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July 7, 2002

Principles of Justice

Dear Suckers:

Amazingly, I was able to predict the future correctly, and the City Council did pass a bill voiding parking and traffic tickets that are more than five years old. Only Councilmembers Carol Schwartz and Jim Graham spoke against the bill, and in the end only Councilmember Schwartz voted against it. Given the disastrous state of the Department of Motor Vehicle's records and the unlikelihood that people who are presented with phony tickets against them would have proof dating years or decades back that they paid a ticket or that the ticket was dismissed, this was the only fair outcome. But Mayor Williams threatens either to veto the bill or to exercise a pocket veto during the Council's summer recess.

A general principle of Anglo-American jurisprudence was stated by Blackstone as, “It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.” But under the Williams administration, citizens are presumed guilty, and its principle of fairness is that it is better to force ten innocent people to pay fines they don't owe than to let one guilty driver go free. Much better, because it means profits for the city. Read Barbara Williamson's story below, and heed the advice that she was given by DMV — it will be easier for you to pay a ticket you don't owe than to get us to correct our records, so you may as well pay up. Even more injustices are on the way — last week I heard that a friend was denied reregistration on his leased Toyota because DMV claimed that Toyota owed the District government money. Only the intervention of a Councilmember forced DMV to allow him, as an exception, to renew his registration. I assume that others who have leased Toyotas will get the same run-around, since it seems to be the luck of the draw whether drivers get a DMV clerk who believes that individual DC drivers who lease cars are responsible for the claimed debts of the companies from which they lease. Good luck to you.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com 

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Murder Closure Rate Debacle
Dominic Sale, dominicsale@yahoo.com 

If there was any question as to why we continue to stay or near the top of the murder-rate capital of America list, it should have all but vanished last week with the MPD's announcement of lowering the murder closure rate goal to 50.9 percent. I have taken a look at the closure rate numbers of other cities in the US, and even a composite of the eight largest cities (much larger cities than our own) closes about 53 percent of cases. Essentially Chief Ramsey is saying that we are striving to be the worst in the nation, not only in murder rate (where we have already established ourselves as one of the dubious elite), but now in our ability to make arrests on those crimes. With crooks having 50-50 chance of getting away with it, it should come as no surprise that our murder rate is already 26 percent higher this year than at the same time last year.

Given a projected total of 250 murders this year, a closure rate of 50.9 percent would yield 127 closures. A more acceptable 65 percent, which is still less than the nationwide average, would lead to about 162 arrests, or 35 more than the current plan. Perhaps if Mr. Ramsey were to step out of Rock Creek for a few days to serve his own constituency, and not the national media, he could help solve those additional cases himself and save himself a lot more embarrassment. Thanks, Mr. Mayor, for creating your scorecard, because it really does make it clear who is doing their job, and who wants to just fudge the numbers.

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What’s Wrong with 100 Percent?
David Pansegrouw, dpansegrouw@atpco.net 

What is wrong with aiming for 100 percent? I work in a production environment in the private sector. Accuracy of 99 percent is just meeting expectations here. Not much room for slipping up. Why shouldn't 100 percent be the goal for DMV or the police? Who says goals should be easy? What about the people whose needs were not met? Who volunteers to be the one who does not receive services despite paying taxes and being up to date on all fees, etc.? Who finds it acceptable that the murder of their family member is not solved? Don't rush to the front of the line.

As to Ramsey's declining “goals” for homicide closure — which is not a measure of convictions but of cases closed -- simple math tells me that there are a number of murderers walking around DC without a lot of concern of ever being caught. That bothers me in general and very specifically. My next door neighbor was murdered in his house and the case has never been closed. A good friend of mine is permanently bedridden, incapable of taking care of even his most basic needs himself, as a result of someone who couldn't shoot straight enough to kill him. Case is not closed and frankly I do not think the police have ever had any real interest in closing that case.

Never mind the little inconveniences like when I was mugged (covered with blood, emergency room) and no detective ever called, despite assurances from the officers that responded, and three stolen cars all found with little to absolutely no help from the MPD. Oh, but yeah, the Chief is doing remarkable things and oh, by the way, let's give him a bonus. Guess I should just lower my expectations, and get over it too. Too bad my boss doesn't pay me that way!

