DCentric

Good morning, DCentric readers! Today is Friday, and on days that end with “Y”, we like to serve up links. Enjoy!

Congress Heights: Gradually Rising “Another of the neighborhood’s stumbling blocks is its high crime rate. While Peele asserted that she doesn’t feel any less secure in Congress Heights than she did in Northwest, she also admitted that she makes an effort to be very careful when coming and going. Darrin Davis, too, parsed his words carefully when talking about the area’s crime. “Yes, there’s some crime, but with new residents moving in, they’re demanding something be done about it,” he said…“The past few years, it’s gotten quieter,” said resident Linda Sweet…she then added that four men had recently been shot on a nearby corner, and two of them died.” (dc.urbanturf.com)

Justice Elena Kagan Digs D.C. “…Kagan isn’t just fulfilling her civic duty to the District — she’s also apparently looking to buy a home in Logan Circle. With a tip of the cap to neighborhood blog 14th and You, this report over at Above the Law says that Kagan was “recently seen inspecting…a small townhouse in the Logan Circle neighborhood.” Of course, Kagan already has broken with the majority of her fellow Justices — most of whom live in Maryland or Virginia — by living at a downtown luxury apartment building. Note to Rep. Louie Gohmert: she’s somehow managed to not get shot.” (DCist)

Good News for the District’s Food Deserts: FEED DC Act Passes “Late last month, in a major step toward closing the grocery gap in the District of Columbia, the D.C. Council passed the Food, Environmental, and Economic Development (“FEED”) DC Act of 2010. The grocery gap– in which low-income and minority communities often have far less access to full-service grocery stores than higher-income communities have – is a culprit of many diet-related chronic diseases plaguing District residents. And it represents promising opportunities for economic development. The FEED DC Act aims to capture those opportunities while also enabling more District residents to eat a healthy diet.” (dcfpi.org)

D.C. family threatened on Facebook “Latisha Monique Frazier disappeared in August after leaving her job at McDonalds. Now someone is making her family’s life miserable – through Facebook. Someone created a Facebook page using the missing woman’s middle and last name. And then they started sending threatening messages to family members via Facebook. The messages said: “Your sister is dead and gone. I’m watching you! One more dead to go!” according to Latoya Frazier, the missing woman’s sister. Then more messages started arriving. They were just as bad.” (tbd.com)

Chinese mating experts trying to tackle pandas’ fertility problem “…Tian Tian, 13, and his mate, Mei Xiang, 12, have produced only one cub during their 10 years in Washington. Giant pandas in China and in other U.S. zoos have done better. Pandas at the San Diego Zoo, for example, have produced five cubs in recent years. Part of the problem here, zoo scientists have observed, is the Washington pair’s imprecise mating techniques. Their encounters look more like a college wrestling match than a romantic meeting, the zoo says. Tian Tian gets points for the takedown, but nothing else.” (The Washington Post)

33-Year-Old DC Man Killed Walking Home in Northwest “The killing of a 33-year-old D.C. man has stunned his Northwest neighborhood. D.C. Police say Billy Mitchell was shot and killed as he walked home after working late and attending the theatre. His father made plea on a local blog as police announced a $25,000 reward to find his son’s killer. It happened at the intersection of Florida Avenue and North Capitol Street Wednesday night, in an area where Mitchell and his family worked to clean it up. Neighbors tell FOX 5 they’ve warned about the troubled intersection for years. D.C. Police Crime Mapping shows violent crime is up 22 percent over last year.” (myfoxdc.com)