Beautiful Spring Breezes
Dear Breezers:
I'm sitting in front of the open window, with the cool spring evening
breeze blowing in a slight smell of mown grass. Forget the arrogant
contempt the Mayor and the Control Board showed for DC's democracy in
closing DC General; forget the arrogant contempt the City Council showed
for the people in overturning the term limits initiative. Don't think
about city government for awhile. There'll be enough time for that when
the temperature rises further, and we're all naturally irritable.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
Bridging the Gap
Gregory Diaz, Zaidmot@aol.com
For the last two weekends I have enjoyed delightful free
entertainment at the southern foot of the Taft Bridge: DC traffic police
handing out speeding tickets to those who think the bridge is their
private race track. Yes, folks, it's a radar trap, and a more welcome
sight I haven't seen in a long time. The police seem to have set a
fairly high standard for actually writing a ticket, as they simply
motion “slow down” to many miscreants, so none who get nabbed can
fairly cry foul. My sample is, of course, not scientific, but a fairly
high proportion of those getting nailed seem to be driving urban tanks (SUVs)
and high end glamour cars. Ah, class warfare at its very best. Kudos to
the traffic enforcement branch!
###############
Problems at MLK Library
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
If you ventured downtown today to do research at the District's main
library, you would have encountered locked doors and a posted notice
that “Martin Luther King Library will be closed May 2 and possibly May
3 due to air conditioning system repairs.” Visitors were directed to
call 727-1111 “to find out if the library will be open tomorrow.”
Today's closure is simply the latest chapter in the steady decline of
the District's library system, especially MLK, over the past two years,
while the library's budget has increased. Air quality has been a problem
in general throughout the building. Even back in March, while outside
temperatures were below freezing, the temperature in the Washingtoniana
Room reached 86 degrees. But more fundamentally, MLK has ceased to
function effectively as a working research library, since basic books
and reference materials are outdated, missing, or misshelved.
Earlier this year, the various divisions within the library system
submitted reports that were supposed to be included in the library's FY
2000 annual report, but after receiving the division submissions, the
Library's Director, Molly Raphael, decided not to publish an annual
report. Here are some of the comments made in those submissions by the
library's senior management team: “The biggest single block to
customer service was the return of about 40% of our book orders for the
year because of a lack of funds. Since we had not spent our full budget,
we still do not understand how this came about, and no explanation has
been offered.” “At least half of our time at the Reference Desk is
spent managing the computer sign-in sheet and trying to limit printing.
This detracts from staff's ability to focus on reference questions,
which should be our top priority while at the desk.” “It should come
as no surprise that morale is very low and talented, enthusiastic
librarians are leaving — sometimes for lower-paying positions — and
we are receiving few applications.” “Security is always an issue.“
”Delay in receipt of books and materials. This is facing all
divisions. . . .” “Some newspapers have literally stopped coming.
The New York Times Classifieds is an example. It is not because
we have canceled the subscription, but because of payment problems.”
“Government documents have been a problem since GPO placed the Library
on probation in 1991.” “As many MLKML librarian know, Sunday service
is inadequate mainly because some librarians neglect divisional
training. Inappropriate referrals and patrons receiving incorrect
information are far too common.” “Staffing was the major roadblock
that prevented the division from delivering excellent customer
services.” “Collection management of the circulating collection was
poor.”
###############
I am a high school student researching the 68 riots in DC after
Martin Luther King's assassination. There seems to be very little info
available, and no photos. I would be very interested in first-person
accounts. My focus has to do, in particular, with race relations before
and after. My Mom was a white teen and became involved in doing
volunteer work with inner city kids during the Civil Rights era — she
calls it the “era of good feeling.” She says that after the riots,
things changed so much she really wasn't wanted there any more.
Has anyone else had the same or different experience? Does anyone
have first hand memories of the riots? Does anyone have any photos, or
any idea where I can find some?
###############
Washington, DC, holds an ambiguous place in the minds of most
Americans. “Aren’t you a city in Maryland?” “People live
there?” and “Don’t you already have voting rights?” are all
depressingly common assumptions. Polls found, a few years back, that 55%
of college graduate registered voters (the perceived “cream of the
crop”) did not know of DC’s colonial status and that 45% thought DC
already had both Home Rule and Voting Rights. Yesterday, if DC had had
the rights to Home Rule that every other city and state in the country
has, DC General Hospital would still be open today. For the last year,
despite massive public opposition, Mayor Williams has pushed a plan to
privatize DC General Hospital. DC General, out of 12 hospitals in the
District, was the only public one, the only hospital obligated to serve
the city’s poor and uninsured. DC has over 70,000 uninsured residents
who depended on DC General. The mayor complained that the hospital was
losing money. What Mayor Williams and his allied private interests can’t
seem to understand is that uninsured patients aren’t so much
profitable markets as they are human lives.