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What the Mayor and Council Don’t Want You to Know about the 2012 Olympic Bid
Scott McLarty, scottmclarty@hotmail.com 

The Mayor's “One City” slogan is an example of something called “the manufacture of consent” — engineered consensus in support of the Williams agenda that he wants to see confirmed on Election Day. Nowhere is that more urgent than in Hizzoner's promotion of DC's bid for the 2012 Olympics, a scheme which has the support of the DC Chamber of Commerce, Board of Trade, Federal City Council, and DC Council, not to mention suburban chambers of commerce and city halls, http://dc2012.doceus.com/WhoWeAre/Who.html — the region's business elite and their errand boys and girls in public office. What about the rest of us? Do the citizens of DC deserve to hear some public debate over the bid? Here in a nutshell is why some of us have been protesting.

July's Grand Prix auto races at RFK Stadium are a dry run for the Olympic bid's lack of accountability. The DC Sports and Entertainment Commission and city officials forced the races on neighborhoods near the Anacostia without a public hearing, without an environmental study, and with no input sought from local residents about the noise and pollution from racing cars or the traffic and crowds invading their streets. In the same vein, Williams & Co. have kept DC residents in the dark about the how the 2012 Olympics will affect DC's finances and quality of life — who will lose, who will benefit. Sure, we'll get some public hearings — after the bid is a done deal and all the contracts signed. According to a May 31 Post editorial, the Sports and Entertainment Commission “is virtually a law unto itself” and a potential “monster,” adding that “the imperial Sports and Entertainment Commission — thanks to pliant elected leaders — never had it so good.” The US Olympic Committee is a private entity that conducts all business in secret, ignores the public, and only speaks to business elites in cities bidding for the games.

The layout of DC taxpayers' money for the Olympic bid will run well into the billions, for new sports facilities, security, accommodations, roads and parking lots, promotion, etc. A.D. Frazier, who led the fundraising effort for Atlanta's successful 1996 bid, estimated in June 2000 that a bid for the 2012 Olympics “could cost $3 billion” in public funds. According to the GAO, security for the Salt Lake City winter games cost US taxpayers over $300 million. Meanwhile, we've already seen the dismantling of DC General Hospital; closing of schools and underfunded education (including recreation and athletics); ban on the purchase of school supplies from March through September 2002; cuts in public library hours. When the Mayor and Control Board destroyed DC General in 2001, they opened up land for Olympic use (“City Unveils Plan for DC General Site,” The Post, March 21). DC residential areas will be leveled by construction for the Olympics, especially middle and low-income neighborhoods. In Atlanta, an estimated 30,000 residents were evicted when 10,000 housing units were razed for the 1996 Olympics, including 4,000 public housing units. Charles Rutheiser, author of Imagineering Atlanta, told The Village Voice that the 1996 Olympics “allowed the downtown gentrification Atlanta business leaders had long sought.” Anita Beaty, head of the Atlanta Taskforce for the Homeless, said, “The developers use the Olympics as the biggest development project they've ever had an opportunity to engage in. And then it's a steamroller. It keeps rolling.” 

No environmental impact study has been undertaken to determine the likely effects of traffic, pollution and congestion, square miles of new asphalt, run-off into the Anacostia, etc. that the Olympics will bring to DC. According to the San Francisco Bay Guardian, “[t]he Olympic Games have always been a bad thing for the region that hosts them. They involve massive long-term changes to regional infrastructure to accommodate a two-week influx of tourists and athletes.” Helen Jefferson Lenskyj, author of Inside the Olympic Industry, claims that “the whole agenda [of the Olympics] is dominated by multinationals.” Here are some sites and articles for further research:

“Athenian Dreams or Trojan Horse?” by Neil de Mause, The Village Voice, December 13, 2000, http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0050/demause.php

Inside the Olympic Industry: Power, Politics and Activism. Book by Helen Jefferson Lenskyj, http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=60254

“Stop the DC 2012 Olympic Bid!” Steve Donkin, DC Statehood Green mayoral candidate, http://www.dcwatch.com/election2002/donkin06.htm

The Best Olympics Ever? Social Impacts of Sydney 2000. Book by Helen Jefferson Lenskyj, http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=60615

“Hide Your Poor — the IOC's Coming!” The Village Voice, July 18, 2001, http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0129/jockbeat.php

