Easter Parade

Dear Paraders:

DCWatch gets a lot of press releases, but my favorite press release in a long time came in the past week from the National Cherry Blossom Festival. It announced that as part of this year’s festival there would be a tree planting yesterday. It was headlined, “Ancestors of Former Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki and President Taft Plant Commemorative Cherry Trees at the Mandarin Oriental, Washington, DC, Saturday, April 7, 2007.” The event was interesting in itself, but I wanted to learn the longevity secrets of Mayor Ozaki’s and President Taft’s ancestors. It’s too bad they couldn’t have passed their long-lived tendencies down to their descendants, but I’m sure they had some tips they could give to the rest of us. Of course, health tips from the aged usually come down to the ample consumption of cigars, brandy, and fried foods, but that in itself is a good corrective to the scolding negativity of health nannies who seek to lengthen life by prohibiting everything that gives pleasure.

Now, on with the parade.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Such a Deal
Ed T Barron, edtb1@macdotcom

A private developer in northwest DC is preparing a proposal for the District that will include refurbishment and expansion of the Tenleytown Library, closed for almost three years and with no schedule for refurbishment or reopening. In addition, this developer would also refurbish and add onto Janney School, which is scheduled for refurbishment in 2013. In exchange, the developer wants the rights to build a multistory apartment complex on the land between the library and Janney school. This sounds like a very reasonable proposition. Janney school needs more classrooms and, being one of the best elementary schools in DC, right in the bedroom community of AU Park, will likely have a need for space for many years to come. Giving up the soccer field that lies in the open area will be a loss, but the developer will be adding a new gym to Janney school, which might be an acceptable trade off.

Former Councilmember Kathy Patterson nixed a similar deal a couple of years ago, but this one sounds like it makes sense. A win-win situation for the District and the taxpayers. Such a deal.

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Street Musicians and Internet Street Musicians
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com

Gene Weingarten has written a very amusing piece in the Post about world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell playing violin in the L’Enfant Plaza subway stop. This experiment, conducted with Bell’s consent, was to see if any of the rushing morning commuters would stop to listen to the exquisite music (see http://tinyurl.com/32a32w). This article reminded me of the time when I was a street musician in DC. Even with an amplifier, it was difficult to compete against street noise. So I became an Internet street musician and have been having far more success there. (see http://tinyurl.com/27afe4).

This weekend I learned that it’s possible to create a clear-sounding music video for the web using a low-cost webcam. For the highest quality audio you need to capture the audio for the video with a separate device, and then import that audio into your video editing program. The last step is to synchronize the audio with your captured video. If anyone has any questions about this, do send me an E-mail off list.

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Mayor Fenty a Modern-Day Julius Caesar
Jonathan R. Rees, jrrees2006@verizon.net

Everybody seems to feel that members of our city council are off their rockers for supporting Fenty’s takeover of our schools for a wide variety of reasons, but mostly because it cannot succeed. Did it ever occur to anyone that members of our city council know that Fenty will fail, and that their vote is not to benefit Fenty, but to hasten his departure from office and to ensure that he cannot win a second term?

There is no doubt that Vincent Gray wants to be mayor, and so does David Catania. It is a burning desire in their hearts. What better way is there for mayoral hopefuls to become mayor than to sabotage the cornerstone of a sitting mayor’s administration! What I am suggesting is, that Mayor Fenty is DC’s Julius Caesar and Vincent Gray and David Catania will be his Mark Anthony and Brutus, and they will be joined in time by other members of the DC city council to help in the political assassination of Fenty.

In sum good people consider this as the basis of what I think is to come. Just last year it was no hidden secret and pointed out by many newspapers that most on the council did not like Fenty, did not get along with him and he was the odd man out. So what has really changed? Nothing! So should we really believe that all these council members have changed and now love Fenty?

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Filing DC Taxes Online
Dan Gamber, daniel at gamber.net

I just filed my DC 2006 income tax return electronically, using TurboTax. It was accepted in about 24 hours. I have done the same the last couple of years, with no problem. I wonder who started the rumor that you could not? So far as I can tell, the only hole in electronic filing for DC is the payment of tax due. The feds will accept electronic payment. DC requires you to send a check. However, if you are getting a refund it can be direct deposited to a bank account.

