Denominating
Dear Denominators:
Julie Eisenhardt writes below about the financial woes of The
Common Denominator. This newspaper is a great asset to our
neighborhoods and, as Julie writes, it breaks many important local
political stories that other media don’t cover. However, its greatest
failure is that it hasn’t been able to develop a solid, reliable
advertiser base among Washington businesses. It needs the support of
both major and small advertisers to become the commercial success that
it deserves to be, or even just to continue publishing. If you have any
influence with local businesses or with advertising agencies, suggest
that they place some of their advertising there. And if you’re with
one of the advertising rich outlets in DC — the Post, the City
Paper, the Current papers, any of the television stations —
be generous and suggest to your advertisers that The Common
Denominator would be a good place to spend just a small fraction of
their advertising budgets. Keeping the paper publishing isn’t charity;
it’s self-interest, our city’s self-interest.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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The Common Denominator, http://www.thecommondenominator.com/,
DC’s independent hometown newspaper, is about to cease publication due
to low funds. This would be a great loss to our neighborhoods — the CD
was the paper that wrote about WalMart coming to town two months before
the Post picked it up; it’s the paper that actually covers our
high school sports teams in the city; and it’s the only paper that
does investigative stories about the DC government that the Post
wouldn’t touch.
Please, help save our local independent paper! What can you do? 1)
Subscribe! For $12 you can do your part to keep the CD alive. Visit http://www.thecommondenominator.com/subscribe.html.
2) Place an ad for your issue, campaign, business, item for sale,
announcement. Go to http://www.thecommondenominator.com/advertising.html.
3) Forward this message to your friends, neighbors, and coworkers. For
more about CD’s current status, read http://www.thecommondenominator.com/101804_edit.html.
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As a new DC resident, I’m very disappointed in the lack of
opportunities to hear the candidates for school board discuss their
views. It is only at this late date that I now see there is a candidate
forum tonight which I will not be able to attend.
At an ANC2B meeting earlier this year I received a very poor answer
from Harold Brazil about the disastrous record of city officials at all
levels in moving the school system forward to support students. One
comment cited the need for parents to become involved. This ignores the
many households that have no children but see the future of our city as
intimately related to the success of our schools. It also overlooks
older citizens who want to see their legacy be a school system that
makes for a better city and world.
While the Human Needs voters guide offers much needed help, I would
be most comfortable casting my ballot after seeing and hearing the
school board candidates in person. I guess that I am spoiled having
lived in a suburban country (Howard) where by this time of year
candidate forums would be commonplace around the area.
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From October 14-24, Mayor Williams and five members of the City
Council (Jack Evans, Sharon Ambrose, Harold Brazil, David Catania, and
Vincent Orange) are on a junket to Beijing, Shanghai, and Bangkok. They
are part of a 28-person delegation that includes spouses, a girlfriend,
government officials (the Director of the Department of Housing and
Community Development, the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Asian and
Pacific Islander Affairs, the Secretary of the District, and the
Secretary of the Council), the mayor’s personal photographer, two
cameramen from the Office of Cable Television, the President of the
Washington Convention and Tourism Corporation, and Asian businessmen
from the Washington metropolitan area. The stated purpose of the trip is
“the furtherance of two Sister City agreements between the District of
Columbia and Beijing and Bangkok, respectively. In addition, the mission
will work to further the city’s economic development efforts.”
However, at his press conference on October 6, Mayor Williams was unable
to detail any specific, concrete goals for or expected results from the
trip. Once in China, the best excuse that the Mayor could come up with
for the taxpayer-paid vacation was that the sightseeing he had done had
impressed him with Beijing’s efforts to promote itself as a tourist
destination (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43394-2004Oct18.html?sub=AR).
