Farmers Market Tomorrow

What: a producers only farmers market
When: 9am-12pm Saturdays
Where: middle of the south side of the 600 block of H Street
Why: fresh fruits, veggies, flowers, breads, pies, coockies, cheeses, ice cream, sorbet, meats, apple butter, and more.

WBJ: Market Futures

The Washington Business Journal covers the Florida Market (AKA Capital City Market) situation. Pick up a paper copy for the full (2 page!) story. Also, don't be mislead by that SoHo/TriBeCa reference. Mr. Choi proposes building various things, including: an outdoor ampitheater, a YMCA, an outdoor iceskating rink, office buildings, a movie theater, a bowling alley, and a hotel. So, considering the scope of his proposed planned community, comparing his vision to a suburban shopping center is probably more appropriate than comparing it to any (organically developed) neighborhood in NYC.
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UPDATED
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Someone pointed out the article is currently available for free here (not a reposting).

Summer Specials @the Argonaut

MONDAYS: ½ PRICE BURGERS!!

TUESDAYS: $3 SOL & DOS XX, FREE CHIPS & SALSA WITH PURCHASE OF SANDWICH OR ENTRÉE!!

WEDNESDAYS: $3 WINGS & $3 YUENGS!!

THURSDAYS: $2 PBR ALL NIGHT!!

SATURDAYS: DOGGY DAY HAPPY HOUR 5-8.
HANG OUT WITH OTHER DOG LOVERS ON OUR PATIO!! HAPPY HOUR PRICES, TREATS FOR YOUR DOG!!


Images provided by the Argonaut

H Street Singles Moratorium

The following was sent out on a number of local listservs:

There are forces lining up right now to try and stop the H Street Moratorium on Single Sales. Councilmember Graham's office has scheduled a round table he's scheduled at 2:00 pm today, Thursday, June 28, 2007. Because of the volume of liquor store owners concerned, CM Graham may want to postpone the hearing until after the summer recess (i.e., the Council couldn't vote to put the moratorium into effect until the fall).
Please call CM Graham with your opinion!!! His office needs to be getting phone calls in the next three hours that tell him what the community wants. ANC 6A voted in favor of this and this has gone through a lengthy public process already, and that you want his committee and Council to take action quickly.
You can reach Jim Graham's office at: 202-724-8181. His committee's phone number is 202-724-8195. [All written testimony should be sent to lwillis@dccouncil.us.] See what I sent CM Graham below - which cites the significant relationship between liquor stores and illicit activities; i.e., More liquor stores = more illicit behavior. See research by Dr. Furr-Holden from John Hopkins at http://www.pire.org/topiclist1.asp?id=1
It is very important that CM Graham listen to those of us who live here and not just the businesses!
Stephanie Nixon ANC6A08 Commissioner
PSA 103 Co-Community Coordinator
ANC6A Public Safety Committee Chair

Market Tour Saturday

Learn more about what's in the Florida Market (AKA Capital City Market). Located just off the NY Ave Metro, the Market offers both retail and wholesale food products. There is also a flea market, and there are some good places to either sit and eat, or get food to eat elsewhere.
Tour starts at 10am at the corner of Morse & 4th.
Meet at 9:15am at 325 Morse if you want to join us for breakfast (Korean/Salvadorian/American) before hand.

Quest For Quiet News

Get the latest (a round up of recent news stories covering Amplified Free Speech Day) here.

WP: Remaking Retail on H

The Post features this story: Road to a Retail Makeover and this graphic.

Globe St.: New Town @Capital City Market

Here's another story on Apollo's recently announced involvement with the New Town proposal. Although the story doesn't mention it, the project requires not only Council approval, but the approval of the owners of 50% of the land in order to trigger the eminent domain provision the developer needs in order to seize the rest of the land. The New Town proposal concerns the Florida Market.

