Whistle Blowers Unite, Too
Dear Whistle Blowers:
I very much appreciate Sam Smith's comment on the Washington
Post's article on Madeleine Fletcher, who won a big one recently:
“Why does the Post insist on calling her a 'self-described
whistle blower.' Where does one go to get officially described as a
whistle blower?”
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
DC Health Whistle-Blower Reinstated, Wins Damages
Madeleine Fletcher, madeleinefletcher@yahoo.com
I would like to share with your readers the good news of my
settlement with the District government. See the article in the
Washington Post at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54247-2003Mar6.html.
This is also my opportunity to thank the many people who gave me
their encouragement and support, as well as those who contributed to my
legal expenses. As pledged in an earlier post to themail, I will be
matching these donations from my settlement award, and all these
contributions will make their way to the Government Accountability
Project Whistleblower Defense Alliance Fund. If anyone wants to make a
tax-deductible donation to that fund, which GAP has set up to defend
whistle blowers who lose their jobs and cannot afford legal
representation, please mail it to: Government Accountability Project,
1612 K Street, NW, #400 Washington, DC 20006. Please make checks out to
“Government Accountability Project” and specify “WB Alliance
Fund” in the memo line.
###############
Want to Help the DC Schools?
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom
There's a really neat way for individuals or groups to directly
support teachers in the DC schools. Check out the web site at http://www.meansfordreams.org.
At this site you can review proposals from teachers in the DC Public
School System who have proposed some project or initiative that will
benefit students, but for which no funding is available. Anyone can
review these proposals, which are verified by an independent volunteer
organization, and contribute to make that initiative happen. The
organization also monitors how the money is spent to assure that the
money is spent cost effectively.
This is a fine way of directly supporting good teachers who want to
improve the quality of learning in their classrooms but have no funds
from the District to do it.
###############
Women’s History Month Essay Contest
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
For the past few years DC LEARNs, the coalition of literacy
organizations in DC, has been running a citywide writing competition for
adult learns during women's history month (March). This contest
culminates with an award ceremony in room A-5, the auditorium at Martin
Luther King library. This year's award ceremony will be on Tuesday,
April 22, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. If you have time to attend, I'll
guarantee that you'll hear some interesting writing from adult learners
around the city -- celebrated as it should be at the public library. As
in past years, Washington Apple Pi computer club is donating the grand
prize, a Macintosh computer system. For many years volunteers within
this club have been refurbishing Macintosh computers and distributing
them around the city to needy churches, schools and nonprofit
organization. The number of computers WAP has distributed numbers in the
hundreds, if not thousands. If you feel that kind of work is worthy of
support, the best way you can support these volunteers is to join
Washington Apple Pi as a member. Dues are $49/year. It doesn't matter if
you don't own a Mac. The community work this club does is what is worthy
of the membership. The club's web site is at http://www.wap.org
###############
Ramsey: Mendelson Made Me Lie About 911 Probe
John Aravosis, John@SafeStreetsDC.com
During a live interview on NewsChannel 8 on March 10, DC Police Chief
Charles Ramsey blamed DC Council member Phil Mendelson for the MPD's
botched investigation of the deadly January 15 fire at 1617 21st Street,
NW. When asked why the DC Police repeatedly misled the public and the
city council about key facts surrounding the fire investigation, Chief
Ramsey said: “Well actually it's the push to get information out . . .
I understand Mr. Mendelson's frustration, but I do think that the fact
that he's pushing to get information very very quickly can sometimes
lead to information being a little less than accurate.” Just how
“less than accurate” the MPD and the Mayor have been about the 911
probe is documented here by Council member Kathy Patterson: http://www.safestreetsdc.com/subpages/911timeline.html.
Watch a video of Chief Ramsey being asked this question on
NewsChannel 8, and the first part of Ramsey's answer: http://www.safestreetsdc.com/graphics/ramseych8/question.avi.
Watch Chief Ramsey blame council member Mendelson by name: http://www.safestreetsdc.com/graphics/ramseych8/blame.avi.
