Blogs
Dear Bloggers:
Major League Baseball and the Williams administration are still
committed to making only the most minor cosmetic changes to the ballpark
agreement that DC’s inept capitulators presented to the city council
for approval. On Tuesday, we’ll find out who’s naughty and who’s
nice on the city council, who’s willing to pretend that minor cosmetic
changes are enough to go along with this fleecing of the taxpayers and
who really cares about fiscal responsibility and accountability to the
residents of the city. I don’t need to write about that until
Wednesday’s issue, so I won’t. Instead, I’ll complain again about
popular DC blogger Matthew Yglesias.
The last time I wrote about Yglesias, I called him callow and said
that he writes with a combination of immaturity and arrogance (themail,
March 31). Another important characteristic of callowness is the desire
to be provocative. A callow writer like Yglesias is willing to write
nearly anything, even something wrong-headed and silly, in order to
provoke a reaction. He’s provoked me again in a posting on his blog
yesterday (http://yglesias.typepad.com/matthew/2004/12/the_education_d.html).
The heart of Yglesias’ post is that a “revenue-neutral policy shift
that dramatically improved the public schools of Shaw would be against
the interests of myself and my friends in the neighborhood. If our local
schools all the sudden became excellent, this neighborhood would
suddenly become a much more desirable place for somewhat older, somewhat
more prosperous couples with children to live. My landladies and the
owners of other rented row houses in the neighborhood would likely sell
them to young families. The remaining rental properties would see their
prices skyrocket. And then — bam! — we’ve all got to leave the
neighborhood. More generally, bad urban public school performance and
the attendant absence of middle class families seems integral to the
renaissance in city living for the childless that we’ve seen in recent
years." Do I need to say anything about the selfishness and
shortsightedness of this position? Can Yglesias seriously mean what he
has written, or does he just intend to outrage?
My complaint about Yglesias relates, at least peripherally, to the
conversation that Phil Shapiro and Ed Cowan have been having in themail
about the relative reliability and accuracy of news reporting by the new
Internet media and the more established print and broadcast media. My
impression is that mistakes and biases are rife in both -- news, after
all, is only the first draft of history -- but that at present errors
are more readily and quickly acknowledged and corrected online than by
newspapers and television networks. A large newspaper may have hundreds
of reporters and dozens of editors, but even a minor news blog with a
single writer has thousands of editors, the readers whose comments,
corrections, and disagreements are usually ignored by the main stream
media but are rapidly added to blogs.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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While traveling in Europe, I noticed that there’s a lot more
advertising on the subways there (at least in France). In the DC subway,
there’s enough space to easily double or triple the amount of
advertising. While I think more advertising in Metro would be sort of
annoying, somebody’s got to pay the bills. Given the choice, I would
rather see more advertisements than pay a higher fare.
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Refurbishing the DC Public Libraries
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom
This may sound like a good idea, but just may turn out to be a very
non-cost effective expenditure of DC’s limited funds. Many of the DC
public libraries are very underutilized. Is this because they are in
need of renovation and fixing up? Or is it because many folks in DC don’t
use public libraries? The DC Public Library in Tenleytown is located in
the middle of an area where a lot of folks do use the library. This one,
however, has absolutely no parking yet is pretty heavily utilized by
those who can walk there and because of the proximity to the Janney
elementary school.
This library is in desperate need of an upgrade and probably deserves
one based on the higher-than-average utilization. Too bad the District
has declined the offer by private developers to rebuild the library and
utilize the air rights above to build apartments or condos. That
developer would also have provided parking so that more folks in the AU/Tenleytown
area would use that library. Being a bit outside my casual walking
range, I opt for that nice new Montgomery County Library on
Massachusetts Avenue in Bethesda. Plenty of easy parking.
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Response to “Ineligible to Serve”
Gloria White, GMarieW@aol.com
I take issue with a number of statements in Ms. Brizill’s
submission about Steve Goldsmith’s appointment to the Anacostia
Waterfront Corporation [themail, December 8]. I have known Steve
Goldsmith for many years and think that the District would be very
fortunate to have his expertise and experience at work on this project.
In fact, Steve, his wife Margaret, and their daughter live in and own
property in the District and have for several years. They do pay taxes
in DC. Their daughter attends school locally. Steve does own a house in
Indiana where his mother lives. Steve has taken an active interest in DC
ever since he moved here several years ago so he is not a newcomer to
District issues. Steve is not a federal employee. He is Chair of the
Corporation for National Service. This is a part-time, unpaid position
— not a paid federal position. As with his work with the Corporation
for National Service, his service with the Anacostia Waterfront
Corporation would be an unpaid position.
Now, on the experience Steve Goldsmith would bring to the Anacostia
Waterfront Corporation. During his tenure as mayor of Indianapolis he
was nationally recognized as one of the most innovative and effective
mayors in the country. Among the many good things he did in
Indianapolis, he led an initiative to redevelop an area that had an
historic canal and polluted river into what is now a vibrant
neighborhood with hundreds of new residences (both low income and market
rate), new public facilities, and retail development. Also during his
tenure as mayor of Indianapolis, new basketball and baseball stadiums
were built for the city’s NBA team and minor league baseball team, so
he even has experience dealing with major sports, baseball, and stadium
issues. He has written multiple books about urban issues and is on the
faculty of Harvard’s Kennedy School. Again, I think that the citizens
of the District would be fortunate to have his expertise and experience
at work for the District and this redevelopment.
[As I wrote, Mr. Goldsmith does own houses both in DC and in
Indianapolis. When I spoke with him, he was evasive about whether DC was
his primary residence, but he admitted that his voting registration and
his automobile registration were both still in Indiana. And, as I wrote,
the bylaws of the Corporation for National Service specify that its
board members are federal employees for legal purposes. — Dorothy
Brizill]
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More on the House Collapse
Clyde E. Howard, Jr., ceohoward@hotmail.com
Speaking about the ineffectiveness of DCRA Inspectors and Historical
Preservation, allow me to elucidate what inspectors are letting pass for
competent construction by peewee developers. Take the house next to my
house: the framing has been left opened to the weather, where rains can
enter and pool on the floors, causing weak spots that will later affect
the condition of the floor; fire stops are not put in between the studs,
creating a "race" for fire to follow to all floors; and beam
pockets are not filled in to prevent an avenue for fire to breach party
walls into neighboring housing. Before a contractor can close in the
walls of a house, all inspections must be passed and a closing permit
issued. DCRA inspectors are so dysfunctional that none of these things
will be done. Why? Because the mayor’s mandate for 100,000 persons
requires that the housing to receive them must be completed and made
available within a reasonable time frame. As for Historical
Preservation, anytime a contractor ruins any portion of a nineteenth
century house in a historical district, that contractor should be fined
heavily and required to replace that portion of the structure. However,
this contractor next door has been handled with velvet gloves. The
contractor has been given no fines and is allowed by default and through
machinations to be pardoned from any historical mandates that require
replacement of the original structure. If this took place in certain
other historical sections of the city there would be such a furor raised
by HPRB and the community, I am sure the project would be halted and
special methods made to comply with historical requirements. My message
to you is to pay strict attention to the works of these peewee
developers that have sprung up in recent years to take advantage of
rising housing costs, because the effects of their poorly constructed
houses, in concert with DCRA and Historic Preservation will be long-term
and costly.
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The next-door real estate investor-broker-architect-developer’s
construction debris was thrown in my own yard. I tripped and fell over
the illegal construction debris from 1377 Florida Avenue, NE, which
caused me a severe fracture with dislocations of the bones in my right
ankle. My injury required three hours of surgery; a large number of
metal nuts and bolts of hold my foot together again. These DC real
estate developers and investors did have not any dumpsters to contain
their gigantic amount of construction debris or barriers; laborers threw
construction debris unto my adjoining property. These investors never
installed any construction barriers or dumpster, or implemented
protection of any kind to protect the my property or person from the
trash, debris, or dust resulting from their major renovation.
I complained to the DC government about these people’s continual
failure to fulfill their legal obligation to have permits. The DCRA not
only failed to police their unlicensed, uninspected construction site;
they treated me with disdain and lack of concern. They totally ignored
me.