The total cost of the trip is not yet known, although the partial
budget released by the mayor’s office so far totals $89,309. The city
did purchase business class airplane tickets costing $5646 apiece, more
than five times what any thrifty traveler spending his own money would
pay for airline tickets for the same route. Some trip expenses will be
paid by contributions that Sherryl Newman, the Secretary of the
District, solicited from the private sector. (In the wake of past
controversies regarding soliciting funds, the Williams Administration
has frequently said that all private fundraising for its activities will
be overseen by the Office of Partnerships and Grants Development headed
by Lafayette Barnes, but that office denies that it had any role in
raising money for the China trip.) The contributions received to date
came from five Chinese-DC businessmen (Tony Cheng, $3000; Lin Chan,
$2000; Xiang Rong Zhang, $5000; Alfred Lui, $5000; and Thomas Weng,
$5000); from American Promotional Events, Inc., also known as TNT
Fireworks, $5000; and from two law firms, Squire, Sanders, and Dempsey,
$1000; and Harmon, Wilmot and Brown, $25000. The most notable
contribution is the biggest one, $25,000 from a law firm that doesn’t
do any business with Asia or the Asian American community, but is headed
by prominent lobbyist and influence peddler David Wilmot. Wilmot is on
the board of the National Children’s Museum and Independence Federal
Savings Bank, and over the past few years he has been a registered
lobbyist with the city for, among many others, Fannie Mae, PEPCO, the
Hotel Association, Comcast, AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless,
WorldCom (MCI), Georgetown University, Anheuser Busch, and the DC
Association of Health Maintenance Organizations.
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As of Wednesday, October 20, a few more blocks of downtown parking
spaces have been lost to the public because they are adjacent to a
federal office building. This time it’s the sections of 3rd, 4th, and
D Streets, SW, that border the State Department’s Switzer Building,
where VOA is housed. All of the parking meters on those blocks are now
covered with hoods that read No Parking - Security. As we’ve come to
expect, there was no advance notice of this action, though presumably
DDOT had to have been involved. How soon before the entire downtown area
is off limits?
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Have Homes Versus Displaced
Ed Dixon, Georgetown Reservoir, jedxn@erols.com
Recently in themail, there has been some criticism of the DC Fiscal
Policy Institute’s stand on the growing disparity between the have and
the have nots in the District, particularly in regards to housing,
property tax, and the homestead deduction. However, the DCFPI does not
stand alone in its analysis of the growing income disparity in the
District. Fannie Mae and the Urban Institute, along with other
governmental and non-governmental institutions, have all arrived at
similar conclusions. The fact that an unbridled real estate market has
caused thousands of displaced to seek shelter in low income areas is
documented by Fannie Mae in last year’s Housing in the Nation’s
Capitol report (http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/publications/reports/hnc/2003/hnc2003.shtml).
“Despite the prosperity enjoyed by the Washington metro area during
the 1990s, concentrated poverty deepened in the District. The number of
high-poverty census tracts in the city rose from 36 in 1990 to 43 in
2000, and the number of extreme-poverty tracts more than doubled, rising
from 10 to 23” and “the evidence suggests that the tracts with
rising poverty rates were simultaneously losing non-poor residents and
gaining poor residents.” The appendix to this report provides
spreadsheets drawn from Census data particular to this region.
This summer, the Urban Institute’s An Equitable Housing Strategy
for the District of Columbia report (http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/311020_housing_DC.pdf)
stated, “The District of Columbia needs to attract and retain more
residents at moderate- and middle-income levels in order to fully regain
its fiscal, social, and economic stability. . . . DC has a relatively
limited stock of homes in the $100,000-$300,000 range, giving households
earning roughly $40,000 to $120,000 fewer options in the city than in
the surrounding counties. Homes that are available in this price range
tend to be located in neighborhoods that lack desirable services and
amenities, making them less attractive for middle-income buyers.” And,
“the number of census tracts in the District of Columbia with high
poverty rates climbed from 36 in 1990 to 43 in 2000, despite the city’s
overall prosperity.”
Back in 2001, a mayoral news release confirmed that
“displacement” existed in the city (http://dc.gov/mayor/news/release.asp?id=211&mon=200107&archive=1).