“Sport and Corporate Environmentalism: The Case of the Sydney Olympics” by Helen Jefferson Lenskyj, http://www.breadnotcircuses.org/sports%26environment.html

“Ring Toss — How Olympic Insiders Betray the Public Trust” by Andrew Jennings, http://www.breadnotcircuses.org/jennings.html

Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money into Private Profit. Book by Joanna Cagan and Neil De Mause, http://www.fieldofschemes.com

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Open Letter to Tony Williams on DMV
Barbara Williamson, barbara131@prodigy.net 

I am writing to advise that the latest enhancements to the District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles are severely flawed. On Friday, June 28, 2002, I embarked upon a maddening odyssey that borders on insanity. I appeared at the Brentwood DMV to renew registrations for two vehicles. I sat in the drive-through line for more than 45 minutes. When I arrived at the service window, I provided the necessary documentation — renewal applications, insurance information, etc. I was informed by the attendant that my registrations could not be renewed because there was an outstanding traffic violation in the system. He provided me with a printout of the supposed infraction.

I immediately recognized the information as identical to a problem I resolved over a year ago. Specifically, the citation I received was issued to a Mazda (not my vehicle) bearing a license plate belonging to my 1979 Benz. I advised the attendant that this error had been called to the attention of Adjudication Services on K. Street, NE over a year ago. At that time, I filled out the forms as requested and was advised that the problem would be resolved. I heard nothing further from Adjudication. Nonetheless, the attendant informed me that I should pull my car out of line and go into another facility on the premises and speak with a Ms. Palmer. I waited to see Ms. Palmer for about an hour and 45 minutes. When I spoke to her about the problem, she told me that I needed to file a Motion to Vacate a Default Judgment form with Adjudication Services. Although I had done this a year ago, Ms. Palmer advised that I needed to repeat the process. Along with the form to Vacate Default Judgment, she provided me with a Registration Information Request to take to Adjudication. She further advised that since my registration would expire on June 30, 2002, it might be better to pay the $45.00 fine and avoid the headaches, as there would be a “zoo” at Adjudication as well as at the DMV facility on Monday. It was then about 5:00 p.m. I left DMV Brentwood and went to Adjudication Services since they are open until 7:00 p.m. rather than wait until Monday. Once there, I provided the attendant with the documents Ms. Palmer had given me. I received a printout containing the registration information and was told that the problem would be resolved. I appeared at Brentwood DMV on Saturday morning and was again advised that the citation remained in the system and that Ms. Palmer would not be in until Monday. Monday morning, I attempted to meet with Ms. Palmer, who had not yet arrived. I spoke instead to her assistant. She remembered that I had been there on Saturday. The assistant tried to get to the bottom of the situation, but was told there was nothing they could do until the citation was removed from the system.

I returned to Adjudication, this time speaking with a Ms. Fowler, the Secretary to Ms. Claytor (Hearing Examiner). I explained to Ms. Fowler the efforts I made to resolve the problem and gave her the paper work that I had received. Ms. Fowler researched the problem via computer, found the original citation, and verified that the citation did, indeed, reference an incorrect license number. Ms. Fowler said to me that she had taken the citation out of the system. With that, she told me I could leave. I immediately proceeded to DMV Brentwood. When I arrived at the service window (truly expecting the citation to be gone), I was told again that the citation remained in the system. I returned to DMV Brentwood and again met with Ms. Palmer. I apprised her of my efforts to resolve the problem. Upon checking the system, Ms. Palmer found that the problem remained unresolved. She reminded me that she had told me on Friday that problems would persist and again insisted that I should pay the fine and avoid all the frustration. I told her I would not. If the ineptitude I experienced in dealing with this problem was representative of what I could expect in future, I might never see the $45.00 again. Now beyond wits end, I decided that I needed to get something from Adjudication to verify that the problem was resolved. I asked Ms. Fowler if I could get a printout of the information she found on the computer or anything that would assist me in getting my registration renewed. At this point, Ms. Fowler informed me that she couldn’t do that and that Ms. Claytor would have to “call Lockheed.” “Who is Lockheed?,” I asked. She told me that Lockheed was the company Ms. Claytor had to call to get the citation out of the system. At this point, I was too frustrated to believe and ceased all attempts to pursue the problem any further.