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News as Conversation Rather than Lecture
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
Edward Cowan (themail, December 8) asks good questions about how news
is moving to being more a conversation than a lecture. The movement has
many facets, including greater interactivity between journalists and the
communities they serve. Journalist Dan Gillmor sums it up this way:
“On any given topic, my readers know more about it than I do. So it
only makes sense to listen to them more than I did in the past.” In
searching for words to answer Edward’s questions, I came across a fine
article by Leslie Walker in Wednesday’s issue of the Washington
Post: “On Local Sites, Everyone Is a Journalist” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46519-2004Dec8.html?sub=AR).
Edward Cowan raises vital questions about how we are to know the
truth of such unofficial sources of news as blogs (weblogs). It’s a
difficult question to answer, because there are a lot of falsehoods that
make it onto the web. We need to use the same filtering skills we use
for other news -- and perhaps ratchet them up a few notches. The adage,
“You can’t always believe what you read in print,” goes double for
what you read on the web.
Lastly, in the original E-mail I sent on this topic, I misspelled the
web site address of the blog named “We the Media.” The site’s
correct address is http://wethemedia.oreilly.com.
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Why Wing It? Why Not Give the Facts a Chance?
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net
NARPAC’s December update focuses solely on building a case for DC
to develop a better quantitative analytical foundation for its planning
efforts. It outlines the scope of effort needed in the context of the
full span of DC’s planning function; describes several key areas of
analysis; suggests how such an independent analytical group might be
formed, and offers several topics deserving early focus. It is short on
words, and provides representative bullet charts to help flesh out the
scope of the job. The charts are by no means exhaustive. It concludes
with links to a sampling of NARPAC analyses on this web site. They
demonstrate the type of inputs and outputs that can be achieved. To have
an impact, however, they would need to bear an authoritative official
imprimatur. Take a look at our suggestions at http://www.narpac.org/REXQUANT.HTM.
Our views are also summarized in our editorial at http://www.narpac.org/INTHOM.HTM#EDIT.
It’s past time for DC to base its important decisions on the facts,
not on myths, guesses, faulty studies, or the biases of vocal advocates
and detractors. You too can help stimulate smarter politicians, smarter
bureaucrats, smarter activists, and smarter growth in our national
capital city.
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This is to advise that the December 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 directly 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 January 14
(the second Friday of the month, as always). The complete PDF version
will be posted by the preceding night or early that Friday morning at
the latest, 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) “Adams Morgan Residents Begin
Process of Deciding the Future of Marie Reed School, Possible
Public-Private Partnering — Concerns About Physical Plant Conditions
Also Addressed, City Officials Indicate Ready to Help”; 2) “Historic
Tivoli Theater Restoration Celebrated at Reopening Dedication;” 3)
“Convention Center Signs 9th St. Retailers — Cited for Aid to
Homeowners for Façade Restoration Work.”
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Women in Film Holiday Party, December 15
Dorinda White, dorinda@rindimedia.com
Join Women in Film and Video (WIFV) for a festive evening of good
cheer and friends at our annual holiday party at the Washington Club on
December 15 at 6:30 p.m. The Washington Club is located at 15 Dupont
Circle; Metro, take the Dupont Circle south exit. Come out and network
with Washington, DC’s film and video community. Cost for members $5,
non-members $10. There will be a cash bar and hors d’oeuvres will be
served. Enjoy live musical entertainment provided by Jack Quigley.
Quigley serves up an eclectic mix of acoustic musical styles including
blues, gospel, spiritual, folk, rock and bluegrass. Also, the first
annual WIFV holiday bazaar. Talented WIFV members will be selling crafts
such as jewelry, photography, cards, clothing and more.
We’ll be taking donations for St. Anne’s Infant and Maternity
Home. St. Anne’s has been caring for abandoned children and unwed
mothers since 1863. Please bring items such as baby wash, baby lotion,
baby wipes, Vaseline, and diapers or gift cards to WalMart, Hecht’s,
Target, and Old Navy. Unwrapped gifts for ages birth to twelve years
would also be greatly appreciated. For additional information, please
call the WIFV office at 429-9438 or visit WIFV at http://www.wifv.org.