Luckily, the City Council voted unanimously to keep DC General public
and fully funded. The mayor vetoed their plan. The Council unanimously
voted to override the veto. Case closed. Democracy had spoken. DC
General would live to care another day. Right? Wrong. Wrong because DC
is not a democracy. We elect a City Council. We elect a mayor. But
Congress and their appointed “Financial Control Board Authority” (aka
“Control Board,” the “Authority”) has the power to overrule any
decision made by our democratically elected representatives. Clean
needle exchanges, statehood advocacy funding and commuter taxes, all
passed by our elected officials or by voter referendum, have simply been
overruled by Congress or the Control Board. Yesterday, over the
objections of hundreds of protesters, the Control Board voted to
overrule the city council and privatize DC General. In most cities and
states, a council’s final decision would have been a model exercise in
democracy, a prime example of a healthy exchange between the legislature
and the executive branch. But in DC, we are too poor, too black, too
Latino, too not-Republican to be cared for. While the rest of the nation
reminisces over the struggle for voting rights, we are left voteless.
For partisanships sake, DC remains a colony. As a result, DC’s poor
have been left out to die while the private sector gets rich.
###############
Our True National Pastime
Kevin Palmer, Northeast, kevpalm@erols.com
In the debate over the Washington area's chances of garnering a
baseball team, I've heard the discussion for years about how the region
should have a team. A recent article in Washington Business Forward
(http://www.bizforward.com/currentissue/games/)
gives the background on the story and the points made by the two
competing factions, a coalition trying to bring a team to Northern
Virginia and the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission, for the
District. Understated in the discussion is the fact that no matter which
group prevails (if a team were to actually move here), the team would
play its first two seasons at RFK! Further, the article states: “The
Virginia consortium points out that any major league stadium should be
accessible both by Metro and interstate highway and that the District
would be unable to deliver highway access.” What do you call 295? It's
just across the river from RFK! What sites do these bright bulbs intend
to posit for a stadium in Northern Virginia? The smart money would have
it going somewhere near 395 and a Metro stop. Hmmm . . . that leaves
Crystal City, Huntington, Springfield (are you kidding?), and Van Dorn.
In the District, we have several large tracts throughout the city that
could accommodate a stadium and that are convenient to bus, rail,
highway, and (future) trolley/circulator service. Show me that kind of
convenience in suburbia.
Wanna get really pissed off? See the VBSA's page on “What's
Different from When the Senators Played in 1972? PLENTY!” (It was '71,
but okay...) This page lists, with unchecked smugness, the reasons that
Northern Virginia is “better” than DC to support a baseball team.
Such as this doozy: “Since 1971, Northern Virginia's personal income
has exploded relative to the District's, from 39.5% larger in 1971 to
254% larger in 1998! And that personal income ratio is expected to
increase to over 346% by 2005!” Apparently, you have to be rich to
enjoy America's pastime. And you probably better have a car, too. See
more at http://www.baseballinva.org/different.asp?PageCheck=CASE&SubPageCheck=DIFF.
The whole issue is another glaring example of how Northern Virginia
(and the state in general) just doesn't seem to get it when it comes to
development, land use, and the like. For the past decade, baseball has
been returning to the center city for a reason. Not just nostalgia, but
economics, has shown that placing a team in the city center is good for
the game. But what this debate really shows is that our true national
pastime is politics. Baseball is just the cause du jour. Build a
ballpark in Washington and get a team, period. And if NoVa isn't willing
to go along, and by some stroke of luck (or incredible
shortsightedness), they get a team, refuse them access to RFK. Why
should we continue to put up with their antagonistic behavior and play
to their whims? Enough is enough.
###############
Fixing the Parks Problem
Michael Bindner, mbindnerdc@aol.com
I am not shocked by the failure of Parks and Rec to deal with park
maintenance. The bias in the department is to provide recreational
programs, just as the bias in DCRA is to process permits and the bias in
DPW is to build roads. If the District is to be cleaned up, it needs a
separate Department of Sanitation to pick up the trash from both homes
and parks and to cut the grass at parks and in the other public spaces.
