Busted
Dear Crime Busters:
This is governmental oversight the way it should be done: http://www.dcwatch.com/police/040311.htm.
The city council's Committee on the Judiciary has done itself proud, and
MPD Chief Ramsey, in his profane dismissal of this investigation of how
the police handled demonstrations, demeans only himself and casts doubt
only on his own ability to lead this city's police force. Now Mayor
Williams faces the test: how will be react to this scathing assessment,
and will he act to bring about the necessary reforms that Chief Ramsey
doesn't even recognize are necessary?
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
Visiting the Spy Museum
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
A friend of mine tells me I simply must visit the new Spy Museum.
Does anyone know how to gain access to the roof of the building? I have
a rope already and just need access to a skylight.
###############
Strange Towing Behavior
John Whiteside, johnwhiteside at earthlink dot net
As I write I'm sitting at my desk by the window in the front of my
house, watching a DC tow truck putting a vehicle back into a parking
space on my street. The vehicle is an SUV with Connecticut plates, and
the tow truck just deposited it into a resident parking spot, where
later this morning it will be illegally parked if the owner doesn't move
it.
I can't imagine what this is about. Why would the city be towing cars
into parking places? Why would they be putting an out-of-state car into
a resident spot? Considering how hard it is to get illegally parked or
abandoned cars towed away, and that the city supposedly doesn't have the
resources to tow cars in tow zones out of the way at rush hour so
traffic can flow properly, this seems completely weird. Anyone have any
idea what's up?
###############
Harold’s Panic and Visual Blight
Phil Carney, philandscoop@yahoo.com
I am all for democracy and campaign posters, but Harold Brazil has
blanketed areas in Ward One with his campaign posters, seven months
before the primary and nine months before the general election. I'm
sorry he is running scared. What's next — year around permanent
campaign posters? Would councilmembers please show a little respect for
all the people who work to keep Washington a clean and beautiful city.
###############
Alpha Scholarship for DC Students
Rashid Darden, EricBenet06@verizon.net
Please click on http://scholarship.mulambda.org/
for information about an Alpha Phi Alpha scholarship. Due to a mishap in
the DC Public Schools, this scholarship was not given adequate publicity
this year. Therefore, my chapter has very few applications so far.
Please forward this E-mail to those who may know seniors in DC high
schools who are looking for cash for college! The application may be
downloaded directly from the site. Hurry! It needs to be sent by March
17!
###############
Parking Tickets Follow-Up
Tim Cline, Columbia Heights, timandann@aol.com
Faithful readers may recall that The Post and the DC
Government got into a "he said, she said" argument over
parking issues on January 2nd. The Post published that Sunday
parking rules would be in effect that Friday, but the DC DMV said it was
a regular day and wrote more than 900 of those $100 rush hour parking
tickets. Post ran a correction (which acknowledged no error on
its part) and did a follow up story. DMV refused to issue a blanket
amnesty (900 x $100 is 90 thousand bucks, after all). Ticket recipients
were left with no option but to pay or protest the ticket. For a hundred
bucks, I could afford to send a letter. So I did.
On March 11, I got a letter from Parking Adjudication that the ticket
had been dismissed. But I remain cynical. I am waiting for the next
letter telling me that I now owe $200 because I didn't pay the original
ticket.
###############
Please help my dad and me settle a minor puzzler. He and my mom,
longtime Washingtonians, maintain that Harry Truman once lived in the
Kennedy-Warren Apartments on Connecticut, next to the National Zoo,
however I cannot find any evidence to support this. We do know that the
Trumans were living at 4701 Connecticut (at the NE corner of Chesapeake)
when Roosevelt passed away in April of 1945, and Truman became
President. Did he ever live at the Kennedy-Warren?
###############
WASA Over the Years
Norma Zane Chaplain, Normazane@msn.com
In the years since 1977 when I purchased my house, I had been quite
patient with WASA. In the bad old days, fifteen or so years ago, when I
inquired about why my water bills were so high, I was told the cost was
average for four people. OK. So my tenants and I were just cleaner than
our neighbors who had told me their bills were considerably lower.
