CM McDuffie & Congresswoman Norton Hold Ft. Totten Park Walk Through

  Tim Clark, CM McDuffie's Constituent Services Coordinator, sent out the following message to those in attendance at last week's emergency safety meeting regarding the NPS land surrounding the Ft. Totten metro Station.
"All, 
  As a follow-up to Councilmember McDuffie’s recent Fort Totten safety meeting, our office will be walking the Park Service social trails adjacent to the metro station. The Councilmember will be joined by Congresswomen Eleanor Holmes Norton. Residents and community leaders are encouraged to attend and point out specific areas of concern.  If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.
 

Ft. Totten Trail Walkthrough With Councilmember McDuffie and Congresswomen Norton

Tuesday, October 2, 2012 3:00pm

Walk will start at the Ft. Totten Metro entrance  

Best,
Tim Clark
Constituent Services CoordinatorKenyan McDuffie, Ward 5 Councilmember
(202) 724-8028 (Office)
(202) 724-8076 (Fax)
tclark@dccouncil.us
The John Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 410
Washington, DC 20004 "
  It is definietly nice to not only see the Council Member take personal interest in the issue, but also that he was able to get Congresswomen Norton involved also.  For those of you that haven't noticed, since the community meeting with Mr. McDuffie, NPS, and the various police entities the path has been significantly trimmed back and police partols in the park and neighborhood have increased.  Please attend this walk through if you are able to.

Bears at the Ft. Totten Metro???

  As if there isn't enough going on at the Ft. Totten metro Station?  Fox DC is reporting that a photo has surfaced of what some believe to be Black Bears in the park behind the metro platform yesterday. A metro rider said he saw the dark figures from the platform and took some pictures. Wether you believe it or not, it is definitly another interesting twist in the Ft. Totten neighborhood lore... 
DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

Union Market Upcoming Events

  Want to know what the new Union Market has to offer, and when all of their great events will be taking place?  Thanks to Ryan, Edens Communications Director, we were able to get a copy of the Union Market Flyer and schedule of events.  There are a ton of great events to partake in; Trucktober Fest (this weekend), Primetime Libations (weekly friday HH's), Righteous Cheese classes, Food Styling, Meat Up Haloween (Oct 29), and the official complete market opening and Crafts Fair (Nov 10th).  So many things to do, and eat, and drinik, and watch, and smell, and...Enjoy.

CM McDuffie Announces Ft. TottenPublic Safety Meeting

  DC Council Member Kenyan McDuffie, Ward 5, annoucned that he will be holding an Emergency Meeting to address the recent spike in crime that has taken place around the Ft. Totten Metro Station.  Representatives from MPD, USPP, NPS and MTPD will be in attendance.  As a community we have gotten the aattention of our representatives, so please make every effort to attend this meeting.
CM McDuffie's announcement:

  "In response to recent concerns from Fort Totten residents regarding a spike in crime near the metro station and National Park Service trail, the Councilmember will be holding an emergency meeting this Wednesday, September 19 from 7-9pm at the Transit Police First district office.

  We have asked representatives from Metropolitan Police Department, National Park Police and Metro Transit Police to attend this meeting and provide updates on their efforts to address recent crimes. National Park Service will also be in attendance to give updates on their plans to enhance the Rock Creek trail between Gallatin and Galloway streets.
  We look forward to your participation in this meeting. Should you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
 Fort Totten Community Emergency Safety Meeting
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
7-9pm
Transit Police First District Office
5315 1st Street Place NE"

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."

CM McDuffie's Initial Response to Yesterday's Shooting

  In response to the increase of crime in the area, and in light of yesterdays shooting, we were able to get an initial response from CM McDuffie (Ward 5) via twitter.  The Council Member's tweets were certainly a good sign that this issue is on his radar.  For those of you who don't follow the twitter feed @TheTottenLife (you probably should), or don't have a twitter account, we are providing the conversation below.