Disturb the Peace with Quest for Quiet

Here's info on the blog Quest for Quiet and its goal (for the unfamiliar). Here's their announcement:
WHEN: Sunday, June 24
TIME: 3-5 p.m.
PLACE: 18th Street NW, near Belmont and Kalorama Roads NW in the Adams Morgan neighborhood

OUR MESSAGE: Protect yourself from persistent amplified attacks.
SUPPORT D.C. NOISE BILL: "Noise Control Protection Amendment Act of 2007." We support freedom of speech AND the right to peace and quiet.
PURPOSE: A tiny band of H Street NE residents will demonstrate the absurdity of the city's broken noise law. It allows unlimited, amplified, non-commercial speech from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in any D.C. residential community-including Adams Morgan. There are no limits on loudness. CALL FOR ACTION: Protect yourself and your neighborhood from more amplified attacks. Please urge the D.C. city council to balance free speech with the right to peace and quiet and to take action to fix the D.C. noise law. This is a health and safety issue.
YOU CAN HELP: Send a written statement by July 23 to Ms. Cynthia Brock-Smith, Secretary to the Council, Room 5 of the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004. IF POLICE APPEAR, WE'LL DISPLAY THIS LETTER
Learn more at questforquiet.org. See highlights from last year's first-ever event in Georgetown

Ward 6 Family Day Tomorrow

A message from Tommy Wells:

Dear Friends,

A reminder to please join me this Saturday, June 23rd, for the First
Annual Ward 6 Family Picnic and Celebrity Softball Tournament.

We've got an exciting line-up of activities, celebrities and events scheduled throughout the day. Join the Nationals' Felipe Lopez, Jesus Flores and Jesus Colome as they play tee-ball with the kids and become celebrity coaches in the Softball Tournament. Plus, we have over a $1,000 worth of raffle prizes to give away (including autographed Nationals' jersey, autographed DC United soccer ball, 100 Nationals' baseball tickets, gift certificates to dozens of local restaurants and businesses, free sponsorship for a 3-day youth soccer camp, and many more)!

The celebration will take place at the Rosedale Recreation Center at 1700 Gales Street, NE. We'll get started at 10:00 am and activities will run through the day until 4:00 pm. I hope that this event can bring all of our Ward 6 residents out for a great day.

Here's an agenda for the day:

10:00 - 11:00 am Community Clean-Up of the Recreation Center
11:00 am - 2:00 pm The grill fires up for hamburgers and hot dogs
11:00 am - 2:00 pm Celebrity Softball Tournament
12:00 pm Rosedale pool opens for the summer
12:00 - 1:30 pm Tennis Clinic (sponsored by Les Halles)
12:00 - 1:30 pm Basketball (3 on 3 games and Spot Shot sponsored by DC Parks and Recreation)
1:45 - 2:45 pm Dodgeball (sponsored by DC Parks and Recreation)
3:00 - 4:00 pm Community Clean-Up of the Recreation Center

We've already had several groups sign up for the softball tournament featuring celebrity Nationals pitchers, members of the DC City Council, Department of Parks and Recreation and other celebrity guests. It's not too late to sign up, please contact Daniel Conner at
dconner@dccouncil.us or 202-724-8063. Don't have a team? Don't worry! Anyone who wants to play will find a home on a team.

I want to thank our many sponsors: the Washington Nationals, DC United, Voice of the Hill, Hill Rag, Argonaut, Marty's, Riverby Books, Tortilla Coast, Capitol Hill Bikes, Palace of Wonders, Belga Café, Cantina Marina, Mr. Henry's, Burrito Brothers, Schneiders, Trover Book Shop, and many more. Several agencies will also provide information about various programs and services, such as summer youth programs and testing for blood pressure and blood sugar. Food and recreation will be provided for all members of the community.

I hope you'll join me at this great event and bring your family, even the four-legged members, out to the Ward 6 Family Picnic! I'll see you on Saturday.

Tommy Wells

More on PCP Ring Bust

From WUSA 9 News, the Post, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and the Examiner.

