Downtowner DC May 16, 2018
By • May 16, 2018 0 498
Talkin’ ’Bout My ‘innoMAYtion’
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser kicked off the 2018 “innoMAYtion” campaign, an annual month-long celebration of people and companies shaping innovation in the District, at a May 4 event called “Digital TransforMAYtion.” The kickoff featured a discussion with civic innovation experts such as David Eaves, who lectures at Harvard’s Kennedy School, and Michelle Beaman Chang, founder and CEO of IMBY.
Dabney Chef Takes Home Beard Award
Jeremiah Langhorne, executive chef of the Dabney — near the Washington Convention Center — was the recipient of the James Beard award for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic at the May 7 awards ceremony in Chicago. Other chefs like Amy Brandwein of Centrolina and Tom Cunanan of Bad Saint were finalists in the category. Another familiar Washington face on the food scene, José Andrés, was recognized in February by the James Beard Foundation as 2018 Humanitarian of the Year.
Capitals Break 20-Year Drought with Big Win
On May 7, the Washington Capitals beat the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime to advance to the NHL Eastern Conference finals. The law of averages finally swung in the Caps’ favor. The team’s 2-1 win was only the third time since the franchise began in 1974 that the Caps will move forward at this stage in the playoffs. As you read this issue of The Georgetowner, a series versus the Tampa Bay Lightning is underway.
GW students want to trade in the Colonial for a hippo.
Colonials May Become Hippos
Dubbing it “extremely offensive,” George Washington University students are hoping to change the name of the schools’ teams, the “Colonials,” which dates to 1926. A petition by student Rachel Yakobashvili states: “The historically, negatively-charged figure of Colonials has too deep a connection to colonialization and glorifies the act of systemic oppression.” The top choice for a replacement is the “Hippos,” inspired by the bronze statue that stands in front of Lisner Auditorium. Already the unofficial mascot, a hippo figure revs up the crowd at some GW matches.
Fewer Homeless Families, More Singles
An annual count of the homeless in D.C. has found that the number of homeless families has dropped by more than 20 percent. However, the number of homeless single men and women has gone up. The point-in-time count of people experiencing homelessness was conducted on Jan. 24 by the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness with the assistance of hundreds of volunteers.
Council Acts to Prevent ‘Food Deserts’
Earlier this month, the District Council passed the Grocery Store Restrictive Covenant Prohibition Act of 2018, which aims to prevent “food deserts.” The act prohibits property owners or operators from restricting the establishment of a grocery store on their properties. An early version of the bill came about in 2014, when Council member Mary Cheh got word that a Palisades Safeway was planning on not allowing another grocery store to replace it in a sale — this is, limiting its future competition in the area.
