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Poplar Street to Verizon: Trampled Again
For those following the efforts Nancy Flinn of Poplar Street, NW, to get someone to take responsibility for the Verizon utility pole that is threatening her tiny house, will recall that Flinn received a letter from Verizon suggesting that she pay $1,932,880 in estimated costs to correct the problem.
Subsequent to a post Tuesday, the Dish received an email from Sandra Arnette, Verizon spokesperson who stressed that the "estimate was not for work involving one resident, but the whole square block that's presently served by that aerial run." The undergrounding would be for service not just for Poplar Street, but also for homes one block south on O Street and one block north on P Street. The estimate was in answer to a request from Flinn for information to help to get stimulus money from DC to underground the wires. The project would include digging up the street, installing a new manhole system and other work.”
Nancy Flinn considered the Verizon email and still feels misrepresented, manipulated and powerless. Arnette is just trying to "make Verizon look much more palatable then they've actually been," Flinn said. She points out that the letter is only addressed to her and she has no recollection of any reference to stimulus funds before the letter. The letter "was meant to stop me in my tracks, and it did."
Finn says that the good news is that Christine Kidwell, from the Mayor Adrian Fenty's office, has followed-up to offer further assistance. "That says a lot about her and about Adrian," she said.
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Main break leaves Georgetown without water
A large portion of Georgetown residents were left without water or with very low water pressure yesterday after a water main broke at U Street and 14th Street at about 4 p.m. Water at that intersection flowed rapidly onto the street out of the 20-inch break, but did not cause much structural damage to nearby businesses.
Meanwhile, Georgetown residents at the north end of the neighborhood experienced significant drops in water until late in the evening. Residents from 35th Street, 36th Street, and 37th Street, and Reservoir, S Street, and T Street reported losing water on a neighborhood listserv. Safeway experienced the drop too, and stopped selling food at its hot and cold food bar and sushi bar.
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Martha's Table in need of men's clothing
The U Street-area thrift store Martha's Table is low on men's clothing and is asking for donations to help increase their stock. In particular, they need men's pants.
"As you may know, in addition to selling clothes at the store, we have folks in need who are referred to Martha’s Outfitters who can receive clothes for free," a Martha's Table empoyee wrote in an email to the Georgetown listserv, forwarded by Elsa Walsh. "Because they often travel from distant corners of the city, it is very important that we have an inventory of clothes for them."
Those who want to donate to the store, at 2114 14th Street, should bring clean clothes on a hanger, or folded and in a paper bag or box.
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GBA to Host Brown & Orange in Georgetown
The Georgetown Business Association will host two “meet and greets” for D.C. Council Chair candidates -- Councilmember Kwame Brown will be at L2 Wednesday, July 28th at 6:00pm, former Councilmember Vincent Orange will press the flesh at Paper Moon Friday, July 30th at 6:00pm. The GBA invites community residents and businesses to take advantage of these events before the upcoming race.
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Georgetown Cupcake gets its own Wikipedia page
I guess this is how you tell you've arrived—as of this week, Georgetown Cupcake, having already nabbed its own TV spot on TLC, has its own Wikipedia page.
And the page does not, as you might think, does not harp on the cupcakery's reality show, DC Cupcakes. It's much more focused on Katherine Kallinis and Sophie LaMontagne, the sisters who founded Georgetown Cupcake with a loan and their own life savings. (Fun facts: before going into baking, Kallinis worked for Gucci and LaMontagne worked for a venture capitalist).
There's also a meticulous, if short, section about what is on the menu from day to day and how many cupcakes the sisters sell each day (5,000). Check it out, and see if you can spot any factual errors in the notoriously questionable online encyclopedia.
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Fire blazes Georgetown townhouse
On Monday afternoon, a fire broke out in the attic of a 3-story Georgetown home, according to a Washington Post blog, causing moderate damage to the house. When the fire department arrived, D.C. Fire Department spokesperson Pete Piringer said, flames were spouting out of the top of the house.
The fire, on the 1400 block of 30th Street, was under control within an hour after it was reported, around 5pm. The cause still has not been determined.
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Dupont-Rosslyn Circulator to launch Sept. 1
Blue Bus fans, take your good-bye rides on the Georgetown Metro Connection. On September 1, the Circulator's newest line will be phasing out the existing Blue Bus line, according to the Washington Business Journal.
Of course, no one is really despairing. The Circulator buses will be larger, follow the same route, and be part of a reliable and already and well-known fleet. Members of the Georgetown community are excited for the bus line, which will be the first Circulator route to operate partially outside of the District of Columbia.
In a June interview, BID Executive Director James Bracco said that it was possible that a more visible transportation route to the Georgetown shopping district would bring more foot traffic—potential shoppers—to the area.
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Georgetown Cupcake line draws mockery on Twitter
On Saturday, when an unbearably muggy and nearly record-setting heat enveloped the District, Young & Hungry's Tim Carman captured a telling photo of a truly nonplussing phenomenon: A line outside of Georgetown Cupcake that ran halfway up 33rd Street—comprised of dozens of people.
Young & Hungry's readers were not sympathetic to Georgetown Cupcakes's melting patrons, but Carman's incredulousness really hit home.
"I’m not sure what I would consider the more inhumane treatment: waiting for a tiny frosted treat during this hell’s broiler of a day or watching the new TLC reality show based on Georgetown Cupcake," he joked. And on Twitter, many others chimed in to say that 40-or-so customers in line for a cupcake were, well, crazy:
@Staceyviera: (Ppl are sheep. SHEEP!)
@ja3: More proof that people will always exceed my expectations for stupidity.
@MysteryPollster: this photo denotes peak of the fad
@TeresaKopec: Do those cupcakes have little crack bags in the middle?
@fat_nat: insanity, clearly, esp when baked and wired is so close and so much better
@Buffalo_Theory: This is why I hate humans…and Georgetown!
Read more at Young & Hungry
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What did Georgetown look like 70 years ago?
These days, Rosslyn is home to miles of national chains, the Georgetown Waterfront boasts some of the city's best restaurants, and local residents are up in arms about a single, benign chimney on Georgetown University's campus.
Shows how much the area has changed. For a few years, the District Department of Transportation has been searching its archives for interesting artifacts about the D.C. area. And the photos they recently released of the District in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s, show a very different D.C. than the one we know today.
Rosslyn, for instance, used to be a smattering of stores and railyards, connected to Georgetown by a very empty Key Bridge. This photo was taken of the Virginia town in 1945:
The Georgetown Waterfront, from the looks of this photo taken in 1946, was almost all factories:
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Hurt Home and other Eastbanc projects analyzed in WBJ
The D.C. government is selling off surplus real estate, hoping that private-sector renovation will lure residents, generate tax revenue, boost affordable housing stock and revitalize communities.
But it’s difficult to predict whether selling, leasing or, in many cases, simply giving away land and unused buildings will pay off until the projects are completed. That takes years. It sometimes doesn’t happen at all, reports Michael Neibauer in the Washington Business Journal.
Candidate for D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown is quoted in the article as saying that increased development due to the dispositions is good, but that strict oversight is needed.
"A West End deal with Eastbanc, for example, was first awarded, sole source, three years ago and rammed through the legislative process," Neibauer writes. "But the deal was tossed in the wake of public outcry, rebid and awarded again to EastBanc — this time with consensus community support."
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