Friday, November 30, 2012

come out tomorrow and help string lights throughout Crispus Attucks Park

Dear Friends of Crispus Attucks Park:
    
If you're free tomorrow -- Saturday, December 1st -- please join us in Crispus Attucks Park to help us string up lights throughout the park.  Neighbors are meeting in the park starting at around 10am, and will probably be out there for quite a while.  We'll supply the lights, but feel free to bring extra if you have them.  Maybe we'll even have hot cider and the like.  If we get enough people, we can turn the whole park into a Winter Wonderland!
 
And to those of you who live right on the park, we're looking for a few more people to offer their outlets and donate some of the electricity.
 
Please feel free to email me back if you have any questions.
 
The weather is supposed to be really nice.  Hope to see many of you there!
 
John
                      
John Corea
Board Member
Crispus Attucks Development Corporation
www.crispusattuckspark.org
 

video of the Wednesday, 11-28-2012 Committee hearing: Backwater Valve and Sandbag, Flood Assistance Fund

From Bloomingdale resident Betsy McDaniel:

Here is the video from Committee hearing on Wednesday.


BP 19-936 
Backwater Valve and Sandbag
starts at 1:04:45

BP  19-938
Flood Assistance Fund
starts at 1:09:09

back and forth between Bloomingdale resident Brice McCracken and DC Water's Alan Heymann

This subsequent response from Bloomingdale resident Brice McCracken just in:
 

Mr. Heymann-

Thanks for the information you provided.  It`s still very concerning to me that almost five months after the first flood and sewer back up events of 2012, DC Water seems to be clueless and dumbfounded as to the causes of the flooding.  Since DC Water had previously ruled out sewer dams and now the Army Corp has ruled out overflow or drainage from McMillan Reservoir, are you guys any closer to determining a cause of all the flooding and more important, are you any closer to coming up with real solutions to the flooding?  Five months is a long time with no answers from DC Water.  If this is priority number one at DC Water, like Mr. Hawkins always claims in the community updates, it`s time for you guys to show it. 
                                             
Sincerely,
Brice McCracken
Frustrated DC Water Customer




From: Alan R. Heymann
To: Brice McCracken ; Emanuel D. Briggs  
Cc: A long list of other people 
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2012 10:28 AM
Subject: RE: Bloomingdale/LeDroit Park Sewer Cleaning Project

Mr. McCracken and other members of the community,
  
We hope to have another community update email today. As to your specific question about the McMillan Reservoir, we posed it to the management of the Washington Aqueduct. The Aqueduct is a unit of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, and provides the treated drinking water that DC Water distributes throughout the District. Here is the response.
     
The Washington Aqueduct facilities at McMillan Reservoir are similar to any structure or parcel of land in the District of Columbia. The storm runoff will either be absorbed by the surrounding land, or surface runoff over the impervious areas at the treatment plant will enter the storm drains no differently than at the surrounding hospitals. However, the water in the McMillan Reservoir itself is settled water, which is partially treated water supplied from the Georgetown Reservoir sedimentation basins. The settled water is filtered and disinfected at the McMillan Treatment Plant and sent by gravity to the Bryant Street Pump Station for distribution around the District. The McMillan Reservoir level is a function of the Georgetown Reservoir level, not rainfall, which is controlled by the Dalecarlia Treatment Plant. The levels are monitored continuously. 
  
The McMillan Reservoir is designed to prevent runoff from entering and cannot overflow its banks and enter the stormwater system, even under the most severe weather conditions. Further, there is no emergency drain in the Reservoir to divert water into the stormwater system. Even a total failure of the water transmission process from the Potomac River to Dalecarlia Reservoir to the Georgetown Reservoir would have no impact on the McMillan Reservoir since there is an emergency spillway at Dalecarlia designed to return the excess water back to the Potomac with no impact to the McMillan Reservoir, Bloomingdale or LeDroit Park.      
   
