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April 13, 2003

Sweetness and Light

Dear Music Appreciators:

In the past few days, I listened to several different versions of “Blues in the Night” that were recorded in 1942. The artists included Cab Calloway, Dinah Shore, Jimmie Lunceford, Woody Herman, and Benny Goodman's band with Peggy Lee. The first thing that occurred to me was how strong the American music scene was in the 1940's, how many good composers and lyricists and performers there were. Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer could write a good song, with a strong, memorable melody and catchy, easily understandable lyrics, and dozens of performers could record it in their own distinctive syles to appeal to their own fans and have hits records with it. And a song would last — Rosemary Clooney would release a hit record of “Blues in the Night” a decade later, in 1952; and Brook Benton would even later. No wonder record companies are complaining about failing sales of CD's. What new music is being released with this kind of appeal?

The second thing that occurred to me was the weakness of American popular music, evident in these recordings, that led in the middle 1950's to the triumph of rock and roll and rhythm and blues over the popular styles of the previous decades. All of these versions share an excessive sweetness, an almost sticky and sickly sweetness, and a light, cheerful treatment. “Blues in the Night” is a blues, and a fairly dark one. “My mama done tol' me / When I was in kneepants / My mama done tol' me, Son! / A woman'll sweet talk / And give ya the big eye / But when the sweet talkin's done / A woman's a two-face / A worrisome thing who'll leave ya t' sing the blues in the night.” But all of the versions here are upbeat, almost bouncy. Except for Peggy Lee, whose throaty treatment cuts through the Goodman band's sweetness, and who sings a trumpet-like scat bridge that is almost a wail, there's no sorrow, no depth, no rough edges.

So what does this have to do with DC? Not much, except that sweetness and light have great appeal, but eventually grow tiresome, and when you sing the blues you have to feel it.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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The Mayor’s Potemkin Village
Jim Myers, hilleast@aol.com

Early last week, I noticed workmen replacing bullet-riddled glass windows at Payne Elementary School across from my house on C Street, SE. The bullet holes had been there for eight or ten years, so I was surprised and thought, “Finally!” Later in the week, more repairmen descended on Payne in the evening. Among other things, they replaced ceiling panels in the foyer by the main entrance that had been damaged by water from a leaking roof. Neighbors are pleased when something positive happens at Payne, which like many schools in the District often lacks essentials like books and supplies. We neighbors have done a little — far too little — in securing outside funds for air conditioners or books for a functioning library. Recently, we fussed to police about the drug dealers on the corners across from Payne. Some of these guys had been operating in the neighborhood for a decade or more, going back to the era of the oldest bullet holes, and until recently, drugs deals were pretty much all you saw outside the Payne library windows — day, night, whenever. Last week, neighbors were fussing, too, because they found out that the corner takeout across from Payne, where the kids buy sodas and candy bars, was also selling crack pipes, little glass tubes with a tiny plastic flower inside.

I did not find out until late in the week that Payne was actually being fixed up for Mayor Williams' Health Summit. I was disappointed to realize that the bullet holes had not been removed for the sake of our kids but for the Mayor's visit. Nevertheless, I looked in on the summit and saw Health Department employees everywhere; they appeared to be by far the largest group at the summit. The second largest group was critics of the mayor's health program, who had a multitude of questions and points to make, but the mayor skipped out of the room when some of the critics spoke. However, members of both groups, the critics and the Health Department workers, agreed with me that actual consumers of District health services were in short supply at the summit. Most said that the event was hastily thrown together at Payne and hardly publicized in the community.

So in that respect, the summit was a bust. But Payne got a few bullet-riddled windows replaced and new ceiling tiles in the foyer. As the mayor's dark motorcade swept off into the distance, I mentioned the repairs to one of the active parents with whom I sometimes discuss the things that Payne needs. “At least they fixed the roof,” I said. She looked at me like I was crazy. No, they hadn't fixed the roof at all, just the ceiling panels that were visible. In fact, there must have been water up there from an overnight rain, because a few drops started dripping on my head as we spoke. I only wish the mayor could have experienced it.

