Georgetowner • April 6, 2016

The Potomac River got its best report card yet, a B minus, as it continued to improve its grade in the Potomac Conservancy’s biennial State of the Nation’s River reports. In 2013, it got a C, and in 2011, a D.

After decades of decline, shad, white perch and other common game fish are on the rebound; more people are spending their outdoor activities on or near the river by fishing, using water access trails and taking advantage of state parks on the river; and the top three pollutants are on the decline. According to the report, the Potomac River is on its way
to recovery.

“But the Potomac is not in the clear yet,” says Potomac Conservancy President Hedrick Belin. Pollution from urban runoff into the river is rising, blue catfish and snakeheads are invading the waters and underwater grasses, habitat and water clarity are recovering slowly, according to the report.

Washington, D.C., also received accolades, coming in for the second year in a row at the top of the Environment Protection Agency’s 2016 Top Cities list, which ranks metropolitan areas according to the number of buildings earning Energy Star certification. An Energy Star building must outperform 75 percent of similar buildings nationwide, according to a statement by the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment.

Georgetowner •

In April, we celebrate both the Bard’s birth and his death. There is no official birth date for Shakespeare, the world’s most celebrated playwright and writer, but he was baptized April 26, 1564, and he died April 23, 1616, at the age of 52.

All of which makes the Folger Shakespeare Library a great place to be this month. Throughout 2016, the venerable American institution of all things Shakespearean is celebrating 400 years of Shakespeare with exhibitions, performances and other special programming under the umbrella of “The Wonder of Will.”

The whole country will be able to see the touring exhibition “First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare.” Copies of the 1623 book — of which the Folger owns 82 of the surviving 233 in the world — will tour all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, landing at 23 museums, 20 universities, five public libraries, three historical societies and a theater. At selected sites, a touring production of “The Gravedigger’s Tale” will also be seen.

At the Folger, on Capitol Hill just past the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress, the big birthday party will be Sunday, April 24, with face painting, wandering minstrels, clowns, jugglers, a cake and the presence of Queen Elizabeth (the first, not the second) herself.

The day before, Saturday, April 23, the Folger will host a day of international live streaming, in which actors, scholars, artists and community leaders will share their connections to Shakespeare.

Having just completed the exhibition “Shakespeare, Life of an Icon,” on April 7 the Folger will open “America’s Shakespeare,” which will focus on how Shakespeare has become America’s Bard through letters, costumes, books, photographs and film. It closes July 24, to be followed by “Will & Jane: Shakespeare, Austen and the Cult of Celebrity,” beginning Aug. 6.

Musically, the Folger Consort will be performing “Shakespeare and Purcell: Music of The Fairy Queen and Other Works,” April 8 to 10.

The Folger gala will be Monday, April 18. A few days later, the wacky Reduced Shakespeare Company will return for the world premiere of “William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged),” running April 21 to May 8. In May, the Folger will wrap up its theater season with Aaron Posner’s “District Merchants,” a contemporary version of “The Merchant of Venice,” directed by Michael John Garcés.

“We still pay attention to Shakespeare because, no matter how networked our world becomes, he remains one of the ultimate connectors,” said Michael Witmore, director of the Folger. “In a sense, Shakespeare wrote the preamble to modern life.”

Shakespeare remains, is, was and will always be the most contemporary of authors. Directors, adapters and performers try to find ways to contemporize Shakespeare’s plays, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, although — forsooth and in truth — they don’t need it. I may be irritated to hear the word “prithee” time and again in the plays, because it sounds like a forced anachronism, but then again we may yet feel the same way about David Mamet’s four-letter explosions someday. The Bard doesn’t date, the plays and the writing are a bottomless well from which our modern times continue to echo outward and upward.

People still make the argument that the Bard wasn’t really the Bard. Personally, I have no doubt that William Shakespeare wrote the plays — for money, for esteem, for profit and prosperity and perhaps for posterity. Someone once said that a man who doesn’t know he’s a genius probably isn’t. I think Shakespeare may have guessed that he was special in his talent but probably didn’t think of himself as a genius. I think he thought of himself as a man of the theater, the modern version of which he practically invented.

He not only invented theater, but profoundly influenced the performing arts. The words certainly were the point of it all — the stories he purloined from ready-made sources — but there are musical, operatic, and vaudeville versions of Hamlet (not to mention a wordless one recently at the Washington Ballet).

