Holy cow! Washington Business Journal reports:

“According to Kristen Barden, executive director of the Adams Morgan Partnership, a new Ray

From the Red Porch, originally uploaded by Rukasu1.

This is a rather vague one for the moment but more details to come soon. In the meantime a reader writes:

“Would you support the uses of Eminent Domain by the DC government for urban revitalization project within your community?

The Supreme Court ruled that the uses of eminent domain for community benefit was just (Kelo v. City of New London), where the court agreed with the City of New London that the general benefits a community enjoyed from redevelopment and economic growth qualified as a permissible “public use” under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelo_v._City_of_New_London

Meaning that the Govt can uses eminent domain to gain control of a property and then offer it up for redevelopment to private developers. The city has used eminent domain to gain control of land in the following projects:

The National Baseball Stadium – http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45455-2005Feb22.html

DC USA Mall in Columbia Heights

Northwest One Redevelopment – http://www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us/images/00001/20060725142345.pdf“

I along with many others (based on the emails I’ve received) have eagerly been anticipating the opening of Columbia Heights’ newest restaurant. I’m happy to announce that Social will open this Saturday! The bar opens at 4pm and dinner service begins at 6pm. I showed a sneak preview of the spot here. I was lucky enough to attend a mock service on Thursday evening. I gotta say, the food was amazing and the vibe was phenomenal. My overall feeling was that this is going to be a great date spot. Since so many new restaurants have recently opened up what is hard to articulate is what makes one really great. All I can say is that the vibe is what makes a new spot great. It’s what makes the recently opened wine bar Room 11 great and it’s what makes the nearby Red Derby great. Vibe is essential and thankfully Social has it in spades. But you’ll have to judge for yourself. The idea of various sized plates to share worked perfectly. And the fact that the place looks great doesn’t hurt either. I’m psyched to hear what you guys think of the place.

Columbia Heights Day is always great fun. This is the third year of the festival, believe it or not! You can see last year’s highlights here. I gotta give the organizers mad props as they put together a hell of program this year:

Festivities will be held on Saturday, August 29th and start at 10am on the grounds of Harriet Tubman Elementary School located at 11th and Kenyon Streets, NW.

Mainstage:

11:00-11:30 Greg Roth & the Bargains

12:15-12:45 Buster Brown

1:30-2:00 Clube do Samba

2:45-3:15 Imperial China

4:15-4:45 Lucky Dub

5:30-6:00 Flex Mathews with the Crimestoppers

Second Stage:

10:00-10:30 Free Yoga by Quiet Mind Yoga

10:30-11:00 Best Pet Show (contact Rose Donna)

11:45-12:15 Capoeira performance by the International Capoeira Angola Foundation

1:00-1:30 Mixed Martial Arts demonstration by the Beta Academy

2:45-3:00 Jam Session

3:45-4:00 Cupcake Eating Contest by Sticky Finger

Congrats to Erin:

Undercover officers recover Marion Barry

DSCN1984, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Som Records is keeping it gay. Who knew there was such a thing as conversational music?

DSCN2044, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Obviously I have a sweet spot for frogs.

But I also dug the butterflies:

DSCN2027, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Another nice flower variety. These were super tall.

DSCN2011, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Here’s another geat garden door.

DSCN2074, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

This is an old school home from Georgetown. I really dig the the doors to the left of the proper front door.

I’ve often walked by this cemetery at 2016 Wisconsin Ave., NW but never checked it out until this last weekend. It is really in a sad state. Tombstones are toppled everywhere:

A check on Wikipedia provides some interesting info:

“The cemetery was active from the mid-nineteenth century into the early twentieth century (although some burials took place as late as the 1990s), and as many as 1,000 free and enslaved African Americans are said to be interred here.

The cemetery has for some time now been owned by Georgetown University, which has long sought to remove the graves, remove the hill on which the cemetery sits, and develop the land.”

Do you think Georgetown should be able to develop this spot or should the historical significance be celebrated?

I found this tomb particularly moving: