Wildlife Habitat Workshop at Capital Area Food Bank

  We received the below message from Susan T, a neighborhood resident and employee of the Capital Area Food Bank, regarding a workshop taking place this weekend.  Hopefully neighborhood residents can attend.  It seems like a great chance to not only learn about their new Urban Destionation Garden but also what CAFB does.  Hope people can attend!
 
  "Please join the Capital Area Food Bank for a Wildlife Habitat Workshop where we will be breaking ground at our new Urban Demonstration Garden. This garden fills almost an acre at the north end of the new facility and will serve as an ideal space for the food growing education that we plan to conduct with our partners and with the surrounding community.
  In partnership with the District Department of the Environment and Audubon Maryland/DC, this workshop will teach participants how to create space for wildlife habitats in their yards and communities. As a DC resident, you will receive a habitat kit that includes a book, native plant guide, birdhouse kit and live plants to begin creating wildlife habitat at your home.
  As a neighbor of the food bank, we are excited to welcome you into our garden. We greatly look forward to beautifying the space together with you and are hopeful that this will be just the first of many opportunities for us to grow together in this outdoor educational space. The workshop will consist of a slideshow presentation and a wildlife planting that will complement the food bank’s food growing space.

Workshop Details:

 Location: 4900 Puerto Rico Ave NE on the North side of the food bank

Date & Time: Saturday, September 22nd from 1 pm to 4 pm

Dress: Come ready to plant and get your hands dirty

Please RSVP by completing this form or by reaching out to Abbie Steiner by phone at 202-644-9854 or by email at asteiner@capitalareafoodbank.org. 
To learn more about the work of the food bank, please visit www.capitalareafoodbank.org."

History of Parks in DC

  Stumbled upon this video at the National Building Museum while on an extended recess during Jury Duty last week.  It is a very interesting piece that lays out the vision of DC Parks in 1932, as part of their "Washington: Symbol and City" exhibit which looks at the history of DC from a resident standpoint.  There is a particularly interesting part on the once proposed Fort Circle Drive that was to link all the Civil War Defense Parks, and includes a few archived shots of our very own Ft. Totten (around 10:50 in the video). 



An interesting piece of history, at least to us anyway!  I also must say, if you find yourself on Jury Duty and have an extended recess, the Building Museum is just up the street from the Moultrie Courthouse.

North Michigan Park Civic Assn Meeting, Wed Night

  With the recent increase in awareness and support in the community for various issues (development, crime, real estate, etc..) it is recommended that as many people attend this meeting as possible to garner a better community consensus on some of these issues.  It is only a very short walk for many in the neighborhood, and usually serves as a place to not only meet neighbors but also gain insight on the community as a whole.


North Michigan Park Civic Association Meeting

Wednesday September 5, 2012
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
North Michigan Park Recreation Center
1333 Emerson Street, NE
Washington, DC 20017

Notes:
These meetings are held to promote civic pride, disseminate information, and address community concerns within our neighborhood. During this meeting NMPCA officer elections and a proposal to build low-income, senior housing by the Faith United Church of Christ will be the main focus of the discussion.

North Michigan Park Civic Assn Meeting

This is just a reminder that the North Michigan Park Civic Association will be holding a meeting on Wednesday May 2, 2012 from 7 - 9 pm at the North Michigan Park Recreation Center.  Come out to discuss community concerns with local businesses, city agencies and our elected representatives




(This event repeats every month on the first Wednesday until Sunday July 1, 2012.)

Event: North Michigan Park Civic Assotiation Meeting
Location: North Michigan Park Recreation Center 1333 Emerson Street, NE, 20017

Street: 1333 Emerson Street, NE

City State Zip: Washingon, DC, 20017

5th Annual Great Brookland Yard Sale

The fifth annual Great Brookland Yard Sale will take place on Saturday May 12th from 10:00 AM until 2:00PM. Over 50 households have signed up to have yard sales. For more information, visit the Brookland Civic Associations Website.  This years rain date is May 13th.
Thi annual event is always a great way to get out, meet neighbors and find some great deals and steals!  In past years participation has been mostly by Brookland  residents, but this years map shows a few houses in Michigan and North Michigan Park as well.  If you would like to participate in the GBYS, follow this link, and provide your name and address of your yard sale.  Also send  a list of specific items for sale, and photos to draw people to your sale. This will get you on the official Map and hopefully increase your foot traffic!

View Great Brookland Yard Sale 2012 in a larger map

This Weeks Riggs Rd and SD Ave Construction Update

And the band marches on...slowly!

SMD 5A05 Community Meeting

This is a reminder to everyone that the Single Member District 5A05 Communnity Meeting is happenign in hte next few days.  Get out and make your voice heard.

Meeting Agenda Includes:

· Meet and Greet
· ANC Call to Order – Welcome
· Open Forum – Neighborhood Concerns & Issues
· Introduction of Guest Speaker
Councilmember Harry “Tommy” Thomas, Jr.
Ward 5 Chairman, Economic Development Committee

Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Time: 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Place: Providence Hospital – Lecture Hall
1150 Varnum Street, NE
Washington, DC 20017

Post Holiday Items of Note

Join Council-member Harry "Tommy" Thomas at the Ward 5 Council Office Open House on Tuesday, January 4, 2011, from 3 to 7 PM to celebrate the beginning of his second term.  Festivities follow the first legislative session of City Council Period 19. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW -- Suite 107

North Michigan Park Civic Association Meeting
Wednesday, January 5th at 7pm
Guest: Councilmember Phil Mendelson

Holiday Tree Collection between January 3rd and 15th
Holiday trees and wreaths will be picked up curbside from January 3 to January 15. Remove all decorations and place the greenery in the treebox space in front of your home between Sunday, January 2, and Sunday, January 9. Please do not put the trees in plastic or cloth bags.
• Any trees not collected by January 15 should be set out with your trash to be picked up as space in the trash trucks allows over the following weeks.

Early Morning Shooting Near Ft. Totten

  Shots rang out in the early morning near the Ft. Totten Metro today.  The MPD and US Park Police were called to Fort Circle Park at the intersection of Galloway and 11th St. NE at around 3 in the morning.  The victim appears to be an adult male who suffered a gun shot to the head, but details beyond that have not been released.  What makes this particularly disturbing is that the area this violent crime took place in is know for a having very low crime rate.  This raises the question of what could have caused such a violent crime in such a quiet and safe neighborhood.  Currently the MPD is leading the investigation, and the Park Police have closed Fort Circle Park indefinitely.  A statement is scheduled to come from the MPD regarding the crime shortly and will hopefully shed some light on the incident.  One thing is for sure, however, and that is the entire neighborhood is on edge as the investigation continues.

-UPDATE-

TBD.com reports that "D.C. police have identified the man who was fatally shot in a Northeast park early Friday as 29 year-old Keith Banks. 
Banks, of the 300 block of Quackenbos Street NW, was found unconscious in the 1100 Block of Galloway Street NE about 3 a.m. by officers responding to a report of gunfire.
Banks had been shot and was unresponsive, police said. He was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, police said."

Anyone with information is asked to call (202) 727-9099 or 1-888-919-CRIME (1-888-919-2746).

Dog Found...Are you missing a Yorkshire Terrier???

Reader S.R. sent us the below message this morning regarding a Yorkshire Terrier she found this morning.  If you, or some one you know are missing a dog, please read below and help this little guy out.
---------------------------
Hello There,  
I'm hoping you can post something for me. I was out running at about 7:30 this morning on Puerto Rico Ave NE and I found a little stray dog who kept wandering into traffic. He (or she?) looks like he may be a Yorkshire Terrier. He has a pink harness on but no collar. I got him to follow me home and now Animal Control is on their way to pick him up. Unfortunately I can't keep him here because I have my own dog and a cat. Animal Control will only keep him for five days, so I'm really hoping that if you can post this information and some pictures on your blog, whoever lost him can go pick him up before it's too late. AC's phone number is: 202-576-6664.

-----------------------------

Ft. Totten Square: Finally Getting Squared Away

 The Ft. Totten Square (FTS) project has gone through many phases since it's announcement in 2006.  The once proud and highly anticipated community changing project had lost it's financial and community support, and saw a project site sit and decay for over three years.  Just when things couldn't look worse for the FTS project, the clouds parted and the sun began to shine.  Cassidy Turley Commercial Real Estate Services took on the major task of finding investors who have capitol available to refinance the project, and within months of coming on board they were able to close the refinancing deal for Lowe Enterprises.   
  For those of you that have been distracted by the massive road construction project at the intersection of Riggs and South Dakota in NE, or who haven't ventured up into this quiet section of the city, the demolition has finally begun on the former strip mall that sat on the project site. In a city feeling the economic strains shared with most of the country, the project will give a much needed economic boost to the City and Ward 5 economy.  This project will not simply create a temporary boost for blue collar jobs, but more importantly will create long term sustainable jobs in the massive mixed use project.  When we sat down with Ward 5 City Council Representative Harry Thomas last month, he noted the fact that Ward 5 job set asides are always at the top of his priority list when it comes to discussions with new commercial establishments.  Second on his list would be assisting locally owned business, especially restaurants, acquire the funding they need to gain a foothold in the new neighborhood markets. 
   While the new time line has not yet been revealed (both Lowe and Cassidy Turley had been contacted serveal times but provided no response), the future surely looks bright for the FTS project.  The coming retail and culinary additions to the neighborhood landscape will be closely followed, and hotly debated (most exciting of which could be the new full service grocery slated to anchor the retail side of the development). But only time will tell how the project pans out, and what direction the project ultimately takes.  One thing for sure is that the project is moving forward at a brisk pace, and regardless of the final product it has removed a growing eyesore from the neighborhood.

Artist's rendition of the finished Ft. Totten Square project
(Ft. Totten Metro and S.D. Ave at top right of image)

Action Packed Weekend in 20017

  On this first beautiful weekend of October, there is surely no shortage of things to take up your time in the wonderful neighborhoods of 20017!  First get your weekend started off with the unveiling of the newest addition to the Brookland Neighborhood Street-scape.  In recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Brookland Cafe will be  unveiling Joel Bergners latest mural.  The event, sponsored by DASH(District Alliance for Safe Housing) and Lovebus Events, will feature free food and Live Performances at the Brookland Cafe from 4-6 PM. 

  On Sunday,Oct 3rd, a fundraising 5k will be taking place around North Michigan Park, Brookland and CUA to benifit the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Institute.The Office of Disability Support Services is hosting a 5K to raise money for the Kennedy Institute's Infant and    Toddler Program. This program serves three to six year olds, with and without development delays, in an inclusive setting. The race will take place on October 3, 2010 at the Dufour Center, with check-in beginning at 9:30am. Registration is $15.00 per person for CUA and Kennedy Institute Affiliates ($17.00 day of the race) and $20 for the general population ($25 day of the race). The race will be followed by a fun fair at the Dufour Center fields. To sign up to walk or run, please visit the Disability Support Services website (dss.cua.edu) and follow the link for the registration website.The 5K Fun-Fair from10:00am until 2:00pm on Sunday, October 3, there will be a will feature carnival games with prizes, a moon bounce, and food courtsey of DC Slices Pizza, Red, Hot, and Blue BBQ and Rita's Water Ice.  There will be a "donation fee" of $5 to enter the fair.  The race and fair will also impact those of you who choose not to participate, through the closing of several local streets for a period in the morning. 

  If you are more of a pet person, then we have something for you as well!  The Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, located at 1400 Quincy St NE, will hold its annual Blessing of the Animals as part of the celebration of the Feast of St. Francis this Sunday at 1:30 pm.  The event is open to all, and is always a very festive and entertaining event!

NFI Brews Up Fundraising Success for Ft. Totten Community Garden

  The Neighborhood Farm Initiative's "Home Brew Harvest Festival" held last weekend at the La Casa Community Center (in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood of DC) was an overwhelming success.  The event hosted by NFI (with support from DC Brau and Bread and Brew) could only be described as part seminar part Oktoberfest! Not only were five very tasty home brews featured, but a great spread of locally sourced fresh food -courtesy of the Petworth Community Market, Mount Pleasant Farmer's Market and the Bloomingdale Farmer's Market- and a beginners lecture on home brewing from Aaron Lavallee and Morgan Pinnellmade truly made it a Festival!  With the small La Casa Community Center filled to the brim with eager supporters, brewers and staff, the festival gave some much needed exposure and monetary support to NFI's efforts across our fair City.  The time and care each backyard brewer spent to craft their specialty brews was evident with each sip; and the featured home brewed adult beverages were a great compliment to the cornucopia of pesto, salsas, raw veggies, dips and spreads prepared from local ingredients of the highest quality.
  While this fundraiser was a casual event, it was also a contest.  So as is the case with many things, there can be only one...or uhhh three winners.  After the polls closed and all the ballots were accounted for, the grand champions were crowned.  Terry Chang took home the prize for best overall brew, with second place going to the Cutting Edge Brew Team - Bea Trickett, Dave Cahill and Jaime Garay- and third place went to the first name only brew team of Aaron and Morgan.  Perhaps the best outcome of this event was NFI raising $830 to put them well on their way towards installing a deer fence around the Mamie D. Lee garden at the Ft. Totten Metro.  A big shout out goes to Bread and Brew and DC Brau for their support in making this event happen.  Hopefully we will see this event become a yearly tradition, celebrating a wonderful harvest and some great local home brews!

For more information on the Neighborhood Farm Initiative please check out their website or their BLOG for up to date info about events and harvests! 