Writing for a Grocery Store at 3rd & H

Here's something circulated by 6C ANC Commissioner Alan Kimber on some local email lists:

Dear neighbors,

As many of you may know, Harris Teeter backed out of their non-binding commitment to locate a store at the corner of 3rd & H Street NE, in the Steuart Development residential & retail project that was approved by the ANC last year.

The developer has been in talks with several other specialty grocery chains, with the two most promising being Trader Joe's and Yes! Organic Market. I think either would be an excellent addition to the neighborhood, and fill a much needed void. Both are smaller stores, and the developer is looking at splitting the space that Harris Teeter would have occupied, in order to lease part to one of these stores, and to secure a pharmacy tenant for the remainder of the former HT space.

Now that there are a couple of promising possiblilities, the time has come where community support / pressure will be of most help in getting a store to commit to the space. If you are interested in helping bring a quality grocery store to our immediate area, please contact the stores and let them know how you feel about them locating a store at 3rd & H Street NE. Here is the contact information for each store:

Trader Joe's

Online: http://www.traderjoes.com/location_requests_form.aspx

Yes! Organic Market

Online: http://www.livingnaturally.com

The more unique messages they receive, the better, so please tell them your reasons for why they should come to our neighborhood. A few things to emphasize, if you like:

--locating specifically at 3rd & H Street NE

--why you think this is an ideal location

--neighborhood really wants them

--why you would shop there

--ongoing revival of H Street

--many new high-end condos delivering now & by the time they open

(over 500 nearing completion, over 600 already have zoning approval, over 400 more with pending applications)

We've waited a long time for quality grocery shopping alternatives, and now we are in a position to directly help in attracting a store to our immediate neighborhood. Please help if you have the time and interest. Thank you.

Fox: PCP Ring Busted

The report indicates that the recently busted ring operated out of several houses, including on located near 18th & M Street (Carver Terrace).

Construction to Watch

If you have an interest in construction you might head over to the 1200 block of Florida Avenue in the next week or so. They are assemplying some prefab (right down to pre-installed cabinets and pre-painted walls) condos and townhouses. As of yesterday they had only done the (unfinished) basements, but the next phase of the project promises to be interesting. Many of the units have reportedly already sold. The rumored prices (forgive me for being skeptical, but this sounds like realtor on crack talk to me) for the 4,000+ sqft townhomes are coming in at over a million (ok they are big, but they're on Florida Ave for Christsakes!). Oh, the project is called Capitol Hill Oasis.

WP: Hecht's Warehouse

Check out this recent Post story on the sale of the Hecht's warehouse (big news) on New York Ave.

Capital City Market and Apollo

Read the Examiner story here on Apollo Management's plan to finance the proposed redevelopment (assuming they are able to exercise eminent domain) of the Capital City Market. This is part of the New Town plan.

Action on Florida Ave Sun AM

If you tried to drive down Florida early on Sunday morning you may have seen lots of police cars. There was a carjacking elsewhere in the city and the kids sped down Florida striking another car at the intersection of Florida and Montello before striking a light pole outside Jimmy's Tire (1215 K Street).
Four juveniles then exited the car and ran down Florida heading east. Police were out in full force coming the neighborhood for them. Miraculously, no one was injured (but at least three cars were damaged). No word on if they were apprehended.

ABRA License Tool

Here's a really cool tool for looking at alcoholic beverage licenses in DC. This was created by an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner name Frank Winstead.

Farmers Market Tomorrow

What: a producers only market selling veggie, fruit, meats, cheeses, breads, pies, cookies, soups, coffee from Sidamo, and more.
Where: middle of the south side of the 600 block of H Street.
When: 9am-12pm Saturdays
Why: get your shopping done, take youself/kids/dog to the market because it is a fun way to start a Saturday, talk to the farmers who actually grew your food, see your neighbors, support a local market that gets people out on H Street, support local farmers.