You can also contact me, Dorinda White, VP Communications for Women in
Film and Video, Washington, DC at 508-3897.
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DC Public Library Events, December 14, 16
Debra Truhart, debra.truhart@dc.gov
Tuesday, December 14 through Saturday, December 18, Martin Luther
King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW. Books Plus, The Library
Store, is having its annual Holiday Gift Sale with 20 percent off the
entire stock (not including used books). Shop at Books Plus to purchase
a gift from the wonderful selection of boxed holiday cards, calendars,
bookends, key chains and jewelry. Public contact: 727-6834.
Thursday, December 16, 1:30 p.m. Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room 221. Something Novel Book Club. Read and
discuss The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Public contact: 727-1295.
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National Building Museum Events, December
15-16
Brie Hensold, bhenhold@nbm.org
All events at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW,
Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line.
Wednesday, December 15, 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m., Protecting Water
Resources: Smart Growth and Low Impact Development. John Tippett,
executive director of Friends of the Rappahannock, will present current
best practices in the integration of low impact development design
techniques with smart growth projects. Free. Registration not required.
Wednesday, December 15, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Henry Hope Reed will discuss
the design history of the US Capitol, often regarded as the finest
example of American neoclassical architecture. After the lecture, he
will sign copies of his book The United States Capitol. This
lecture is held in collaboration with the Institute of Classical
Architecture. $12 Museum and Institute of Classical Architecture members
and students; $17 nonmembers. Registration required.
Thursday, December 16, 6:30-8:00 p.m. The residential and commercial
works of Robert M. Gurney, FAIA, are modern, meticulously detailed
designs that respond to site and ecological awareness. He will discuss
his studio’s award-winning work, including the Blue Ridge Farmhouse
and Windyridge Residence. $12 museum members; $17 nonmembers; $10
students. Prepaid registration required.
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Democratic State Committee Holiday Party,
December 16
Kathleen Boettrich, dcstateexpress@yahoo.com
The District of Columbia Democratic State Committee holiday party and
children’s gift drive, for the first time in history, will be held
east of the river! Free and open to the public, Thursday, December 16, 6
p.m.-10 p.m., Georgene’s Restaurant and Bar (formerly Player’s
Lounge), 2737 Martin Luther King, Jr., Avenue, SE. RSVP to 554-8790.
Attendees are requested to bring an unwrapped children’s toy or book.
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Cultural Center for Singles New Year’s Eve
Party, December 31
Susan Stein, thectr@aol.com
New Year’s Eve progressive dinner party, December 31, 7 p.m., at
Nams of Bethesda. Change tables with each course. $45 (early discount),
checks only. No walk-ins; advance payment required. Includes everything
but drinks. Hosted by the Cultural Center for Singles. For details
E-mail TheCtr@aol.com; for directions only, 301-652-2635.
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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE
2005 Children’s Black History Calendar Made
in DC
Ingrid Drake, ingridnatasha@yahoo.com
Great gift idea: the M.O.M.I.E’s TLC 2005 Children’s Black
History Calendar is a child/adult created product using the artistic
creativity of children. M.O.M.I.E’s TLC is an innovative educational
initiative that is helping to improve educational outcomes for
low-income Washington children. This vibrant, colorful and adorable
calendar features a different child’s Black heroes or sheroes each
month and helps to underwrite the cost of our much-needed work. Give
yourself the gift of an exciting calendar and pick up a few more for
family and friends to be inspired all year long. Support children’s
creativity! Only $12.00 for one or $20.00 for two. Order today! Contact
577-3437, ingridnatasha@yahoo.com.
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Everything must go! I have set up two web sites with the items on
sale (household goods and car). I may post a few more items in the near
future, so make sure to visit the site again: http://ffurger.biotechgov.org
(furniture and miscellaneous items), http://ffurger.biotechgov.org/car
(car pictures). Everything is available from now to December 23. My home
number is 483-5032.
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