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This just in around 5:30 pm from @dcfireems:

“stabbing – near Columbia Hgts Metro – 3300 blk 14th St NW”

Update from MPD 6:10pm:

“Not serious 2 victims both cut not stabbed.”

And this just in from a reader at 7:48pm:

“Not sure if this is related to the CH metro incident. A neighbor said he saw 2 teens running down the street. There’s blood droplets on the sidewalk on Sherman and along Kenyon St.”

“Dear PoP,

Black-Eyed Susie and Sew Frugal and Fashionable will be hosting a Clothing Swap on Sunday, May 1st. Black-Eyed Susie [3443 14th St, NW] is the new gently used, contemporary clothing store that opened up in Columbia Heights in January of this year. Sew Frugal and Fashionable offers introductory sewing classes which teach the basics of sewing and refashioning clothing. Sew Frugal offers practical ideas which are simple and creative to enhance your wardrobe. Sew Frugal encourages swapping, sewing, and thrift store shopping to promote frugal living.

Info on the swap:

Drop off for the swap will be from 11-noon and the swap will start at 1pm and go for two hours. Men’s and women’s clean and gently worn clothing will be accepted for the swap. $10 to enter if you bring in at least 5 items to swap. $15 to enter if you do not bring items to swap. You can buy your tickets online here.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Scenic Artisan

“Dear PoP,

I don’t think I’ve seen the opening mentioned on your blog, though you did write about it earlier this year. The website is here.

I was at Tynan for a meeting last night and noticed the valet parking sign for the new Hilton Garden hotel, which is also open, and Watershed . . . so I asked the valet if Watershed was open and he responded yes.”

A recent press release says:

NoMa’s first fine dining restaurant opens today, along with the neighborhood’s second hotel. Todd Gray’s Watershed and the 204-room Hilton Garden Inn opened with a splash at 1225 First Street, NE, offering a luxurious hospitality experience and seafood from the Eastern seaboard.

A grand lobby features a cascading waterfall leading to the second floor, which holds the ballroom, lounge, business center and Watershed. Watershed is the latest venture of restaurateur couple Chef Todd and Ellen Kassoff Gray, known for the highly-acclaimed Equinox restaurant. Guests are first welcomed into an intimate lounge area where they can enjoy specialty cocktails, small plates and a daily raw bar selection featuring a coast-to-coast variety of oysters from Kusshis and Hama Hamas to Chincoteagues and Wellfleets. Crudos of the day, game specials and a seafood selection including Chef Todd’s signature Rappahannock River oyster sandwich, take center stage at the restaurant’s Chef’s Table at the top of the 65-seat main dining room. Floor-to-ceiling windows open onto an outdoor patio seating 45 guests.

I know we normally judge buildings/architecture in this slot but the azaleas were in full effect around town this weekend. The ones shown are amazing every single year – it is from the 1700/1600 block of Harvard St, NW.

Incidentally the arboretum is also having a big event this weekend:

FONA Garden Fair and Plant Sale

Really great plant sale this weekend!!! Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30, remainders (if any) sold Sunday, May 1. Held at the US National Arboretum, 3501 New York Ave NE, off Bladensburg Rd.

This annual event from the Friends of the National Arboretum is a long-standing favorite among serious and weekend gardeners alike – with affordable prices and the widest range of plants and vendors of any gardening event in Washington, D.C. Buy new, rare and hard-to-find plants, with offerings from the finest specialty nurseries in the region and more local plant societies than ever before. A great opportunity to get advice from National Arboretum horticulturists, FONA master gardeners, landscape designers and other local experts. Also fun and educational activities for children, music performances, food vendors, and garden accessories.

The fair coincides with the Arboretum’s spectacular display of more than 10,000 azaleas, so bring your friends, bring the family, and make a day of it!

HOURS: “Members Only” on Friday April 29 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (but you can join at the door or in advance at www.fona.org.)

Open to the public on Friday April 29 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and on Saturday April 30 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Any remainders will be sold Sunday May 1 from 9a.m. to 12 noon.

If you have any fun or interesting animal/pet photos 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 with your pets name and neighborhood. I can’t guarantee I’ll get them all posted but I’ll do my best.

“FDR Memorial. Charlie and Mac meet a friend!”

“Penny and Poppy staring down a few pidgeons across the way…for over an hour. I call it “Showdown at the CH Corral.”

