Now that proper construction has started at what will become the Brixton at 9th and U St, NW and next door at 903 U St, NW Dickson wine seems to be doing well – I’m psyched to see the former copy resource center building potentially get fixed up. Looks like a lot of work is required but that section of U St, NW has some serious potential. I’ll give them a year before any horse’s ass award nominations…

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“Dear PoP,

I live on Euclid b/t 14th & 15th, and I was awakened from a dead sleep last night at 11:06pm by a child running down the street screaming for help. This was not a kid messing around, this was full-on panicked screaming, “Help, help, somebody help me please!” And this sounded like a young child, like somewhere between 8-12 years old. I ran down the stairs, and was about to go outside in my bare feet, but my husband grabbed his shoes and said he’d go check it out. We are 3 flights up, and by the time he made it down to the street, the child was nowhere to be seen and he couldn’t hear the screaming anymore.

There’s usually a fair amount of traffic (foot and car) on our street at this time of night, so I’m hoping someone was able to help this kid. I kept waiting to hear sirens, like those following the shooting on the 19th on Fuller Street, but never heard a thing. I’m just wondering if anyone else has reported hearing this or if anyone in the neighborhood heard/saw anything? I’m not sure where else to look to find out what happened, I’ve been checking for police reports, but my imagination is killing me with scenarios of what happened…”

Do any neighbors happen to know what happened? I’ll see if MPD received any reports.

From the Washington Post:

Assistant Chief Diane Groomes “has been restored to duty and returned to her position as the official in charge of the Patrol Services and Security Bureau,” Lanier said in an e-mail.

Lanier had placed Groomes, 44, on administrative leave last month, issuing a statement to the media that said Groomes was allegedly involved in “compromising” a test administered to her fellow command staff.

Lanier said her decision came after an internal investigation concluded that Groomes did not “compromise” the test. Rather, the internal probe found that the exam was an open-book test. “No official obtained or shared the answer key,” Lanier said.

Personally, I’m very happy to hear Chief Groomes is back on the job.

I guess we never really talked about it – are you glad to hear that Chief Lanier (and Groomes) will be staying on in the new Gray Administration?

I have three that jump in my head right away. I’ve always loved the old post office (pictured above) on T St, NW just west of 14th that has been for lease for ages. I also love the old Fire House on North Capitol in Bloomingdale and I love the Uline Arena (home of the first Beatles concert in the US) in NoMa. Another good challenger is the old theater in Adams Morgan on Columbia Rd, next to the old CVS. And of course there is the classic Wonderbread Factory in Shaw. What’s your favorite/which would you most like to see get fixed up?

The crazy thing is that sometimes I have people emailing me about these properties and want to start businesses/restaurants there, so in my mind something is completely fracked up that the buildings still sit vacant/dilapidated. Now I’m no economist but if we have people that want to open up in these spaces – they should not be sitting vacant this long! Somehow, some part of this system is seriously fracked.

I hate to be a tease but Bloomingdale folks would be seriously sick to their stomachs if they knew who wanted to open up in the old Fire House on North Capitol St. Ed. Note: it is an established and very good restaurant. But I digress…

Sept. 2008

After our talk yesterday about gyms in Petworth a reader asked if I could post what the building across from Qualia Coffee looks like now. (Another readers asks if I know how much rent will be, I do not but promise to update when the rental units go on the market.) So, how do you think it turned out?

Dec. 2010

You can see all the great entries here.

Congrats to D from the P with:

“I called customer service, and they are saying there is nothing wrong with the network modem, I just have daddy issues.”

Runner up to anonymous 11:50pm with:

“good enough for government work.”

Please email me at princeofpetworth (at) gmail directly for your t-shirts.

And Som Records continues to make me smile.

I love this green house sandwiched between two larger buildings in lower Columbia Heights.