###############
More Goodies for St. Coletta
Jim Myers, hilleast@aol.com
The new twists in the great giveaway of DC General Hospital land
continue. Now, in announcing a March 5 finding that the $21 million
tax-subsidized St. Coletta school project will have “no significant
impact on the human environment,” the DC Department of Housing and
Community Development has apparently: 1) quietly expanded the land
giveaway from 4 to 6 acres and 2) cleared the way for St. Coletta to
receive its $2 million in congressionally earmarked HUD building grant
funds for the project. These maneuvers come on the heels of revelations
last week that the much touted "transfer" of the rest of the
land to the District was largely semantic finagling. The federal
government title retains title and bottom-line control over the property
and severely limits its use. The St. Coletta buildings (up to 110, 000
square feet) with additional large parking lots will cover open land
that now absorbs at least some of the water run-off polluting the
Anacostia River.
[The Finding of No Significant Impact is available at http://www.dcwatch.com/issues/res13-030305.htm.
— Gary Imhoff]
###############
We got what we usually get — shafted! The planning process was
predetermined. As many of us know who were involved as members of the
public, we saw St. Coletta's placed on the Reservation 13 map without
comment. We saw the hospital left on the map as a big question mark. We
saw a Government Village placed on the map so that every DC agency that
can't survive in a commercial building will be placed, sorry, dumped on
Reservation 13. When questions were raised about these issues, we got
obfuscation, specifically from Andrew Altman at an ANC 6B meeting, from
Sharon Ambrose at the “community planning” sessions, and from the
City Council when they went along with this plan without real
consideration.
What the citizens said they wanted: lots of green space, a community
center (ala PG County Sportsplex), and a full service hospital. These
were the three main desires at every “community planning” meeting.
Several groups of citizens FOIA'd various agencies of the DC government,
and what we found out only made us more suspicious of the DC government.
I worked on St. Coletta's FOIA and found out that Councilmember Ambrose
and Andrew Altman were involved in meetings held at Harps & Scallan,
Inc., to plan the St. C land grab at the same time that they were saying
at community meetings that they knew nothing about the St. C sweet deal.
The FOIA process provided the citizens with copies of the meeting
memorandums where each invitee was noted and whether or not they
attended.
At those meetings, there was no discussion of what DC would get if we
transferred a prime parcel of real estate to a nonprofit for free. St.
C's says that we get to keep in DC those kids who are presently sent to
VA for schooling. Although that is great for DC in some ways, it does
nothing to solve the long term issue for DC. Additionally, St. C will
only take a total of 200 special ed kids; that is a drop in the bucket.
DC needs a long-term solution to the special ed problem, and St. C
provides no realistic options. St. C remains a pet project for some in
the city government. This is just another example of our government not
only ignoring a serious problem, but adding to the problem. Some of us
have asked the DC government why we can't have a DC public school
located on Reservation 13 that would exclusively serve the needs of
special ed kids. The school would be able to take far more than just 200
kids, and all of the kids would be from DC. St. C takes kids from all
jurisdictions that pay them. But this is just a thought from a citizen
who took the time to contribute to the “community planning” process
with the hopes that we could actually use the site to do something good
for the community.
###############
About Our Local Government and National Representation
Michelle Treistman, mtreistman@yahoo.com
I admit that I am still not conversant in the legal issues and
constitutional arguments surrounding DC statehood and substantial versus
shadow DC senators/representatives, despite the detailed postings in
this publication over the years. However, another option occurred to me
this weekend. If this is not an original idea, I apologize for missing
it the first time. My idea is to give DC residents the power to elect
members to the Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government
Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, and the
House Subcommittee on the District of Columbia. Perhaps congressional
law will be easier to change than the Constitution.
If you think I have my head in the clouds or know nothing about the
US Congress, please do not waste your time replying to this forum to
lambaste my naivete. This is just an idea I thought I would share, not
an attempt to start a movement.