“This is Hank, our regal Beagle from Woodley Park. He’s thinking about running for office in 2012.”

This rental is located at m st nw at 5th st nw:

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The Craigslist ad says:

“Lovely and spacious 2 bedroom plus den/office nook, 2 bathroom rowhouse. Features include: all hardwood floors, central AC, dishwasher, fireplace.

Superb location just 1.5 blocks to Mt Vernon Square/7th St Metro (green/yellow), 5 blocks to NY Ave Metro (red), steps to new City Vista (new Safeway, Busboys and Poets, cleaners, Starbucks, and more). Easy walk to Chinatown, the Mall, Union Station, the Capital, and more.”

$2695 sound right for this 2 bed/2 bath row house?

“Dear PoP,

Can you get the scoop on the construction on Rock Creek Parkway? My normally hellish commute has become twice as hellish because of the construction on the south bond Rock Creek Parkway during the morning rush hour. What in the hell is the Park Service thinking doing construction during rush hour? Why not in the middle of the afternoon? Or at least way early in the morning? It seems that they do the construction between 8am and 10am during the week (correct me if I’m wrong but I only notice when I’m on it, which is every morning and evening and sometimes on the weekend).

Please find out. I called the park service and they said that the construction would go on for 18-20 more months. I don’t know what I’m going to do.

I enter Rock Creek parkway from 17th St NW in Mt Pleasant. They have been closing the right lane starting on Calvert St, causing a gigantic backup.

When I talked to someone at the Park service, (the superintendent maybe?) he stated that that they were replacing pipes and then installing handrails. (I don’t remember much of the conversation). He stated that in about a 18-20 months, Rock Creek will look “really really nice.”

In any case, I understand that they are just doing their job. But I just don’t understand why they have to do it during the morning rush hour commute, when closing that lane will cause the most headaches to people.

Why can’t they do this construction work when it’s not rush hour?”

Anyone know why construction has to take place during rush hour? Is it because it would be too difficult to remove/cover the areas under construction? Anyone else experience this back up?

Photo by PoPville flickr user AWard Tour

Submit your photos to the PoPville flickr pool here. Follow PoPville on twitter here.

Photo by PoPville flickr user brendan.o

From a DDOT Press release:

To prevent the notoriously unpleasant odor of the popular ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba) from overtaking city streets, the District Department of Transportation’s Urban Forestry Administration (DDOT Trees) will begin spraying the unsavory smelling female ginkgo fruits tonight. DDOT Trees will use the same spray that has been used for the past several years, Shield-3EC 24(C).

Spraying will begin in Wards 1, 2 and 6, where female ginkgo trees are most prevalent, and continue through Wards 4, 3, 7, 8 and 5. Spraying will occur overnight for the next few nights and there is no need to move vehicles parked on streets.

For additional information please contact DDOT Trees at 202-671-5133.

Matt lamented this unpleasantness a couple of years ago. Anyone notice the smell this year?

This home is located at 1713 Harvard St, NW:

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The flier says:

“SO CLOSE TO THE ZOO YOU CAN HEAR LIONS ROAR. Cloistered behind lush trees, this modern beauty is part of award-winning row by famed architect Joseph Abel. Features sunny floor-to-ceiling wndws, HW flrs, open plan, cedar deck & hot tub, 2-car pkg. Steps from Zoo, short stroll to Mt. P, AM, Col Hts, U St restaurants/nitelife/shopping. Close to Woodley & Col Hts Metros.”

You can find more info here and photos here.

I’ve always been a big fan of this cool row. What do you think of the house itself? Does $619,000 sound right for this 3 bed/2 bath?

“Dear PoP,

It’s that time of year when it would be great to have a rooftop deck on which to spend some quality time. Luckily, my condo building is exploring the possibility of putting one in place. I was wondering if any readers have any experience working with local contractors to design and build a roof deck and what issues are important to consider when putting one in place. Any advice on selecting a contractor or on what would be a reasonable cost to build one would be much appreciated.”

Great timing! Another reader just wrote some tips about getting a roof deck:

“Dear PoP,

Roof Deck Instructions

1. Own your home or have condo permission to build

2. Contact an architect and tell them your thoughts, ideas and plans, they will draw up the deck, have it approved by a structural engineer and obtain the permits for you through DCRA

3. Your roof top probably will not hold the weight of a deck as is, so most decks are built from parapet wall to parapet wall. (brick walls) If you share any wall with a neighbor as most row houses do you will have to have written permission from the owner of that building for you to build on the wall. The engineer will pull a plat of your property to see who owns what.