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Lowering of Property Tax Rate for Large Apartment Buildings
Warren Gorlick, wgorlick@cftc.gov

In an earlier submission, I commented on the fact that it appears that DC's proposed assessments for large apartment buildings were much lower (as a percentage of actual market value), than for owner-occupied single family dwellings. Here is another interesting quirk in the assessment process for such buildings: the rate for residential properties that did not qualify for the homestead deduction (i.e., that are owned by someone other than the occupant of the building), was for many years $1.54 per $100 of assessed value. By contrast, the rate for owner-occupied buildings was (and remains) .96 per $100 of assessed value. But magically, the $1.54 rate has simply disappeared, and now investor-owned housing, whether single family or multifamily, also pay only the .96 tax rate that owner-occupied dwellings pay. (These tax rates are available on DC's web site: http://cfo.dc.gov/services/tax/property/rates.shtm). Doing some Internet research of stories on the Washington Post, I saw that as recently as 1997 the rate was still 1.54 for investor-owned housing, and was apparently lowered since that time. However, I could not find even one story in the Post that discussed the fact that the Council apparently decided to lower rates for owners of apartment buildings.

Of course, some will argue that it is only fair to tax investor-owned and owner-occupied housing at the same rate, and it could also be argued that renters pay the higher property taxes through higher rents. But in reality, since the lowering of the rates sometime during the past five years, rents have increased at an extremely high rate, with the only apparent limitation on rent increases being DC's rather tepid rent control laws. Nobody but the apartment owners themselves benefited by the 40 percent reduction in their tax rate, and it appears that now the DC government is trying to recoup the lost revenue by aggressively increasing assessments on owner-occupied housing. Shame on the Post for not covering this story. If anyone has details about how this decrease in the tax rate occurred, I would be most interested in finding out.

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Taxicab One Dollar Gasoline Surcharge
R. Jimmy James, shakespeare06@hotmail.com

For those of you tired of paying the Cab Commission's one dollar gasoline surcharge, when gasoline prices are falling consistently, voice your opinion to the DC Cab Commission. The Commission will be holding a vote on whether to repeal the gasoline surcharge. Send an E-mail to dctc@dc.gov.  More information is available at http://dctaxi.dc.gov/main.shtm.

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Try Looking Somewhere Else
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom

With a relatively small cut proposed for the DC school budget for the next school year, the officials in the DC school system have predictably announced that there will be layoffs of classroom teachers. That's a big joke, since the bloated bureaucracy of the school system is not in the classrooms. It is in that corps of paper pushers in the school administration who don't know how many students are in the schools or how many employees are legitimately alive and working in the system.

A 25 percent cut in administration would likely result in much more efficient and effective DC school system and free up money to employ some effective teachers for the kids in our schools. And, don't forget, it's the Teachers' Union that demands that those classroom teachers who will be let go will be those who are the brightest and best newly hired teachers.

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DC Led Nation in Internet Fraud Complaints in 2001
Gabe Goldberg, gabe@gabegold.com

I'm just the messenger. “Washington, DC led the nation last year in the rate of Internet fraud complaints, according to the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC), a Richmond-based joint venture of the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center. Nearly 40 of every 100,000 residents in DC filed complaints with the IFCC, topping Hawaii (33), Alaska (31) and Colorado (30). All told, the IFCC said that it referred 48,252 fraud complaints to federal, state and local law enforcement authorities last year, about triple the number from 2001. The total dollar loss from the cases was $54 million, up from $17 million. For the third straight year, Internet auction fraud was the most reported offense, comprising 46% of complaints. 'As online usage continues to climb, consumer education must focus not only on preventive strategies, but also on where an individual can turn for help,' said Richard Johnston, director of the National White Collar Crime Center. http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/strategy/2002_IFCCReport.pdf.”

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DC Government
Lyla Winter, mrscalabash@aol.com

Questions: Does anyone remember when the District government actually worked -- when all the agencies were run responsibly, when those appointed by the mayor were actually qualified, when greed was not the determining factor in decision-making, and was there a time when the children, in the District's care, were actually protected and safe?