###############
Emergency Preparedness
Neil Richardson, ananda001@aol.com
In late February, people on Ingleside Terrace in Mt. Pleasant got
together to talk about emergency preparation. Our meeting was not in any
way connected to taking a position regarding events in the Middle East,
except that we all hoped that conflict could be avoided. That said, the
focus of our meeting was to provide us with an opportunity to renew and
make connections with neighbors we either didn't know or didn't know
well and to talk about planning for the unexpected. The subject our talk
centered around three contexts: 1) information exchange (we created a
neighborhood network, identified a safe house and central contact
person), 2) travel routes into/out of the District (car, bike, walking
and mass transit), and 3) supplies (food, medicine, water, batteries
etc.).
The District has an emergency preparation site (http://dcema.dc.gov)
that provides many details regarding how to prepare. The city is also
going into each ward to present information and allow for people to ask
questions to senior leaders who will be in the decision making process.
Anyhow, we urge other streets and neighborhoods to form similar groups.
The first responder in any emergency might be you! If you have questions
about how to do something like this call me, Neil Richardson, 518-9574,
or ananda001@aol.com.
###############
The Bitter Tears of themail
John Whiteside, johnwhiteside at earthlink dot net
Sometimes when I read themail I wonder what city our editor lives in,
because it's not the DC that I know. The city is over-enforces traffic
laws? If only. There is no real traffic enforcement here, which is why
no one stops at red lights, trying to walk around the city is a brush
with death, downtown is extra congested at rush hour because the no
parking rules in rush hour traffic lanes are not enforced, bans on
trucks on small residential streets like mine are not enforced, people
speed at 50 mph down one-lane streets, etc. Our property assessments are
extortion? Our tax rate is lower than many suburban jurisdictions, and
most of the complaints I've heard about new assessments are just
complaints that they went up along with property values, not any real
disagreement with whether they are accurate. (Yes — and some people
have legitimate complaints about out of line assessments, and should be
appealing.) Of course, the exact same thing is happening in every
jurisdiction in the metro area, so it must be some plot in which the DC
government is colluding with every local government.
Not to make light of the very real problems that exist in our city,
but sometimes, things are not wrong because of an evil plot. And when
the complaints are that the city is actually enforcing laws, it's rather
difficult to take anything the complainer says seriously. Even harder
when the city is clearly not enforcing laws, to the detriment of the
quality of life of its residents.
###############
While I don't disagree with [Gary Imhoff] on [his] view of the
economics of cronyism or [his] assessment of the tax and spend mistakes,
be careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water. Driving in DC
is notorious for its scofflaws. Drivers speed up for light changes and
don't stop before right turn. I've even seen left turn on red into a two
way street. When I was policing, I tried to explain to speeders in the
District that to save any significant time from point A to point B they
would have to drive over 100 mph. At 20 or 30 mph over the speed limit
it hardly seemed worth it for a three or four minute saving. Rushing
through a light that was turning red only to stop a few blocks up seemed
to be tempting fate. If anything, I don't think MPD puts enough emphasis
on traffic enforcement. It saves lives and a lot of anguish.
[My disagreement with John and Ron isn't over whether traffic laws
should be enforced. The problem is that the Metropolitan Police
Department's enforcement of traffic laws is mostly limited to the
money-raising side — issuing tickets to parked cars and cars caught by
red-light cameras. Combating reckless driving and directing traffic in
crowded downtown areas during rush hours are expensive, and they aren't
a high priority. — Gary Imhoff]
###############
Property Taxes and Congressional Control
Michael Bindner, mbindnerdc at aol
Many readers of themail have gotten sticker shock about their tax
bills. This will make them even hotter. The taxes that are being
collected are not only too high, they are also illegitimate, since they
mostly finance the payment of a general obligation debt contracted by a
federal appropriation passed without their ultimate say. Not only that,
but much of the debt (and our infrastructure deficit) reflects the fact
that DC was using capital money to fund current operations so as to
cover the accumulation of pension assets for the retirement of police,
firefighters and teachers who had paid into the civil service retirement
system. In 1979, when this obligation was transferred to the District
these payments were retained by the feds. When the pension obligation
for these retirees was returned to the feds, DC transferred $2.2 Billion
in pension assets to the feds (which Clinton later sold to balance the
budget). If I were a property taxpayer I would be upset. Here is a
letter I suggest they send to CFO Natwar Gandhi and Mayor Williams with
a copy of their tax payment or request for hearing:
"I am a tenant in the District of Columbia whose rent finances
the property tax payment of my landlord. This day a property tax payment
was made using the proceeds of this rent under my personal protest under
my first amendment right to petition my government for a redress of
grievances. I make this protest for the following reasons: 1) As long as
the ultimate authority to pass the District budget rests with the
Congress, the collection of property taxes under this budget is
illegitimate. 2) The federal government imposed $3.8 billion in federal
pension costs upon DC taxpayers from 1979 through 1997 and has not
reimbursed these costs upon retrieving its assumption of this liability
in the future. 3) The Congress has amended the Home Rule Charter
removing the full faith and credit of the United States from the
District's debt without the consent of the District's voters.