Shakespeare to this day does what show business does: entertains us and makes us laugh, saddens us and makes us cry buckets and, most of all, without trying, makes us think of our own humanity. In his plays, we are not just at the theater, but on stage ourselves. In every Shakespeare play, there is something for someone: a pratfall, a joke, a fairy queen, a monster, a magician losing his magic, a king losing his kingdom, the outsider trying to find his way in an alien society and a parade of hypnotic, strong, beautiful female characters, which their swains and male contemporaries never quite understand.

That is the wonder of Will, just like today.

Georgetowner •

For a long time I’ve harbored a shameful secret: I adore landscape paintings.

As revelations go, that was probably an underwhelming spectacle, but the cultural climate around art today is a strange affair. As prevalent as the landscape is through art history, it feels as if the subject has been slowly relegated to the overstock aisles.

This is not to say that landscapes get no attention. Should a museum be so blessed to own a Monet, a Cezanne, a Turner or anything of the ilk, those are sure to be among their prized holdings, installed indefinitely. But for every theme-driven exhibition I’ve seen focusing on portraiture, abstraction or the still life, I cannot think of a single one in recent memory that dealt directly with the art of landscape.

In fact, “Seeing Nature: Landscape Masterworks from the Paul G. Allen Family Collection,” at the Phillips Collection through May 8, might be this city’s first major exhibition devoted to landscape painting in the six years I’ve covered arts for this paper. (If my memory is failing, I blame my editor entirely.)

Why is this?

It is impossible to really know, but as a thought experiment I might say it’s because there is relatively less historical or cultural marrow to sap from a landscape than from any other subject. A cypress tree in 19th-century France is more or less the same sight now as it was then. An artist can handle the subject differently, but a tree is always a tree.

By contrast, the content of a portrait or still life is hardwired with information relevant to cultural shifts and social evolution — fashion and hairstyles, furniture and man-made objects — which offer distinctions as to what, when and sometimes who we are seeing. And abstraction by its very nature is the deconstruction of a given cultural mood. Any Abstract Expressionist exhibition may as well be a show about American postwar bravura and the riveting detonation of artistic preconceptions.

By this interpretation, landscapes offer comparatively less opportunity for a museum to present new and interesting content. And so they simply break up these lovely works by period, assign them to the appropriate galleries (see the Impressionist galleries at the National Gallery of Art) and leave them to be passingly admired by their audience on their way to the major loan exhibitions.

What “Seeing Nature” demonstrates (or perhaps simply reminds us of) is the billowing richness of landscape painting through history. While it does not always provide the same cultural clues as other subjects, it is probably the ultimate vessel through which history’s greatest artists have experimented with paint and honed the very matter of their medium.

The other remarkable aspect of this show is that the works all come from one collector, Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsoft and an evidently wicked connoisseur with a sharp eye for paintings.

The works are all pretty much jaw-dropping, obscure masterpieces by some of the greatest artists in history, as well as works by a scrupulous selection of secondary artists who, for my dollar, have always deserved to be among this pantheon. To see Maxfield Parrish, Thomas Hart Benton and Arthur Wesley Dow taking their place with Edward Hopper and Georgia O’Keeffe feels like a small but momentous vindication. Similarly, to exhibit Milton Avery, a hugely important American artist who was all but left out of the major art historical literature, as a contemporary of Max Ernst evinces a deep understanding of 20th-century art, well beyond the history playbooks.

All this still omits a broad swath of works in the show that offer new insights into many of our most beloved painters. Gustav Klimt’s “Birch Forest (Birkenwald)” shows a different side to the artist’s process that is worlds apart from the hyper-stylized human jewelry of his portraits of Austrian high society. Aggressively naturalistic, “Birch Forest” shows a compulsive, almost scientific observer at work; the tree’s bark and the crunchy forest floor are rendered to a fault.

Monet’s “The Fisherman’s House, Overcast Weather” is stunning even by Monet’s standards. Its panoply of colors and flickering brushstrokes serve to create an inversely subdued and intimate portrait of brittle, windswept brush and a raw gray sky. It is the kind of painting you want to wake up to (if, like me, you’re slightly fond of your own melancholy).

A suite of five paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder depicts “The Five Senses.” What a richness of sensory allusion, an ode to that which makes up our experience with the world and the functions we employ to perceive it.