More recently, in August 2004, the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington
was providing “displacement” counseling (http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/states/district.txt).
Ironically, whether or not folks want to come to terms with extreme
income and housing inequality in the District, there is more than one
witness that says it exists and it is extreme.
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“The D.C. council is expected to hold its one and only hearing on
the stadium plan on Thursday, October 28, with the first of two required
votes to follow on November 9” (http://www.fieldofschemes.com/news/archives/000859.html).
One public hearing? This blatant skirting of the long-promised public
process must be zeroed in on repeatedly at that “hearing” and in all
future protests against this strong-arming “process,” as this “one
time only” setup precludes any accountability and followup/feedback on
this plan — one of the biggest in city history and certainly the
biggest being built to the benefit of a private concern — whose
details still haven’t been discussed in a thorough manner publicly and
whose supporters have not been directly questioned on the details of the
plan. This setup will also preclude the baseball brigade’s having to
submit hard numbers on revenue streams and projections — which still
hasn’t occurred, by the way — not only to the public but also to the
DC Council so that independent analyses and verifications of the numbers
could be done and then discussed, with the Brigade having to answer
questions about specific financing issues. This is a project that puts
the city on the hook for half a billion public dollars at the bare
minimum, with the figures likely to be much higher thanks to the history
of massive overruns with similar projects like ballparks elsewhere and
with the project the baseball brigade most often compares this one with
— the convention center. In fact, the lack of signed, sealed, and
delivered land deals with most of the private land owners — all of
whom are going to be looking for the best deal possible -- as well as
the stated intent of some landowners to sue the city to prevent their
land from being acquired will make the cost and time involved skyrocket
and destroys the notion that this will be a “$440 million stadium
project” (as the Brigade‘s water carriers in the media dutifully
repeat lest the public get a feel for the true cost).
Is this the way deals are going to be done in the 21st century in DC,
where private businesses and developers huddle with select officials and
are then allowed to time decisions on such matters in between election
cycles and during lame duck sessions to destroy any chance of public
input or council member/city official accountability? If so, it will
mean a new era for the city — or rather a return to an old era
bringing to mind Tammany Hall, in which DC citizens and businesses will
endure massive taxation without even the illusion of representation by
their elected officials! The point needs to be made that each council
member who supports this is supporting a complete subversion of the city’s
political process by allowing the most dubious maneuvering around public
and governmental oversight. They must also be made to realize that such
support will have far-reaching consequences and will not be the easy way
out of the issue that they likely envision, as the perpetration of this
travesty will motivate public action rather than quash it and stoke
political involvement to a degree heretofore unseen in the District,
specifically the mission to clean out the old boys and girls network
that would allow this to happen.
###############
Update on Tax Assessment Class Action Suit
Peter S. Craig, swedecraig@aol.com
While waiting for Judge Eugene Hamilton’s decision on cross motions
for summary judgment, I want to make a status report on the pending
class action lawsuits contesting tax year 2002 and 2003 assessments.
Three cases are involved: 1) Tax Docket No. 8112-02, Peter S. Craig, et
al., vs. District of Columbia, et al., which challenges the lawfulness
and constitutionality of tax reassessments for all residential
properties in TY 2002. This petition was originally filed September 30,
2002. There are forty-eight other named petitioners. I am counsel for
the petitioners, assisted by Nathalie Black of 3425 Porter Street, who
serves as co-counsel. Other lawyers have also volunteered their time to
help. 2) Tax Docket No. 8141-02, Polly Ernst and Mrs. Gilbert Hahn v.
District of Columbia, et al., which copies the first petition. As
residents of Kent, they were not reassessed in TY 2002, but they
complain that the across-the-board methodologies applied in TY 2002 were
carried over to TY 2003 to their injury. Gilbert Hahn is counsel for
these petitioners. In June, 2003, both cases were consolidated, and
Judge Hamilton has certified both of them as class actions. 3) Tax
Docket No. 8269-03, Peter S. Craig, et al., vs. District of Columbia, et
al., which is the same as 8112-02, except that it challenges
reassessments made for TY 2003. It was filed by ninety-nine petitioners
after Judge Hamilton refused to permit amendment of the petition in
8112-02 to also include TY 2003.
