household yard sale located on Jenifer Street between 42nd and 43rd Streets in Friendship Heights. At least eight households are involved, including one getting out of the baby business.

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Rent Tickets for Sale
Laurie England, Topspindc@aol.com

Tickets for the musical production “Rent” on Sunday, May 28, 7 pm at the National Theatre for sale at 40% off or best offer. Excellent orchestra seating.

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Couch and Loveseat
Jeremy Coffey, jerm@cais.com

Couch and loveseat for sale — black vinyl, good condition, $300 or best offer. Jeremy Coffey, jerm@cais.com, 986-4468

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR FREE

Wheelbarrow
Cheryl Campbell, cherylcampbell@compuserve.com

Seeking charitable organization needing a large sturdy wheelbarrow for their groundskeeping or construction work. Wheelbarrow is in excellent condition, but of very little use to us at our home downtown. Help us give away the last remnant of our previous life in suburbia! We can drop it off, but request a receipt for donation.

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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING

Apartment Wanted
Brandan Hardie, bhardie@yahoo.com

Looking for an affordable studio/1 bedroom (maximum $600/month) in Mt. Pleasant. bhardie@yahoo.com.

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CLASSIFIEDS — VOLUNTEERS

Telephone Counselors
Melissa Dichter, pcamw@juno.com

Prevent Child Abuse of Metropolitan Washington is seeking part-time overnight telephone counselors for the Crisis and Family Stress Hotline. Must be at least 20 years old, speak English fluently, and available to work weeknights. Training begins June 6. For more information on the Hotline and to request an application, call PCA/MW at 223-0020.

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

Handyperson/Contractor Needed
Rich Mintz, rmintz@ixl.com

I need to find someone who can repair some rain damage to the interior walls of my bay window in my apartment near Logan Circle. (That is, help me confirm that the source of the exterior leak was fixed properly, then replaster and repaint inside.) I would appreciate recommendations of qualified repairpersons you like and trust.

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

From washingtoncitypaper.com's LOOSE LIPS column, appearing this Friday:
WANTED: MACROMANAGERS. At a legislative meeting last Friday, At-Large Councilmember David Catania announced the results of his research on officer deployment at the Metropolitan Police Department. Under the leadership of Chief Charles Ramsey, complained the councilmember, the police department had metastasized into a collection of specialized units, leaving few regular old beat cops to roam the city's Patrol Service Areas (PSAs).
“We have the gang unit, and we have the one-armed ax murderer unit,” quipped Catania, “but we don't have enough PSA officers to respond to calls.” After an afternoon of outrage from Catania and other councilmembers about allegedly insufficient police presence, the council mandated Ramsey to fashion a plan that would place at least 60 percent of the department's 3,500 officers on the street.
Depending on where you stand, Catania's activism exemplifies either piercing legislative oversight or the kind of persnickety micromanagement that sends our top appointed officials in search of opportunities in other cities.
Read the entire Loose Lips column here: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/lips/lips.html.

From washingtoncitypaper.com's CITY LIGHTS page, here are a few early warnings for upcoming events:
TUESDAY: Nina Simone, at 8 p.m. at DAR Constitution Hall, 1776 D St. NW. $35.50-$50.50.
TUESDAY: Caroline Preston reads and signs her book, Lucy Crocker 2.0, at 7 p.m. at Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Free.
More details and more critics' picks are available online at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/pix/pix.html

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