You do have to pay to file electronically from TurboTax, nearly $18.00, which does not make sense to me. Electronic filing saves the IRS and OTR a lot of money. Why do we pay? There is also an on-line service for filing DC D-40EZ. I have no experience with it.

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Electronic Tax Filing
Bill Coe, bceedeec@aol.com

Regarding Mr. Barron’s comment on electronic tax filing in DC [themail, April 4], I confess to stating in themail that E-filing was not an option in our community. This had been the case for several years. Since then, however, I’ve prepared my return on H&R Block’s TaxCut, and — surprise! — electronic filing is now offered to Washington’s tax filers. It’s a nice improvement to the process. Be aware, though, that there is an added fee of sixteen dollars charged for the privilege of E-filing, which saves our government money and makes their work easier. This strikes me as a rip-off.

As for Mr. Barron’s unease over “those quirky electrons,” I’m more comfortable letting machines read my return than trusting the Finance Office’s personnel to get it right. Studies on the handling of federal returns show a much lower error rate with automatic processing than with traditional manual methods, whereby numbers reported by tax filers are transferred from paper into databases by hand. Filing online saves the average taxpayer a lot of time and trouble defending data that were correct to begin with. It makes comparing results with various filing statuses much easier and faster. In addition (and this is no small matter), E-filing enables the tax filer with a single keystroke to forward “boilerplate” information from one year’s return to the next year’s — items such as name, address, occupation, filing status, charities regularly supported, and the underlying formulae used to depreciate commercial property or calculate prior years’ capital improvements. Lastly, electronic filing brings a small but measurable environmental benefit.

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Rude E-Mails from DCIndependents@gmail.com
Gabe Goldberg, gabe at gabegold dot com

[Re, Connie Ridgway, themail, April 4] I received E-mail from them in January, asked to be unsubscribed, and asked how they got my E-mail address. I haven’t received any E-mail from them lately and — big surprise — never heard from them about where they scooped up my E-mail address.

Since their web site, http://www.dcindependents.org, explicitly says they “represent only registered District of Columbia voters who are registered members of DCICC,” it’s hard to see why they poked me since by their scorecard I’m twice disqualified. The web site, at http://www.dcindependents.org/#AboutUsContactUs, gives contact info for Mr. and Mrs. Moore, who seem to be behind — or to be the entire — organization.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Ward 6 Dems Happy Hour, April 12
Charles Allen, ward6dems@aol.com

The Ward 6 Democrats will hold a happy hour on Thursday, April 12, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., at Marty’s, 527 8th Street, SE, n the rooftop deck patio. The warm weather will be back in time, so please join us!

We have the rooftop deck and drink specials reserved. Mix and mingle with your friends, hear about the new opportunities to get involved with the Ward 6 Dems, learn about some of our upcoming events and programs, and join the Voting Rights March on April 16. DC Vote will be on hand to promote Emancipation Day and the march from Freedom Plaza to the Capitol.

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DC Public Library Events, April 12, 13
Randi Blank, randi.blank@dc.gov

Thursday, April 12, 11:00 a.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room 215. Talking Book Club. We will discuss Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and John Grogan’s bestseller Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog. For more information, call Adaptive Services at 727-2142.

Friday, April 13, 12:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Great Hall. Celebration of Hakka culture. This program features music, dance and food from Taiwan. For more information, call 727-1183.

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Emancipation Day Commemoration at the Historical Society, April 15
Bell Clement, Clement@historydc.org

On Sunday, April 15, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. the District’s Emancipation Day will be commemorated at the Historical Society of Washington, 801 K Street, NW. The celebration features District poet laureate Dolores Kendrick, Councilmember Marion Barry, and the music of Howard University’s Afro Blue.

