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April 22, 2007

Huge

Dear Contributors:

Huge issue tonight; I’ll be quiet.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Washington Seeks a Way to Shout, “Come Visit”
Gabe Goldberg, gabe at gabegold dot com

The New York Times: “In its hunt for slogans to lure tourists, the nation’s capital has never lit on the elegance of a ‘Virginia Is for Lovers’ or the panache of a ‘What Happens Here, Stays Here,’” http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/washington/22slogan.html?th&emc=th.

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As We Celebrate Earth Day
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

Last week, when Mayor Fenty held a press conference to announce his selection of George S. Hawkins to head the DC Department of the Environment, little information was provided to the press or public regarding his background. The press release simply indicated that Hawkins, an attorney, was currently the Executive Director of New Jersey Future. On its web site, http://www.njfuture.org, NJ Future describes itself as a nonprofit “smart growth advocacy group” that seeks to “advance smarter land-use and growth policies” with a focus “on policies for curbing sprawl and spurring community development.” Despite the large pool of environmentalists in the DC region, Fenty went to New Jersey to find an appointee who is more an urban planner than an environmental expert. DC residents, especially those in Cleveland Park, Tenleytown, and other communities near subway stations who are concerned about over development, should be concerned about what Mr. Hawkins’ job portfolio will be.

And all DC property owners should be concerned. Hawkins is a strong proponent and supporter of the government’s use of eminent domain for economic development purposes. In a May 2005 article in the New Jersey Star-Ledger, Hawkins states that, “Eminent domain can break the impasse to progress. And the community benefits of its use have been enormous” (http://www.njfuture.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.item&thisitem=430). In a June 24, 2005, press statement following the Supreme Court decision in the Kelo eminent domain case, Hawkins exulted, “The Supreme Court affirmed two things in this ruling: the importance of having a sound plan for a community’s redevelopment, and the role eminent domain can play in lifting up the benefits of that plan to the entire community” (http://www.njfuture.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.item&ThisItem=447&ContentCat=3&ContentSubCat1=15&ContentSubCat2=39).

In light of Hawkins’ background, I was curious as to why Fenty chose him. Despite Fenty’s comment to me that he was selected because he is an “environmental visionary,” Hawkins told me in a telephone conversation that he learned about the position from Harriet Tregonning, Fenty’s newly appointed Director of the Office of Planning. Tregonning is also a smart-growth advocate, and previously served as the executive director of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute and as Maryland’s Secretary for Smart Growth. Hawkins also indicated that "the folks at the Brookings Institute" pushed for his appointment.

By the way, if you are trying to reach the DC Department of the Environment, good luck. No one in the DC government, not the government web site, the city call center, or the mayor’s office, has the correct telephone number or address for it. DCWatchers should know that the Department is currently located in the Washington Urban League Building, 3501 14th Street, NW, and can be reached at 535-2600.

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Use of City Property to Promote Muriel Bowser
Steve Hill, steve_12481632@yahoo.com

On Saturday, April 20, at 10:50 a.m., I pulled over to the side of 14th Street because a fire truck with sirens was going northbound on 14th Street. As it neared, I saw the firefighters waving, and as it passed I saw there was a banner on the side of the truck promoting Muriel Bowser for city council. The DC Fire Department and Ms. Bowser need to explain to the citizens whether city property is being used to promote partisan candidates. If so, the Fire Department needs to take action to prevent future uses of DC property for partisan campaigning and to punish the perpetrators. Ms. Bowser needs to explain why her campaign is needlessly raising alarms in the community to promote her candidacy. It seems unlikely that it is legal for emergency vehicles to use sirens when there is no emergency; using sirens unnecessarily diminishes drivers’ sense of urgency when they hear the real thing.

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DC Fire Truck with Muriel Bowser Banner
T.A. Uqdah, uqdah44@aol.com

The following was sent to the Office of the Inspector General, Board of Elections and Ethics, Office of Campaign Finance and the DC Fire Department: I am formally requesting that your office conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the numerous E-mails and telephone complaints we have received from Ward 4 residents alleging the improper use of an emergency vehicle by a private citizen. The crux of the complaints noted, that on Saturday, April 21, as early as 11:00 a.m. to as late as 1:00 p.m., fellow Ward 4 City council candidate Muriel Bowser was seen campaigning throughout the Ward on a DC fire truck.

The emergency vehicle, equipped with campaign banners, T-shirted campaign staffers, and firemen was seen, at times, moving slowly along DC streets with flashing lights and sirens blaring as Ms. Bowser and others waved to onlookers. This is not only a clear violation of campaign rules and law, but also a violation of fire department rules, procedures, and professionalism. However, in my mind, there are more serious issues of accountability, unfettered access, taxpayer waste, and inefficiency that when closely examined could rise to the level of a misdemeanor criminal act. Depending on Ms. Bowser’s culpability in acquiring this taxpayer-purchased emergency vehicle as well as her being an accessory both before and after the fact, it incenses me to think that any ordinary person could commandeer a government vehicle and use it for her personal campaign use.

Despite the obvious political implications (Ms. Bowser has been endorsed by the current mayor), as well as my own Ward 4 candidacy, (being one of eighteen others), I would expect your office to complete its ethical as well as legal responsibility to investigate this matter and issue what you believe to be the appropriate action(s).

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Construction Chutzpah
Norman Metzger, normanmetzger@verizon.net

On a recent weekend in New York City that included a lot of walking, I never once had to leave the sidewalk while passing construction. That was because every construction site — and there were many — had a walk-through passageway protected on top and on both sides. There was even wooden flooring. Obviously that’s the law in New York. At Washington construction sites, however, what you get is a sign telling you the sidewalk is closed and in effect to take your chances with the street and traffic. If you don’t like it, tough. Time we stopped this and caught up with New York.