The final gallery is reserved for contemporary works, which actually do give us a glimpse of the future of landscapes. Ed Ruscha’s untitled painting is like a post-apocalyptic interpretation of Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks,” all blackness and hard angles, and the radioactive hot-pink glow of David Hockney’s “The Grand Canyon” manages to give a strangely similar feeling.

The show ends on two paintings by Gerhard Richter, “Apple Tree” and “Vesuvius,” which offer a meditation on the nature of observation today as much as any denouncement of the modern landscape. (I’ll leave it to you to make the none-too-subtle connections between the paintings’ titles and his prognosis of our human fate.) Concisely rendered paintings of analog photographs of their subjects, they begin to border on abstraction when you consider their odd extrication from the natural environments they depict. The paintings are at once an affirmation of art’s power and a warning not to trust that the world is so flattering or beautiful as it is romanticized through art.

Nevertheless, once you experience “Seeing Nature,” the world certainly becomes a far more beautiful place.
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Georgetowner • April 4, 2016

While governments dither about homelessness, N Street Village has been opening its doors to homeless women for 40 years, honoring and helping them with their struggles, providing hope and real hospitality for these women. N Street Village celebrated and honored them with its annual gala, as all the women there — supporters and honorees — sighed in the presence of super movie star Richard Gere. The gala raised over a million dollars for N Street Village. [gallery ids="117083,117079,117067,117073,117090" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner • April 3, 2016

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s “Circus Xtreme” has arrived at Verizon Center in downtown Washington, D.C., and with its famed elephants’ final show.

The show features artists, according to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, “who redefine the word extreme in everything they do, magnifying traditional elements of the circus and combining them with never-before-seen spectacles, original fast-paced performances and incredibly hilarious moments. Audiences will be dazzled and astounded by the beautiful Bengal tigers, double-humped dromedaries ridden by brave Mongolian women and, for the last time, the most popular members of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey family: the magnificent Asian elephants.”

“The ultimate family entertainment experience features high-wire wizards, spectacular strongmen, BMX trick riders, trampoline daredevils, inconceivable contortionists, a high-flying human cannonball, a bungee aerial skydiving display and an international assembly of more than 100 world-renowned artists.”
 
The company also noted, “The show is also the last opportunity for local residents to see the treasured Asian elephants before they are moved to their permanent home at the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida in May 2016. The elephants’ move to Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation will allow the company to focus on its Asian elephant conservation program and the pediatric cancer research partnership with Dr. Joshua Schiffman of Primary Children’s Hospital and the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah.”

The circus is at Verizon Center through April 3 — and will be at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia, April 6 through April 17. 
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Georgetowner • March 30, 2016

**Eggstravaganza at Tudor Place**

MARCH 25TH, 2016 AT 10:00 AM | $10 CHILD, $5 ACCOMPANYING ADULT. | TEL: 202-965-0400 | [EVENT WEBSITE](https://www.tudorplace.org)

Children will hunt for eggs, then roll them, and take part in other Easter-themed games and crafts.

Address
1644 31st St. NW.

**Italian Cooking Class with Marco and Chiara**

MARCH 25TH, 2016 AT 07:30 PM | $100 | TEL: 202-333-3904 | [EVENT WEBSITE](http://viaumbria.com)

Learn how to make traditional Umbrian dishes, including strangozzi pasta and cherry cubotti, then eat them.

Address
1525 Wisconsin Ave. NW

**Architectural Tour of Anacostia**

MARCH 26TH, 2016 AT 10:30 AM | $35 | TEL: 202-347-9403 | [EVENT WEBSITE](http://aiadc.com)

The Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects presents a walking tour of historic Anacostia, the Southeast neighborhood first incorporated in 1854 as Uniontown, with an opportunity to visit the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site.

Address
Anacostia Arts Center, 1231 Good Hope Road SE.

**Cherry Blossom Beer and Wine Festival presented by Drink the District**

MARCH 26TH, 2016 AT 01:00 PM | $25-$40 | TICKETS@DRINKTHEDISTRICT.COM | TEL: 2026183663 | [EVENT WEBSITE](http://drinkthedistrict.com/dc/cherry-blossom-03-26-16/?aff=home)

Drink the District is back in 2016 with a double dose of your favorite tasting event: the Cherry Blossom Beer & Wine Festival. Spanning two weekends during the National Cherry Blossom Festival, each of our events will feature unlimited tastings of 100+ beers and wines, access to DC area food trucks, and live entertainment all day!