Yours,
Alan Heymann
   
Alan Heymann, Esq. | Chief of External Affairs | DC Water | alan.heymann@dcwater.com
5000 Overlook Avenue, SW | Washington, DC 20032 | (202) 787-2616 | (202) 787-2210 (fax)



From: Brice McCracken [mailto:brice.mccracken80@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 12:57 PM
To: Emanuel D. Briggs
Cc:  A long list of other people
Subject: Re: Bloomingdale/LeDroit Park Sewer Cleaning Project
  
Mr. Hawkins, Mr. Briggs, and Mr Heymann-
  
Another month has come and gone with no new updates from DC Water.  I continue to see emails from Mr. Briggs, detailing areas that you are inspecting with CCTV, a project which you previously had said would be completed in September, then in October.  I hate to remind you all, but its November now and December will probably be upon us before you even decide to respond to this email.  When do you all plan to announce something, anything?  I reread an email from Mr. Heymann on November 2, which stated that you guys would be sending out a community update soon, that same email eluded to DC Water being close to announcing a medium-term solution.  That would be nice, as it appears so far DDOT and DDOE are the only one implementing any short-term solutions.  Again, for the record, I understand that DC Water funded the work being done by DDOT, but really, funding a rain garden and a pipe in the middle of Rhode Island Avenue to hold some of the water when Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park flood is insulting.  Even the consultants coordinating the "green project" conceded that these solutions aren't going to have much of an impact when Lake Bloomingdale appears again during the next heavy rain.
  
I'm curious, after four and a half months, is DC Water any closer to knowing the causes of the flooding?  We, your customers, still are waiting for answers.  Originally, we were told that we would get answers at the hearing in front of Councilmember Cheh on September 25, now we're two months past that and still don't have any answers.  How hard is it for you guys to communicate what is being done to your customers?  Are you hoping that as time passes and we get farther away from the summer rainy season, that we will just forget the 4 floods of this summer and the countless other floods from years past?  Every community meeting I have attended in recent weeks has had neighbor after neighbors voicing their concerns and frustration about the "solutions" put forth by DC Water and the Mayor.  When are we actually going to see real ideas being put forth?  When are you going to address the causes of the flooding in Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park?  More importantly, why are there not representatives from DC Water at community meetings like the Bloomingdale or LeDroit Park Civic Association Meetings?  Rather than hiding in your offices at Blue Plains, why don't you come out to a community meeting and inform your customers of the "progress" you claim to be making.  Because, from where I sit, nothing has changed in the last five months.  
  
In the past few weeks, I've talked to neighbor after neighbor about the flooding issues from this summer.  And the question that I have for anyone at DC Water, what happens at McMillan Reservoir when heavy rains come?  Is the reservoir drained at some point to prevent it from overflowing?  And more importantly, when it is drained to prevent it from overflowing, where does that water go?  I'm guessing that its drained right into the same Northeast Boundary Trunk Sewer Line causing all of the flooding in Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park.  But, since DC Water never directly responds to any of my emails, I guess I and my fellow neighbors will never know the answers to our questions. 
  
Yours,
Brice McCracken

Washington Post poll: vote local for your favorite coffee shop -- Big Bear Cafe & Kafe Bohem on the list


Do you civic duty and vote.



            
POSTED AT 06:30 AM ET, 11/30/2012
By Lavanya Ramanathan
                
As it turns out, the local coffee scene was just getting started when we put together our list of the area`s best coffee shops last year. But with newcomers like Kafe Bohem, Blind Dog Cafe and daily coffee service at Room 11, it`s time to add to the original list.
   
• The District now has grounds for a second cup 
                  
So we`re asking readers: Which Washington-area coffee shop is the best now? Take your time (perhaps over your morning cup), consider the coffee, the pastries, the overall vibe and the availability and/or total absence of WiFi, and vote for your favorite from the following list:
    
Which of these is the area`s best coffee shop?
                                   