You will notice that the word “again” appears many times throughout this letter. This is deliberate! I want you to know how often I had to repeat these futile processes. Effective government does not operate in this manner. I would suggest that the watermark appearing on DMV stationery, Drive to Excellence, be replaced with Drive to Insanity.

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Will the Real District Residents Please Stand Up
Susan Ousley, Slousley@aol.com 

A July 4 story says, “In the District, court officials now use rolls of registered voters, registration lists of the Department of Motor Vehicles, tax rolls from the Office of Tax and Revenue and some lists of public assistance to assemble a master 'wheel' of potential jurors.” And yet, “Of . . . 1,200 summonses, 569 were sent to incorrect addresses. . . .”

If those addresses aren't correct, seems like getting jurors is not the only problem here. Where did the bad addresses come from? What is being done to keep those addressees from continuing to vote, carry DC tags/plates, get inappropriate tax benefits, and receive unwarranted public assistance?

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Angel from Montgomery and Don’t Write on Me
Mark David Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com 

Two articles in July 5-11 issue of City Paper got me to read: “Angel from Montgomery,” and “Don't Write on Me.” The first, by Mark Francis Cohen, is about Congresswoman Connie Morella's role on the House Subcommittee on DC of the House Government Reform Committee, and her history of a mostly non-interventionist policy regarding DC local affairs. The second, by Mike Kanin, is about the Council measure to add “No Taxation without Representation” to DC's flag until DC achieves equal rights. Both articles are well written, and I enjoyed reading them.

Cohen points out that Congresswoman Morella chose the position on DC's oversight committee with hesitation. He says this is a sign that her party has under rewarded her: “The fact that the eight-term Morella runs the Government Reform D.C. subcommittee indicates how little progress she's made up the congressional food chain.” She is more of a Rockefeller Republican and does not affiliated with conservative Republicans, who seem to send many DC residents into frenzy. DC tends to get along with the Morella-style Republicans, and has proven its ability to elect “Republicrats” (I think Colbert King coined that term some years ago). Stand Up for Democracy's Anise Jenkins points out that these oversight committees shouldn't exist in the first place. Since we have these committees, I for one would like to know significantly more about each member and the area that elected them. It is time for DC's annual budget passing ritual in Congress. Sigh. Time to get that budgetary autonomy bill passed.

Kanin makes an argument against adding words to the DC flag. He argues that “putting the slogan on the flag would re-reveal the District's passive-aggressive civic mind-set, which has brought us such favorites as the control board. After a while, self-pity starts to sound like self-congratulation: We're D.C., we get taxed, we get no vote, and we are miserable.” He finds it whiny. Karin likes the current flag — he and friends have it tattooed on their right forearms and like the clean and simple design that says, “We are from Washington, DC.” Karin associates the slogan with voting rights, and points out that if we want statehood, “we need to respect our own assets. We need to show people that there's more to this city than its lack of voting rights. The District of Columbia has a past. An identity. A character, chiseled out of swampland.” I like Karin's observation about and commitment to DC's cultural identities (putting aside the fact that DC wasn't chiseled out of swampland!). But I support adding carefully thought out words to the DC flag — for socio-political and historical reasons. It is too bizarre to fly General Washington's shield, over a District named in his honor, which is denied the basic rights he led a war to win. When DC adopted the flag, it was a good thing; it gave DC a symbol equal to states. But now it needs to do more. I love the current design, and Kanin may take comfort in the fact that the legislation will have a provision that will change the flag back to its current honored design as soon as DC achieves equal rights, so some day, his tattoo will be current again (and meanwhile, it will be historic). DC has waited over 200 years to be admitted to this Union on a fair and equal basis. Adding words will advance a discussion about DC's status. I know words on DC's flag will make it more difficult to implement DC flag tattoos. I like the idea of a DC flag tattoo and wonder where I can get one. My suggestion is that we get some temporary rub on tattoos so people can test out the DC flag tattoo idea for a few weeks before going for the plunge. They would last longer than the stickers. Get ones with and without words!