Answers?

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Parachuting to Safety
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com

The bailout of key aides to mayor Tony Williams continues. There has been a continuous merry-go-round of rats leaving his ship over the last four years. In the last four years there has been no significant change in the size or shape of the bloated bureaucracy of the DC government. Instead we have had a series of scandals, some caused and created by the same aides who have managed to parachute to safety. And, now, even top aide Koskinen is leaving in September. It looks like any efforts to reform the DC government will be left to the next mayor four years from now.

The score for the Williams administration remains at bureaucracy 4, Williams 0, for his first four years in office.

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Homeland Insecurity
Matthew Forman, Matthew_C._Forman@hud.gov

[Reply to Naomi Monk, themail April 6] I am mystified by your reply to John Aravosis’ posting concerning the failure of 911. Mr. Aravosis’ posting concerned the failure of the 911 telephone system. Specifically, due to understaffing of qualified call takers, citizens who try to call 911 are often unable to get through. The Chief's misrepresentations concerning this matter are well documented on http://www.SafeStreetsDC.com, including his testimony before the City Council directly contradicting his previous statements. Your proposed solution is citizen participation in community policing? I don’t get it. Should the citizens tell their local PSA Lieutenants to make sure that the 911 call takers answer the phone?

Meanwhile, if you had watched the Council's recent oversight and budget hearings on MPD, you would have seen numerous witnesses testify how they've attempted to participate in community policing, but MPD doesn’t respond. It’s simply an insult to blame the citizens for Mud's failures. Should Cleveland Park residents conduct 24-hour surveillance to stop the rash of car break-ins in their neighborhood? No, that's what the police are for. District residents pay the highest amount per capita for policing of any major city in the US. It's about time we started getting our money's worth.

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Hatch Act Alternatives
Lars Hydle, larshydle@aol.com

On the one hand, the federal Hatch Act is another federal law that applies uniquely to DC. Moreover, it prevents tens of thousands of DC residents who are federal employees from participating fully in the political life of DC. On the other hand, the principles of the Hatch Act — preventing senior officials from taking advantage of their positions and protecting DC employees from partisan pressure — are sound. Most states, I believe, have Hatch-like acts with respect to their own employees. If DC were part of a state such as Maryland, we could be governed by their Hatch Act equivalent.

Some might suggest that we write our own Hatch Act for DC employees. But what body would enforce it? Perhaps the Board of Elections and Ethics would be the logical candidate, but the three members of the BOEE are appointed by the Mayor, with the advice and consent of the Council, for terms of only three years. After the BOEE rejected the Mayor's flawed election petitions last year, the Mayor refused or failed to renominate at least one Member. Like it or not, the federal government serves as a check or balance on the DC government. To function effectively and to forestall federal interference, we need some other checks and balances.

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Hatch Act and Nonpartisan Office
Ralston Cox, Dupont Circle, ralstoncox@earthlink.net

I agree with (most) of Gary Imhoff's statements about the protections provided government employees by the Hatch Act; as a government employee who works closely with political appointees, I can see how abuse of staff could easily slip into the system without these protections in place. Thankfully I've never had such a problem, but the Washington Post articles about the shenanigans in the Mayor's office suggests that not everyone has been as lucky as I have been.

While the protections are great, so are the hurdles it places in the way of potential candidates for public office. As Eric Gaull points out, how many people can afford to resign their jobs to run for office if they happen to work in the public sector? And it's exactly those folks who work in local government that may know what's wrong with the system and want to get elected to try to fix it. A potential solution? Make all elected offices in the Distinct nonpartisan (with the exception of the Mayor's office — recent events underscore the fact that the folks who work around the Mayor certainly need the protection of the Hatch Act!). We could get rid of these ridiculous party labels that mean virtually nothing and have primaries and general elections that actually serve as a citywide political weeding process on issues — imagine that. No more voting by party label. Folks would actually have to say what they stood for and why I should vote for them. What a concept.

And a side benefit? Does anyone think that we'd still have that foolish Harold Brazil in office if it weren't for the eccentricities of the at-large system that practically guaranteed him a seat (after Marion Barry decided not to run) just because he was a “Democrat”? Just think.

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Notes on the Hatch Act
Pleasant Mann, pleasant@chesapeake.net

As Federal worker who has tried to remain politically active under the restrictions of the Hatch Act, I wanted to add a short comment on the discussion in themail of its applicability to District workers. In the April 9 edition of themail, Eric Gaull argues that the inclusion of District workers in the Hatch Act creates a hurdle for government workers to run for office. True, but the hurdle is apparently not insurmountable, considering that the current District mayor's previous job was covered by the Hatch Act. When Mr. Gaull and Howard Croft had to make the choice between running for office and staying in the District government, they both decided that they had to leave their Hatched positions. This hurdle is created not just in the District, but for any Federal worker, including Federal school teachers, no matter where they live.

In the same edition of the mail, Bill Mosley argues that the Hatch Act is an imposition on District sovereignty, arguing that District workers should be exempted from it. Unfortunately, as long as the District's entire budget is considered to be part of the Federal budget, the District's workers will be paid by Federal funds and therefore subject to restrictions imposed on Federal workers. The Hatch Act is far down on the list on laws that have to be changed in order for the District to get its sovereignty. Both Mr. Gaull and Mr. Mosley, however, miss the main point. The Hatch Act was supposed to prevent civil servants from being pressed to work on partisan political campaigns by elected officials and their political appointees. Unfortunately, the last District election saw what can happen when the Hatch Act is totally ignored. District workers took leave from their jobs to work on the Mayor's campaign full-time. Whole offices of the District government were shut down the week prior to the election as workers were pressed to volunteer (apparently using their own annual leave) for electoral duties. The last election, where as much of the District government resources as possible were steered to the election of one incumbent, illustrates all that can go wrong if there are no restrictions on the use of civil servants for electoral activities.

If the Hatch Act is too restrictive on the electoral rights of District employees, there is nothing preventing the DC Council from passing a law outlining rules governing the electoral activities of District government workers in order to point out the protections they would have if they were exempted by the Hatch Act. However, I would not expect for the Hatch Act to disappear soon. When Anthony Williams had the choice between violating the Hatch Act or the reporting requirements of the District's Campaign Finance law, he chose the latter.

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Missing the Point
John Whiteside, johnwhiteside at earthlink dot net

Adam Eidinger, in response to my complaints about Bikes Not Bombs, completely misses my point. He says that the rides are not intended to interfere with traffic but rather to “maintain resistance to the war in Iraq.” Ignoring for a moment how incredibly vague that notion is, Eidinger is being dishonest here; the tactic to “maintain resistance” has been, quite explicitly, to interfere with rush hour — and in fact some of Eidinger's fellow riders E-mailed me to talk about why they feel it is necessary to interfere with traffic! Eidinger also complains that I referred to him as a spokesman for the group. I'm aware there is no official spokesperson, but Eidinger keeps popping up giving comments on it in news stories, so he's got the role whether it's official or not. I'll assume it's just the normal instinct of a politician to grab the microphone.

But the larger point seems to have gone over his head. I agree with Eidinger and company about a lot of things, including the war and our over-reliance on cars. That's what's so frustrating about seeing a pointless action which educates nobody, changes nobody's mind, communicates nothing to anyone (most of the news coverage has been about the impact of the events, not their purpose), alienates those of us who agree with them, hardens the viewpoints of those who don't agree, and accomplishes nothing toward any of the stated goals of the event.

I'll respect Eidinger and vote for him when I see him doing something constructive to increase investment in public transit, improve traffic enforcement so it's safe on the streets for bikes and people, protest sprawl development instead of Dupont residents, advance a citywide plan to build bike lanes, etc. That's harder work and less glamorous that riding a bike and getting some air time, but it's what will actually help accomplish the things that Bikes Not Bombs claims to want.