On April 16, 1862, President Lincoln signed into law “An Act for the Release of Certain Persons held to Service or Labor in the District of Columbia.” The Act decreed “that all persons held to service or labor within the District of Columbia by reason of African descent are hereby discharged and freed of and from all claim to such service or labor; and from and after the passage of this act neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall hereafter exist in said District.” Under this law, which uses neither the word “slave” nor “emancipation,” the enslaved residents of Washington, and the city itself, became the first freed from the burden of slavery by the US government. The Act also provides the sole instance of compensated emancipation in US history. Under the Act, Benjamin T. Thorn was paid $569.40 in compensation for the release of John H. Hawkins. For release of a "male infant," Margaret Loughborough received $21.90. “Henry Hatton, colored” received $1,839.60 in compensation for the emancipation of Martha, Henry, and George Hatton. George Washington Young received $17,771.85 upon the release of 69 of his slaves. Sarah Davis received nothing at all for the release of Hannah West, who was deemed to be of “no value.”

The gathering at the Historical Society (801 K Street, NW) on Sunday, April 15, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m., will be a traditional celebration of Emancipation Day. As Washington, DC, continues the struggle for voting representation and full political autonomy, we will pause to remember and reflect upon the struggles and victories of those who came before. All are welcome. Please RSVP to RSVP@historydc.org or to 383-1837.

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BPW Conference Luncheon, April 28
Hazel B. Thomas, thomashazelb@aol.com

The DC Federation of Business and Professional Women invites you to participate in its fifty-fourth annual conference on Saturday, April 28, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Washington Plaza Hotel, located at 10 Thomas Circle in northwest Washington, DC. The special guest speaker for the conference luncheon will be Linda Hargrove, general manager of the Washington Mystics. To attend or for information about the luncheon or conference, call 301-279-5874. Linda Hargrove will enter her third season as the Washington Mystics general manger this year. Ms. Hargrove was formerly one of the Mystics’ assistant coaches and in 2003, prior to joining the coaching staff, she was a scout for the Mystics. Ms. Hargrove will share her experience of rising up through the ranks to become coach of one of the nation’s most successful women’s basketball teams.

The conference will include the DC/BPW annual business meeting, a presentation by a young careerist (rising professional under thirty-five years old) and several workshops centered on BPW/USA’s theme, “Women Work! Pay them Fairly!” The DC/BPW annual celebration will start with participation in a rally on Capitol Hill’s West Lawn to commemorate Equal Pay Day on Tuesday April 24, from 1:30 to 2:30. Guests speakers for the rally will include Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Tom Harking, and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Equal Pay Day is observed in April to indicate how far into each year women must work to earn as much as men earned the previous year. Today, women are paid only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. DC/BPW is the local state affiliate of BPW/USA whose mission is: to achieve equity for women in the workplace through advocacy, education, and information.

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LGBT Family Event, April 28
Julie Drizin, juliedrizin@starpower.net

Please spread the word about this event to any gay/lesbian families you know. On Saturday, April 28, the Rainbow Families DC Parenting Conference — Families Like Ours: Growing, Stronger, Together, will be held at Takoma Park Middle School, 7611 Piney Branch Road, Takoma Park, MD. Registration will be at 8:30 a.m., the program starts at 9:30 p.m. There will be dozens of workshops for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender parents and prospective parents. Kids Camp will be held for preschool to eight-year-old children, and a COLAGE teen and preteen program will provide full day of structured, fun, and educational activities, including theater arts, crafts, movement, music and more. Lunch and an ice cream/pizza social are included with registration fees. For full program details and online registration, please visit the Rainbow Families, DC, web site at http://rainbowfamiliesdc.org. Sign up early; space for children is limited.

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Office on Aging’s Forty-Third Annual Senior Day, May 17
Darlene Nowlin, darlene.nowlin@dc.gov

The forty-third annual Senior Citizens’ Day (Senior Day) will be held during Older Americans Month on May 17 at the DC Armory, 2001 East Capitol Street, SE. This year’s theme is Living Longer Through HIW: Health, Wellness and Information. The event will showcase health and wellness demonstrations, health screenings, information exhibits, and games. Seniors can also dance to live music, enjoy entertainment and a festive lunch. Admission is free, but tickets are required for entry. District seniors may call 724-5626 to reserve free tickets.

Senior Day is held annually in the District of Columbia and is sponsored by the DC Office on Aging, the DC Senior Citizens Clearinghouse, and the Office on Aging Senior Service Network.

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