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Signs of Life at DC Public Libraries
Robin Diener, rdiener@savedclibraies.org

Several Wednesdays ago, amid sunlight and freshly planted pansies, DC Public Library marked the grand opening of an "interim" library facility in Anacostia. The mayor and council chairman were in attendance, as were many school children, happy about the field trip. But Committee Chair Harry Thomas was absent, as was most of the press. Wouldn’t DCPL want as many people as possible to know that, at long last, bookworms have reappeared in the library park on Good Hope Road? New Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper told me she was “disappointed with the media coverage,” but in the eight months that she’s been here, Cooper has proven she knows how to get things done. So what gives? Could it be Library Trustees don’t want any more attention drawn to the fact that the community in Anacostia has been without its branch for more than two years, as have those in Benning and Shaw? (A storefront interim library in Tenley had an intentionally unpublicized opening in late November, to allow staff to work out the kinks.)

Still, even an interim is a sign of life from the formerly moribund DCPL. Chief Cooper aims for the Anacostia interim to offer a taste of things to come with a fresh look, large open service desk, and twenty public computers. The old branch had only four, when they were working. Cooper seems to have succeeded at that. One Anacostia mother delighted volubly that her son had been ensconced at the interim every night since it opened on March 12. Over in Benning, where another library remains closed, its interim yet to come on line, residents want their old branch reopened, expanded, and renovated, not demolished. Their library building (like ten others built under a Public Works Project) was designed for growth, structurally engineered to have another story added. Benning residents are more than fed up with delay. They fear that their library, located half a block up from the valuable intersection of Benning Road and Minnesota Avenue — both Great Streets projects — will be sold off to developers. They have every reason to be worried in light of the LEAD Act of 2006, http://www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us/images/00001/20060113144639.pdf, which authorized the sale of all DCPL property, and they have every reason to be skeptical of the Trustees’ intentions. If the Trustees had proceeded to rebuild as originally planned when they allowed four libraries to be closed in December 2004, new full service libraries would be opening now, not mere interims.

One way for the Trustees to earn the Benning community’s trust would be to commit to a meaningful process of public input for the new redesign of the branch — leaving everything on the table, including renovation/expansion. Given all the time already wasted, and in view of the good start Chief Cooper has made, holding off on demolition in order to consult the community is the only decent course. Read more about Benning http://www.savedclibraries.org/index.php?/archives/38-Survey-Results-not-Mixed.html.

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Response from the Police Is Sad
David McCullough, mccullo3@hotmail.com

Check out this personal account from another neighbor that lives in the Shaw neighborhood: http://www.nbdinz.com/tribunal/entries/04_2007/0419_2007.html. This is what we have to deal with: cops that for the most part that do not want to be bothered with following up on crimes. I have experienced this twice now with the DC police force. First, when my house was caught on fire by a contractor that was not licensed in DC doing illegal renovations to a neighbor’s house. The work crew set my house on fire, then poured water down the dryer vent to put out the flames. They did not call the fire department, just left it for me to discover when I got home. When I told the police I wanted to press charges, they said arson was not the case here.

Second, when my house was broken into last spring, the police once again did very little investigative work, even though I gave them leads on where the person I believed to be the perpetrator lived. Also, in that case the thieves in this case took a towel and wrapped it around a light in the bathroom. It was smoldering when I discovered it. Once again, I wanted arson as a charge. The officers once again rebuffed me.

This is ridiculous. The DC police department is a mockery! The court system is laughable, as when the police do rarely do catch the perpetrators, they are rarely sent to jail for more then a few weeks, if that. Am I the only one getting tired of this crap the judicial system is expecting us to take?

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City’s Quid Pro Quo with Pollin Is Tip of the Iceberg
Ed Delaney, profeddel@yahoo.com

From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041902588.html: “Pollin has agreed to give the city a rent-free 24-seat luxury suite with numerous amenities and a clear view of the floor.” This is what it’s really all about for the boosters of public spending on sports, like Jack Evans and his close friend and plaintiff Herb Miller, and though it took ten years, the private perk of a luxury box at the Verizon Center for use by DC politicos and whoever they shower their favors on — which was initially ruled illegal — is now in control of the politicos and the private interests that pushed this, from the Federal City Council to the DCSEC and so on. This single-minded effort on behalf of DC’s political and economic elite was underway from the start, and was illustrated in detail by the City Paper in 1998 (via a sorely needed but rarely implemented in-depth investigation of the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission, et al.): “According to DCSEC minutes, the commission spent its first year-and-a-half in business conspiring to lease a luxury box at the MCI Center. DC’s financial control board nixed the idea early on, in the fall of 1996. Not used to sitting in the cheap seats, Joseph Gildenhorn, Bill Hall, and Paul Wolff were dispatched on diplomatic missions to the control board’s One Thomas Circle offices to revisit the issue. In late 1997, the board relented and approved a $625,000 five-year lease of a luxury suite at the arena. When word leaked out, though, it was Barry who took the blame for this extravagance amidst financial crisis. Lurid media accounts suggested that Barry and his cronies would watch the Wizards from climate-controlled, theater-style seats, dine on catered food, and avoid the rabble by using private johns, all on the city’s dime. The control board quickly withdrew approval for the lease, and the deal died."

Unfortunately for the residents and businesses of the District who aren’t invited by Jack Evans to be wined and dined in the growing number of city-controlled suites, this defeat was the main impetus for Hall, Wolff, etc. to pursue a ballpark in the District that would be ostensibly publicly owned but controlled by the DCSEC’s ruling elite to ensure that they would get as many publicly financed and controlled luxury suites and club seats as they wanted, all of which led to the money pit and its nearly billion dollar cost (especially if you leave in all of the budget line items from transportation to parking and infrastructure that the city has since moved out of the budget). The true cost of the DC council’s knee-buckling on the massive overspending for the cut-rate greenhouse known as the new ballpark further escalated with its indication to Pollin of a willingness to trade tens of millions (to start) of public money from a tax increase that could have gone to other city uses for its long-sought-after publicly funded playground, also known as a luxury box, for select city officials and their hand-picked playmates. It looks like we should’ve forsaken accountability tens years ago (which the schemers heeded while honing a long-term strategy) and let the schemers have their MCI Center lease, as they would’ve only have wasted $1.25 million of public money to get their as opposed to funneling $50 million of public money directly into luxury box upgrades for private business concerns -- not to mention the astronomical cost in public funding of the ballpark, which was pursued by the same schemers in order to secure DC bigwigs their fancy personal playgrounds while being able to have to have the city pay the freight instead of out of the bigwigs’ own pockets after having failed to secure that from the MCI Center ten years ago.

