Good Morning, DCentric readers! While you were sighing through Terrible Traffic Tuesday, we were scouring the World Wild Web for delicious links.
Virginia updates their ID policy after nun’s death “Virginia will no longer allow federal employment authorization cards to be used to obtain driver’s licenses or identification cards after a fatal crash involving Benedictine nuns and a drunk Bolivian national facing deportation stoked concerns over the document’s reliability in determining someone’s immigration status.” (voices.washingtonpost.com)
Classist comments but no racist ones. Victory! “What kind of punk steals a little kid’s wagon??” “…keep an eye out for my kid’s wagon…It was swiped off my porch in Columbia Heights (near Holmead) on Saturday…I’m hoping some kids took it for a joyride and ditched it somewhere. Yes, I know, it’s probably already been sold for drug money. And yes, I know, I shouldn’t leave anything out that’s not nailed down.” (Prince Of Petworth )
Bloomingdale could get free, neighborhood Wi-Fi “There are so many things that can divide a neighborhood: race, age, newer residents versus old-timers,” Salatti says. “This was developed here in the neighborhood as a way first and foremost to at least bridge the digital divide in the neighborhood.” (tbd.com) Continue reading →
And now a note for my sponsors (who did not ask me to publicize this, in any way. Aren’t they awesome?). I helped my local stations during their pledge drives when I was in high school, back home in Northern California. I had a lot of fun doing it, too. That’s why I’m posting this:
WAMU 88.5 is looking for volunteers to help answer phones for its fall membership campaign, from Saturday, October 16, to Friday, October 22. Meet other members of the WAMU and AU community, provide a very important service to the station, and enjoy a nice dinner. To sign up, visit http://wamu.org/support/volunteer/campaign/.
If you enjoy Diane Rehm, Kojo, The Animal House or are merely a fan of the mellifluous stylings of Kavitha Cardoza and Sabri Ben-Achour, please consider volunteering!
Have you seen “Formerly Fenty“? It’s an offshoot of Vince Gray’s campaign site featuring voters who were once fans of our current Mayor. Most interesting/potentially damning? The videos from two ex-Fenty staffers, who describe their issues with their erstwhile boss. Here’s his quondam Deputy Chief of Staff, Neil Richardson:
Just heard about this– the mural on the side of the erstwhile 7-11 on Connecticut Avenue in Cleveland Park has been removed, according to this tweet from Keith Ivey, which contains a link to a picture of the sad wall in its current state.
On Yelp, two users who had reviewed the convenience store when it was still open commented on the verisimilitude of the image, here:
…the mural on the outside had me wondering why the same guy was always waiting for the bus for the first month that I lived in the neighborhood.
Good morning, DCentric readers! Welcome back from your three-day weekend. While you were enjoying balmy, mild temperatures, we were out shopping for links:
Haunted by 9/11, an inventor figures out how to save people in skyscrapers “Oddly, I remember thinking about fishing. If it’s possible to reel in a 400-pound fish, I wondered, why can’t someone “reel out” a 400-pound person? As an orthopedic surgeon and serial inventor—I hold more than 50 medical patents related to knee and joint surgery—I started making notes right away.” (newsweek.com)
Teenage girl among 3 people shot in NE “The incident appeared to be the most violent in the metropolitan area in the first two days of the long Labor Day weekend. None of the victims’ wounds was believed to be life-threatening…” (The Washington Post)
Yesterday, there was a fire at the Phillips Collection, a popular museum in Dupont Circle which is currently being renovated (that’s how the blaze got started, on the roof). The good news is no one and nothing were harmed by the fire. Better news? The museum reopens tomorrow and admission fees will be waived for the remainder of the month.
The fire, which broke out on the morning of September 2, was contained and extinguished swiftly. No one was injured. All artwork is safe and secure. Museum conservators have evaluated the artwork and determined conclusively that nothing has incurred significant damage. The building condition is under ongoing evaluation while cleanup and repair are underway.
Most museum phone lines continue to be out of service. For updated information, visit the Phillips’s Web site www.phillipscollection.org
You can search for Watson by name, at WARL's site.
I love stories like this. Reading it made me think of DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier in a wholly different way (Via NBC Washington):
Lanier has a soft spot for animals — a side of the police chief that most criminals will never see. She has a history of rescuing shelter dogs and currently has five of them, including a blind, deaf white Aussie.
The latest one to enter her heart: Watson, an 8-year-old border collie with a rare birth defect who now calls the Washington Animal Rescue League home.
I saw them at Whole Foods and muttered, “Scupper-WHA?” then moved on; if I’m going to over-spend on fruit, I’m going to be true to my brown roots and get some mango. Mmmm, mango. Back to scupper-whats: I was born and raised in California, so perhaps I can be excused for being ignorant of this type of Vitis rotundifolia, which is found in Virginia and the Carolinas. Until I started researching this post, I didn’t know that it was the first variety of grape ever cultivated in this country!
Good Morning, DC! Wait, are you still in DC? You’re reading this from the beach, aren’t you? Well, lucky you! Happy holiday weekend!
Does Diet Soda Make You Fat? “…our brains can be retrained to learn that sweet taste doesn’t come with calories, and we can “decondition” the synthesis of addictive chemicals like dopamine that keeps us coming back for more. In other words, using artificial sweeteners may actually make us like the real thing less over time,” (The Daily Beast)
Labor Day weekend tips for traffic, Metro travel “It’s worth noting that this advice comes with accompanying clip art of two seagulls, one wearing a reflective safety belt reminiscent of sixth grade crossing guard duty. These seagulls obviously seem to lack any concept of time.” (tbd.com)
Looks like Bravo wants to inject some excitement in its aging (albeit Emmy award-winning) reality hit, Top Chef, whose current season was filmed in DC. Next season, its location won’t be its distinguishing feature. Via the Young & Hungry column in the City Paper:
…rumors are already flying about season eight. Both Eater and Grub Street are reporting (OK, rumor-mongering, which Y&H is happy to pass along) that next season’s Top Chef will feature only alumni from past shows.
Among the returnees are three D.C. chefs, including Carla Hall, Spike Mendelsohn, and Mike Isabella.