  Neighborhood resident Nathan W, who has been helping to lead the charge on this issue, has informed us that the Mr. McDuffie's office is meeting with NPS, USPP, DDOT, MPD and other entities regarding the issue of safety around the Ft. Totten Metro and in the NPS park land at some point today.  Hopefully we receive some good feedback regarding the path forward to returning this neighborhood to the safe place it had become, and avoid backsliding.  We applaude Council Member McDuffie's response to the matter, and hope he will press the NPS hard for a real solution.
 
  Also, the Washington Post has received some additional details on the shooting.  Neither the motive or circumstances that led to the shooting have yet to be released by the MPD, but the name and age of the victim have been.  One R’artagnon Jose White, 34, was found shot in the head inside a house on the 5100 block of 7th Street NE (which is behind the CCDC Campus).  Certainly our thoughts go out to his family members, and hopefully the MPD will solve this case and be able to prevent this crime spike from expanding.

Fatal Shooting on 7th St NE

NBC News Reports:

"A person was fatally shot in the head around 1:40 p.m. Tuesday Thursday in the 5100 block of 7th Street NE.

Homicide detectives arrived on the scene to find the victim unconscious and not breathing. The victim's age and sex are unknown at this time.
The shooting happened about a half-mile from the Fort Totten Metro station"
 This coming in a time of increased violence in the Ft. Totten Metro Area, continues to put residents on high alert.  A meeting between community leaders and residents is surely well overdue! 

View Larger Map

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.

Faith United Church of Christ Proposed Retirement Home

  At last night's North Michigan Park Civic Association Meeting, the major topic of conversation was a proposed Retirement Home to be built on the grounds of the Faith United Church of Christ's property.
View Larger Map   The church is looking to sell that land to a developer (the Retirement Housing Foundation) in order to develop a 94 unit senior living community to be operated in conjunction with Faith UCC. While this is still very, very early on in the development plan, the two groups are providing initial details on their proposed project with the NMPCA and the neighborhoods residents.  Below you will find the Fact Sheet handed out las night on the project.  There are also two schedule meetings in the coming weeks to discuss the proposed plan, which all are encouraged to attend and participate in:

 September 15th

 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

 North Michigan Park Recreation Center

 September 22nd

 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM 

 North Michigan Park Recreation Center

CUA Community and Youth Night

  Looking for a something to do tomorrow night with the kids, or not?  Well CUA might have just the thing for you.  Tomorrow night CUA will be hosting their first annual Community and Youth Night.  Youth and Community Night is open to all of the surrounding neighbood residents.  Any youth athlete wearing their jersey or league t-shirt will receive a snack, drink, and be able to participate in a half-time activity weather permitting.  Best of all it is free to residents of Brookland, Edgewood, Michigan park, North Michigan Park, and Ft. Totten (with ID)!

September DC Zoning Hearings of Interest and Pertainng to ANC 5A

  Here are a list of the upcoming DC Zoning Comission and Board of Zoning Adjustment hearings this month that may be of interest to our neighbors.  All hearings are held at:                               
                                                  One Judiciary Square
                                                  441 4th Street, NW
                                                  Washington, DC 2001

The full calender of the ZC and BZA can be found here.



Sept. 11 2012
9:30 AM

Case Number :	18392
Case Name:	Application of Betty J. Williams
Case Summary :	(Special Exceptions) Pursuant to 11 DCMR § 3104.1, for a special exception under section 205 to allow a child development center (12 Children and 2 Teachers) in the R-2 District at premises 5350 Chillum Place, N.E. (Square 3751, Lots 138).

Case Number :	18460
Case Name:	Request for Expedited Public Hearing for Appeal No. 18460 of Ginia L. Avery, et al.
Case Summary :	(Appeals) Pursuant to 11 DCMR §§ 3100 and 3101, from a decision by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, to issue a building permit (#B1202925) allowing the construction of a Walmart store in the C-3-A District at premises 5929 Georgia Avenue, N.W. (Square 2986, Lot 38).

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.