Northside Social
Qualia Coffee
M.E. Swing
Chinatown Coffee Co.
Filter Coffeehouse & Espresso
Grape + Bean
Peregrine Espresso
Pleasant Pops
Pound the Hill
Room 11
Kafe Bohem
Big Bear Cafe
Bean and Bite
Filter Foggy Bottom
Tryst
Blind Dog Cafe
The Coupe

Thursday, November 29, 2012

light stringing in Crispus Attucks Park – Saturday, 12-01-2012


See this message from John Corea, Crispus Attucks Park board member:



Who wants to help string lights in Crispus Attucks Park this Saturday, Dec 1?  Neighbors are meeting in the park starting at around 10am, and we could be there much of the day depending on how ambitious we are.  We'll supply the lights, but feel free to bring extra.  Maybe we'll even have hot cider and the like.  If we get enough people, we can turn the whole park into a Winter Wonderland!

The weather is supposed to be pretty nice.  Hope to see many of you there.  If questions, email president@crispusattuckspark.org .  

Thanks!
John Corea
Board Member
"Christmas" Attucks Park



WaPo: "DC considers surcharge on water to help Bloomingdale"

Oh boy! Let's see where this goes.

D.C. considers surcharge on water to help Bloomingdale
By Tim Craig

D.C. Department of Transportation worker, Daniel Ellis, scrapes the sewer overflow from T Street NW near the intersection of Rhode Island Ave. NW, on Sept. 3, 2012 (Sarah L. Voisin - The Washington Post)

The D.C. Council is considering creating a $1 million fund to reimburse residents in Bloomingdale who have been tortured by repeated flooding and sewer backups, which could result in a surcharge on all city residents` water bills.

Under legislation considered by a D.C. Council committee on Wednesday, the council would mandate that D.C. Water establish the fund and presumably pass the costs onto ratepayers.

Council member Mary M. Cheh, chairwoman of the Committee on the Environment, Public Works and Transportation, said the average ratepayer would see his or her bill increase by only 30 cents a month. Cheh (D-Ward 3) said the money would reimburse residents ``who have had sewage backfill into their homes not covered by insurance.``

But several of Cheh`s colleagues questioned the proposal, expressing reservations about charging all city residents for a localized problem. Council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) said the council was in essence considering another tax on city residents.

``We are asking residents all across the city to pay for very specific damages,`` Bowser said.

Council member Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7) worried the proposal would result in other communities also requesting reimbursement for damages in their neighborhoods.

``It is going to open up a Pandora`s box of people saying, `I have a problem, are we going to fund it?``` said Alexander.

Cheh pushed back against her colleagues` concerns, arguing the flooding issues in Bloomingdale are a citywide concern because it`s not the only neighborhood with aging or stressed water pipes.

``These inadequate sewer lines are throughout the District,`` Cheh said. ``Everybody gets water and sewer from D.C. Water. In some areas, there are lucky beneficiaries of newer pipes…but if you happen to live in an area where the system isn`t adequate, some areas are getting poor service.``

Cheh continued, ``When the system is broken, and as a result causing specific damage…we all ought to pay for that system and its failings.``

Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), however, then raised a new concern with the proposal. Graham, former chairman of the Public Works Committee, noted that D.C. Water is a quasi-independent agency so the District government probably does not have standing to mandate it provide a specific remedy for Bloomingdale flooding issues.

Instead, Graham and other members suggested, the council should consider establishing the fund directly. It`s unclear how the city would pay for such a fund.

But with the city ending fiscal year 2012 with a $140 million surplus, council members could face a difficult task in convincing the public that additional taxes or fees are needed. Cheh said she plans to meet with council staffers and D.C. Water officials on Friday to finalize the bill, which could come up for a vote before the full council next week.

two tempting items at Grassroots Gourmet

This morning, I stopped by Bloomingdale's latest retail business to open, Grassroots Gourmet, located at 104 Rhode Island Avenue NW.



I purchased and readily consumed two items -- see the photos below -- that were absolutely delicious.  Give them a try.