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From CM Bowser:

“There was a major fire this morning at the Takoma Education Campus in Ward 4. School was out of session due to winter break, so no children were present and thankfully all staff that were in the building were evacuated safely. I do understand from Chief Rubin, however, that some Fire/EMS workers may have received minor injuries. I am on the scene at the school with Principal Rikki Taylor, other school staff and neighbors.

Having spoken with Mayor Fenty, Mayor-Elect Gray’s office, Allen Lew and Interim Chancellor Kaya Henderson, our top priority is ensuring that the children have a place to return to after winter break. I am grateful for the quick response of our Fire/EMS and MPD personnel.”

When I walked by the old EFN Lounge space at 1318 9th St, NW last weekend I heard some serious work going on inside. There are also a number of permits on the door, one of which says the proposed new use will continue to be a restaurant. Anyone hear any rumors/scuttlebutt of what/who’s going in?

Stay tuned for more details as they become available.

And nearby at 1414 9th St, NW in the old Vegetate space, Cafe Eagle and Lounge has applied for a liquor license.

I’m an admitted lover of copper but I think this looks sweet. This is the space that will become Jack Rose at 2007 18th Ave. NW from the folks behind Bourbon. We’ll have a bbq taste off when they open!

You like the way the copper is looking?

If you have any fun or interesting animal/pet photos or news please shoot me an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail(dot)com with ‘Animal Fix’ in the title and say what neighborhood you’re from or upload to the PoPville flickr pool. I can’t guarantee I’ll get them all posted but I’ll do my best.  I’m aware not everyone loves pets.  But they bring me (and others) a lot of pleasure.  It’s cool, hold tight, a new post is coming in a half hour, you can make it!

Stanley

“My boyfriend and I were walking through Mt. Vernon Square by the Xmas Tree lot on Saturday and watched this squirrel scurry up a tree, krispy kreme in paw. Once he had found his perch, he began devouring the chocolate glaze first. This is a squirrel after my own heart!”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Faucetini

This rental is located at 1415 Chapin Street, NW:

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The Craigslist ad says:

“Columbia Heights/UStreet: Renovated Beaux-Arts Bldg: This is a Great Top Floor 1-Bedroom-Wood Floors throughout Living areas, Classic Checkerboard tile in bathroom, Brand New Carpet in Bdrm, Window Furnishing existing, New Decorator Paint, Black Appliances, Security, Weight Room, Sundeck. You can walk to shops & restaurants that are on block and under construction as well as stroll to everything that’s in Colombia Heights, Ustreet, Adams Morgan. This apartment is centally located between all three!!”

I’m thinking $1390 for a top floor 1 bedroom at this location sounds pretty good. You guys?

Photo by PoPville flickr user DCityDude

“Dear PoP,

I live in a 115 year old townhouse and rent out my basement apartment. Nobody is overly loud or plays music or TV above a civil level, but we can still hear each other through our floor/ceiling at normal volume talking voices. Although our tenant has never complained I’m sure she must be annoyed by our dog running around our place chasing his bone and us walking on wood floors. We have our floors covered as much as possible by area rugs to help with the noise, but we can still hear her and she can surely hear us. We like our tenant and don’t want her to be chased away by our noise. Also, after living in apartments for several years and recently moving to a house my wife and I would prefer not to hear our neighbors.

I’m wondering what our options may be for soundproofing an old row house. The wood floors are original to the home so tearing them up is not an option. In the basement apartment there are drywalled ceilings that likely are screwed directly to the joists. I’m not thrilled about the idea of tearing through the basement ceilings to add some sort of soundproofing materials, but I am starting to think this may be my only option. One other important thing is that my ceiling height downstairs is just above 7ft (the minimum required for my CofO) so I can’t bring this any lower. Do any of your readers have any tips for me that don’t include turning up the volume on my own speakers? Any ideas for good contractors if I must replace the drywall and add soundproofing?”

Some options were given back in Jan. ’10. Anyone else have good suggestions?

Photo by PoPville flickr user pablo.raw

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Photo by PoPville flickr user pablo.raw