Another accident on South Dakota Ave. NE Near Ft. Totten Metro

As the rain trickles down, yet another accident has taken place on South Dakota Ave NE near the intersection of Galloway St. NE.  This new crash is less than 100' from where a devastating accident occurred less than 2 months ago.  This newest fender bender took place between a commercial gardening truck and a compact pick-up, and appears to be far less severe than the July 22nd accident.
  Yet another shining example of why there needs to be stricter traffic enforcement or new traffic control measures put in place on the main thoroughfare.  South Dakota Avenue is currently closed at the Ft. Totten Metro, right next to the new CCDC Backus Campus.

New North Michigan Park Neighborhood Signs

Proposed Sign Design

  The Friends of North Michigan Park Civic Association is making a push for community beautification and  identity retention.  With the projected increase in both pedestrian and vehicular traffic to the growing area, the FNMPCA want to make sure the neighborhood of North Michigan Park is well defined, and not just lumped in as part of the Ft. Totten Area t.  How do they plan on accomplishing this, well  through the installation of 30 metal banner signs similar to those found in Dupont Circle and Capital Hill. 
   Currently the FNMPCA has submitted plans for approval by the neighborhood ANC's, which need to sign off on the project, in order to get a DDOT permit to install the signs.  The current plans has the 30 signs lining the major thoroughfares of the neighborhood, including South Dakota Ave, Gallatain and 8 St along with others.  Pending ANC approval, which the plan already seems to have, the signs will be fabricated by Gelberg Signs on Washington, DC and delivered for installation.  Not set time line appears to be in place, but it is assumed that once DDOT approve the installation permit the signs should be up in no time.

View NMP Banner Pole Locations in a larger map

Dog Found...Help us out!

Once we woke up this AM, we let our dogs out to pee before their walk as usual  and saw a little white dog scurry up the street. Then around 11 while out walking the two of them, we were approached by the same little white fella (looks to be a Bichon Mix) and were followed for about five blocks up 8th to Buchanan. We then spent the next 2 hours scouring the neighborhood all the way up to Providence to see if anyone knew him.  Alas, we had no luck,  If you know this dog or he looks vaguely familiar, PLEASE send us a message.  We already have two large dogs and can't handle a third.

ANC 5A03 Community Meeting Tomorrow

Do you live in Single member District ANC 5A03?  Maybe you want an update on the UDC Community College Project or current crime stats in Ward 5?  Want to meet some other citizens from ANC 5A?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, then tomorrow night we have something for you!!!  Angel Alston (5A03 Neighborhood Representative) will be holding a Community Meeting tomorrow night (8/10/10) at the North Michigan Park Rec Center from 6:30 - 8 PM. Come out and meet the voice of District 5A03 to the City Council, and get the low down on things going on in the neighborhood...we'll be there for sure also!

Riggs Rd and South Dakota Intersection Update

Finally some information from the District regarding the road construction at the intersection of Riggs and South Dakota!  Deborah Crain Kemp, the Ward 5 Neighborhood Planner for the District's Office of Planning, was nice enough to give us a breakdown of the major roadway reconstruction.
  Originally slated to coincide with the construction of the Ft. Totten Square Site, the plan is to transform the unique intersection into that of a standard 4-way style.  Currently the intersection utilizes highway-eseque entrance and exit lanes to get traffic on and off of South Dakota and Riggs.  This combined with the extremely large footprint of the intersection, leads to some very unique rounds of Frogger that pedestrians need to play.  There is also an issue with poor signage and lack of crosswalks allowing safe traversing by pedestrians.  The other major issue seems to be poor traffic light timing leading to some major backups down Riggs and into Maryland in the mornings, and a complete lack of overhead street lamps.
  DDOT's plan will initially relocate utilities, and then focus on road widening and reconstructions.  The new curb and utility pole locatoins have already been determined, and indicate much wider streets heading into and out of the intersection. Not only will the new plan create a much more commuter friendly intersection, it is also attempting to modernize and beautify the area as well.  All new crosswalks, crossing and traffic signals, granite curbs, handicap accessible sidewalks (finally) and street lamps (similar to the ones found on 12st. in Brookland) will be installed.  The plan also expands the green space of the area, and plans are in place to increase the number of trees and also allow for bike racks and actual multi-space parking meters (similar to the green boxes found throughout the city).
  This ten million dollar, eighteen month project currently underway is already causing major traffic issues at the intersection.  DDOT's plan to keep one lane of traffic open on each street at all times, however, does not allow for the timely passage of this volume of traffic.  Combine this with the temporary, but necessary, total closure of the intersection for logistic reasons and you have a real nightmare.  The best advice to anyone having to take this route is...stay away for at least one year.  Take either New Hampshire down to Military, or cut through Brookland...the added travel will not only save you some time, but aggravation as well.