“Council member Mary Cheh said she remained unconvinced that Pollin could not pay for the repairs and feared that other sports franchises will come looking for city dollars. ‘I view this as a kind of stalking horse for other requests,’ she said.” Of course it is, but the time for this battle to be fought has already passed. The continued coffer raids and creative accounting from the DC government to keep money in the pockets of DC politicos and their cronies while indulging their champagne tastes is a direct byproduct of the ballpark process during which the schemers found that a concerted Tammany Hall-type effort to skirt public scrutiny, basic oversight, and public procedures with the assistance of key parts of the local media and the ever-scheming Herb Millers of the world could not only perpetrate a scheme but prop it up when the cost and location of the scheme was found to be completely unsuitable, and against existing statutes (as in the case of siting the cut-rate greenhouse where the costs greatly exceeded every cap that was supposedly in place).

Despite the tremendous public opposition to the initial scheme and the subsequent bungling and deceit of historic proportions associated with that boondoggle, the DC council and the current mayor found that they could continue along the path prescribed by the private interests to pay the ever-escalating costs with as much public money and budget shifting as needed. The outrage and calls for accountability were sufficiently muted as they acted as group to rubber-stamp every existing and new demand from MLB and the Lerners. With an outcome like this and a pliant and knee-buckling mayor and council performing like trained seals for the private interests, of course it’s going to embolden every schemer out there looking for free money (and a dissection of the soccer boondoggle and the motives of the west coast schemer looking for an easy pot of gold at taxpayer’s expense is on its way). Of course the private interests located in DC from sports owners to developers are going to be trying to perpetrate all sorts of schemes that have public money of the tens and hundreds of millions of dollar variety carrying the freight. The victory of greed is only going to encourage more of the same; and while it’s going to be hard to turn the tide back to a point where the DC government respects the public and its money, it’s a fight that must be fought to avoid slipping back to the bad old days, which miscalculations on this massive a scale could bring sooner rather than later.

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Guide to the IG’s Report on the 2006 Wilson Graduation
Erich Martel, ehmartel at starpower dot net

On April 5, the Inspector General released its audit of the Wilson High School class of 2006’s completion of graduation requirements. Everyone concerned about the integrity of the graduation process at Wilson High School and all DCPS and charter high schools should read this report, online at http://www.oig.dc.gov or http://tinyurl.com/2nukmj. The statistics and findings of the IG Report confirm my reports of ineligible graduates and mismanaged scheduling and determination of eligibility for graduation.

I do not dispute any of the IG findings, but I want to help readers understand why the media reported “17 ineligible graduates,” while the IG Report says, “We found 35 ineligible to graduate” (page 12) and why the IG auditors’ sample included only the 93 students whose names appeared on the official graduation list that the principal would not permit teachers to see. The IG audit team did not review 110 of the names I had reported, because they were not on the official “list of graduates.” If the principal had informed the Wilson High School faculty of the names of the 120 seniors not included on the official "list of graduates" (110 of which I had reported as ineligible), my list of potentially ineligible graduates would have dropped from 203 to 93 (203-110). If the principal had informed the faculty that 18 of the names on the official list of graduates sent to the superintendent were really “non-graduates” (“During our audit, Wilson SHS officials indicated that 18 of these students were non-graduates and were not permitted to graduate,” IG Report, page 12), then my list of potentially ineligible graduates would have dropped to 75 (93-18). If the principal had informed the faculty in November, that another 12 were found to have me their graduation requirements, when the IG auditors brought my specific allegations to the attention of WHS officials (IG Report, p. 8), I would have gladly affirmed that fact and my list of potentially ineligible graduates would have dropped to 63 (75-12).

But when a school administration regards a basic matter eligibility for graduation as a secret from which the teachers of our students are excluded, the truth will be embarrassing when it finally is revealed. That truth is as follows: of the 420 seniors listed as “candidates for graduation” on the June 5, 2006, graduation day program (eleven additional others, not included in the below numbers), 276 graduated legitimately (65.7 percent), and 144 did not (34.3 percent). Eleven high schools had a higher senior completion rate (number of official reported June graduates divided by the number of seniors in the October SEA enrollment audit). There is no doubt that a similar audit of other high schools would discover many students who graduated without completing requirements, so Wilson’s 65.7 percent senior completion rate would end up as one of the highest in DCPS. That’s hardly something to brag about.

Everyone should face up to this reality, starting with Wilson parents, teachers, the school administration, and city leaders: stop trying to hide this enormous failure behind the well-earned success of our high-performing 25-30 percent and behind new versions and excuses for secrecy and special privilege. Wilson and our other high schools need to be run like a centers of learning, not community centers where learning and behavior are options and privileged staff can reinvent their jobs or just choose not to do them. The 2006 Wilson graduation scandal was much larger that the one in 2002. There will be no improvement until school officials, from the Board and Superintendent down to school administrators, are no longer free to reinterpret rules and regulations and contracts as they please and run the schools like a private club.

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Historic District Designation
Laura Elkins, laura@3plystudios.com

The DC council should act immediately on Jack McKay’s suggestion [themail, April 14] to require council approval for historic district as well as individual property designations. I would also suggest council review of all existing historic district designations. The Historic Preservation Review Board is not an elected body that answers directly to constituents, and therefore these actions amount to a takings. I understand that the DC HPRB is the only preservation board in the country that can declare historic districts without city council approval. DC citizens deserve another layer of review as well as an additional forum for debate. As Mr. McKay states, the requirements of historic district designation can be costly and onerous to property owners.