Several years later, the main water shut off valve in my house froze.
When the plumber went outside to turn off the valve on the meter, he
found there was no meter and so no way of shutting off water. WASA
promptly installed a meter and my water bills were cut almost in half. I
was happy about the new savings.
Four year ago, on an icy January day, WASA sent me a letter saying 1)
my most recent bill had not been paid (my records showed I had written a
check that had not cleared); 2) if I did not pay it within three days,
my water would be shut off; and 3) I could not mail a check nor pay by
credit card. That had been my first notice. After I slipped and slid my
way to N. Capitol Street, I told the credit counselor I had only missed
one payment in twenty-four years and that was when I was on vacation and
at a time when bills were sent irregularly and less frequently. Further,
the building is registered as an apartment house and abruptly
discontinuing water service would be harmful to innocent tenants. Then,
the coup de grace: I am a senior citizen. She said she would make a note
of that. My next bank statement showed both checks to WASA had cleared.
I was a little annoyed at the harsh collection policy, but hey, the post
office could have delayed the first check.
A few years ago our drinking water was deemed unsafe. I had traveled
in other third world countries so I started using bottled water and kept
my mouth tightly closed in the shower. My neighbors probably appreciated
not hearing me belt out naughty ditties of the 1950’s. Two and a half
years ago when all the basements on my block flooded, I wondered why
they had never been flooded at all in other heavy rains in at least the
last quarter century. Then I questioned whether WASA’s solution, a
ten-year, $1.2 billion project to build huge waste water storage pipes,
although faster, cheaper, and less disruptive than replacing our more
than century old pipes, was just briefly putting off the inevitable. But
what do I know about civil engineering? Paranoia is rarely useful. Some
of the basements on our block still continue to flood. Recently WASA
representatives said they were closing in on the problem. In the
meantime WASA recommended that we have our plumbers install back flow
preventives. Among some other problems, when back flow preventives are
operating, we cannot flush our toilets. At least the sewage would be our
own.
Last fall, I volunteered to provide samples of the water in our
building for lead testing. I kept waiting for the report. I was, by
then, becoming a little miffed. Two weeks ago, I did receive a WASA lead
report. My water was safely below the maximum EPA-permitted level. I am
having the water re-tested by another laboratory.
###############
The Department of Health has established an E-mail specifically
related to lead: leadinfo@dchealth.com.
The lead test results and the testing schedule are also now available
on-line — go to http://emergencycenter.dc.gov/eia/site/default.asp.
###############
Today, Saturday, I visited Sacred Heart at 1621 Park Road, NW, where
testing for lead and water filter were supposed to be given under
certain conditions. Mr. Gonzales, the director at the school, had no
knowledge of such a program. What happened this time?
[The lead testing and water filter distribution at Sacred Heart was
scheduled for the church on Sunday, not the school on Saturday. The city
government has done a poor job of publicizing locations and times for
testing; before last week they wouldn't announce them more than a day in
advance. Now schedules are posted from the link given above, http://emergencycenter.dc.gov/eia/site/default.asp.
— Gary Imhoff]
###############
[James Treworgy wrote in themail, March 10, “This is a problem can
be solved at an individual level with a cheap water filter or bottled
water service for homeowners.”] Please inform the rest of DC residents
what could possibly be your source for assuring that a water filter will
take care of the lead in our homes' water?
###############
Alarming Rumor (Brazil’s Amendment)
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com
[Re: Amendment to extend store hours of Class A and Class B licenses,
themail, March 10] I am not inalterably opposed to this idea, because
not all stores, neighborhoods, and demographics of consumers are created
equal, and many times I've wanted to buy a bottle of wine after 10 p.m.
(for a very late dinner, not for drinking on the corner) from either of
the stores at 5th and E. Capitol Streets or 4th and E. Capitol Streets,
and I haven't been able to do so. On the other hand, I would be
distressed if H Street stores did so, because they deal with a
completely different demographic, and the impact on the neighborhood is
completely different.