After repeated efforts by the District to dismiss the Hahn case,
Judge Hamilton issued an order on May 26, 2004, amending the issues in
Dockets 8112-02 and 8141-02 to also include TY 2003 assessments. The
District has pending a motion to reconsider this ruling. I have
responded by urging that Docket 8269-03 be formally consolidated. In
early April, 2004, cross-motions for summary judgment were filed by the
petitioners in both the Craig case and the Hahn case and by the
District. These cross-motions relate to TY 2002 reassessments. In June,
2004, Judge Hamilton heard argument on the Craig motion and made a
partial ruling from the bench, finding that the notices of assessment
made for TY 2002 were a sham and unconstitutional because they failed to
inform the taxpayers of the basis of their assessments, thereby
depriving them of a fair opportunity to appeal. Other issues were
reserved. In July, Judge Hamilton heard argument on the Hahn motion and
on the District’s motion. No ruling was made, except to request that
the District file supplemental affidavits on three of its contentions.
The only one of importance was his request for a study of the
difference, if any, between the so-called “trended” assessments
applied and the results if the former cost-based assessment methodology
had been applied. The District claimed that there would be no
difference, but in our rebuttal, we pointed out that the “trended”
assessments in Cleveland Park for TY 2003 were $123 million higher than
the costed assessments (which were made but not used) for houses in the
Cleveland Park neighborhood and, as a general rule, were also higher for
condos and for both groups in other neighborhoods.
The parties are now awaiting Judge Hamilton’s decision on the
issues presented by the cross motions for summary judgment. I remain
optimistic about the outcome. The District’s own consultant, Robert J.
Gloudemans, prepared a report for the District in September 2003, in
which he found that the discrimination in assessments in DC was far
above the maximum tolerated by the International Association of
Assessment Officers and also was highly regressive in that the methods
used by the District generally under-assessed higher-priced properties
and over assessed lower-priced properties in virtually every
neighborhood. We put this report into evidence as part of our case. It
is anticipated that, if Judge Hamilton finds in favor of the
petitioners, the District will appeal to the D.C. Court of Appeals.
Efforts to persuade the District to settle the case have been fruitless
so far. Persons desiring to support this taxpayer action may help to
defray the costs of the lawsuit by making tax-exempt contributions,
payable to The Committee of 100 on the Federal City, and mailing their
checks (with the reference TACA on the memo line) to Francis M. Clarke,
Treasurer, 3317 Cleveland Ave., Washington DC 20008.
###############
I’ll be interested in hearing whether Mark Eckenwiler’s
experience [themail, October 17] is common and has been experienced by
other Enterprise users at other locations. Admittedly a terrible and
expensive attempt to rip off the customer, but I have used them
repeatedly — but never in DC — with only very positive experiences.
Maybe some local heads should roll.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
National Building Museum Events, October 21,
24
Brie Hensold, bhenhold@nbm.org
At the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary Square
stop, Metro Red Line. Thursday, October 21, 2:00 p.m.; and Sunday,
October 24, 2:00 p.m. Liquid Stone: New Architecture in Concrete. Enjoy
a docent-led tour of this Museum exhibition that explores the history
and future of concrete, presenting nearly 30 innovative projects that
display the material’s strength, versatility, and potential. Free.
Registration not required. Participants meet outside exhibition entrance
on first floor.
Sunday, October 24, 1:00-2:00 p.m. These Walls and Upon These
Grounds. These two videos, produced for the White House Historical
Association, provide a unique glimpse into the White House and its
grounds and gardens. These films complement the exhibition Washington:
Symbol and City. Free. Registration not required.
Sunday, October 24, 2:00-4:00 p.m. Halloween Haunted House Workshop.
Create a spooky haunted house to decorate a window in your home for
Halloween! Families use wood and cardboard to construct a house or barn
and then adorn it with miniature ghosts, monsters, and jack-o’-lanterns.
$11 per house for Museum members; $16 for nonmembers. Registration
required. Appropriate for all ages.
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Taste of Shaw, October 23
Alexander M. Padro, padroanc2c@aol.com
“Taste of Shaw: Food and Drink on Upper 9th Street” will take
place on Saturday, October 23. The event will showcase restaurants and
bars on the 1900 Block of 9th Street, NW, including Bar Portico, Etete,
Sodere, Zula’s Restaurant, and Queen Mekeda Restaurant. DC’s newest
music venue, DC9, will also be participating in the event. These
businesses are at the forefront of making Shaw an exciting place to
spend an evening out in DC. The event will last from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00
p.m. Event participants will receive a ticket that entitles them to a
drink at DC9 and a small food dish at each of the restaurants. Tickets
are $15 in advance and $20 the day of the event.
To reserve advance tickets, send an E-mail to ShawMainStreets@aol.com
or call Shaw Main Streets at 202-232-2915 ext.109. (Those who reserve
tickets in advance via E-mail will receive a confirmation E-mail from
Shaw Main Streets.) Tickets will be available for pickup or purchase at
DC9 (1940 9th Street) beginning at 5:00 p.m. on the day of the event.
For more information, visit http://www.shawmainstreets.com.
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Stoddert School Book Sale and Fair, October 23
Edna Small, erklein@aol.com
Book sale this Saturday at Stoddert School fair. Books for children
and adults, some gift quality. 12 noon to 4:00 p.m., 4100 Calvert
Street, NW, in Glover Park.
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Baseball Stadium: Special Community Meeting,
October 25
David Sobelsohn, dsobelso -at- capaccess -dot- org
From 7:30-9:30 p.m. on Monday October 25, the Southwest Neighborhood
Assembly (SWNA) and Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6D will cosponsor a
community meeting on the proposed baseball stadium. The meeting will
take place at the (former) EPA auditorium in Waterfront (the Waterside
Mall), 401 M Street, SW (Waterfront Metro station), just a few blocks
from the proposed stadium site. Enter the auditorium from the I Street
plaza, on the opposite side of the mall from the Metro station. This
will be the first community meeting about the stadium in the
neighborhood where the city plans to build it. We expect to hear from
the mayor’s office and from stadium opponents. Earlier, from 7-7:30
p.m., SWNA will present a “Meet the ANC 6D Candidates” forum.
Reservations are not necessary for either meeting, but space — even
standing room — is extremely limited.
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Sewing Classes, October 25
Alexander M. Padro, padroanc2c@aol.com
Fall sewing classes at the Kennedy Recreation Center, presented by
Shaw nonprofit Singha, Inc., will begin on Monday, October 25. These
eight-week classes have proven so popular with people throughout the
city that they are being scheduled for the third time this year. The
center is located at 1401 7th Street, NW. Free on-street parking is
available. Sewing I: This class is designed for the beginner. Learn the
fundamentals: introduction to the sewing machine, sewing terms,
equipment and notions, information on fabrics, patterns, and pressing
techniques that will prepare you for advanced sewing classes. One sewing
project completes the class. Classes meet on Mondays, from October 25 to
December 13, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. Fee: teens free; adults $125.00.
Sewing II: After completing this class, you will know how to make
skirts or pants in the colors and fabrics of your choice. You’ll learn
how to take key body measurements, how to read and buy a pattern, and
how to make pattern alterations for a custom fit. Plus, you will learn
how to select the appropriate fabrics, how to layout, mark and cut,
construct a fitted waistband, darts and insert a zipper. Classes meet on
Wednesdays from October 27 to December 15, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. Fee:
teens free; adults $125.00.
Sewing III: Learn to make that jacket or blouse to go with your skirt
or pant. Learn to make the alterations you need for a perfect fit in the
fabric and color of your choice. Learn how to set in sleeves, make
buttonholes, collars and how to select and apply interfacings for a
great finish. You’ll finish the class with confidence to make more
fashionable projects. Classes are being scheduled. Call Singha, Inc. at
265-4278 for details. To register, call the Kennedy Recreation Center at
671-4794. For more information on the courses, contact Singha, Inc. at
265-4794 or jrhsinga@yahoo.com.
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DCPCA Annual Meeting: Making Health Reform
Happen, October 29
Rene Wallis, Rwallis@dcpca.org
Please join DCPCA at our free annual meeting, a health care policy
extravaganza. Space is limited, so please RSVP today. E-mail twalker@dcpca.org.
October 29, 8:00-3:30. First speaker begins at 9:00 a.m. Hear directly
from decision makers on health care policy and use of city money. The
mission of DCPCA is to expand and improve community based health care to
prevent and treat illness before they escalate to crisis. Three topic
areas: 1) current challenges and opportunities facing DC government in
improving the health of the vulnerable. Confirmed speakers are Sandy
Allen, Ward 8 Councilmember and Chair, Committee on Human Services, and
good friend to primary care; Robert Bobb, City Administrator, the Mayor’s
key advisor on health care issues who has lead DC through a year of
major reform and improvements in health care; Dr. Gregg Pane, Director
and Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, a vision for the future
of DOH. Panel on government health care costs, now at $1.6 billion in
DC: how are the rising costs of health care impacting the city budget?
Alice Rivlin, Director, Brookings Institute, Moderator; Jack Evans,
Council, Ward 2, Chair, Finance and Revenue; Natwar Gandhi, Chief
Financial Officer, District of Columbia; Robert Bobb, City
Administrator, Executive Office of the Mayor; Ed Lazere, Director, DC
Fiscal Policy Institute; Noel Bravo, Budget Director, Executive Office
of the Mayor.
2) How an investment in Medical Homes DC will improve health for the
vulnerable. Confirmed speakers are Rhonda Kotelchuck, Executive
Director, New York City Primary Care Development Corporation, what NY
has achieved by expanding and improving primary care. Concurrent break
out sessions on the key components of Medical Homes DC: Session one:
health care and economic data collected for Medical Homes DC. Martha
Ross, Brookings Institute; Nikki Lurie, RAND Corporation; Allison
Coleman, Capital Link. Session two: the impact of rising costs of health
care on achieving True Cost primary care payments. Sharon Baskerville
and Charles Allen, DCPCA; Justin Kopca, Office of the Chief Financial
Officer; Ed Lazere, DC Fiscal Policy Institute. Session three: Medical
Homes DC: how the money will move into the community. S. Orlene Grant
and Rene Wallis, DCPCA; Richard Wright, MD, Wright Consulting; Rhonda
Kotelchuck, NYPCDC. Session Four: School-Based Health System: what’s
going on in the schools? Jordan Spooner, 21st Century School Fund; Gina
Lagomarsino, Office of the City Administrator.
3) On the obligations of nonprofit health care community to serve DC.
Confirmed speakers are Walter Smith, Executive Director, DC Appleseed;
Debra Chollet, Senior Fellow, Mathmatica Policy Research will present
“The DC Appleseed Report on CareFirst’s Role as a Nonprofit
Insurance Provider.” The League of Women Voters and DC Appleseed a
sponsor a panel discussion on the "Obligation of All Nonprofit
Healthcare Providers to Meet the Health Needs of their Community."
George Jones, Executive Director, Bread for the City, moderator; Walter
Smith, Executive Director, DC Appleseed; Debra Chollet, Senior Fellow,
Mathmatica Policy Research; Sharon Baskerville, Executive Director,
DCPCA; Cathy Dunham, President, the Access Project, Boston. There will
be a free networking lunch, with Topic Roundtables so you can meet
others with common interests. For more information on DCPCA, or the
Medical Homes DC project to expand and improve community based health
centers, go to our web site at http://www.dcpca.org.
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Washington Storytellers, October 30, November
12-13
Brad Hills, info@washingtonstorytellers.org
Enter the Darkness, a night of really scary stories! At the District
of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC), 2438 18th Street, NW, Saturday, October
30, 10:00 p.m. Ticket price: $10 ($8 with costume). Purchase at the door
or in advance by calling 301-891-1129 or on-line at www.washingtonstorytellers.org.
Metro Red Line Woodley Park plus Adams-Morgan Shuttle. Join us for an
evening of extreme horror when we present the scariest stories from the
most ghoulish storytellers in this most frightening evening at DCAC
Theater of Terror. We’re also chilled to be screening “Grave
Consequences” from the 48 Hour Film Festival, an eighteen-minute short
film by Director Mark Marshall and producers Jorge Bernardo and Tina
Botond. Costume wearers daring to "Enter The Darkness" receive
a discount and will be automatically entered into "Scariest
Costume" contest to win a Season’s Pass to the SpeakEasy, if they
dare!
Washington Storytellers Theater Season 04-05 presents legendary
storyteller Donald Davis in two very special performances: Friday,
November 12, An Evening of Old Favorites; and Saturday, November 13,
Laundry and Other Fresh Tales, at The City Museum of Washington, DC, 801
K Street, NW, at 8:00 p.m. Each night. Ticket price: $15; senior,
student, and group rates available. Purchase at the door or in advance
by calling 301-891-1129 or on-line at www.washingtonstorytellers.org.
Street or garage parking nearby (check website for details); Metro Red
line (Chinatown), Green/Yellow (Mt. Vernon), Blue/Orange (Metro Center).
Washington Storytellers Theater kicks off its 15th Anniversary Season
with two very special performances by one of America’s Premier and
best-loved Storytellers, Donald Davis. Friday night will feature some of
Donald’s best-loved stories and Saturday night’s performance will
showcase stories brand-new to the DC audience, but filled with Donald’s
unique brand of homespun humor and charm.
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A Medieval Winter Solstice Tale, December 3-5,
10-12
Connie Ridgway, kaniru at aol dot com
“The King and the Fool,” a Medieval Winter Solstice Tale, will be
performed by the Washington Revels on December 3-5 and December 10-12 at
Lisner Auditorium. The Washington Revels, in its twenty-second year,
celebrates communities from around the world through their music, dance
and ritual. It also sponsor hands-on, year-round performing arts
programs for children in DC Public Schools. Tickets for this year’s
show are available at RevelsDC.org. I will be singing a duet for this
performance.
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CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED
Project Coordinator
Kim L.E. Bell, kbell@dckids.org
DC Action for Children is seeking applications for the position of
Project Coordinator for its DC Covering Kids & Families Initiative.
Under the direct supervision of the Project Director, the Project
Coordinator will serve as liaison between DC ACT and the DC
community-at-large. The project’s focus is to increase the number of
children, families, and adults who benefits from existing coverage
programs. For more information and a job description please go to http://www.dckids.org/about/.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — VOLUNTEERS
Volunteer with Tolu2Books
Tolu Tolu, tolu2books@aol.com
I am trying to develop a documentary arm of Tolu2Books to undertake a
documentary of the national occurrence of Probate Courts’ abuse of
both their living and dead citizens. Read stories at: http://www.voy.com/136871/.
Please contact me immediately at Tolu2Books@aol.com if you can
contribute any of the following to the probate court documentary
project: legal services (lawyers and paralegals); investigation
services; administrative/secretarial/support staff services;
marketing/public relations/fund-raising expertise; web site design,
construction, and/or maintenance; general project planning and
development; logistical resources, financial and otherwise; video
taping; or interviewing respondents.
I also need volunteers to help with editing, typing, organizing, and
updating a web site and research from NE location. Call 331-4418. See http://www.Tolu2Books.com.
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