New Chancellor of Schools

Here's who Fenty picked. Her name is Michelle Rhee. Former head of the New Teacher Project. She'll be the first non-African-American superintendent, or, umm, Chancellor, of DCPS (Ms. Rhee is Asian). Please click through the links above for her bio and info on her former organization.

Clothing Cafe Open

As previously noted in the comments, the Clothing Cafe (1240 H Street -->the former home of Elite Motors) is now up and running. No word on if they are offering food.

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UPDATE
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Apparently there will be no food here (it was only a rumor). They will, however be serving free coffee and tea to patrons.

New Tavern Proposed for Florida Ave

A notice recently appeared in the window of 1006 Florida Avenue. The space has long been vacant. A few years back (perhaps 5 years) it was the home of Cuppa Joe, a coffe house that was partially staffed by7 Gallaudet students, and had really good carrot cake. The new application is for Capitol Hill Premium Cigars and Tobacco. The first floor would be retail, but their would be a lounge upstairs that would serve drinks. They would offer pre-packaged foods such as chips, pretzels, nuts, pub mix (whatever that is), and desserts. This is a tavern license. Notice was posted June 8th. The petition deadline is July 23rd, and the hearing is August 8th.

WP: Indictments for Luxury Car Theft Ring

I received an email alerting me to the significance of this article that I had initially skipped reading. The local tie-in is to a man named Francis Kamara, who allegedly played a key role in the ring. Mr. Kamara, who owned a car lot located in the 1100 block of Bladensburg Road, was murdered the night before Christmas of 2005. At the time police called the killing part of a botched robbery. Now, they say they do not know if his killing may have been related to the illegal car ring.

Farmers Market Tomorrow

What: a producers only farmers market fearuring 6 vendors selling goods from 8 producers. Goods include: meats, veggies, fruits, breads, cookies, pies, cheeses, live plants, popcorn, apple sauce/butter, and more.
When: 9am-12pm
Where: the middle of the south side of the 600 block of H Street.

Bikram Yoga Anniversary Special

Bikram Yoga Capitol Hill (410 H Street)is celebrating its one year anniversary by selling 1 memberships for $999.

Yearly memberships will include:
Towels
Mat Cleaning
Mat Storage

Here is an example of a breakdown at the special rate of $999 for 1 year membership (or $83. per month):


If you practice: 2 x week: you pay: $10. per class

3 x week: you pay: $7. per class

5 x week: you pay: $4. per class

Musica Viva Wraps Up Season

Washington Musica Viva closes their Atlas Season with Homegrown

Line up to include Ritz Chamber Players’ Amadi Hummings as well as a rare performance by DC’s Chaise Lounge

Washington Musica Viva, pianist Carl Banner's genre-bending musical series, will be closing their Atlas Performing Arts Center season on Sunday June 10 at 3pm. The performance will feature stars of both the jazz and classical music worlds and will at times combine the two in a uniquely Musica Viva style.

The concert, titled Homegrown, will treat audiences to the Washington, DC premiere of the ‘Viola Sonata' by Washington native and Pulitzer Prize winning composer George Walker performed by Amadi Hummings, a member of the renowned Ritz Chamber Players. Also on the first half of the program: Dedications, a piano suite by Washington DC's own Blair Goins

The second half will be a rare treat for Washington jazz fans. Several members of Chaise Lounge will be reuniting and performing many of their biggest hits. Chaise Lounge, which features the arrangements of guitarist/composer Charlie Barnett, enjoyed success in the 1990s. According to Mr. Barnett, the sound of Chaise Lounge is best described as "early stereo, the sound of Capitol Recording from around 1959-1962."

Much of their sound is due to the vocal stylings of Marilyn Older, which are not to be missed. "She's a singer unlike anybody I have ever met, in a completely unflashy way. People just go wild for her."

