Mother’s DayDear Neighbors: As many readers of this electronic rag know, I’ve imposed a rag-gag on myself while I’m consulting at the DC City Council. I expect to resume my rantings and ravings at a later date, but for now I’ve enlisted Carl Bergman to bust aortas on my behalf. But the gag won’t keep me from asking questions for you to discuss amongst yourselves. While folks seem awfully wound up about bicycle lanes on Calvert Street, few folks are commenting on the President’s plan to a) rescue the District, b) restructure home rule, or c) help the Oriole’s make the playoffs. Any thoughts on the President’s plan, the MOU, the future of home rule, and the price of hot dogs at Camden Yards? ****************** Many of you are beginning to sign your notes a la Steph "I invented this franchise and no one’s going to steal it" Faul. The funny tag in the middle of her name is Stephanie’s gig. Notwithstanding imitation being the sincerest form of plagiary, all imitators will have to get another schtick to get by the immoderate moderator. ////\\\\\////\\\\////\\\\\/////\\\\ Also free! dc.movie: Free movie passes, short movie reviews, and movie discussion. Send an email message to story@intr.net to subscribe. Cheers, '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Comments on Recent Postings: Carl wrote regarding Tony Williams: "As for the council, its forays into financial management were either devoted to more high flying issues, or were simply clueless." In fact, the first move Williams made to install his own CFO in a DC agency was moving Abdusalam Omer to the DC Public Schools last August. An excellent move — and one I asked Williams to take two months earlier. My point: I’m not clueless. Though I did see the movie. (Dr. Omer is now the city’s budget director, still in Williams’ shop, and Ed Stephenson from the control board replaces him at DCPS). Second — my thanks to Sam Smith for reporting on the hiring of an ex-military prison manager at DC Public Schools — something I first brought out at a Council Education Committee meeting a few weeks ago. DC Story thus joins Channel 4 and the Northwest Current among those who have reported on the non-education folks in the new DCPS crowd. Maybe it’ll make one of the major dailies one of these days. ***** Davis Cup Tidbits Historically the USTA has had their troops play on a clay surface against a team like Australia. It would not surprise me if they trucked in a ton of Har-Tru,on which Agassi, Courier, and Chang would easily dismantle Philipoussis, et. al. As for Sampras, he does not have a sterling record against the Scud, anyway. The clay court scenario adds up in another way, since the USTA does have to resurface and preen the clay side courts anyway for a national junior tournament the tennis center is hosting concurrent with the Legg Mason in July. The side courts could then be used for practice in September by the pros. I noticed that the Post has a new reporter on the tennis beat, Thomas Heath. Perhaps Mr. Heath will reverse the 15+ year trend of sloppy/nonexistent tennis reporting. (E.g. what Mr. Heath has termed a "major international tennis event" has rarely gotten requisite copy in his paper). Today’s article may or not be a good sign, however, since it did not talk at all about tennis, just the backroom negotiations ad nauseum. I have called Mr. Heath to discuss the clay court scenario but haven’t heard back. Chances are he only has a minute amount of time to devote to tennis research/reporting. **** Davis Cup I glad that the Davis Cup is coming to DC, but I don’t want it in Rock Creek Park!! Professional, commercial, tennis ventures do NOT belong on Park land. I don’t want all those people, who can afford the overpriced ticket prices, parking their leased, show-off, gas guzzlers all over the children’s playing fields and clogging up 16th St. Tear down the Fitzgerald stadium and move profe$$ional tennis to RFK stadium. **** Forward Into the Past! Sam Smith’s apologia for rampant crime and lousy schools — conditions which disproportionately victimize the poor, by the way — is further evidence that DC is merely a political version of Jurassic Park. It’s nice to know that even at the end of century in which tens of millions died in the name of ideology that there are still "progressive" people in DC willing to lead us all to the promised land — at gunpoint if necessary. **** Middle Class Harassed by Cops Too The incidents cited by Sam Smith as evidence of police harrassment of middle class