“These conditions are intolerable and, as such, I state that
neither I nor my landlord has any moral obligation for the General
Obligation Debt or the Accumulated Deficit of the District of Columbia.
Please forward copies of this letter to the Mayor and to Congress.
Please inform those who would invest in such a debt of my protest and
that of my neighbors.”
###############
Property Tax Assessment
Ed Lazere, DC Fiscal Policy Institute, lazere@dcfpi@org
Like most DC homeowners, the jump in my property tax assessment (57
percent) came as a bit of a shock. While I am not excited about the
prospect of paying more property tax, there are a few things I think we
should keep in mind. 1) Assessments are rising because market values are
rising. Our wealth has grown, even if we cannot take full advantage of
that equity right now. 2) Assessments also are rising because DC is
trying to address a history of under-assessments. Until this year, my
assessment was ten percent lower than what we paid for our house a
decade ago. Even now, I think my assessment is less than what my house
is worth. 3) DC has the lowest property tax rate in the metro area. DC
homeowners also get $30,000 knocked off their assessment from the
homestead deduction. Our Maryland and Virginia neighbors get no such
deduction. The property tax on a DC home worth $300,000 is about
one-third lower than the tax on a similar home in Fairfax County or
Montgomery County. 4) Speaking of the suburbs, their assessments are
rising dramatically, too. 5) DC has very generous tax relief for senior
citizens. Elderly residents with incomes up to $100,000 get a 50 percent
cut in their tax bill. 6) Finally, you should know that no matter how
much your assessment has increased, your tax bill will grow no more than
25 percent a year. This cap was passed by the DC Council two years ago.
While I think the cap is reasonable in concept, I am bothered by its
unfair results. Nearly all DC homeowners in the wealthy neighborhoods
such as Georgetown are benefiting from the cap, which means the tax they
pay does not reflect the full value of their home. By contrast, very few
homeowners in less affluent neighborhoods such as Anacostia are
benefiting from the cap, which means they are paying tax on the full
value of their home. Over half of the tax relief provided by the cap is
going to homes worth more than $500,000, even though they represent just
eight percent of DC homes. See http://www.dcfpi.org/1-22-03tax.htm
for more information. If property values continue to rise, I favor
lowering the tax rate so that all homeowners will benefit.
###############
Woe Is Me! Assessment Whining
Taylor T. Simmons, ttsimmons@aol.com
Heavens! Our assessments have gone up! Whatever shall we do? It must
be a conspiracy, let's file suit! The Woe-Is-Me Folks have been doing a
lot of moaning about increased property tax assessments. In fact,
despite everything we complain about in themail, houses in this city are
worth a lot more now than they were just two years ago. See the March 4 Washington
Post article: “Price Pace On Homes Slows, Gains at 5-Year Low In
Fourth Quarter” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36962-2003Mar3.html.
(Misleading title ignores DC-proper's second-highest-in-nation annual
increase.)
From my experience with four properties in the city that members of
my family own, assessments still haven't completely caught up to the hot
real estate market of the past few years. To see this, compare the
assessed values with recent sale prices in your neighborhood at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/realestate/.