Address
The Yards, 1300 First St. SE.

**’Hollywood on the Potomac’**

MARCH 26TH, 2016 AT 01:00 PM | FREE | TEL: 202-727-0233 | [EVENT WEBSITE](https://dclibrary.org/georgetown)

A talk about Washington as depicted on the silver screen by Mike Canning, author of “Hollywood on the Potomac: How the Movies View Washington.”

Address
Georgetown Library Peabody Room, 3260 R St. NW.

**English Country Dance Workshop**

MARCH 27TH, 2016 AT 12:30 PM | $5 | TEL: 202-337-2288 | [EVENT WEBSITE](http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb.html)

Dumbarton House hosts a session about English country dance, a folk-dance tradition dating to the 16th century, with instruction and practice.

Address
2715 Q St. NW.

**Violinist Rachel Barton Pine**

MARCH 27TH, 2016 AT 02:00 PM | FREE | TEL: 202-737-4215 | [EVENT WEBSITE](http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb.html)
An all-Bach performance by the young, genre-crossing violinist from Chicago.

Address
4th Street and Constitution Avenue NW.

Georgetowner •

HERE: FRINGE MUSIC

February 18th, 2016 at 09:00 PM | Free | melanie@capitalfringe.org | Tel: 202-737-7230 | Event Website

HERE is an event that allows artists to have the free space to explore new avenues of expression.

ACE ONO is a Washington, D.C.-based singer, songwriter who plays in the spaces between soul, pop and electronica.

Address

Logan Fringe Arts Space; 1358 Florida Avenue NE

The Soldier Experience Series: African-Americans in World War I

February 19th, 2016 at 09:00 AM | Free | abran@susandavis.com | Tel: 202-414-0798 ext. 798 | Event Website

This exhibit chronicles the African-American experience during World War I, including reference to of the evolution of African Americans in the U.S. Army from the Revolutionary War through today.

As the centennial celebration of America’s participation in World War I approaches, this exhibit affords Army enthusiasts and the general public with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with this critical time in U.S. Army and American history.

February 19, 22 and 23

Address

2425 Wilson Boulevard; Arlington, VA 22209

Arlington Arts Center Open Call

February 19th, 2016 at 12:00 PM | megan.rook-koepsel@arlingtonartscenter.org | Event Website

Arlington Arts Center selects 10 to 14 artists from across the Mid-Atlantic region for solo exhibitions in AAC’s seven separate gallery spaces or outside on the grounds. Fall Solos will open October 15 and run through December 18, 2016, while Spring Solos will open April 8 and run through June 11, 2017.
We are looking for artists who produce cutting-edge contemporary art in any and all media. Submissions for the Fall and Spring SOLOS is March 7, 2016.

Address

3550 Wilson Blvd; Arlington, VA 22201

DC Shorts Wins!

February 19th, 2016 at 07:30 PM | $15-$25 | Media@dcshorts.com | Tel: 202-393-4266 | Event Website

DC Shorts Film Festival, named “Coolest Short Film Festival” by Moviemaker Magazine, showcases the 2015 festival’s award-winning films including their Oscar-nominated shorts. The event is a great opportunity for people to see the films they missed at the 2015 festival and gear up for the Oscars! The event will run two nights, February 19 and 20, with two showcases each night. The first showcase begins at 7:30, and the second begins at 9:30, both running 90 minutes.

Address

Burke Theater, U.S. Navy Memorial Heritage Center; 701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

6th Annual Political Cartoon Exhibit

February 19th, 2016 at 08:00 PM | $20 | rsvp@artsoiree.com | Tel: 2024702642 | Event Website

With a touch of humor and art, Art Soiree takes a look at the candidates and the hottest debate topics surrounding 2016 US Presidential Elections.

KEVIN “KAL” KALLAUGHER (The Economist), TOM TOLES (Washington Post), MATT WUERKER (Politico), DARYL CAGLE (Cagle Cartoons Inc.), JIMMY MARGULIES (AM New York and Newsday), CHRISTO KOMARNITSKI (Sega), ROBERT L. ARIAIL (The State)

Address

3100 South Street NW, Washington DC 20007

JP Jofre & The Hard Tango Chamber Band

February 20th, 2016 at 08:00 PM | $35 adults, $30 seniors (65 and up), $30 students | office@dumbartonconcerts.org | Tel: 2029652000 | Event Website

Dumbarton Concerts welcomes the master of Argentinian tango music, bandoneon player and composer JP Jofre in a dramatic event celebrating both traditional and contemporary renditions of tango.