Aunt Nat's Jewish Apple Cake


Carrot Bread with Walnuts



Those with carb addictions know where to go!

fewer than 26 days left before the Saturday, 12-22-2012 World Missions Toy Drive GiveAway Rally

See this 11/29/2012 message from Dr. joAnn Perkins of Bloomingdale's World Missions Extension Center, 1st & Randolph Place NW, northwest corner:







Hello everyone,

Just checking in to say with less than 26 days left before the Saturday, December 22nd Toy Drive  Give Away Rally, we want to remind everyone that with so many kids needing toys this year, we need your help in obtaining toys for all of the kids who will be at the rally.

These pictures reflect the large number of kids who received gifts last year, and with your help, we look forward to each child receiving a gift this year as well. We want to thank all of you who have contacted us about hosting a  decorated red toy box at your job site, or at your store, or restaurant which can be used to collect toys.  Last year several of the businesses in Bloomingdale contributed toys to the rally by allowing their customers to drop off toys at their establishments.

Should you, your friends or small group like to contribute to the toy drive by collecting toys for the kids, we ask that the toys be new  and wrapped with the age and sex of the child be specified on the gift. Please note that our toy drive ends on Friday, December 21st and all  donations and toys can be turned in by Friday, December 21st between the hours of 10:00am and 7:00pm)  Donations will be received at our site during these hours and World Missions EXTENSION Center is located at 1720 Frist St. NW (on the corner of First and Randolph Place NW. Or if you and your family would like to adopt a child by dropping off your family gift for a child, you can do so by coming by our office as well.  And of course we would love to have you, your family and friends volunteer at the rally as well. 

Ok, want to thank you in advance for helping us make Christmas special for the kids,
  
Dr. J. Perkins, Rally Coordinator 

Oral History Day at the Howard Theatre -- Saturday, 12-01-2012

See the message from Bates area resident Eric Gravley:








Invites You
to a Special Event

This Saturday, December 1, 2012

Oral History Day at the Howard Theatre
 
Featuring interviews with legendary performers:

Dick Gregorycomedian, civil rights activist, humanitarian

Greg Gaskinsguitarist for Elvis Presley and The Manhattans

David Akerssinger and trumpet player with Wilson Pickett

Jimi Smoothsinger and former Howard Theatre usher

Sandra Bears,  
original member of The Jewels

and special guest:

Gloria Thomas Ganttlongtime Howard Theatre employee

 
Plus video clips from documentaries about the Howard
 
FREE and Open to the Public
Enjoy the Beauty of the Restored Howard Theatre
Connect with Theatre's History and Community

Saturday, December 1, 2012
10:00am to 2:00pm (Doors open at 9:30am)

The Howard Theatre, 620 T Street, NW, WDC 20001


ABOUT ORAL HISTORY DAY AT THE HOWARD THEATRE:
Saturday, December 1, 2012 join Howard Theatre Restoration at the Howard Theatre for Oral History Day, an event that will explore the rich history of the Howard Theatre.  Oral History Day will feature interviews with people who have had a special connection to that rich history as well as presentation of video clips from documentaries about the Howard Theatre.  
Members of the public will also be able to register to share their historical connection to the Howard Theatre by signing up to be interviewed on video about their memories at a future date or as camera time allows during Oral History Day. Oral History Day is free and open to the public and is a great opportunity to see the newly renovated Theatre and enjoy a community event.
Featured Interviews include comedian Dick Gregory, musical performers Greg GaskinsJimi SmoothDavid Akers, and Sandra Bears, and longtime Howard Theatre employee Gloria Thomas Gantt.  Featured Interviewers include jazz writer and oral historian Bill Brower, Dr. Bernard Demczuk, oral historian and Assistant Vice President at George Washington University, Tony Gittens, former Executive Director of the DC Commision on the Arts and Humanities and current Director of the Washington, DC International Film Festival, and Rusty Hassan, WPFW Jazz Programmer and Adjunct Professor of Jazz History at Georgetown University.   Video clips from The Howard Theatre: A Class Act, a WETA-TV production, will be screened, as well as clips from other documentaries about the Howard Theatre.  
Howard Theatre Restoration, Inc. (HTR) is the non-profit organization that led the effort to restore the Howard Theatre and is dedicated to preserving the history of the Howard Theatre and encouraging the next generation of artists to perform on its stage.  HTR is producing Oral History Day as the launch of the Howard Theatre Oral History Project, a long-term initiative that will become a part of the exhibition and archives to be installed at the soon-to-be-built Howard Theatre Education and Cultural Center annexed to the Howard Theatre.  The Oral History Project will specifically document history of the Shaw/U Street neighborhood and Washington’s art and cultural community as it relates to the Howard Theatre. 
For more information contact Ms. Shiba Haley, Director of Programs at 301-588-5593 or via email at Shiba@howardtheatre.org