In general, our houses are worth a ton more than they were just a few
years ago. (Hooray!) Here's my advice for people with houses now worth
$500,000 and up who are complaining about a phased (25 percent annual
cap) increase in property tax of a couple thousand bucks: 1) verify
assessment by comparing recent sale prices in your neighborhood; 2)
appeal assessment if comps don't justify it; 3) refinance your mortgage
at today's record low rates; 4) borrow up to 80 percent of your home's
new high value, pay off your old mortgage, and receive somewhere between
$50,000 and $150,000 “cash out” at your settlement; 5) watch your
monthly payment stay the same or even drop; 6) pay your property tax; 7)
save, invest, spend your cash as you see fit; 8) stop whining. (Or to be
conservative, refinance only your current mortgage balance and receive
no cash, but owe no more on house. Pay property tax with money saved
from a few months of reduced mortgage payments.)
###############
The real problem is that there is a concentration of poor people in
urban areas like DC, So you pay a Poverty Tax! The truly rich, of
course, always have the means to legally or illegally avoid taxes;
therefore, the tax burden in DC falls on the so called middle class.
There are only two fundamental solutions to this problem. The first
(short term solution) is regionalized government and taxation. The
second (long term solution) is to deal with the causes of the poverty.
Unfortunately, both of these solutions will require a fundamental
reassessment of the reality and goals of American society -- and there
is currently no viable constituency for this. Therefore, my advice:
rearrange the deck chairs, enjoy the music, and make your peace with
your Maker! (If you are so inclined, of course.)
###############
Klingle -- A Nice Short Cut
John Campbell, jcampbell at geofinity dot com
We live in one of six houses overlooking the lower end of the closed
portion of the former Klingle Road. When we moved there in 1989, the
road was still open and we enjoyed the short cut to the Cathedral or to
Georgetown. All motorists love a short cut. And that's all Klingle Road
ever was — an Indian path, a wagon trail and, over much of the 20th
Century, a short cut for motorists. The road was washed out or otherwise
out of commission a lot. Even when it was open to traffic and fully in
use, the road was very lightly used. Official estimates are that the
road carried 3,000 vehicles a day. That’s 1,500 automobiles in round
trips, not exactly reflective of a major urban artery. The estimates
further say 80 percent of those were non-District residents, almost all
from Maryland.
My anecdotal estimate is that it was closer to 90 per cent, plus
taxicabs. And the 90 percent were virtually all Maryland commuters who,
we must remember, pay no commuter tax because the District — unlikely
most states -- is not allowed to levy one. So that section of Klingle
was primarily a short cut early in the morning and late in the day for
commuters — mostly from Maryland. Does anyone really think if there
had been no Klingle Road over the 6/10ths' mile closed section during
previous centuries that anyone in the District of Columbia today would
seriously propose such a route be built? Very expensive to construct and
maintain, dangerous, environmentally abusive, a speedway with three
sharp turns and a vertical drop of 190 feet through a forested and
uninhabited stream valley? Of course not.
It doesn’t make sense today to repave a short cut from one part of
Ward 3 to another part of Ward 3. This land should remain a park,
available for non-motorized recreational use and emergency vehicles only
— and road money should be spent in other areas of the city where it
is sorely needed.
###############
At this point, more people in DC probably know more about Klingle
Road than any other road repair project in city history. We've been
studying this project for over a decade. With so much information
available, there is no reason for anyone to be misinformed. Klingle Road
already has had several environmental studies. The EPA studied the
Klingle stream in 1988, just before the road's temporary closure. The
National Park Service conducted an Environmental Assessment (EA) as part
of their approval of DPW's 1991 reconstruction plan. The second EA was
done in 2000 by DDOT and the Berger Group. That study cost taxpayers
about $250,000.00. The Fisheries Research Branch also studied the stream
in 2000. None of the environmental studies has found a reason to ban
traffic on Klingle Road, yet the Mayor's budget has even more money
earmarked for ever more environmental studies of Klingle Road. That's a
lot of studying.
In addition, at least four traffic studies have been done on Klingle
Road. Every traffic study shows that the Porter and Connecticut
intersection has degraded to unacceptably poor levels of service as a
result of closing Klingle Road. The Council will decide between two
plans for Klingle Road, one submitted by the Mayor, the other submitted
by six members of the Council. Under both plans, Klingle Road will be
restored and the environmental degradation will be addressed. Both plans
provide emergency vehicle access to Klingle Road. Both plans preserve
the Klingle stream and its habitat. Both plans enhance recreation in the
valley.
Also, both plans recognize the east-west traffic problem, but only
the Council's plan addresses the issue head on. The Mayor plans to
restore Klingle Road with public funds, but ban the public from using
their road, and then do another traffic study to see how we can fix the
problems at Porter and Connecticut. The Council's more direct approach
is to alleviate traffic problems by restoring Klingle Road to its
dedicated and historic function and let the public drive on it. Which
approach makes more sense to you, the one by which the public gets to
use the road they pay for, or the one where they don't? For me, if the
city takes money out of my pocket to rebuild Klingle, I'd like to be
able to use the road, not just look at it.
###############
To Klingle Minded People
Taylor T. Simmons, ttsimmons@aol.com
As a DC citizen, taxpayer, driver, and cyclist with no official
standing in this debate (but genuine interest in progress), I wish to
reiterate part of a compromise proposal originally voiced by Mount
Pleasant ANC representative Jack McCay last November. Although the road
used to be open to vehicle traffic seven days a week, Mr. McCay proposed
that a reopened Klingle Road be closed to cars on the weekends, just
like Beach Drive.
As a driver who sorely misses this trusty Connecticut Avenue bypass
in Cleveland Park, I would be thrilled to have Klingle Road reopened on
weekdays. And as a "weekend warrior" cyclist, I would be
equally thrilled to have a bikes-only connector to the Rock Creek bike
path on the weekends. The one outcome that I would view as disastrous
would be for each side to maintain an all-or-nothing stance, allowing
the stalemate to continue and thus allowing the road to remain useless
for all. Please help make Klingle Road useful again.
###############
Brookville Market Boycott Ended
Olivia Hilton, oliviahilton at hotmail dot com
Lee Jackson and I may not agree on anything else, but we certainly
agree on one thing: that Brookville Market should get our business. It's
an asset to the Cleveland Park community. Owner Mike Shirazi (Mr.
Jackson spelled Mike's name incorrectly in his posting) has been trying
to get his name, his quote, and his store's name removed from the Roadie
web site's list of endorsements for months, to no avail. When he finally
insisted and persevered, he was rewarded with diatribes such as Mr.
Jackson's and an even more prominent disclaimer mention on the Roadies'
web site. Businesses like Mike's with numerous customers on both sides
of a contentious issue usually don't take one side or the other. The
Roadies fooled Mike into endorsing their side by telling him that
Klingle Valley was an issue between the neighborhood and the government.
When he realized it was a much more complex issue with environmental as
well as business consequences, he tried for months to get his own name
and endorsement quote removed. Finally, the roadies removed his name and
quote, but left the name of Brookville Market on their web site. After
repeatedly asking again, he was finally successful last week in getting
Brookville's name removed from the list. Yet now the Roadies have posted
a disclaimer on their web site and supporters such as Mr. Jackson are
continuing to distort the facts. Now that Mike's repeated efforts to
remove his own name, his quote, and his store's name from the Roadie web
site have largely been successful, I look forward to returning to
Brookville to shop for my household of five (six if you count a hungry
dog). Many other pro-Valley supporters who had been taking their
business elsewhere are now returning to Brookville. This situation never
would have happened if the Roadies hadn't presented this businessman
with inaccurate information and then stalled for months when he asked to
be disassociated from their organization.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
DC Board of Education Meeting, March 13
Elena Temple, elena.temple@k12.dc.us
The District of Columbia Board of Education members invite District
residents to join them for a community meeting in District One (Wards 1
and 2). Thursday, March 13 (rescheduled from February 18 due to snow),
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Cardozo Senior High School, 1300 Clifton Street,
NW. Board members see this as a prime opportunity for the community to
contribute to the reform of DCPS. Administrative officials will also be
on hand to answer questions about the DCPS FY 2004 Budget in preparation
for the City Council's budget hearing scheduled for March 25.
Other District Meetings are scheduled as follows: District Two (Wards
3 and 4), Wednesday, April 9, Coolidge SHS; District Four (Wards 7 and
8), Wednesday, May 28, Ballou Senior High School. Please contact Elena
Temple at elena.temple@k12.dc.us
or 442-5190 with questions.