Recently, I learned that the Office of Planning classifies all city
neighborhoods as “healthy,” “transitioning,“ “emerging,” or
“distressed.” For neighborhoods that aren't fully functioning, the
proposed extension of sales hours will have negative impact. Therefore,
make the ability to extend hours dependent on more citizen input,
reflective of different needs and circumstances in particular areas of
the city. Recognize that geography and demographics makes a big
difference. For example, Rolands, a store on Pennsylvania Avenue, SE,
which has one of those chillers with ice a few feet in from the door,
full of oversize cans of malt liquor, maybe doesn't deserve the
privilege of extended hours. That store is only three blocks or so from
the neighborhood stores on East Capitol Street, but has a much
different, and likely negative impact on the community.
I think communities ought to be able to determine whether or not this
makes sense for their particular situation at a store by store level.
Brookland gives us an example, where in a recent historic preservation
matter, they actually set up a certified vote within an ANC Single
Member District to determine how citizens in the impacted area felt
about a particular issue. The citizens, not the elected officials,
decided. Set up the law so that a citizen vote in an impacted area
(along SMD boundaries) can be initiated, to determine whether or not
certain stores ought to be able to extend their hours. (The
“petitioning” stores should have to pay for the cost of holding this
vote.) Alternatively, make an extension of hours for particular stores
subject to a mandatory “voluntary” agreement on that matter only,
not as an opportunity to revisit other issues. Another suggestion would
be if stores get the privilege to sell alcoholic beverages later in the
evening, perhaps they can start selling alcoholic beverages later in the
day. In my opinion, in “transitioning,” “emerging,” and
“distressed” neighborhoods it is the sales of alcoholic beverages
during the day that have the greatest negative impact, contributing to
evident and notorious public habitual drunkenness. If that is the
behavior that most negatively impacts our communities, and I aver that
it is, then that is where we should focus change and policy
proscriptions.
###############
[Daryll Duane, themail, March 10, wrote: “The Green Relay Mail
boxes that are in our neighborhoods were once used to distribute mail to
letter carriers, but now end up being eyesores and a magnet for
graffiti.”] I just want to ask you a question. Have you ever worked
for the Postal Service as a letter carrier? I have, which makes me
wonder about your blanket statement about relay boxes. Yes, they can be
an eyesore, but if they are tagged, you simply contact the carrier
station and let the supervisor know. It will be painted. Your blanket
statement that all the relay boxes should be removed is short sighted at
best. These relay boxes enable the carriers to complete their routes in
a timely manner. Many times the entire route is not ready when the
carrier has to leave the station. Clerks then stick the rest of the
route, and it is carried out to the relay box for the carrier to
deliver.
Many times the carrier has to “bump” another route, that means
take a part of the route which is not his own, and the mail is placed in
the relay box. When you say you want to remove all the relay boxes, what
you're really saying is that you want the cost of a stamp to increase.
You can best believe that the increased man hours, gas etc., with
repeated trips to the carrier station will be passed onto us the
consumer.
What should the carrier do if his truck is broken down? How is he
going to get the mail delivered? Each route in the city is broken down
in such a way that the mail can be delivered on foot. Without the relay
boxes, this can't happen. Do you really expect the carrier to carry all
of the mail for entire route on his back? Where are the packages and
parcels to be held while the carrier walks his route? Not all carriers
have trucks to deliver their mail from. Many carriers have to walk.
###############
Bipartisan Voting Rights
Bell Clement, bellclement@msn.com
Re: Mr. Catanzaro’s question about whether Democrats and
Republicans have ever agreed that District residents should have voting
rights [themail, March 10], have a look at the early 1950’s. Newspaper
accounts from the period mention that there was support in both parties
at that time. In the period 1949-53 two or three bills were introduced
in Congress which called for District desegregation (Eisenhower in fact
included a promise to accomplish this in his first election campaign),
home rule, and voting rights. Chief DC Commissioner F. Joseph Donohue
opined publicly that home rule was close at hand. Plus ca change. . . .