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In Case of a Semi-Emergency
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com 

Your best bet, evidently, in the case of a semi-emergency in DC is to stick your thumb in your mouth, crawl under your bed, and get into a fetal position. Despite seven phone calls to alert authorities in DC early on Sunday morning and speaking to three live persons, I was directed to call three numbers that did not answer and the crisis was not resolved. The crisis was a large dying crow flopping around on the ground on Butterworth Street, NW, as I made my early a.m. trek. The bird was obviously near death and its demise might well be attributed to the West Nile Virus.

My call to the local police was met with the suggestion that I call the non-emergency police number. They referred me to Animal Control. At Animal Control I was asked to call the Health Department. The number they gave me was not a working number. Calls to the Health Dept. were all answered via voice mail telling me what the office hours were and to leave a message. Starting over I was connected to the Police Emergency Command. They said they would contact Animal Control. Stay tuned for the next edition of themail. I'll report on my Monday a.m. walk down Butterworth to see if the crow has been picked up.

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Rent Increase
Nancy Sullivan, drkabuki@yahoo.com 

Does anyone know how much under DC law your rent can be increased? Trying to understand if the 30 percent increase letter I just received is legal?

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Donating Encyclopedias
Tim Cline, Timandann@aol.com 

I thought you would be interested to know that the set of encyclopedias that I offered last week in themail to someone who could use them went to the 5th grade class of Francesca Dixon at Mary Church Terrell Elementary School. Terrell uses a classical curriculum that includes Renaissance, English Revolution, and American Civil War history, literature and art. I got four thoughtful responses and would recommend that anyone who has high quality (even if dated) reference books look around, because there are people who can find them good homes.

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Statehood Party
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com 

In spite of the high heat and humidity, I watched the whole Palisades Fourth of July Parade. Every candidate running for office this year was in the parade along with every imaginable group (except the Scottish Israelite Society, notable by its absence). Every marching unit, save one, received polite applause, and sometimes, as when Tony Williams marched by, a real roaring ovation. The one unit that went by in total silence was the DC Statehood group carrying a large DC Flag. No one applauded. In fact, there were not enough folks in the Statehood group to carry the large flag, and one side of the flag was dragging on the ground. There's a real message here, folks. No one at the parade wants DC to be a State.

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Emergency Services Moola
Paul Williams, pkelseww@aol.com 

David Sobelsohn wrote about being billed for EMT services directly, and if it was usual. I think its the norm. As the human that was hit by lightening last summer, I have lots of new found experience with EMTs and the such. Not only did my EMT service charge me to drive me in an ambulance to a waiting helicopter, but the helicopter service charged me for the flight, and for actual miles flown, if you can believe it. Shortly after my discharge, I was sent over two dozen bills from different EMT services and hospital departments. The rudest one I think was from a Cablevision billing service, which tried to collect a $2.80 per day for my hospital TV; I got out of that one by explaining that not many patients are watching soaps in the ICU. With all that said, the EMT personnel are credited with saving my life, so if I need to pay for a while on outstanding bills, then its a small sacrifice to make. I'm lucky I live in a country where I can have an ambulance with qualified personnel that can rescue me at a moments notice!

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Reply to Question on Ambulance Service Billing
Erik S. Gaull, egaull@starpower.net 

As a Nationally Registered Paramedic with years of experience on a national and international level consulting on the operations of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) systems, I can assure you that it is entirely normal that a jurisdiction send a bill for care rendered by an EMS unit. If the charges are only $300, then DC is billing substantially below what many other jurisdictions charge. Of course, the charge should depend on the level of service you receive. Advanced Life Support (i.e., paramedic-level care) can be as high as $750 in some areas; Basic Life Support (i.e., basic care rendered by emergency medical technicians) should run less than $500 in most areas.

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Campaign Posters
Shaun Snyder, shaunsnyder@starpower.net 

As long as candidates don't use too many signs, what's the problem with putting campaign posters up? It's part of democracy in DC — getting your name out to the voters. Campaigns have an incentive not to flood the streets with posters and to remove them after the election because they're accountable to the voters (and may be again in the future) whereas commercial advertisers have little incentive to care. I guess Dwight Singleton is the exception to this rule; he put up an obscene and illegal amount of signs on Military Road in Rock Creek Park.

The signs aren't litter and aren't meant to offend; just keep an eye on them. If someone is putting up too many or doesn't take them down, report them. Otherwise, just be happy that people are willing to run for office to represent you.