Tickets can be purchased at www.atlasarts.org or by calling 202-399-7993

Friday Atlas Discount

The Congressional Chorus is offering a neighborhood discount to its 20th Anniversary Concert here at the Atlas Friday evening. They are offering $20 tickets to everyone who lives in the 20002 or 20003 zip codes. You can call the box office at 202.399.7993 or
purchase them online, www.atlasarts.org the discount code is "caucus".
The Voice of the Hill did a lovely story on the chorus and a piece they will be performing, it was written by a Hill composer, Rand Snell.

http://www.voiceofthehill.com/CongressionalChorus.htm

WP: Clubs & Ward 5

Here's a Post piece discussing the outcome of the closely watched initial vote on legislation regarding the relocation of various adult clubs displaced by the baseball stadium development and the eminent domain at Skyland.

TIC Garden Club Planting & Meet & Greet

The Trinindad-Ivy City Garden Club will be out planting this Sunday from 9am-11am. Meet at the corner of Morse & Montello.

Also join us for a follow-up meet & greet from 1 PM -3 PM
at 1159 and 1163 Morse Street

*if you are worried about the gap between these two events, don't be. I'm pretty sure some of us will hang out in the meantime.

WP: H20 Open, But on Probation

The Post reports that the club H20 (which plans to re-open in Ivy City as the Big Chill) will re-open following a recent shooting outside the club. The patrons involved had argued inside the club and been ejected. This re-opening requires a two week probationary period during which the club must close the numerous security holes that the shooting investigation revealed. Some District officials, including Chief of Police Cathy Lanier, had previously called for the revocation of the club's license.

Story Time

Actually this is another shot from the recent health fair at Joe Cole Rec.

Strip Club Vote Today

Sorry if you're sick of hearing about clubs possibly relocating to Ward 5 because the first vote is today and the bill will almost certainly pass. It case you still want to read more on the issue, here are a couple of articles (the Post one is better, and I must say I was suprised to read about a $515,000 house in Ivy City).
NE Residents Fear Clubs Would create a 'Red-Light Zone' -Washington Post June 5th
Club's Landlord Acquires NE Sites -Washington Times June 5th

Tropicana?

Nothing is set in stone yet, but Tropicana is rumored to be looking at the former daycare located next to this church in the 1000 block of H Street.

Post: Neighborhood Blogs

A piece from the Sunday source on neighborhood blogs.

Post: Gang Enforcer Convicted

The Post reports that Larry Gooch was convicted in federal court for his role in killings related to a drug gang that once operated in Carver Terrace (around 18th & M Street -which the article refers to as Kingman Park). He may now face the death penalty.

Scootergate 2 on H Street

Did you notice an unusual number of Vespas cruising the neighborhood this weekend? If so, it was because Scootergate 2 descended upon H Street this weekend. The enthusiasts checked out the Pug, the Red & the Black, Palace of Wonders, & Rock & Roll Hotel.

Coming Soon to the Florida Market

Not sure what it is, but a crew was renovating and repainting a three unit space at the Florida Market just down from Caribbean Crescent (across from the flea market) and they have a tenant (though the crew did not know what kind of business was moving into the space).

Farmers Market Tomorrow

What: a producers only market selling meats, cheeses, breads, cakes, cookies, fruits, veggies, live plants and more.
When: 9am-12pm
Where: middle of the south side of the 600 block of H Street

WP: H20 Stays Closed for Now

The Post has another story on the temporary closing of the waterfront club H20 following a deadly shooting last weekend. Some parties are calling for the club's license. I mention this here because H20 is planning to close its doors (due to redevelopment on the waterfront) and to reopen as The Big Chill in Ivy City. ANC 5B recently agreed to enter into a voluntary agreement with the club.

This story is also interesting because the club's operations and security measures are coming under scrutiny and this raises questions about how much a business like this can do to prevent violence, and how to go about doing so.
Rebuilding Place has two recent entries that are related:
Speaking of Clubs and Ward 5
and
Take It Outside May Be the Wrong Policy