In addition, because of the unusual position of the District as a “city-state,” the DC HPO/HPRB acts on both state and local levels at once, cutting out an additional level of review that citizens in "real" states enjoy. For instance, the director of the local preservation office is also the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), and the local review board is also the State Review Board. Where citizens in states have designations reviewed at both local and state levels and can appeal a local decision to the state (and have state officials who monitor that designations are done properly by local officials), DC residents have, in essence, no appellate rights and no objective oversight. DC citizens wishing to appeal a local designation decision must turn to the SHPO, the very person who submitted the designation in the first place. This Catch-22 makes council review even more important.

The potential for conflict of interest and preemption of individual rights regarding historic district designation at HPO/HPRB, a body that already functions as both city and state governments, makes me question how we will resolve these issues throughout the District government if DC becomes a state.

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Historic Preservation Saved the City of Washington
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com

[Re: Jack McKay’s piece, themail, April 18]: Historic preservation is too often made out to be the “bad guy” in terms of putting “restrictions” on people and their ability to do whatever they want to their buildings, without any care or concern with how such individual decisions can negatively impact others, especially property values. In many respects, historic preservation is about protecting the majority from the bad taste of the minority. This is part of what Foglesong, in Planning the Capitalist City, calls the property contradiction of balancing private property interests vis-a-vis social needs and character of the land, and the need for protection against the possible bad decisions of others, which by the way, is the entire legal justification of zoning.

More importantly with regard to the center cities and revitalization, historic preservation of neighborhoods has been absolutely essential, the foundation of the only sustainable strategies for resident retention and attraction, stabilization, and revitalization. If you don’t believe me, look at the results of urban renewal. These days, most every significant urban renewal project of the 1950s-1980s is being reworked, because of a lack of success (a.k.a. failure). DC would not be a great place to live, it would be like Detroit or Newark, if it weren’t for the preservation movement. Preservationists stabilized DC neighborhoods that likely would have been abandoned or remade over by urban renewal, if it weren’t for their willingness to buck the trends of outmigration from the center cities. They stayed and toughed it out and put in the hard slog to make things better, rather than to just move away to something new, without the problems that could only be rectified by hard work, effort, and community organizing.

I joke that the crotchety preservationists today who are now in their 60s and 70s (in DC, think Dick Wolf, president of the Capitol Hill Restoration Society) were the hip urban pioneers of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. These are the people who saved the city for those of us who willingly enjoy the fruits of their efforts and are moving back to the center city today. And there is no question that Washington can ill afford the constant desire to dumb down the quality of the built environment through little changes that cumulatively have a huge impact. Even the legacy of L’Enfant and the pre-1930 builders and artisans who built residences and commercial buildings of great beauty and distinction cannot withstand death from 1,000 cuts. No Toll Brothers or K. Hovnanian subdivision, or even a New Urbanism community like Kentlands in Montgomery County, can compare to the vernacular beauty and charm of DC neighborhoods constructed before 1935. Given the sprawl and mass production of housing that typifies the subdivisions created further and further out from the center city, I wish the Washington Post and its columnists would take the time to do features on the people in this city through their hard, often selfless, and too often ignored and unappreciated efforts over the past more than years to keep this city and its neighborhoods viable when all the trends favored the suburbs.

Last fall I was poking through back issues of the Journal of the American Planning Association, and generally issues of the journal from the 1960s through the early 1990s contained articles that for the most part figured that center cities were beyond redemption, that contraction was the only hope, and that somehow ways had to be found to help those lowest income residents who tended to concentrate in center cities to reconnect themselves and their neighborhoods to increasingly disinterested suburbs.

Times have changed — cities like Washington and New York are thriving. Other cities like Philadelphia and Boston are stabilized and improving, despite overall negative trends. Chicago has been stable all along. And downtowns and neighborhoods in many center cities are managing to recover, stabilize, and attract new residents and businesses. But it was hardly an overnight process. It has been a long slog of decades, and historic preservation has been the heart and soul of the revitalization. Forget that at your peril.

And if you don’t believe me, read Cities: Back from the Edge, The Living City, and Changing Places to educate yourself. Then we might be able to have an intelligent conversation. Until then, we’ll be talking past each other, because you’ll want to focus on uniqueness, whereas I want to focus on drawing out meta-lessons, what works, why, and replicating success.

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The Fenty Post or The Washington Post
Dennis Moore, dennis@dcindependents.org

It’s abundantly clear that journalistic and corporate interests at The Washington Post have lost credibility. When substantive coverage of DC’s deeper socioeconomic and fiscal problems is trampled by their fascination with personality and hype, the Post becomes just a creatively rewritten Adrian Fenty press release. The Washington Post should put a disclaimer on every story they write about the Fenty Administration: "This is a rewrite of information and insights we feel benefits the status quo, and our mayoral choice. The perspectives and concerns of District residents are secondary or irrelevant."

Then again, the disclaimer may not be necessary. Declining District resident readership, individual newspaper sales, and subscriptions are our way of saying you don’t speak for us, or to us. They should help the environment by not printing so many copies that don’t sell. Despite their ongoing series of slants and slights against what’s really happening in our city-state, DC is not an abbreviation for dumb citizens or docile constituents. From his handling of MRDDA (Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Administration) to the clumsy pickup after a lightweight snowstorm, we have a glimpse of worse things to come under Mayor Fenty. The devil is in the details, most of which Mr. Fenty disguises or fails to provide to the public (against the Freedom of Information Act). Seeking voting rights from the US Congress on one hand, and then sneaking up to Capitol Hill to demolish due process of a citizens referendum is beyond the Washington Post’s willingness to cover.

