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In a press release sent late last night MPD writes:

“A few minutes ago, members of the Third District Crime Suppression Team acted upon information received from the community and was able to stop an adult male dressed in all black in the company of another adult male, in the 1300 block of Park Road, NW. As a result of the information received and the actions of the officers during the stop, the team recovered a .38 cal handgun from the adult male and has since placed this individual under arrest without incident.. Thanks to all that contributed! Another gun and another gun user off the street!”

Funxion is located at 1309 F Street, NW. I’ve been hearing mixed reviews about this downtown spot. For those who have been do you prefer it for the restaurant or the bar? I’ve heard the burgers are pretty good. Any other must order items? You can see their menus here.

Photo by PoPville flickr user sophiagrrl

I was cc’d on this email from a resident to CM Jim Graham and I thought I’d share it because I don’t hear this perspective too often from parents with school age kids.

I am a relatively new transplant to DC and a new homeowner in Park View. When we moved here from Japan last year I chose, quite actively, to move into the city rather than into the suburbs of Northern Virginia or Maryland because I value urban living and because I feel that DC is in the process of being reinvigorated. I am investing in the future of the city by purchasing a home and positioning myself and my family as proud DC residents.

The only worrisome concern that I had was schooling for my two young children. Unlike most parents purchasing homes, however, I was not obsessed with it and allowed myself to not focus on it, knowing that something would work out for us when the time came. And it did. After looking closely at the public and public charter schools in my neighborhood, I was shocked to find that many of them were ideal for our current situation. We took part in the lottery, which was shockingly professional and responsive and easy to navigate. We also took part in a few PCS lotteries and my school-age son got a place in a school that we are extremely happy with. However, I felt very comfortable with all of the schools in our neighborhood and some of the principals and teachers impressed me greatly. I felt like there was a huge investment in my children and that there was a real head of steam pushing the new generation of school personnel forward.

Rewarding those who are so committed and recruiting other like them is a huge step toward making DC public schools competitive. Sadly, perhaps, but necessarily, removing personnel not as invested and excited about education is another part of that process. I can easily see a near future where the DC public school system, injected with new life and new accountability, makes moving into DC a desirable option for many who have previously chosen not to do so.

I am pleased with my new home and my new city and – yes – with my new school. If things keep moving in this direction, with planning and insight and with the guts to make hard decisions, then my investment in DC and in Park View will prove to be one of the smartest decisions I’ve ever made.

Sincerely,
Beth Rollins

I’m curious if any other parents with school age children echo this sentiment? If so please say what neighborhood you live in?

Twitter user SPimentel snapped the photo and writes:

“huge protest @ convention center! Lots of signs about people losing homes. Any ideas what this might be?”

I know that the National Urban League is having a conference this week. You can read about their programs here. From their history section:

In his first year, Morial [new president of NUL] worked to streamline the organization’s headquarters, secured over $10 million dollars in new funding to support affiliate programs, created the first Legislative Policy Conference “NUL on the Hill’, revamped the State of Black America report, created profitability for the annual conference, and secured a $127.5 million equity fund for minority businesses through the new markets tax credit program. He introduced and developed a stronger strategic direction of the organization with a “five point empowerment agenda’ that focuses on closing the equality gaps which exist for African Americans and other emerging ethnic communities in education, economic empowerment, health and quality of life, civic engagement, and civil rights and racial justice.

Anyone know a bit of the back story on the protesters?

Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

Imagine not being able to taste the above? It sounds like a Seinfeld episode but:

“Dear PoP,

Here’s what may at first sound like a really weird question for your readers: has anyone else in the CH/Petworth area recently come down with a case of “pine mouth?” It is a condition where a person suddenly has a persistent and horribly bitter metallic taste in their mouth that can last for weeks. It is apparently caused by bad pine nuts, and makes ones life pretty miserable because all food and drink tastes like cr*p. I mention it to you because I just got it from pine nuts I bought at the CH Giant last week. I was extremely perplexed (and a bit concerned) by what was happening, and finally tracked down the likely cause to those damn nuts. So now I am wondering if others in the area are suffering from it as well.

And, no, I’m not making this up.

You can get more information about “pine mouth” here:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/07/02/128273771/pinenuts-may-be-to-blame-for-that-bitter-atertaste
http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2009/05/got-pine-mouth.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/pine-mouth-pine-nuts-leave-bitter-taste-lingers/story?id=11097222”

Holy cow, first bed bugs, now this. I’m starting to freak out.  For real, has anyone else experienced this bizarre condition?

Great development from Council Member Jim Graham’s Web site:

I am pleased to announce that last week, the Mayor recommended, and Council approved, a loan of $4,137,000 from the Community Development Block Grant Program to acquire the old Deauville Apartments at 3145 Mount Pleasant Street.

Located at 3145 Mount Pleasant Street, the Deauville was a historic building that was destroyed by a five alarm fire in March 2008. As a result of the fire, the tenants were relocated . We had all been working hard for years up until that time in order to overcome the nefarious actions by the slumlord who owned the property. Those actions were obviously set back with this fire.