citizens were blatant, not-too-trivial, violations of traffic regs. DC residents must deal daily with the illegal driving habits of the thousands of commuters who come barreling through our neighborhoods. Their speeding, red light running, and overall aggressive driving pose serious risks for other drivers, pedestrians and bikers. I, for one, applaud any effort by the police to minimize these risks. As 4th District Commander Monroe stated at a recent community meeting when asked why the police were targeting traffic violations, it was a routine traffic stop that resulted in the arrest of Timothy McVeigh of Oklahoma City fame; in our own immediate area, traffic stops quite frequently net illegal arms, drugs, and other such goodies. Keep up the "harassment!" ***** Is There Such A Thing As A "Minor" Criminal? Last I looked, it was against the law to drive a vehicle without a valid license. It was also illegal to drive through a yellow light and to have auto glass tinted to such an extent that it obscures visibility. (Although one wonders about whether or not there’s some exception for limos.) Sam Smith has his knickers in a twist that the police are (gasp!) *enforcing* these laws, *even* (double gasp!) in Ward 3. Chin up, Sam! Soon you’ll be able to complain about how the police are thoughtlessly ticketing people for failing to wear a seat belt. The solution, however, is obvious: Keep your license current and on your person. Stop at yellow lights. Don’t put Mylar(tm) over your windows. Wear your seat belt. You know — act like a responsible adult. Of course, some people will object to having the traffic laws enforced; Tim McVeigh, I’m sure, would have appreciated some slack in the traffic enforcement area. ***** Cabs & Cops Yesterday, I picked up a friend at National airport in my 1989 Honda Accord. Despite my car being 8 years old, and despite the 75,000 miles on the odometer, my friend did not recoil in horror. My point here is bright line rules are always imperfect and they often have unintended consesquences. Sure, there are some dilapidated Michigan Metal Bouncers cruising the streets. But nobody forces you to get in the back seat. And yeah, in the summer it would be great to ride in the same air conditioned comfort that Hizzoner enjoys in the back seat of his Town Car. But let’s get real. Under the current (and admittedly imperfect system) cabs are plentiful and cheap. We can weed out the real bombs via the inspection process. Do we really wanna tinker with success by imposing arbitrary rules? As for the cops busting middle-aged white soccer moms and locking them up with hookers, this is a time-honored way for bureaucrats to display their displeasure with being forced to reform. They know this kind of behavior will create outrage and they hope they’ll be told to back off the zero tolerance policy. Then they can go back to sitting behind a desk someplace. I hope the media and the City Council see through this transparent scam. **** Travel Limits Reference: Sam Smith’s posting and the Washington Post front page story Monday 5/5. I will, and must, now limit my travels into DC to only those most essential for business reasons. The risk is just to high for being arrested over some minor lapse of attention or breaking some sort of obscure ordinance. Talk about a way to ruin your day in a big, big way. Plenty of restaurants, movies and shopping places over here in outposts across the river and on top the beltway. I expect D of C restauranteurs, movie operators and retail business owners will understand. I’m attending a professional association meeting at a DC hotel Saturday and I’m worried. It’ll be in and out with no stopping along the way. If ya gotta to make a quota, may as well do it the easy way. Middle class, middle aged, well dressed citizens are rarely armed or even aggressive. Fight the piddling "crimes." Easy. ***** Maximum Enforcement In New York City they’ve been doing this for a while—prosecuting smaller crimes like graffiti and more "minor" traffic violations—and found that major crime went down as well. Sorry that some are offended when "law abiding" people get stopped and held accountable when they commit a crime, but driving without a license, running stop signs etc. is problematic, dangerous and (yes) against the law. And, big time criminals do them all the time. Arresting people without a current license is not new. 15 years ago in DC I was in a minor traffic accident: I was found at fault and given the ticket, but the other party was