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Following Simple Instructions
Phil Carney, philnopus@erols.com 

The DC Board of Elections provides simple instructions to every District political candidate about DC laws for posting political posters in DC public space. By following these regulations, you will ensure that your campaign signs will serve their intended purpose as civic reminders of the importance of exercising the right to vote rather than as unfortunate signs of environmental blight and potential litter.

The easiest violation to spot is the law that requires no more than three campaign posters per one side of a block. (DCMR Title 24 108.10 No more than three versions or copies of each sign, advertisement, or poster shall be affixed on one side of a street within one block.) I suggest that we start an ongoing feature in themail to continue until all campaign posters have been removed after the election, probably sometime in 2003. Let’s have two categories: 1) Too dumb to follow simple instructions, too dumb to be elected — for candidates who are too dumb or too disrespectful to follow simple instructions and comply with DC laws. 2) Competency count for DC Government — to tally the number of $35.00 tickets for each illegal campaign poster written against our political candidate law breakers by DPW.

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Board of Elections and Ethics Responds
William O'Field, Public Information Officer, DC Board of Elections and Ethics, wofield@dcboee.org 

In the June 24th issue, Mr. Ed T. Barron wrote that, when he recently called the DC Board of Elections and Ethics to find out how to change his voter registration, he was unfortunately told that he is “not a registered voter in the computer of the Board of Elections.” The Board's representative who received his call made a mistake. He is on the voter roll and has been for several years. We are very sorry for the error. I encourage all voters who have questions about their voter registration or about the September 10 Primary and the November 5 General Elections to call the Board at 727-2525.

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Where Is George?
Bruce Monblatt, Bruce.Monblatt@ed.gov 

Excuse me, although it has been a few years since I've passed that way, I don't believe that there is a statue of George Washington at the juncture of Massachusetts and Nebraska in front of American University. It should be General Artemas Ward for whom Ward Circle was named.

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General in the Circle
Jerry A. McCoy, Washingtoniana Division, sshistory@yahoo.com 

Mr. Leonard is confused. That is not George Washington in “Ward Circle” at the intersection of Massachusetts and Nebraska Avenues, but Artemas Ward (1727-1800), the first commander in chief of the American revolutionary army during the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill in 1775 (George Washington did not take over until a few months later, in July).

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General of the Carnival
Jason Liechty, jliechty@mindspring.com 

As a proud 1998 graduate of American University, I can tell you with certainty that the statue in Ward Circle next to AU's campus is Artemas Ward, not George Washington, as Bill Leonard stated in the June 30 edition. (Ward is well-known on campus: AU's yearly carnival is known as Artemas Ward Weekend, and the large classroom building adjacent to the intersection is the Ward Circle Building.)

Ward, who led the Massachusetts forces against the British at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, might be a lot more famous today but for a quirk of history. Both he and George Washington were among the nominees to become commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, a position to which Washington was ultimately named by the Continental Congress. Ward became the highest-ranking soldier under Washington, and later served in both the Continental and federal Congresses. He died in 1800. If things had turned out differently, tourists might today be visiting the Wardton Monument in Wardton, DC, and wondering just why some guy named George Washington merited a statue at the top of Massachusetts Avenue.

I got details on Ward's life at the following web sites: http://www.multied.com/Bio/RevoltBIOS/WardArtemas.html and http://members.aol.com/tnsor/generals.htm

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Artemas, Not George
Ann Carper, carpera@oec.si.edu 

The outdoor sculpture at Ward Circle is not of George Washington. It represents General Artemas Ward (1727-1800), an officer in the French and Indian Wars who went on to become governor of Massachusetts. In 1775, he resigned as governor and became commander of the Massachusetts troops leading them in the siege of British-held Boston during the Revolutionary War. He was later made a major general by George Washington, but due to poor health he resigned his commission and took part in Massachusetts politics. He served in the Continental Congress and later the national Congress.

Sculpted by Leonard Crunelle (1872-1944) and dedicated November 3, 1938, the sculpture was funded in 1927 by a gift of $50,000 from a Harvard alumnus. Because the price of bronze rose so dramatically just before World War II, sufficient funds were not available to make a much larger equestrian memorial. Ward Circle was specially constructed for the sculpture. More information about the sculpture can be found at http://www.siris.si.edu. Click on “art inventories / search” and type in “Crunell, Leonard” (but without quotes) in the “Enter Keyword Terms.” The Ward sculpture is the second item.