Continues after the jump. (more…)

Das Bullpen is located across from the Navy Yard Metro:

Anyone check it out yet? How does it compare to the Biergarten on H St, NE? Before going to a game would you recommend the original Bullpen or Das Bullpen?

On a side note, it seemed a shame that this whole area (even the beautiful Yards Park) with the exception of a few souls, was basically a ghost town on that beautiful Sunday we just had. It’s too bad these places aren’t open on non game days.

dNASAb, Dataclysmic 1, 2010, LED screen, Digital Media Player, LEDs, steel, silicon, plastic, fiber optics, 720P HD video, Dimensions variable. Photo courtesy of Irvine Contemporary and the Artist.

Meet the Artist: Julian Schnabel at the Hirshhorn Museum: The event isn’t for another two weeks, but advance tickets go on sale today and are sure to disappear fast. Known for self-aggrandizing (he once dubbed himself “as close to Picasso as you’re going to get in this f**king life”), Schnabel first gained notoriety for his broken-plate paintings in the 1980s and went on to write and direct several critically acclaimed films. On May 12 the artist will introduce a screening of his 2007 film “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” which earned him a Golden Globe. The following night he’ll discuss his work and relationship with Blinky Palermo. FREE. Tickets on sale today. Film screening on May 12 at 8:30 p.m. Artist talk May 13 at 7 p.m. Metro: Smithsonian or L’Enfant Plaza.

Dataklysmos at Irvine Contemporary: This Saturday Irvine will unveil new multimedia installations by Brooklyn-based artist [dNASAb] that explore the hidden physicality of
digital technology. The artist’s work, influenced in part by Nam June Paik’s electronic media projects, includes trippy video art and “sculptures” of LED screens bursting open to reveal brilliant, neon guts made of optical fiber, silicon and plastic. FREE. Opening reception on April 30 from 6 to 8 p.m. On view April 30 to June 4. Metro: Dupont Circle.

Liminal Light at Project 4: The latest exhibition at Project 4 features five artists who explore the duality of black and white and how the use of light can denote either the real or the otherworldly. The theme yields mesmerizing results in painting, collage and works on paper, such as Loie Hollowell’s ethereal drawings on denim and Ander Mikalson’s incorporation of smoke and breath as signifiers of the passing of time. FREE. Opening reception on April 30 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. On view April 30 to Metro: U Street-Cardozo.

Anne Rowland at Hemphill Fine Arts: Anne Rowland’s beautifully composed landscapes read more like intimate portraits. Shot using a robotic camera mount called a GigaPan and then combined digitally, the images depict farmland in rural Virginia and explore man’s paradoxical
relationship with nature. FREE. On view until June 4. Metro: Dupont Circle.

Short list: “Dynasty: Collecting, Classifying, and Connoisseurship” at the National Gallery of Art; Artist Panel at Hamiltonian Gallery; Corridor Artists Panel at the Art Museum of the Americas.

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“Dear PoP,

There was just another shooting in NW. A young teen on a bike fired a gun at someone at 9th and R and fled west down R and turned north on 10th. He ditched the gun just before the cops tackled him at the intersection of 10th and Westminster. I got this information from the police on the scene but I’m not sure if anyone was injured. This is the third or fourth shooting within a 3 block radius in the past 3 weeks and appears to be gang retaliation. I have a feel this is only going to get worse as summer rolls in.”

From MPD:

“Tonight at approximately 9:30 pm officers heard sounds of gun shots in the area of 8th and R Street, NW. Officers began canvassing the area and located a citizen who provided the officers with a description of the possible suspect(s). Members of the Third District Crime Suppression Team observed a person matching the lookout in the area. When the officers attempted to stop the suspect he fled from the officers; however the officers were able to eventually stop the suspect and recovered a handgun. The suspect was placed under arrest.

Based of the information provided by the citizens in the area the officers were able to apprehend the suspect and recover a handgun.

If you observe any suspicious activity please call 911 immediately so an officer can respond out and investigate the matter.”

Thanks to a reader for sending. And a good reminder – don’t forget to vote today!!!