driving with no valid license and was arrested. I am not condoning abuse by police in the form of harassment or maltreatment. But driving without a valid license is often a sign of other legal problems. And, tinted windows were outlawed because drug-related gang members literally were getting away with murder by driving by and shooting people, and no one being able to see who did it. Just because someone looks "decent" or "law abiding" should not be the criteria—that’s preferential treatment, not the lack of harassment. I’d rather be held accountable for what I do and have it be across the board. This town has been incredibly lax on "petty" crime, and all of us suffer in quality of life. And, if big time offenders get caught in the process, all the better. ***** Thanks For the Granite Are we paying for those lovely, hand-laid, brick sidewalks with granite curbs along Mass Ave between 3rd and 6th NW? It strikes me as a waste of Public Works funds, seeing as no one lives there, and the buildings are condemned. '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' dc.queries Party Facilities? I am hosting a 40th birthday celebration and interested in an inexpensive room that could roughly hold 50 people. The Stuart Mott House on Capitol Hill was the perfect solution @ $25/hour, however they only cater to non profit organizations. I haven’t pursued area hotels fearing them too expensive. Any suggestions? Kathy Crawford K._Crawford@telesiscorp.com **** Relocating I’m in the process of packing to relocate to another state. I’m in need of a free to inexpensive source of boxes that I can use for packing.....have tons of books. If you know of a good source please let me know. Patricia Williams pwilliams@juno.com **** Three odds and ends 1. Does anyone know a versatile handyperson? 2. A friend of mine and her young daughter are in a lease with a woman whose behavior lately has been a, ahem, poor example for the girl. This is in a nearby apartment. Is there a way for my friend out of the lease? 3. Our group house, recently painted and (see above) soon to have renovations complete, needs a new housemate. The room is furnished (including CATV), has southern exposure, and is in a convenient, safe neighborhood. $400/month incl. Paul Penniman unclepaul@aol.com ***** Advice Needed — TV Repair and Massage 1) Can anyone recommend a good place in the area, the closer to Dupont Circle the better, for TV repair (does anyone have experience with TV Technicians on Columbia Rd. in Adams Morgan)? 2) Can anyone recommend a good place, again, near Dupont Circle, for a (real!) massage (the place on P between 21st and 22nd is gone.) Please respond by e-mail, becuase I need advice quickly! Stuart Weiser otter@clark.net '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' dc.events Chevy Chase Citizens Association The next meeting on Tuesday, May 20, 7:30 p.m. will include discussion of 1) postal service improvements (and the new post office opening at Connecticut & McKinley) and 2) library services, activities, and problems. Speakers will be Jerome Hotten, Manager of the Friendship Station for the Postal Service, Gail Avery, Regional Librarian at the Chevy Chase D.C. Library, and Susanne Hurwitz, President of Friends of Chevy Chase D.C. Library. The meeting will be at the Chevy Chase Community Center (Connecticut & McKinley) and is open to all interested persons. For information: 202.244.5744 Evelyn Wrin Evelyn_M._Wrin@hud.gov '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' dc.market Spring Remodeling and Home Design Experienced, creative local craftsman available for beautiful additions, decks, remodeling. Unlike other builders, no job is too small. Call John Taboada (202) 518-5984 **** Computers Buying one shouldn’t be so scary. Setting one up shouldn’t be so scary. Getting on the Internet shouldn’t be so scary. Jeffrey Itell Story@intr.net 202.244.4163 ================= dc.story is a discussion group. The opinions stated are the sole responsibility of the authors. dc.story does not verify the information provided by readers. ---------------- For fast, reliable Internet services and cutting edge Websites contact Michael Mann at Internet Interstate mmann@intr.net. Web: http://www.intr.net ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ dc.story—Your Electronic Backfence http://www.dcstory.com Kibitzing by Jeffrey Itell (story@intr.net) Copyright © 1997 by Itell Communications, Inc. All rights reserved |
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