Address

3133 Dumbarton St. NW

Cathedral Choral Society: Vivaldi Gloria with the Washington Bach Consort

February 21st, 2016 at 04:00 PM | $25-77 | lsheridan@cathedral.org | Tel: 202-537-2228 | Event Website

Famously nicknamed “The Red Priest” for his brightly colored hair, Vivaldi spent most of his life teaching, conducting, and composing brilliant works at the Ospedale della Pieta in Venice, an orphanage and music school for girls. Jubilant and spontaneous, the triumphant Gloria is one of his greatest accomplishments.

Music Director J. Reilly Lewis; Jennifer Ellis Kampani, soprano; Robin Beckman, soprano; Roger Isaacs, countertenor; Patrick Kilbride, tenor; and Karl Hempel, bass.

Address

Washington National Cathedral; 3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW

WINTER COMPLINE

February 21st, 2016 at 08:00 PM | FREE AND ALL ARE WELCOME | sam@stjohnsgeorgetown.org | Tel: 202-338-1796 | Event Website

This 30-minute traditional service is chanted by the St. John’s Choir in the warmth and beauty of candlelight.

Join us for this ancient rite of contemplation as we reflect and meditate on a quiet night at the end of a Winter day.

Warm beverages and sweets follow in Blake Hall.

Address

St. John’s Episcopal Church; Georgetown Parish; 3240 O St. NW

Living the Dream…Singing the Dream A Choral Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

February 22nd, 2016 at 07:00 PM | $25-$70 | choralarts@choralarts.org | Tel: 2022443669 | Event Website

Choral Arts and the Washington Performing Arts Gospel Choirs raise joyful voices in performing music that has given voice to the voiceless for generations in our annual tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The collaboration of styles, music, ages, and cultures provides a powerful and moving performance. This performance features the presentation of Choral Arts’ 13th annual Humanitarian Award to an individual who embodies Dr. King’s message of nonviolent struggle for civil rights.

Address

2700 F St NW

Food for Life: New Year, Best You Cooking and Nutrition Course

February 23rd, 2016 at 06:00 PM | Free; to register, email RSalatamacchia@pcrm.org or call 202-527-7314. | RSaltalamacchia@pcrm.org | Tel: 202-527-7314 | Event Website

WHEN: Feb. 23 to March 29, (Tuesdays), 6 to 8 p.m.

The class details are as follows:

Feb. 23, 6 to 7:15 p.m. – Introductory Lecture by Barnard Medical Center clinicians

March 1, 6 to 8 p.m. – Power of Your Plate

March 8, 6 to 8 p.m. – Let’s Go!

March 15, 6 to 8 p.m. – Getting in Gear

March 22, 6 to 8 p.m. – Breaking the Food Seduction

March 29, 6 to 8 p.m. – Keys for Natural Appetite Control

Address

Barnard Medical Center, 5100 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Ste. 400 (a short walk from the Friendship Heights metro stop on the red line).

Georgetowner •

The D.C. Public Service Commission, which regulates electric, natural gas, and telecommunications companies in the District of Columbia, rejected Exelon’s proposal to buy Pepco in a $6.8 billion bid by a vote of 2 to 1, Feb. 26.

In August of last year, the commission rejected the merger plan but allowed a resubmission. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a settlement deal in October in support of the Pepco-Exelon merger.

The utility merger with Pepco would create the biggest utility company in the country — already the federal government, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia have approved it.

Neverthless, in a separate Feb. 26 vote, the D.C. commission offered its approval to the merger, if four conditions were met within 14 days.

The following is part of a statement issued by the commission.

“Today, the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia (Commission) voted in a 2 to 1 decision to reject, as filed, the Nonunanimous Full Settlement Agreement and Stipulation (NSA) concerning the proposed merger between Pepco and Exelon Corporation as not being in the public interest (Order No. 18109).

“Chairman Betty Ann Kane and Commissioner Joanne Doddy Fort comprised the majority vote rejecting the NSA with Commissioner Willie L. Phillips dissenting. However, Commissioner Fort proposed alternative terms for a Revised NSA that would, if accepted by the settling parties, result in the approval of the Revised NSA and the Merger Application without additional action by the Commission, and asked for approval to send the alternative terms to the settling parties. . . .