[Wendy Stengel, wendywoowho@yahoo.com, also contributed this information, and Bill Leonard, bl43a@nih.gov, gave references to two web biographies of Ward at http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/robertkline/gen-ward.html and http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000127. Thanks to everyone for this clarification. I admit to my further confusion — I always thought that Ward Circle was named for Artemus Ward, the humorist and satirical writer, not Artemas Ward the general. — Gary Imhoff]

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Parents, Parsons, and Playing Fields
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net 

Does the future of our city depend on the current mix of DC's parents? Is DC getting further out of line with the regional playing field? Is religion getting too political at the expense of its own role in urban life? What brought the 1979 Killer Rabbit back to mind? NARPAC's answers can be found in the July update of its web site at http://www.narpac.org/INTHOM.HTM. Liven up. Be part of the solution. Get positively involved.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Baltimore/Matanzas Sister City Events
Timi Gerson, tgerson@citizen.org 

These are Baltimore events, but worth the trip if you're in DC. 1) The Baltimore-Matanzas Sister City Association, Maryland-Cuba Friendship Coalition, Howard County Friends of Latin America, and the First Unitarian Church invite you a Cuban dinner in honor of the 13th Pastors for Peace caravan to Cuba. Sunday, July 7, 7 p.m., First Unitarian Church Hall, Charles and Hamilton Streets, downtown Baltimore. $12 donation for members of above orgs, $15 non-members. Membership opportunities will be available at the door. Info: 410-366-8818, 410-381-4899.

2) The Baltimore-Matanzas SCA Summer fund raiser: A Night in Matanzas at the Latin Palace, 509 South Broadway, Fells Point. Dinner, dancing, door prizes, and mojitos. Sunday, August 11, 5:30 to 10:00 p.m. $30 per person payable in advance to Baltimore-Matanzas Sister City Association, PO Box 33231, Waverly Station, Baltimore, MD 21218. Tickets mailed with SASE. Info: 410-366-8818, 410-233-2749, http://www.baltimore-matanzas.org. This is our major summer fund raiser, so come out and support cultural, educational, and artistic exchanges between our two cities. It's People . . . Not Politics, hon.

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Happy Hour Benefit Announcement for dcbaseball.org
Erin K Barlow, BarlowE@GAO.GOV 

As a part of the Summer Happy Hour drive for dcbaseball.org -- we are having the a Happy Hour Benefit at the Rock, 717 6th Street, NW (6th and G), July 18th, 5 p.m. to whenever. Live music from the funk band DOS and The Comptroller General. Dave Walker will be attending and has donated a "lunch with the CG" as one of the raffle prizes. Other prizes include yoga membership, massage, dinner certificates and more. The Rock has also generously donated the first keg of beer.

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE

Car for Sale
Beatrice Siboni, b_siboni@hotmail.com 

1996 Ford Aspire, 5 speed, metallic blue, 43,000 miles, in great condition. Perfect student car. All maintenance records available. Only $2,500. Call 364-5809, ask for Beatrice.

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CLASSIFIEDS — SERVICES

Need Help With Your Computer Needs At Home Or In The Office?
Nick Chang, nick@embassy.org 

PC hardware/software installation and upgrades; maintenance, troubleshooting and network support; Back-up and archive your files and E-mail on CD-ROM; setup computer network for the small office; build customized database in Access or other programs; web training and web page development; Reasonable rates. Excellent references. Contact nick@embassy.org or 237-0130.

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

Lacrosse Team Wanted
Patricia Chittams, pchittams@yahoo.com 

I have a teenaged son who really, really, wants to continue playing Lacrosse. However, there are no Lacrosse teams with DCPS (not counting the one women's team at Wilson), and I know of no local team that he could play with. Does anyone know of any team he could play with? Does anyone want to start a Lacrosse Team? Any suggestions would be helpful.

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Fence Replacement
Sarah Eilers, sarah@dchome.com 

I'm looking for a fencing contractor that does good quality work to replace about 32 feet of cedar fence and a gate (so a pretty small job). The fence we currently have was put up by one of the big companies in the area and the workmanship isn't great. Can anybody recommend someone? Please respond to the E-mail address above.

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