###############
Wartime at Walbridge, a project at Studio House at Walbridge,
presents 3-D before the War, American landscapes and cityscapes
projected by Philip Kohn and Rick Piel. Mount Pleasant bands Los
Hermanos Rodriguez and FLINCH! will be screaming and raging in the
basement loud and fast as Phil and Rick share their slides on Saturday,
March 15, from 9:00 p.m. For more information please call 319-7656 or
E-mail studiohouse.walbridge@verizon.net.
###############
CHIME Presents Scottish Fiddler John Ward, March 15
Dorothy Marschak, chime-dc@erols.com
CHIME’s next program in its Music Around the World series of
twenty-two free presentations at eleven DC Libraries is on Scottish
fiddle music, with award-winning Scottish fiddler John Ward. Mr. Ward
will play and explore the origin and history of Scottish fiddle music
and its spread to Ireland and North America, where it became root music
for American traditional music. He performs throughout the East Coast
and in Scotland. He is President of the Potomac Valley Scottish Fiddle
Club, and supports his fiddle habit as a Public Defender in the Juvenile
Court of Prince George’s County. The program will be at Lamond Riggs
Library, 5401 South Dakota Avenue, NE, on Saturday, March 15, at 2 p.m.
For more information, call the library at 541-6255.
Next week, French music for winds, with Vientos Alegres, Cleveland
Park Library, Connecticut Avenue and Macomb Street, NW, March 22, 2 p.m.
For a complete schedule of our library programs and information about
our other activities, visit our web site at http://www.chime-dc.org.
We are a volunteer organization to promote and provide music education
for DC youth, and welcome volunteers and donations. You can also reach
us at info@chime-dc.org or at
232-2731.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED
Nanny
Anna Marie Wrin and Ernest Yombo, amwyombo@aol.com
We are looking for a full-time live-out nanny to care for our infant
daughter beginning mid-April. Experience and local references required.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — PETS
My cat needs a new home! Because of a recent move, I need to find a
good home for one of my cats, Chelsea. Chelsea is a very affectionate
older female who needs to be in a loving one-cat household. If anyone
would like further details, please contact me at kpjarboe@erols.com
or call 547-7064.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — VOLUNTEERS
Come make a difference at The Fishing School. The Fishing School is a
faith-based, after-school family and child support center that provides
a safe haven, intervention, and education for vulnerable children and
youth. We are inspired by the adage, “If you give a man a fish, you
will feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will feed himself
for a lifetime.” Through a variety of programs and services, we help
children develop into independent, productive, and contributing members
of society. Education is the foundation of all Fishing School programs
and our After School Program and Summer Enrichment Program are the
cornerstone of our mission. The After School Program operates
Monday-Friday, 3:30-7:00 p.m., from September through June.
Right now, The Fishing School is seeking tutors, mentors, chaperones,
and guest speakers for our after school and Saturday programs. We are
also seeking groups to help us with painting and maintenance projects
and special events. The hours are flexible and all you need is the
ability to work with children and a positive attitude. If you are
interested, please call Faye Brown at 399-3618 and/or take a look at our
web site, http://www.fishingschool.org.
We look forward to hearing from you!
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
Does anyone know where I could get a couple of small pick up loads of
nice garden soil? Call George Ripley, 986-5977.
###############
themail@dcwatch is an E-mail discussion forum that is published every
Wednesday and Sunday. To subscribe, to change E-mail addresses, or to
switch between HTML and plain text versions of themail, use the
subscription form at http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/subscribe.htm.
To unsubscribe, send an E-mail message to themail@dcwatch.com
with “unsubscribe” in the subject line. Archives of past messages
are available at http://www.dcwatch.com/themail.
All postings should also be submitted to themail@dcwatch.com,
and should be about life, government, or politics in the District of
Columbia in one way or another. All postings must be signed in order to
be printed, and messages should be reasonably short — one or two brief
paragraphs would be ideal — so that as many messages as possible can
be put into each mailing.