Have we elected, and pay with our tax dollars, DC public officials who smile in our face while stabbing us in the back? Well, it isn’t the first time. If it weren’t for DC council members Phil Mendelson (Democrat) and Carol Schwartz (Republican), we would have forgotten that Mayor Fenty has administrative deficit disorder. Stay tuned for when he gets bored of tackling the deep and dirty details of improving our schools, while handling other District issues. Their bipartisan warning of things to come is the red flag and loud alarm about the Fenty some media cheerleaders choose to ignore. Beyond MRDDA, we may have to watch out for ADDRM (administrative deficit disorder ruining the municipality). Follow the money. Watch what happens in the months ahead when all the hype and promises made can’t be backed up with administrative competence, genuine accountability, and the upfront money needed to fund them. Mayor Fenty is not paying bigger bucks to keep CFO Gandhi close for nothing. Natwar knows where all the bodies are buried, and who put them there. Again, follow the money. The Washington Post and a few other so-called DC news organizations should realize that pretentious and token coverage of real day-to-day District issues is not a substitute for journalistic credibility and integrity. We know a puff piece when we read it.

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Why I Did Not March
Ralph Chittams, chittams@sewkis.com

As John Henrik Clarke stated shortly before he died (I am paraphrasing), marching was an effective strategy at one time, now it is a waste of good shoe leather. In addition, to have marched would have been schizophrenic and not in my best interest. Why should I march for Federal voting rights when my local voting rights are being trampled? How, you ask? Fenty and Gray are circumventing the DC electorate in their drive to amend the Home Rule Charter to effectuate the school takeover. Read Section 303(a) of the Home Rule Charter for the procedures to amend the Charter. Instead of proceeding to referendum as required by law, they are running to Congress to have their vision imposed on the city. If my local elected representatives are going to do that, why should I march with them for anything? It is a truism that all politics is local. Therefore, if I am not represented locally, what difference does federal representation make? None!

In addition, the city council has historically shown a lack of respect for District voters. Remember term limits? DC voters approved them. What did our council do? In an act of blatant self-interest, repealed them. Why give them (our so-called elected leaders) an even higher ladder to climb?

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Why Channel 9 Didn’t Broadcast the March
Bruce Johnson, WUSA-TV9, brucejohnson@msn.com

I can’t speak for any other reporters, but Channel 9 wasn’t there for the DC Voting Rights march because of the Virginia Tech massacre; to read anything else into our no-show would simply be wrong.

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My Not-Marching Reasons
Anne Anderson, mobileanne@earthlink.net

I believe that the Davis-Norton scheme is unconstitutional. Furthermore, it still does not gain us equity with the rest of the people who live in the United States, nor do I believe that this is a step toward statehood. I have been working for DC Statehood since 1971 because, as much as I try, I have not been able to see another option that gives us firm, complete, and permanent equal status with the rest of the country who have the same responsibilities we do — e.g., federal taxes. I hope that, once we have finished with this sidetracking enterprise, we can get back to working for full and equal representation in the form of statehood for New Columbia. Imagine where we might be now on this issue if all this time and money spent on this effort had been directed at gaining statehood and explaining to people who dismiss it out of hand that there would still be a federal enclave, we would not need a constitutional amendment, and that the state of New Columbia, with more people in it than Wyoming, could flourish as the fifty-first state. Plans were made and proposed boundaries drawn back in the ’80s and ’90s that addressed the need to protect the federal interests. They are easily available for updating and review.

Third, I did not join the DC Statehood protesters because it was just too nasty a day for me to be out in it. Thanks to all who braved the weather. Fourth, the hypocrisy of our new mayor and DC council trying to change the DC Charter without bringing it to a vote, and also disenfranchising Wards 4 and 7 by voting on the mayor’s proposal to take over the schools before they have a chance to install new Council reps — it’s just too disappointing for words.

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Marching
Malcolm L Wiseman, Jr, Washington FreeDC.org, mal@wiseman.ws

As in earlier comment on the SEA Literacy Report having too many pictures, Mr. Imhoff takes this familiar low road calling Monday’s march a “failure.” I’m a statehooder, and I didn’t support the subsuming of Emancipation Day by the “voting rights march” camp. I loathe making a connection between voting rights and freedom. Still, the event was successful, at least in the eyes I saw of most anyone there.

I attended the march with our raucous contingent of statehooders, whole-loafers who fight everyday for equal treatment. Many and all kinds of people were at the march. It was the largest and most diverse event that I have seen at any previous DC democracy event. My guess was about three thousand yelling people, and I’ll bet it was the first protest for DC civil rights for a lot of folks. I didn’t see anybody counting, so my guess is as good as anyone’s.

Numbers aside, to pronounce the march a success or failure is immaterial. There was a march. Many people were there, and in differing ways for the same good cause. Everybody who was there saw each other, and now they know they can do it again and again, rain, wind or shine. I hope when we do it next time, we will have learned more to appreciate the non-connection of “voting rights” and freedom enough to reorder our agenda to territory-hood or statehood. Nobody got shot? It was a success!

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Voting Rights March
Sam Freund, sam_freund_dc@yahoo.com

I went. I put the number at around two thousand. Of all the possible solutions to the DC vote problem, I like this one the least — I’d much prefer having full statehood, or (even better) not paying federal taxes at all, cutting out the other half of "taxation without representation."

That said, I think it’s at least a reasonable first step. The one thing I came away from the rally with is that Eleanor Holmes Norton is, at best, totally incoherent, but from citizenry that can manage to elect Marion Barry over and over again, I’m not surprised.

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The Bipartisan/Partisan Non-Equal/Equal Rights Vote
Timothy Cooper, Worldright@aol.com

Last Thursday’s 241-to-177 vote in favor of the DC Voting Rights Act was a partisan, not bipartisan, vote. Only twenty-two Republicans voted in favor of the Utah/DC-linked bill, with just six Democrats voting against it. Even if all twenty-two Republicans (approximately 10 percent of voting Republicans) who supported the bill had voted against it, and the identical number of Democrats voted "nay," the final tally would have been 219 in favor, 199 against. Which raises an important strategic question: If under the leadership of Rep. Nancy Pelosi the Democrats had sufficient votes to pass voting rights legislation, why wasn’t an equal voting rights bill (i.e., two US Senators and one House representative) put before the newly Democratically controlled Congress for an up or down vote? Why was a bill which granted DC residents only one-third congressional representation, a holdover from a bygone Republican-congressional era, championed by DC’s leaders as the best deal they could get? As DC Delegate Norton said prior to the vote: you get what you can.