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Bikes Not Bombs
Nora Bawa, botanica@hotmail.com

I commend Adam Eidinger for his courageous actions and for his fine letter [themail, April 9]. Millions of DC tax dollars have been wasted on the police-state tactics of our police chief over the past few years; the lawsuits he is fighting will cost us more. It's this antidemocratic attitude that's the problem, not citizens exercising their Constitutional rights.

I had never heard of Mr. Eidinger before this controversy, but if he runs again for public office again, I'm surely voting for him. It's about time someone got out in front and put his body where his convictions are. Go, Bikes Not Bombs!

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Baseball
Thomas E. Smith, smith1965@hotmail.com

Never thought it would happen, but Blessing and Barron expressed my sentiments exactly! Let Virginia have all of that baseball foolishness, and as a bonus they can have that damn Tony Williams, too.

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April 2003 InTowner
Peter Wolff, intowner@intowner.com

This is to advise that the April 2003 on-line edition has been uploaded and may be accessed at http://www.intowner.com. Included are the lead stories, community news items and crime reports, editorials (including prior months' archived), restaurant reviews (prior months' also archived), and the text from the ever-popular "Scenes from the Past" feature. Also included are all current classified ads. The complete issue (along with prior issues back to September 2001) also is available in PDF file format by direct access from our home page at no charge simply by clicking the link provided. Here you will be able to view the entire issue as it looks in print, including the new ABC Board actions report, all photos and advertisements. The next issue will publish on May 9. The complete PDF version will be posted by early that Friday morning, following which the text of the lead stories, community news, and selected features will be uploaded shortly thereafter.

To read this month's lead stories, simply click the link on the home page to the following headlines: 1) “Logan Circle Liquor Report OK'd by ANC 2F; 'Voluntary Agreements' Seen as Key Element,” 2) “Fresh Fields Announces Deal With Developer to Join Target in Columbia Heights Project,” 3) “Derelict House Worries Neighbors; Tax Breaks for Owner Also An Issue.”

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

DC Voting Rights Day Rally, April 15
Kevin Kiger, DC Vote, kkiger@dcvote.org

5:00 p.m. on Freedom Plaza (Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th Street, NW) Sponsored by DC Vote -- http://www.dcvote.org. This year DC Vote is holding a rally to unite the community in action to end taxation without representation. The City Council will stand with Mayor Anthony Williams as he signs the permanent legislation that will make the DC presidential primaries first in the nation next January. Michelle Dollie Wright, Miss District of Columbia, USA, 2003 will serve as event emcee for the event. The Lesbian & Gay Chorus of Washington, DC, the Voices of People Choir, and poets Kenny Combs and Migna B. Taveras will provide entertainment. And you can learn about all the activities going on in the voting rights movement.

Come and raise your voices to end taxation without representation for Washington, DC, residents. Local and national civil and human rights organizations will be giving out information on this issue and about ways you can get more involved. You will also have the chance to join with Congresswoman Norton as she sends the US Treasury a strong message on an oversized check that “Taxation Without Representation is Tyranny!” Visit http://www.dcrabble.org for more information about the activity.

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Howard Dean at Woman’s National Democratic Club, April 15
Pat Bitondo, pbitondo@aol.com

Come, meet, and hear former Governor Howard Dean of Vermont on Tuesday, April 15, at 5:00 p.m. at the Woman's National Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, NW. Champagne and cheese reception, $25.00. Make reservations with Patricia Fitzgerald at 232-7363, Extension 3003, or E-mail pfitzgerald@democraticwoman.org.

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Staying Out of Trouble with the IRS, April 19
Barbara Conn, bconn@cpcug.org

Former Internal Revenue Agent Richard Chisholm will share tips on preventing IRS problems for yourself and your business and tips and techniques for responding to and resolving IRS questions and inquiries when they do arise. An overview of taxpayer rights during IRS investigations and audits will be included in the presentation as well. Gather your questions, friends, and colleagues and bring them to the Saturday, April 19, 1:00 p.m. (check-in: 12:50 p.m.), meeting of the Capital PC User Group (CPCUG) Entrepreneurs and Consultants Special Interest Group (SIG).