Copyright © 2012 Howard Theatre Restoration, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Howard Theatre Restoration, Inc.
620 T Street NW
WashingtonDC 20001

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Howard Theatre Restoration invites you to a special event this Saturday, December 1, 2012: 

Oral History Day at the Howard Theatre

Featuring interviews with legendary performers:

Dick Gregorycomedian, civil rights activist, humanitarian

Greg Gaskinsguitarist for Elvis Presley and The Manhattans

David Akerssinger and trumpet player with Wilson Pickett

Jimi Smoothsinger and former Howard Theatre usher 

Sandra Bears,  original member of The Jewels

and special guest:

Gloria Thomas Ganttlongtime Howard Theatre employee

Plus video clips from documentaries about the Howard

FREE and Open to the Public
Enjoy the Beauty of the Restored Howard Theatre
Connect with Theatre's History and Community

Saturday, December 1, 2012
10:00am to 2:00pm (Doors open at 9:30am)

The Howard Theatre, 620 T Street, NW, WDC 20001



ABOUT ORAL HISTORY DAY AT THE HOWARD THEATRE:
Saturday, December 1, 2012 join Howard Theatre Restoration at the Howard Theatre for Oral History Day, an event that will explore the rich history of the Howard Theatre.  Oral History Day will feature interviews with people who have had a special connection to that rich history as well as presentation of video clips from documentaries about the Howard Theatre.  
Members of the public will also be able to register to share their historical connection to the Howard Theatre by signing up to be interviewed on video about their memories at a future date or as camera time allows during Oral History Day. Oral History Day is free and open to the public and is a great opportunity to see the newly renovated Theatre and enjoy a community event.
Featured Interviews include comedian Dick Gregory, musical performers Greg GaskinsJimi SmoothDavid Akers, and Sandra Bears, and longtime Howard Theatre employee Gloria Thomas Gantt.  Featured Interviewers include jazz writer and oral historian Bill Brower, Dr. Bernard Demczuk, oral historian and Assistant Vice President at George Washington University, Tony Gittens, former Executive Director of the DC Commision on the Arts and Humanities and current Director of the Washington, DC International Film Festival, and Rusty Hassan, WPFW Jazz Programmer and Adjunct Professor of Jazz History at Georgetown University.   Video clips from The Howard Theatre: A Class Act, a WETA-TV production, will be screened, as well as clips from other documentaries about the Howard Theatre.  
Howard Theatre Restoration, Inc. (HTR) is the non-profit organization that led the effort to restore the Howard Theatre and is dedicated to preserving the history of the Howard Theatre and encouraging the next generation of artists to perform on its stage.  HTR is producing Oral History Day as the launch of the Howard Theatre Oral History Project, a long-term initiative that will become a part of the exhibition and archives to be installed at the soon-to-be-built Howard Theatre Education and Cultural Center annexed to the Howard Theatre.  The Oral History Project will specifically document history of the Shaw/U Street neighborhood and Washington’s art and cultural community as it relates to the Howard Theatre. 
For more information contact Ms. Shiba Haley, Director of Programs at 301-588-5593 or via email at Shiba@howardtheatre.org