As it turns out, Democrats had all the votes required to pass an equal voting rights bill for DC residents, just not the will. Why was that?

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DC Vote March
Greg DuRoss, internetgreg@verizon.net

I kind of like the tag line on E-mails a friend sends: “Politicians and diapers have one thing in common. They should both be changed regularly and for the same reason!”

To the extent that sentiment reflects people’s thinking, they won’t come out to support a cause like voting rights. Frankly, we are complacent. Look at the paltry crowds that have come out to protest the war in Iraq. Given the polls numbers of people opposed to the war, why are there not consistently 100,000 people in the streets? In comparison, 1,500 people as a first serious attempt for a DC Vote rally on a bad weather day and a day of horrific news is not bad (although I attended with a feeling that under the circumstances this was a pretty insignificant event and it would probably have been better if it had been postponed). I attended because you have to start somewhere. What I would like to see our leaders do is push for equal treatment under the law. If only the several states can be given a vote in the Congress, then ignoring the use of that same language the several states and allowing DC residents to be taxed strikes me as unconstitutional. You want a long term fix to DC tax problems? Make DC a federal tax-free District. We’ll have so many rich folks moving to the District that we won’t need any federal subsidy offset loss of taxes! Heck, even the Republicans will want to live here!

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Goodwill Toward Voting Rights Effort Shattered Over Schools Takeover Vote
Kathryn A. Pearson-West, wkpw3@aol.com

Not long ago, one might hear most citizens talk positively and enthusiastically about the pursuit of Congressional voting rights for the nation’s capital. Today the struggle for DC voting rights is met with disbelief over the actions of city leaders on the schools takeover and a feeling that city leaders are acting hypocritically when it comes to citizens’ voting rights. Too many citizens now equate the voting rights march with hypocrisy by our elected leaders. Why should citizens be expected to march for a vote in Congress when our own DC elected officials strip us of an empowered elected school board and the right to vote on a change in governance, as the DC home rule charter requires in the form of a referendum? The controversial schools takeover coup sullied the movement for DC voting rights in the eyes of the average citizen. The goodwill and trust that many citizens had for their city leaders have been nullified by a rushed Council vote stripping citizens of their rights. Some now read messages from the new administration and its media machine/appendage with disdain and distrust.

Instead of rejoicing over the progress made with the voting rights effort for DC, citizens are now questioning the mindset and wisdom of city leaders that turned Emancipation Day into a voting rights day, voted to take over the school governance without a referendum vote, and in the same breath asked citizens to march for freedom with Mayor Blackberry and his cohorts on the council. In response to these actions, one constantly hears similar retorts when asked about their participation in the voting rights march. The refrain is notably one that includes comments on the takeover of the schools. For example, it is often heard, “Why should I march when the mayor and council are going to do what they want to do anyway?” “Democracy begins at home.” “I couldn’t in good conscience march for voting rights for Norton when city leaders are taking away our democratic rights with the school takeover.” “How dare someone ask me to march for voting rights when they’re taking away my right to a referendum vote?” “Why march when the city leaders are only going to listen to certain power players behind the scenes and not to the citizens that elected them?“ ”I’m so disappointed in the city leadership that I couldn’t fathom marching in such a hypocritical gesture.” Sentiments expressed about the voting rights march are astounding and with it being on Emancipation Day, too, the criticisms were sharp.

Residents continue the disappointed diatribes with something like: “Giving a five-year term to determine if this hodgepodge school plan will work is too long! Give it two years with a proviso that the Mayor is automatically recalled if it isn’t working.” Some say, “If there is no referendum; then how about a recall in 2008?” Still others tend to say, “It’s time for a lawsuit against the city. I’m not thinking about a vote for Norton right now when the mayor and the council are taking over?” “The voting rights march was probably filled mostly with people paid by the government or by people that need or want something from this administration.” “Wouldn’t it be just dessert if the people on the school board ran for office and kicked out of office the current officeholders?” “Why is it that we only have two leaders in the city — Councilmembers Schwartz and Mendelson — that are willing to stand up for the citizens?” “It is so surprising that the native Washingtonians in office are the first to give in/sell out.” “We might as well go back to the commissioner form of governance with this group we have in office.” “What did Mayor Bloomberg do to help with the voting rights issue? Where is he now?” “The takeover of the schools has overshadowed any good these leaders might do. Hopefully, some will have only one term in office.”

“Voting rights is not worth selling my soul and conscience for the city.” “It’s an oxymoron to have an elected school board that is advisory. Why should I give up an elected school board for an ombudsman’s office? Does accountability mean ‘will fix it’ or just that one person is responsible for messing up?” “New York schools don’t seem to be all that good, so why are we following their lead? What’s Bloomberg doing for DC and why isn’t he at the mayor’s side now with the backlash for the takeover? Many New Yorkers don’t seem enamored with their takeover plan, only they have a chancellor that may be a little more equipped to handle the challenges. Would DC’s mayor of education still be on the school board if he hadn’t been whisked away by the mayor who was impressed with his leadership with DC schools or with his standing in certain high powered organizations.”

Just four months into a new term, and our city leaders have managed to alienate so many people that they aren’t even getting excited about voting rights, no matter how close we get to winning the prize. At one time citizens’ venom was pointed at Congress as our oppressors; now we look at DC leaders as becoming the oppressors. How sad that we are losing the trust in our public leaders and no longer respect them as leaders willing to stand up for what matters in the city, but rather standing up for their own agenda and a power grab that benefits them. Citizens were not fooled by the takeover and know that positive things could have happened with the schools by first having buy-in by the stakeholders and not relying on sham public hearings and media endorsements. They know wonder what actions and incompetence are being overshadowed by the talk of the takeover and voting rights. What else lurks behind the scenes waiting to pounce on unsuspecting DC voters?

All our elected officials had to do was say that the voice of the people is so important that they will wait a month until there is elected leadership on the council for Wards 4 and 7 and then insists upon a referendum to ratify the vote by Council. Instead, they chose to disenfranchise wards bearing about 25 percent of the electorate by not waiting for Wards 4 and 7 to elect council members. Then, city leaders disenfranchised the entire city by ignoring the mandate of the D.C. home rule charter by circumventing the right to a referendum vote by going straight to Congress. And should Congress approve this nonsensical law without a referendum, they become accomplices in the further disenfranchisement of the citizens’ of the nation’s capital. They will be no better than our elected leaders.

On the positive side of all of this, at least many more citizens did not have to take off of work to brave the elements to join a march that sent contradictory messages. Those that were off from work did not have to spend money to get to the protest. And many did not have to feel hypocritical about what some march supporters feel is for the greater good. The weather on the day of the march was a record for being just horrible. Some say that a higher power did not like ugly and the weather was a reflection of that. Many citizens may now begin to lament some of the voting choices we made in the primary and realize that leaders knocked on doors before the primary vote so that they don’t have to listen to voters any more. At least this can-do spirit of new leaders let’s us know that our leaders can do it all without us and they do not need us to remain loyal and overly supportive because in the end, the citizens don’t really matter. Creating a new bureaucracy with high paid staff and opening the doors to tyranny by setting a precedent to move without citizen approval is what really matters. To the victors go the spoils and to the rest of us, we sit on the sidelines waiting for a new day when home rule and citizen input are once again respected. We can have good schools, voting rights, respect for citizens, and legal process but that seems to be a novel thought only for the unelected, general citizenry. Now let’s up city leaders don’t find a way to censor citizen thoughts and put a muzzle on their speech against actions for which they disagree. Maybe it won’t be too late when everybody wakes up as to what has transpired and how citizens allowed their rights to be trampled on by their own elected leaders. Let’s have the next voting protest march to call for democracy at home and leave the hypocrisy elsewhere.

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April 2007 InTowner
Peter Wolff, newsroom@intowner.com

This is to advise that the April 2007 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 (the accompanying images can be seen in the archived PDF version). Also included are all current classified ads. The complete issue (along with prior issues back to July 2003) also is available in PDF file format directly from our home page at no charge simply by clicking the link in the Current & Back Issues Archive. 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 May 11 (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: “DC’s Historic Preservation Process, Policies Debated at Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood Forum — Residents Protest Program is Too Inflexible”; “Sheridan-Kalorama Unveils Old Call Boxes with Art to Reveal Neighborhood Lore”; “Local Hardware Stores Joining Grassroots Efforts to Reduce Inner-City CO2 Emissions”; “MPD Foot Patrol Program in Mt. Pleasant Being Hailed for Improving Security.”

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Nikki Giovanni UDC Reading Postponed, April 23
Michael Andrews, mandrews@udc.edu

World renowned poet, writer, and educator Nikki Giovanni has postponed her visit to the campus of the University of the District of Columbia scheduled for Monday, April 23. Ms. Giovanni, a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech, notified UDC through her representative that, due to the tragedy at Virginia Tech this past week, and particularly because next Monday will be the reopening of the campus following this tragedy, she is compelled to be on the Virginia Tech campus next week.

Ms. Giovanni was to conduct a reading of her poetry and lecture as part of the University’s Literature-Live Reading Series, which promotes the culture of reading and writing across the curriculum and the academic community. She has previously scheduled to appear at UDC on February 14, but that appearance was postponed due to inclement weather. She will do everything possible to find another acceptable date to reschedule her appearance.

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Meet David Rakoff, April 24
Lois Kirkpatrick, Lois.Kirkpatrick@fairfaxcounty.gov

The Fairfax County Public Library invites you to an evening with David Rakoff at 7:30 p.m. on April 24 at the McLean Community Center. Rakoff, a contributor to Public Radio International’s “This American Life,” is known for his edgy and humorous insights into contemporary American life. He is the author of two books of essays, and he also writes for The New York Times Magazine, Outside, and GQ. Rakoff can be seen in the films “Strangers With Candy” and “Capote”; to listen to a ten-minute interview with Rakoff on your computer, go here: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/bookcast/.

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Equal Pay Day Rally, April 24
Hazel Thomas, thomashazelb@aol.com

The DC Federation of Business and Professional Women (DC/BPW) will mobilize with other women’s groups on Tuesday, April 24, to call attention to the wage gap. Women, on average, are paid 77 cents for every dollar paid to men. To commemorate Equal Pay Day, DC/BPW will rally under the theme, “Women Work! Pay Them Fairly!” on Capitol Hill’s West Lawn from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Guest speakers for the rally will include Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Tom Harkins, and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.

April is symbolic of the point into the next year that a woman must work in order to earn the wages paid to a man in the previous year. Because women typically earn less, they must work longer for the same pay. Over a working lifetime, this wage disparity costs the average American woman and her family an estimated $523,000 in lost wages. This year, BPW/USA is encouraging employers to take advantage of the equal pay self-audit that is available at http://www.bpwusa.org. In the District of Columbia we are also encouraging members of the business community to review their pay practices to ensure that women are not discriminated against by performing an Equal Pay Self-Audit.

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DC Public Library Events, April 24-25
Randi Blank, randi.blank@dc.gov

Tuesday, April 24, 12:00 p.m., West End Neighborhood Library, 1101 24th Street, NW. West End Library Film Club. Bring your lunch and enjoy watching a film. For more information, call 724-8707.

Tuesday, April 24, 6:30 p.m., Southeast Neighborhood Library, 403 7th Street, SE. Capitol Hill Book Club. Please call 698-3377 for the April book title.