Meetings are free and are held each month, usually on the third Saturday, usually at the Cleveland Park Library (Second Floor Large Meeting Room) at 3310 Connecticut Avenue, NW, just a block and a half south of the Cleveland Park Metrorail station and half a block south of the Cineplex Odeon Uptown movie theater. For more information about the seminar, the speaker, CPCUG (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization), and to register for the meeting, visit http://www.cpcug.org/user/entrepreneur/403meet.html.

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David Jamieson Exhibit, April 20
Peter Stebbins, studiohouse.walbridge@verizon.net

On Easter Sunday, April 20, all are invited to a potluck community dinner from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Studio House at Walbridge with your World Grandparents, Hilda and Charlie Mason. We are celebrating the life of David Bethuel Jamieson (1963-1992) with in memoriam, a special exhibition of works from the last series produced by the artist. Selections from the series have been traveling in the past year to Unitarian churches in the communities where David lived and worked; now the works have come home. Please join us! For more information, please call 319-7656 or E-mail studiohouse.walbridge@verizon.net.

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Your Brain Is Not Ready for Da’ Jont, April 22
LaTanya D. Wright, lwright@mambosauce.com

On Tuesday, April 22, Maximum Level Entertainment and MamboSauce Entertainment will host a Premiere Party for MamboSauce's nationally syndicated TV show, “Da' Jont!” “Da' Jont!” is a half-hour variety show that features the hottest DC rising stars in music, standup, and original (Mad TV-style) sketch comedy! Our comedy sketches are DC-based.

The Premiere Party will be at the Aqua Restaurant & Nightclub located at 1818 New York Avenue, NE. Doors open at 7 p.m. The cost is $5 in advance and $10.00 at the door. Not only will the show be first broadcast at this party, there will be a $50 open mic comedy competition (the winner will also get to appear on Da' Jont), a DJ, and networking. On Thursday, April 24, the show will premiere on DCTV at 8:30 p.m. It will also premiere on MD and VA cable access channels and on the Internet at http://www.mambosauce.com.

MamboSauce was founded in 2002 by three DC natives — two from NW, one from SE — and all proud DC Public School graduates (that is something to brag about and also provides plenty of material for sketch comedy). MamboSauce also specializes in providing competitively priced telecast-quality digital video services for community access, music video, and commercial production. If you live in DC and have no clue what mambo sauce is, you ought to be ashamed! For more information or tickets, contact LaTanya at lwright@mambosauce.com or Michael at michaelray@mambosauce.com or Eric at jemitchell@mambosauce.com.

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An American Daughter at Arena Stage, April 25
Isabel Barranzuela, Arena Stage, ibarranzuela@arenastage.org

Arena Stage has been Washington, DC's, largest nonprofit producing theater for over fifty years. We are excited to be closing our season with a very witty and funny show, “An American Daughter,” from April 25 through June 1. Molly Smith directs this political comedy from Pulitzer Prize winner Wendy Wasserstein about the scandal surrounding a senator’s daughter. With press and politics playing fundamental roles, this piece is sure to speak deeply to a Washington audience. Groups of fifteen people or more get up to twenty percent discount.

For more information about “An American Daughter,” please visit http://www.arenastage.org or call 488-3300.

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Woodley Park Bicentennial House Tour, April 27
Martin Murray, calvertmartin@aol.com

Believe it or not, Woodley Park is celebrating its bicentennial! In 1803, Philip Barton Key, the uncle of Francis Scott Key, built his beautiful mansion in the woodlands between Rock Creek and Klingle valleys and called it “Woodley.” Two hundred years later, the mansion still stands in the heart of the Maret School campus, along with the community that sprang up around Woodley and took its name for its own. To commemorate the occasion, the Woodley Park Community Association is hosting a house tour on Sunday, April 27, from 1 to 5 p.m. The tour will feature a selection of elegant homes in the Old Woodley Park Historic District, and ends with a cookies and lemonade reception at the old Woodley mansion, itself a designated historic landmark.