Such a department could also assure the sanitary inspection of both
homes and commercial entities, especially restaurants.
###############
Franklin Park
John Olinger, North Lincoln Park, jolinger@dmggroup.com
I agree with Annie McCormick's description of the condition of
Franklin Park. This park, however, is not the responsibility of DC Parks
and Recreation. It is the responsibility of the National Park Service,
which seems to use it as a resting place for its DC employees. Closer
examination of those trucks will generally reveal napping NPS staff. By
the way, the sidewalks around Franklin Park are never ever cleared of
snow and ice. That makes the sidewalk on the north side of the 1300
block of I Street all but impassable with the least amount of snow.
###############
Kudos to Department of Parks and Recreation
Peter Easley, Friends of Kennedy Playground, Inc., PeterEasley@aol.com
The little league field at Kennedy Playground (located at 7th and P
Streets, NW, in Shaw) was prepared by the Department of Parks and
Recreation several weeks in advance of the start of the little league
season. Also, our grass has been cut a couple of times this spring. This
is a major improvement over last year, when the ball field was not ready
until half way through the season. Also, DC just awarded a contract for
the construction of a new, $3.9 million recreation center and gymnasium
at Kennedy Playground.
###############
Playing Fields in D.C.
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
Since I don't venture (very often) outside Ward 3 (at least the
existing Ward 3) I can only speak about two parks that have playing
fields that I come into contact on a regular basis. Turtle Park, on Van
Ness, has two ball fields with bleachers for the watchers. The fields
seem to be in good shape, as are the two refurbished tennis courts. The
Hardy Park playing field is in the process of being refurbished and it
seems to be taking a long time. Playground restoration, with the help of
new equipment purchased and installed by the local residents, is now
complete at Hardy Park. The tennis courts are in fine shape and seem to
be underutilized during the weekdays.
###############
Went for a much-needed work break bike ride today around our
beautiful city, specifically that part which neighbors the zoo. Our city
does look beautiful in a number of ways, except for . . . the signs on
your front yard! Why are they there? Is there anyone out there who has
been influenced by them? Are you pressured by your neighbors to place
them there? These are not rhetorical questions, and I can tell you that
the signs make your front yard look ugly, despite the splendor of the
flowers.
###############
Good-bye Sutton Place Gourmet
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
In a scene reminiscent of the overnight departure of the NFL Colts
from Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Sutton Place Gourmet (corner of 49th
Street, NW, and Massachusetts Avenue) has, seemingly, disappeared.
Sutton Place was the third occupant at that location in the thirteen
years that I have lived here. The first occupant was a florist. Then
came a liquor store, then came Sutton Place. The rumored bar and club
that was supposed to take over that locations over a year ago was
dissuaded by the legitimate public outcry against such an activity
there. The location, though, seems to be a very good one, right across
the street from the Spring Valley Shopping Center and just down the
street from Crate and Barrel. There just were not enough culinarily
challenged folks buying enough baby bees in soy sauce to warrant keeping
this satellite store open. For a while there may be some undernourished
folks who will have to be chauffeured down to the main Sutton Place
store on New Mexico Avenue. The quality of the offerings at Sutton Place
was good but their prices were high. If you needed enough stuff to call
for a shopping cart you first had to check in with the loan officer.
The next tenant, according to the sign on the empty store, will be
City Bagels. With a sketch of the capital in the background it may be a
stretch to be called "City Bagels." Everyone knows that the
only legitimate city bagel comes from New York City. I have always felt
that this neighborhood needed a really good bake shop there. Sutton
Place had pretty good bread (and very good sandwiches) and there are
some relatively decent bagels in a few locations within an easy drive
from here. Perhaps City Bagel can tie in with Marvelous Market and sell
their very nice breads in addition to the bagels. I will certainly
patronize them, as I do all the local merchants in this neighborhood.
###############
What interests me about the BB license plates isn't that there are
none, as John Whiteside observed, but that there are few. On a single
commute recently along Massachusetts Avenue between Macomb Street and
Ward Circle I saw three BB plates. Are any of the other presumed unused
two-letter combinations in limited use as BB appears to be? Is there a
procedure for reserving a range?
###############
BB Or Not BB?
Mark Eckenwiler, eck@ingot.org
In the recent issue, John Whiteside puzzled over the apparent
decision to skip over the "BB" prefix in issuing DC car tags.
