Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Mayor Vincent C. Gray and D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown plan to renovate 24 playgrounds across the city.
Rose Park's playground is one of 24 playgrounds across the city slated for renovations under a new plan from Mayor Vincent C. Gray and D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown. "Renovating these playgrounds is an investment in the well-being of our children, and I can think of nothing worthier" said Gray in a prepared statement. Rose Park is one of only two Ward 2 parks selected for the renovation. Nearby Ward 3 will have five playgrounds upgraded. The Friends of Rose Park are already undertaking an upgrade of the neighborhood park, paid for with private funds. Plans to upgrade the existing paths, replace railroad timbers, increase the flag poll plaza, add seating, plant trees and more are underway.
38.908601
-77.054831
Rose Park
2600 O St NW, Washington, DC
/articles/rose-park-playground-selected-for-upgrade
1291206
/locations/7030839
Tari at 1525 Wisconsin Avenue has until August 31 to bring an almost-finished rear addition into compliance.
Tari, a consignment boutique on at 1525 Wisconsin Ave., has until August 31 to resolve zoning and Commission on Fine Arts problems with a new two story rear addition that has already been built. Otherwise, the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) will revoke the permit, which the agency has since determined was issued in error. Tuesday the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) met to discuss an appeal by neighbors to that erroneously-granted permit, but decided to delay a hearing until September 25 in consideration of the DCRA August 31 deadline. Get daily and breaking news email updates from Georgetown Patch by signing up for newsletters here. Sara Mokhtari, the owner of Tari, first received permit approval in early 2011 to …
38.909825
-77.064635
1525 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC
/articles/tari-s-expansion-troubles-continue
/locations/7030583
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
American Rivers has issued an annual report on America’s Most Endangered Rivers since 1986.
The Potomac River is America's "Most Endangered River" according to environmental watchdog organization, American Rivers. The Potomac is at the number one slot in part to get the attention of policymakers about the evolving threats to rivers and the continuing importance of the Clean Water Act 40 years after it became law. “When members of Congress fill a glass of water or drink their morning coffee, that water comes from the Potomac River. It’s time to draw the clear connections between healthy rivers, drinking water, and public health in Washington, D.C., and in communities nationwide,” Bob Irvin, president of American Rivers, said in a prepared statement The Potomac, which runs some 380 miles across five states, was number one on the …
38.902612
-77.0611
Georgetown Waterfront Park
3100 K St NW, Washington, DC
/articles/potomac-river-named-most-endangered-by-environmental-watchdog
1309953
/locations/7025077
Friday, May 11, 2012
The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments released its annual report on the homeless population.
Although the number of homeless men and women throughout the whole metro region dipped slightly since 2011, the percentage of homelessness inside the District is up 6 percent. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments released its annual report on the homeless population Wednesday. Homelessness is down .4 percent throughout Washington, Northern Virginia and Montgomery, Prince George's and Frederick counties in Maryland. In 2011, the council counted 11,879 homeless men and woman in the region. This year, that number dropped to 11,830. The picture is much different inside city limits, though. In 2011, the council counted 6,546 homeless men and women in D.C. One year later, the population has jumped to 6,954 - a difference of more …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Residents are encouraged to leave one bag of non-perishable food at their mailboxes on Saturday for their mail carriers to pick up and donate to a local food pantry.
Letter carriers all over the U.S. will be looking to pick up more than just mail this weekend. Saturday is the official day of the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, an initiative of the U.S. Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers. Residents can do their part by leaving at least one bag of non-perishable food at their mailboxes or wherever their mail is normally left. The carrier will pick up the food and take it to a local food bank. More than 49 million people in America struggle to feed themselves and their families and often end up going hungry, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. One in five, or 16 million of those 49 million people are children. The postal service and the association of letter …
The president said Wednesday that he supports same-sex marriage.
President Barack Obama picked the day after a decisive vote in North Carolina to announce that his "evolution" on the issue of same-sex marriage was complete—he now supports it. In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Obama said: I have to tell you that over the course of several years, as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage—at a …
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Community efforts to secure a second cooperative play program succeeded after initially faltering.
The Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) approved the creation of a second cooperative play program (Co-Op) at the Volta Park facility in Georgetown for the September 2012 school year. DPR operates nine Co-Op programs throughout the city for children ages 18 months to five years. Volta Park already had a co-op program for children aged two to five years, but Georgetown parents saw a need for programs for younger children. Caroline Pessey's older daughter started in the Volta Park program in September 2011. Her younger daughter will be 20 months in September and Pessey was looking for a similar option locally. "The recreation center at Volta Park was unused during the morning," she explained. "That’s where we got the idea that we could …
38.910038
-77.067862
Volta Park Recreation Center and Pool
1555 34th St NW, Washington, DC
/articles/second-volta-park-co-op-approved
1291386
/locations/6970580
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Works by Sidney Lawrence and Arthur Day add a local aesthetic to the recently renovated Georgetown library.
Georgetowners have poured their time, energy, funds and now their creativity into making the neighborhood library a local treasure. Works by two Georgetown artists — Sidney Lawrence and Arthur Day — now adorn the library, which was recently renovated after a fire five years ago. The works, one an archival digital print of a thin-line ink drawing of a D.C. cityscape and the other a colorful landscape of Georgetown streets, hang over two fireplaces on the library's first floor. Lawrence described his cityscape of the National Mall, saying it stretched "all the way from the Capitol building, zooming along to the Washington Monument and up the river to Georgetown." Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Tom Birch donated Lawrence's work to the …
38.91368
-77.06571
Georgetown Neighborhood Library
3260 R St NW, Washington, DC
/articles/local-artists-works-grace-neighborhood-library
1907895
/locations/6967620
DDOT included possible streetcar work in the bid with construction company Fort Meyer.
Streetcar tracks unearthed on Wisconsin Avenue during the early stages of construction for the Glover Park Wisconsin Avenue Project should not impact the project budget, according to District Department of Transportation (DDOT). DDOT Project Manager Paul Hoffman said his agency "suspected" that the streetcar tracks were buried under the northbound lanes of Wisconsin Avenue and included possible work on them in the bid DDOT awarded to Fort Meyer construction. Hoffman explained that Fort Meyer would be able to run electrical lines for the street lamps parallel to the Verizon utility ducts in the street. The tracks should not have to be removed entirely for the project to proceed. But Hoffman said he could not speak to whether or not the …
Monday, May 7, 2012
Council member Mary Cheh and DDOT Director Terry Bellamy will discuss Ward 3 transportation issues tonight.
Monday night residents will have their chance to ask questions and get some answers about Ward 3 transportation issues, including the Glover Park Streetscape Project on Wisconsin Avenue. Council member Mary Cheh and District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Director Terry Bellamy are hosting a town hall meeting Monday at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) from 7 to 8:30 p.m. "The Glover Park and Cleveland Park transportation projects, in addition to the Ward 3 Livability Study, will be among the key initiatives to be discussed" according to a press release. The Glover Park Streetscape Project will widen sidewalks, create a center median and reduce the number of traffic lanes on Wisconsin Avenue. The project will reduce the…
Jeff Hawkins
12:51 pm on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Ammunition for next week's "Ben Cardin saves America, one Bill at a time" feature on Local Voices here at Patch. more ›