###############
Bipartisan Voting Rights II
John Forster, Committee for the Capital City, johnfordc@hotmail.com
That time is now! Voting rights for DC is supported by both Democrats
and Republicans. The Democrats have the Norton and Kucinich proposals,
while the Republicans have offered three proposals by Regula,
Rohrabacher, and Davis.
The main difference is that Democrats want exclusive Senate seats for
DC, while the majority of the Republican proposals provide Senate
representation through Maryland, preferring to treat DC as a city rather
than a state.
###############
This is to advise that the March 2004 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 March 2002) 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 appears in print, including all photos and
advertisements. The next issue will publish on April 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) “'Uptown Destination District
Presented to U Street/Shaw Community”; 2) “Development Projects
Update”; 3) “Foreign Missions Act Authorizations Approving
Chancellery Use Under Fire in Sheridan/Kalorama ”; 4) “Graham
Considers Run for At-Large Council Seat in November Against Incumbent
Brazil.”
###############
Threatening to Cure DC’s Limping Public
School System with a Frontal Lobotomy
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net
It's one thing to acknowledge that many of DC's school kids aren't
learning as much as kids in other public schools. It's quite another to
make snap diagnoses of what the malady is, what's to blame, and how to
apply the remedy. It is surely possible to find some composite test
score comparisons that make it appear that DC's "student
achievement is abysmal." But it is also possible to dig a little
deeper and find that DC's worst-performing kids are only 2 to 4 percent
behind equivalent kids in equivalent settings. Then it isn't hard to
conclude that for those kids, many of the problems lie well beyond the
domain of any city's public school system and its over-committed
resources. And that, in turn, should change the direction of the raised
voices, pointed fingers, and prescriptions for cures. NARPAC summarizes
the contents of the proposals by the academics, “power brokers,” and
others at http://www.narpac.org/PER.HTM#peyr0304
and finds them short on diagnosis, long on miracle cures. NARPAC also
parses the most current National Assessment of Education Progress scores
at http://www.narpac.org/PER.HTM#penaep03
and suggests that apples-to-apples comparisons can change your views of
the problems and the solutions. We also look yet again at DCPS plans to
keep spending much more than it should on facilities at http://www.narpac.org/PEF.HTM#dcpsfp03,
Check out these alternate views and other additions to the March update
of NARPAC's web site at http://www.narpac.org/INTHOM.HTM,
and look before you leap!
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
DC School Facilities Funding Speech, March 16
Anne Sullivan, acsullivan@starpower.net
Jack Koczela, a founding member of the PROP 100% campaign, will be
the guest speaker (following PTA regular business) at Janney Elementary
School's Tuesday, March 16, PTA meeting at 7:15 p.m. (4130 Albemarle
Street, NW) The desired outcome of PROP 100 (Pledge to Rebuild Our
Public Schools 100%) is the adoption by the federal government of the
financial responsibility for their fair share of the cost for the
rebuilding and modernization of the DC Public Schools and Public Charter
Schools. The meeting is open to the public. There is no better
investment in our future than in the children of the city. Please join
in this discussion to learn how you can help in this important effort!
###############
The New Anti-Semitism, March 16
Sarah B. Rubin, sarahb@dcjcc.org
The "new anti-Semitism" is one of today’s most talked
about issues. From the cover of US News and World Report to the
pages of the New York Times, The Nation, and other news sources,
the issue of anti-Semitism in the world is one of constant debate. Join
us as Gabriel Schoenfeld, author of The Return of Anti-Semitism
(Encounter Books, December 2003) and senior editor of Commentary
magazine, explores how and why a murderous anti-Semitic rage has once
again come into being and examines its likely trajectory.
RSVP for Gabriel Schoenfeld on “The Return of Anti-Semitism,”
Tuesday, March 16, 7:00 p.m., at Washington DCJCC Kay Community Hall. $5
members, $7 nonmembers. RSVP to Sarah at sarahb@dcjcc.org
or 777-3215. Books will be available for purchase.