This loan approval is an essential step towards redeveloping and rehabilitating the property. We appreciate the hard work of the Mayor and his staff in making this possible. The Mayor has been with us on this since the first hours of that devastating fire. The strong interest and support from ANC1D has also made a huge difference. And, of course, the tenants and housing advocates have stood strong in their determination to become the owners of 3145.

This loan will be used to fund the acquisition of 67 units of affordable housing in Ward 1. Forty of these units will be occupied by the original displaced tenants.

I look forward to putting this horse’s ass award nominee behind us and I can’t wait to post photos when progress takes shape!

Remember if there is no progress at all by March 2011 that’s when we start the revolution…

“Dear PoP,

I noticed this week that the tree box, sans tree has reappeared in front of Haydee’s in Mt. Pleasant. There was a lot of discussion about this back when you originally posted on the 8th, so I was wondering if the owner was forced to put it back?”

City Paper’s Lydia DePillis reports:

“The tree box has been replaced, according to DDOT, at Haydee’s expense (no word of fines). But the new tree won’t be planted for several months, since new saplings tend to perish in the summer. And since her sidewalk cafe application has been withdrawn, it’s likely that sidewalk will stay barren until then.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user owash

I’ve scheduled the next PoP Happy Hour for Wed. Aug. 11th from 6:30pm – 10:30pm. Here’s what I’m thinking: I figure we can have parents with little kids swing by around 6:30 – 7:30pm and then properly defile ourselves from 8 on? I’ll have new PoP t-shirts on hand for people I owe and for those that want to purchase to some.

So here are the details – it’ll be at Duffy’s (a PoP advertiser) located right behind the 9:30 Club on Vermont Ave. Here are the specials:

$10 Pitchers of Miller lite
$2 Tall Boy PBR | High Life | Bud
$4 20oz Drafts of Guinness | Kilkenny | Yuengling | Sam’s | Sam’s Summer
$16 Pitchers of Yuengling | Sam’s | Sam’s Summer
1/2 Price Wings

See ya Wed. the 11th!

Anyone recognize what downtown building this is from? What does the W stand for? Pretty amazing, yeah?

This sidewalk in the Palisades stopped me dead in my tracks. The photo really doesn’t do it justice. My first time in the Palisades. Def. scouted some future houses of the day. And yes, as a walker, I still prefer sidewalks. Though you can kinda see some flowers behind the leaves here:

This is one of my all time favorites from Columbia Heights. If I was a painter I’d paint this, for sure.

Another killer from Cleveland Park. Again, really digging the details here, especially the windows:

About a month ago I mentioned that the retail space at 2750 14th St, NW was getting a dentist (next to the Dunkin Donuts). Turns out that in addition to a dentist they are getting an Urgent Care Center.

In other Columbia Heights Retail news, the scuttlebutt from last month that the non-profit group called 826 DC is coming into the old Scores retail space at the Columbia Heights Plaza has been confirmed. Some build out of the space is currently on going.

For those that missed the last discussion you can read more about this great group here.

In case you don’t want to watch Happy Gilmore at the Cap. Riverfront you have another outdoor movie watching option in Columbia Heights. From an email:

“THURSDAY: Movie Nights in the Heights presents “Hairspray”

8PM: Live Music, 8:30PM: Feature Film

Thursday, July 29: Hairspray & DJ Chris Burns
Thursday, August 12: Shrek & DJ Gavin Holland

Harriet Tubman Elementary Field
11th and Kenyon Streets NW

** NO ALCOHOL**
Remember to pick-up your trash
Flashlight recommended”

Also on Thursday evening is:

“Ward 1 Councilmember Candidate Forum

Jim Graham (incumbent)
Marc Morgan
Jeff Smith
Bryan Weaver

Thursday, July 29, 2010

6:00-8:30p.m.

(Program will start promptly at 6:30p.m.)

True Reformer Building, Lankford Auditorium, 1200 U Street NW

The forum is free and open to the public. Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions.”

Ed. Note: The deadline has passed for entries, we got over 300! If you missed the deadline, save your shots for next year, sorry no exceptions. I will be posting initial entries for 2 more weeks or so before the semifinal rounds commence. Remember if you have a favorite please let me know. If you emailed a photo of your pet I promise all photos will be posted, patience please, there are tons (literally hundreds) of pets in PoPville!

Tyranny

“This is Tyranny. She moved to DC all the way from Puerto Rico (will this poor dog *ever* get to live in a state?!). She’s so ecstatic to be here….note the intensity of the tail wag.”

Lucien

Izma

“I’m Izma Enchilada, sometimes referred to as Lil EZ-E, or Zak Attack. I was saved from a kill shelter in the south where they believe all pit-bulls to be mean and ferocious animals. If you know me, you know I’m the exact opposite: I’m the biggest softy around these parts!”

Lots more great entries after the jump. (more…)