My guess is that somebody at Motor Vehicles made a rational choice to
avoid the potential confusion with “88”; a handwritten ticket
written on “BB1234” might easily be misread by a clerk as
“881234,” a legal old-style plate number. (The prefix
distinctiveness also helps in vehicle ID when the tag is seen only
briefly, as in hit and run events.)
###############
Taxation Without Representation in the West
Wing
Ralph Blessing, rblessin88@hotmail.com
A couple of months ago I wrote on themail of my disappointment that
the TV show “The West Wing” chose to belittle the DC Statehood
movement. This past Friday I had the opportunity to hand a copy of DC
Vote's fact sheet to Martin Sheen (President Bartlett on the show) as he
was signing autographs on Pennsylvania Avenue. I asked him to share it
with his writers in the hope that they would become more familiar with
the District's political reality. He folded the page and stuffed it in
his pocket, so here's hoping that it elucidates at least one person
involved with the show.
###############
Field School Frenzy
Erica Nash, enash@cais.com
Wow — for once, Ed T. Barron, I agree with you. Not only is the
architecture of the building across from the Cafritz house a terrible
eyesore, but it will definitely add to traffic. The Field School will
not allow kids to drive nor park at school. All kids will be bussed.
Furthermore: where do those “vocal and concerned people about
increased traffic” stand on the dorms being built at GWU one block
south? I haven't heard a word! Young, non-supervised freshman college
kids with cars are bound to bring traffic, noise, accidents and police
to Foxhall Road. The kids at Field School are charming kittens compared
to that!
###############
I ordered Verizon in September 2000 for an October install/activate
date. It came and went, and went, and went. Well, in January 2001 (I'd
almost forgotten about it), I got a call asking me how I liked the DSL.
The “service tech” sounded surprised to hear I hadn't gotten it yet.
She put me on hold for about five minutes, came back and said I could
install the software after 6 p.m. And I did, and it worked. Is this a
recommendation? Well, I'm not sure. I did wear a “Verizon Sucks”
T-shirt around for awhile. Since February, though, it's been trouble
free but for a couple hours.
Here are a couple tips for those of you who, especially, use Macs:
regularly empty your “history” and “cache” folders since they
seem to befuddle the DSL software. Here's hoping they've solved their
problems at the Dupont Circle switching station.
###############
With trepidation, I signed up for Verizon DSL in DC (Mount Pleasant).
I've heard all the nightmare tales about Verizon, but signing up with a
third party provider doesn't avoid Verizon, and I figured that Verizon
might be more attentive to its own customers than to third-party
customers. Much to my relief, the system was up and running without any
difficulty. There was, however, a subtle problem. Occasionally the
communications would just “hang” — no messages, no data, just
everything stopped — then, after a wait of up to 45 seconds,
communications would start up again, and all would be well for a while.
This happened frequently enough to be very annoying.
But lo, there is a solution, one that you won't find in the VZ
documentation. Sorry to get into technostuff, but here's the fix — and
my Verizon DSL is now quite satisfactory: 1. Open control panel, 2. Open
Network, 3. Look for the first entry in the scroll box marked TCP/IP,
that is associated with a hardware ethernet card (ignore dialup, AOL and
VPN type bindings), 4. Select it and press properties, 5. Select IP
address from the tab, 6. Is “Obtain IP address automatically”
checked? if so, change that to Define IP address and enter 192.168.1.10,
and 255.255.255.0, into “IP address” and “subnet mask” fields
respectively.
This assignment of a harmless local IP address to the TCP/IP settings
bound (connected) to your network adaptor, will stop the inbuilt DHCP
services from waking up every 10 minutes to look for a DHCP server so
that it can “fill in the blanks.”
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Discounted Tickets at Ford’s Theatre
Richard Steacy, rsteacy@fordstheatre.org
Ford's Theatre is now showing the world premiere of “Songs From the
Tall Grass” featuring Tony Award winner Scott Waara (“The Most Happy
Fella”). Using both original and period songs, "Songs From the
Tall Grass" illustrates the difficult life of American homesteaders
as they settled the prairie. Mention that you read about the show in
themail and get your tickets for any Saturday or Sunday evening at 7:30
p.m. or Sunday at 2:30 p.m. performances for only $15. Call 347-4833 for
more information. Tickets must be purchased in person at the box office.
###############
Mahler at Noon: Free Concert
E. James Lieberman, ejl@gwu.edu
The Friday Morning Music Club Orchestra, Sylvia Alimena, music
director, will present a free concert on Tuesday, May 8, at 12 noon, of
Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 4 in G, with Mary McReynolds, Soprano
soloist, at the Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G Street, NW, near Metro
Center.
###############
Lecture: Greetings from Washington: Postcards
from the Nation’s Capital
Jerry A. McCoy, sshistory@yahoo.com
For over 100 years Washington, DC visitors as well as residents have
used the picture postcard as an inexpensive, speedy, and colorful method
of communicating with family and friends “back home.” Celebrate
National Postcard Week (May 6-12) with this illustrated slide lecture of
historic Washington, DC, postcards from the collection of Jerry A.
McCoy. Encompassing the first half of the 20th Century, these postcards
depict historic sites and forgotten events, offering a unique
perspective of the times through their images and personal written
messages. Wednesday, May 9, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., Washingtoniana Division,
Room 307, Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW
(Metro: Gallery Place/9th Street exit). The event is free and open to
the public. For more information, call or E-mail Jerry A. McCoy,
Washingtoniana Division,.727-1213, dcnp2001@yahoo.com.
###############
The DC Home School Network, a recently formed group of parents who
are interested in learning about home schooling, are considering home
schooling, or have recently begun home schooling their children, meets
every third Wednesday of the month. Interested parents are welcome to
attend. Please contact Becky Cusey for further information on 548-2628
or via E-mail at JohnCusey@cs.com.
###############
NPR to Host Partner at istudio design
Rick Harlan Schneider, rschneider@istudiodesign.com
istudiodesign is pleased to announce that on Friday, May 4, at 11:00
a.m., the Diane Rehm Show (National Public Radio, WAMU, 88.5 FM) will
present: "On the Job, 'Green' Architects." Guest host Lynn
Neary will talk with three architects about "building green,"
including guest Rick Harlan Schneider, AIA, partner in istudio design.
“As energy costs rise, so does demand for environmentally friendly
design in commercial, residential, and public buildings.” For more
information on green architecture, please visit our web site at http://www.istudiodesign.com
or call us at 342-1025.
###############
Volunteer Recruitment and Donation (Elementary
School Beautification)
Ernest Yombo, yombo@mail.layc-dc.org
The Latin American Youth Center AmeriCorps Program is conducting a
school beautification project on Saturday May 5th at Adams Elementary
School, which is a public school in the District of Columbia. The
project will be from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Breakfast and lunch will be provided.
We want you to come and support us on this day. Also you can help us by
donating some supplies. The supplies that we need are: trash bags, mops,
brooms, rakes, small brushes, paper towels, rubber gloves, face masks,
scrub brushes, garden gloves, cleaning spray, sanitizers, buckets,
WD-40, pliers, paint, and brushes. We will be cleaning in and around the
school, planting & landscaping, and moving furniture. Here's all the
information you may need: Adams Elementary School, 2020 19th Street, NW,
Saturday, May 5. So come one come all! Bring your family, your team, or
your program and smile with us as we beautify Adams Elementary School.
For more info please contact Melyni Williams at 319-8640/41.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — CITY PAPER PREVIEW
Dave Nuttycombe, webmeister@washcp.com
From washingtoncitypaper.com's LOOSE LIPS column, appearing this
Friday:
HOME RULE DEFENDERS? The D.C. Council last week feigned concern about
the city's quasi-independence — commonly called “home rule” —
chastising the financial control board for supporting a contract that
puts the management and operation of D.C. General Hospital into the
hands of a private health-care provider — over the council's loud
objections. “You are circumventing democracy!” declared frustrated
At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson to control board member Eugene
Kinlow.
But Mendelson and his council cohorts, particularly NOTs (Nemeses of
Tony) David Catania and Kevin Chavous, may have done more to torpedo the
city's future independence and freedom from the control board than any
private contract.
The council's unwillingness to resolve its differences with Mayor
Anthony A. Williams, forcing the intervention by a reluctant financial
control board, and the recent submissions by the council and the control
board of competing versions of the city's fiscal 2001 supplemental
budget requests are fueling renewed angst on Capitol Hill over the
District's competence to manage its own affairs.
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:
SATURDAY: Scully Marathon 2001, 10 a.m. at Kaiser Permanente Training
Center, 2101 E. Jefferson St., Rockville. $15 (suggested donation —
proceeds benefit Neurofibromatosis, Inc.).
WEDNESDAY: Eliza Carthy sings at 6 p.m. at the Kennedy Center's
Millennium Stage. Free.
More details and more critics' picks are available online at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/pix/pix.html
###############
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