###############
Tuesday, March 16, 7:00 p.m., Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library,
3310 Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library. Paul K. Williams and Kelton C.
Higgins, authors of Cleveland Park, discuss their latest book and
show slides of historical sites. Williams and Higgins will document the
cultural, social and environmental evolution of Cleveland Park from a
single 998-acre farm to a modern urban residential neighborhood.
Williams is the proprietor of Kelsey and Associates, an architectural
presentation firm. Higgins is a graduate of Long Island University, an
experienced traveler and expert local researcher. A book sale and
signing of the book will follow the presentation that is provided by
Politics and Prose bookstore. Public contact: 727-1211.
Wednesday, March 17, 12:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
Library, 901 G Street, NW. Lou Issacs speaks on housing affordability,
mortgage terms, tax benefits, homeowners insurance, inspections and more
for first-time home buyers. Public contact: 727-1171. Wednesday, March
17, 7:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library. Author Edward
P. Jones reads from his highly acclaimed novel The Known World (Amistad
2003). Mr. Jones is the winner of the Pen/Hemingway Award and recipient
of the Lannan Foundation Grant. His first book, Lost in the City,
was originally published by William Morrow in 1992 and shortlisted for
the National Book Award. Mr. Jones was named a National Book Award
finalist for a second time with the publication of his debut novel The
Known World. Set in Manchester County, Virginia, twenty years before
the Civil War began, the novel weaves together the lives of freed and
enslaved blacks, whites, and Native Americans. Mr. Jones was born and
raised in Washington, DC. He was educated at Holy Cross College and the
University of Virginia. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.
Thursday, March 18, 10:30 a.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
Library, Room A-5. Excited school children will fill the Martin Luther
King, Jr., Memorial Library auditorium in anticipation of the 2004
Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital featuring five
film shorts by Australian director Nick Hilligoss. Children will
experience the environment of Australia, "The Land Down
Under," while viewing the Washington premiere of Rats, Air
Pollution and Termites and two other films Turtle World
and Lower Orders. After the films, invertebrates from the O.
Orkin Insect Zoo will be presented by Gary F. Hevel, public information
officer with the Department of Entomology at the Smithsonian Institute’s
National Museum of Natural History. The D.C. Public Library has serves
as one of the venues for the festival, allowing local school children to
be able to enjoy and learn from the films. The Capitol View and Petworth
neighborhood libraries will host a similar program later in the month.
Public contact: 727-1248.
###############
Speak Up for Your Library Training, March 20
Martha Saccocio, MarthaNS@aol.com
The DC Library Renaissance Project, in partnership with the DC Public
Library, is sponsoring a library legislative day and advocacy training
on Saturday, March 20, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Memorial Library, Room 443. MLK is located at 9th and G Streets, NW,
across from the Gallery Place Metro Stop (Red Line) or Metro Center.
Free Parking is available under the building (entrance is on 10th
Street). Participants will have an opportunity to meet with DC
councilmembers prior to the library budget hearings in April. For more
information or to register for the advocacy training, contact Martha
Saccocio, at 387-7772 or E-mail info@savedclibraries.org.
Visit our web site to learn more: http://www.savedclibraries.org.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — VOLUNTEERS
The Washington Literacy Council needs tutors to provide one-on-one
help in reading and spelling to adults in DC. New tutors are trained in
monthly sessions throughout the year. Tutors commit to a year of service
and meet for one hour each week with their students at the MLK library
or the Washington Literacy Council office in Adams Morgan. No prior
teaching/tutoring experience is needed. Find the latest training dates
and more information at our web site, http://www.washingtonliteracycouncil.org
or give us a call at 387-9029.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — GYM
Deal on One Month Pass to Results fhe Gym
Maude D. Bauschard, mbauschard@hotmail.com
One month pass to Results, the premiere Washington DC gym located at
U and 18th Streets, NW. $75 (or best offer) plus no initiation fee
required! Access to all classes and all equipment. E-mail mbauschard@hotmail.com
or call 256-2446 for more information.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
Might be worth a try: http://www.parkingticket.com/.
###############
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