Woodley was summer home to at least two Presidents (Van Buren and Cleveland) and possibly two more (Tyler and Buchanan), as well as Senator Francis Newlands, General George Patton, and FDR's Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, who received word of the bombing at Pearl Harbor while sitting in his study at Woodley. Featured historic district homes include two by Arthur Moses, a stately Classical Revival town home on 29th Street (a.k.a. “Moses Row”), which has been lovingly restored to its original condition, down to the working icebox, and a second on 28th Street that has been completely renovated. “Miller-built” homes include a whimsically decorated Colonial Revival on Woodley Road, and a neo-Georgian manse on 28th. Middaugh and Shannon, Woodley Park's most prolific early developer who fostered the English classical design tradition that characterizes our neighborhood, is represented, as is his early twentieth-century contemporary William Allard in a cozy 27th Street row house. The spirit of Harry Wardman, a developer whose name is synonymous with Woodley Park, can be summoned in two of his earliest Woodley Park homes designed by Albert Beers, on Garfield and Woodley Road.

The home interiors reflect the discrete tastes of their owners, from Kentucky heirlooms in one, and 17th-century French and Belgian antiques in another; an ante-bellum mantle is the showcase in a corner row house, while a lavender-tiled bathroom evokes the disco era! And don't forget to look for the original art prints by pop artists Roy Lichtenstein and Keith Haring, watercolors by Maine's Emily Muir, and the oils of Czech artist J.T. Saska! Tickets for the house tour are $15 in advance at these shops: Cathedral Pharmacy, Zoo Bar, Zoo Market 'N Deli, all at 3000 Connecticut Avenue (across from Zoo); Long and Foster (Woodley Park), Café Paradiso, The Silk Road, and Woodley Cafe, in 2600 block of Connecticut Avenue (opposite Metro); Woodley Park Guest House, 2647 Woodley Road.. On the day of the tour, tickets are $20 at the Maret School, 3000 Cathedral Avenue, NW, or the Woodley Park Guest House, 2647 Woodley Road, NW. For more information, call 667-0105, E-mail calvertmartin@aol.com, or check our web site at http://www.woodleypark.org.

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Summer Camps/Spring Arts Classes
Jonathan Darr, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, movement@starpower.net

The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop still has openings in some of its Spring adult classes. If you have thought about taking painting, printmaking, ballroom or Latin Dance, tap, yoga, sculpture or ceramics, call the Arts Workshop at 547-6839. The Summer Arts Adventure Camp for children ages 5-12 is taking registrations as well. Four two-week camps will explore Ancient Egypt, Oceania, Feudal Japan, and 20th Century Mexico. Each session ends with a public exhibit of campers' artwork, which will displayed through the first week of the following camp session. Before and after care are available as well. Call the Arts Workshop at 547-6939 for more information. Or visit http://www.chaw.org on the web.

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CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED

Painter’s Helper
D.K. Black, omb65 at excite dot com

College kid on spring break is a likely candidate. We're painting upstairs and we're looking for someone to help out. Likely to evolve into odd jobs, errands, this and that. Personal references should be available. We're in Woodley Park neighborhood. Call 703-947-1153.

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE

Antique Chest and Bakers Rack
Michelle Treistman, mtreistman@yahoo.com

Bakers rack in great condition, white with maple shelf, 67" tall, 27.5" wide, 19.5" at the deepest part of the unit. The maple shelf is 17" deep. The top of the rack is arched, and there are three metal shelves: two 8" deep shelves above the wood shelf and one 12" deep shelf at the bottom of the unit. $40 or best offer.

Antique Chest in great condition, bought at a Hagerstown antique store. 18"d x 33"w x 14.5"t. Dark wood, small, hinged brass handles on either side. The legs are 2" tall, 3" wide at the floor, and they curve out and up to the bottom of the chest were they are about 10" wide. $60 or best offer.

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR RENT

Mt. Pleasant/Columbia Heights Parking Space
Elizabeth Buchanan, elizabethabuchanan@yahoo.com

Off-street parking space for rent. Near intersection of 16th and Monroe. $75.00 per month. For more information, please call 986-2745 or E-mail elizabethabuchanan@yahoo.com.

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