“This isn’t a high speed highway interchange, it’s the intersection of two neighborhood streets.  That will be reflected in the improvements DDOT is making, and those improvements will complement the exciting mixed-use development that is taking place in this community.”

-Mayor Adrian Fenty-

Providence Hospital: Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em

Ahh smoking...one of the eternal public health hot topics. And while we can debate and argue about whether or not smoking should be outlawed in restaurants and bars, or whether cigarettes should be taxed higher, that is not the point of this blog. Most of society can, however, agree that smoking in places like schools and hospitals is generally taboo or at least frowned upon. However, this seems to be lost on the staff and employees of Providence Hospital—ironically named “Washington’s First Tobacco Free Campus.”
  On any given day, at almost any time, employees can be seen puffing away standing next to the sign proclaiming the hospital a Tobacco Free Campus. The often scrub clad employees can be seen piping away in little cohorts, looking like the Marlboro Man after completing a successful lung surgery. Now technically, the area that employees utilize for smoking is not on the hospital's property (but, we’re literally talking inches away). They usually stand on the publicly owned sidewalk, directly next to the “Smoke Free” sign, and next to the doors of the emergency room and driveway for ambulances. As a “100% Tobacco Free” campus, the ban is supposed to include the facility, grounds, and even parking lots.
  However, the hypocrisy is all too evident, and the message being sent to the public by this display is not a good one. How can a doctor council a patient suffering from emphysema or lung cancer on the dangers of smoking, when immediately after being discharged they can bum a smoke directly outside the emergency room doors from a nurse of orderly. Now this may roam into the realm of personal accountability vs. government intervention...however, that is not the purpose of this article. Neither is the irony of doctors and health care workers who smoke (although, admittedly hard to ignore!).
  As with everything on this blog, the point is to raise awareness. Providence Hospital, as it wishes to be, acts as an ambassador for this community. In 2007, when Providence became the first hospital in Washington DC to sign on as a “100% smoke free campus,” they took pride in the policy and claimed to vehemently defend and enforce. They even began offering smoking cessation programs for their employees. Providence Administrators worried that “the sight of staff, visitors or others outside smoking whether on break or en route to their cars, diminished the hospital's cessation efforts,” and that by the hospital “looking the other way [it] implied tacit approval.” It appears that they must have especially worried about the appearance of staff smoking outside the hospital—and yet, driving by on any given day, it is almost completely staff and not patients heeding the call of cigarettes.  
  Clearly implementation of the policy has not been, and never could have been, an easy task. But, in all honesty, it doesn’t really seem as if they are making any effort. Is the Hospital Administration already tired of trying after just a few years? Well then, take down your huge blue signs proclaiming your virtuous no smoking policy!!! Why allow your staff to day after day stand next to the sign puffing away almost defiantly. It devalues anything your staff tells patients they should be doing to improve their health. Not to mention, the vast piles of cigarette butts that litter the ground surrounding the hospital have yet to be taken care...especially since part of the ban was supposed to save money on grounds maintenance of such butts. I think the community would agree on a whole that this is NOT the proper representation of their neighborhood, and not a good image for a Hospital.

  Above : People actally smoking on Hospital Grounds 

*pictures intentionally pixelated to prevent identification*
**Thanks to Caribou for help with writing and the idea for the story**  

Welcome to The Totten Life

North Michigan Park and Fort Totten...one of the few true "Communities" left in Washington,DC. This small section of DC surrounding the sometimes infamous Ft. Totten Metro, has always been a tight knit community filled with blue collar workers and their families. A place where for better or for worse, all the neighbors know the who, what, when and where of everyone on their block. A quaint series of late 1930's and late 1950's brick semi-attached row houses residing under a canopy of well established trees.
The historically black neighborhood, which seemed more like a suburb of DC rather than part of the city, is changing. The acres of under or un-developed vacant land surrounding the Metro Station, the abundance of green space provided by the Fort Circle Parks, affordability of mid sized starter houses and easy pedestrian access to three major Metro Lines is causing a buzz in the N.E. neighborhood. No longer an ignored middle class section of the city, Ft. Totten has been in the cross hairs of real estate developers for the past 4 years. With several major multi-million dollar projects planned, underway or completed the area looks to be on the rise. Whether or not you agree with this change, it is going to make for an interesting dynamic in the coming years.
It is the goal of this blog to chronicle the latest developments and possible impacts to the residents of this neighborhood, as well as the major interests and goings-on in the District.