Tuesday, April 24, 7:00 p.m., Takoma Park Neighborhood Library, 416 Cedar Street, NW. Book discussion. For more information, call 576-7252.

Wednesday, April 25, 4:00 p.m., Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library, 7420 Georgia Avenue, NW. Young adult video presentation. We will watch the film version of Their Eyes Were Watching God, starring Halle Berry. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call 541-3966.

Wednesday, April 25, 6:30 p.m., Northeast Neighborhood Library, 330 7th Street, NE. “The Richness of Zora Neale Hurston’s Imagination and Language.” Pontheola Mack Abernathy will perform readings from Their Eyes Were Watching God. Refreshments will be provided by the Southeast/Northeast Library Friends. For more information, call 698-3320.

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Save the Anacostia River, April 28
Sam Jordan, samunomas@msn.com

On Saturday, April 28, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., join in a community canoe experience. Assemble at the Anacostia Park Skating Rink at 9:00 a.m. for a chartered bus trip to the Bladensburg Waterfront Park (4601 Annapolis Road, Bladensburg, MD). Depart from the Waterfront Park at 10:00 a.m. for a three-hour guided canoeing experience down the Anacostia River. Learn about the river’s ecology and the urgency of efforts to Save the Anacostia. It is recommended that you wear a hat and bring bottled water. Canoes and guides will be provided by the Anacostia Watershed Society. Space is limited to 43 people, so hurry and reserve your space.

From 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., come to a save the Anacostia community rally and picnic. Disembark from canoes at the Anacostia Park Skating Rink or meet at the park. Lunch will be provided. Donation: $25 per person. Includes bus transportation to Canoe Experience, return trip to the rally and picnic by canoe, and lunch. Youth (25 and under) participation is encouraged with a half-price discount, $12.50 per person. Scholarships are also available, but hurry, because we need a reliable roster of participants by Thursday, April 26 in case more canoes are required. Contact Sam Jordan at samunomas@msn.com or 388-6661.

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Zora Neale Hurston Lecture at Cleveland Park Branch, May 5
Beth Meyer, lmeyer8090@aol.com

Deborah Macanic, exhibit developer and project manager at the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, will give a PowerPoint presentation on “Zora Neale Hurston in Context” on Saturday, May 5, at 3 p.m. in the first floor auditorium of the Cleveland Park Branch of the DC Public Library, Connecticut and Macomb Streets, NW. This program is part of the Big Read, a major initiative from the National Endowment of the Arts. DC’s Big Read will consist of activities for a “city read” of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God from April 19-May 19. Also included in the program will be a brief talk by a library staff person about how to form a book club. Refreshments will be provided courtesy of Friends of the Cleveland Park Library.

Ms. Macanic will talk about Zora Neale Hurston and the events around her in the Twenties and Thirties. She will review Hurston’s writing in the context of the Harlem Renaissance and the American South. Ms. Macanic has had more than thirty years of arts and museum experience. She has managed the following exhibitions: Beyond Category: The Musical Genius of Duke Ellington, Latin Jazz, and The Jazz Age in Paris. The Cleveland Park Branch of the D.C. Public Library is located near the Cleveland Park Metrorail Station. All District of Columbia Public Library activities are open to the public free of charge. For further information, please call the Cleveland Park Library at 282-3080.

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Letters About Literature 2007, May 5
Patricia Pasqual, patricia.pasqual@dc.gov

District winners and finalists will be honored for their participation in the annual national essay contest, Letters About Literature 2007. The students, along with their family, friends and fellow students, will attend a special ceremony to be held on Saturday, May 5, at 10:30 am, in Room 443 of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library. Children’s author Pamela Ehrenber of the book, Ethan, Suspended, will address the students. The top three students in each category will read their letters and receive gift certificates from Target Stores and Borders Books and Music. The DC regional finalists will receive incentives provided by the Junior League of Washington. The festivities will conclude with a reception hosted by the Junior League.

This year over six hundred students in the District participated in Letters About Literature 2007, a writing program that ask students to write letters to an author living or dead, explaining how their work changed their view of the world or themselves. Students submitted letters on a wide variety of books, including the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Sista Souljahs’s No Disrespect, Robinson Crusoe, A Time to Kill, and many others. One student was moved by poems in Tears for Water by recording artist Alicia Keys. In her letter, she relates how one poem entitled P.O.W. (Prisoner of Words) captured exactly the way she felt when reading the book. In fact, feeling like a P.O.W. was the way many of the students felt when composing their letters.

Letters About Literature 2007 is a national project of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress, in partnership with Target Stores. The DC Center for the Book at the District of Columbia Public Library is the local organizer for the contest. Borders Books and Music and the Junior League are local sponsors. There are both local and national winners.

First place DC regional winners: level one, Abigail Melick, sixth grade, Oyster Bilingual School, Chew on This by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson; level two, John Nessman, eighth grade, individual entry, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes; level three, Talia Harris, eleventh grade, SEED School, No Disrespect by Sista Souljah. Second place DC regional winners: level one, Julie Winkler, Key Elementary School, fifth grade, Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgia Byng; level two, Jon Murphy, eighth grade, Blessed Sacrament, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis; level three, Thomas Harrison, eleventh grade, SEED School, Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol. Third place DC regional winners: level one, Theodros Alemu, fifth grade, individual entry, The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key; level two, Phoebe Joaquin, eighth grade, Blessed Sacrament School, In My Hands by Jennifer Armstrong; level three, Charnice Cunningham, eleventh grade, SEED School, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.

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CLASSIFIEDS — WANTED

Windows Boot-Up Disk
Bryce Suderow, streetstories@juno.com

Does anyone have a Windows XP Professional boot CD? I use an IBM clone with Windows Pro XP as its operating system. The computer won’t boot up for some reason. All my belongings are in boxes, so I can’t find my operating system or a boot-up disk. Without a disk, can anyone give me advice on what to do?

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