“In initially determining whether the NSA is in the public interest pursuant to D.C. Code §§ 34-504 and 34-1001, Chairman Kane and Commissioner Fort agreed that there are four (4) areas that warrant rejecting the NSA as filed:

“(1) the evidentiary record failed to provide a persuasive rationale for excluding non-residential ratepayers from sharing in the proposed $25.6 million allocation of the Customer Investment Fund (CIF) for base rate credit relief and failed to persuade the Commission that the proposed allocation would not undermine the Commission’s ability to address the negative rate of return that currently exists for residential ratepayers and the resulting subsidies that are placed on non-residential customers;

“(2) the NSA assigns roles to Exelon, as a developer of a solar generation facility at Blue Plains, and to Pepco, as a developer of four public purpose microgrids, that undermine competition and grid neutrality and are inconsistent with the District’s restructured market;

“(3) the proposed uses of the CIF for sustainability projects and Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) payments do not improve Pepco’s distribution system nor advance the Commission’s objective to modernize the District’s energy systems and distribution grid; and

“(4) the proposed method of allocating the CIF funds to District Government agencies and designated funds deprives the Commission of the ability to ensure that all of the funds are being used to enhance the distribution system and benefit District ratepayers, and to enforce the terms of the NSA.

“Commissioner Fort’s alternative terms resolve the four (4) areas of concern by: (1) deferring a decision on the allocation of the $25.6 million Customer Base Rate Credit until the next Pepco rate case; (2) removing the provision that designates Exelon as the developer of a 5 MW solar generation facility at DC Water Blue Plains Treatment Plant and requiring Pepco’s commitment to facilitate the interconnection of a 5 MW solar project for any vendor selected by DC Water through its procurement process; (3) creating an escrow fund with two subaccounts at Pepco to hold $32.80 million of the $72.8 million Customer Investment Fund funded by Exelon under the NSA, $21.55 million of which is to be used for pilot projects emerging from Formal Case No. 1130 (a case to modernize the District’s energy system) and $11.25 million of which would be used for energy efficiency and energy conservation initiatives with a primary focus on housing, including multifamily buildings, for low and limited income District residents; and (4) striking as premature the provisions regarding Pepco’s role with the District to develop public purpose microgrids and requiring Pepco to facilitate and support the pilot projects under Formal Case No. 1130. …”

Mayor Bowser released the following statement on the commission’s decision on the proposed Pepco-Exelon merger:

“Last year, in conjunction with the Office of the People’s Council, Attorney General Racine and others, the District advanced a deal that ensures D.C.’s energy future– focused on reliability, affordability and sustainability. The Public Service Commission took the framework we negotiated and made adjustments. We will have to carefully review the Commission’s order to determine if it meets our goals for ratepayers, especially residents.” ?

Exelon Corporation issued a statement on the decision: “The commission’s order prescribes new provisions that we and the settling parties must carefully review to determine whether they are acceptable. Once we have had a chance to study the order and confer with the settling parties, we will have more to say about what it means and our next steps.”

The PowerDC Coalition released the following statement in response to today’s ruling.

“Although the commission agreed the merger should be denied, its 14-day, last-chance, fix-it proposal is a band-aid on a problem that cannot be fixed. This is an extremely disappointing outcome for the District of Columbia and our entire region. Tens of thousands of residents, the majority of D.C.’s neighborhoods, and all of the substantive experts who looked at this merger agreed that it will lead to higher electricity rates and slower progress on clean, efficient energy. In the end, we fear that the corrupting influence of corporate money on our elected officials won the day – again. Today’s decision, however, will not stop the citizens of D.C. from continuing to advocate for lower power rates and expanded renewable energy.”

See The Georgetowner’s Dec. 2 editorial on the proposed Pepco-Exelon merger.

Georgetowner •

The Georgetown-Burleith-Hillandale Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC 2E) will hold its March meeting, 6:30 p.m., Feb. 29, at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, 35th Street and Volta Place, NW, Heritage Room, main building, second floor. The following is Monday’s meeting agenda, as provided by ANC 2E.

Approval of the Agenda
• Approval of February 29, 2016 ANC 2E Public Meeting Agenda

Administrative

• Public Safety and Police Report

• Financial Report

• Transportation Report

• Environmental Report

Special Presentation: DC Water

DC Water main line replacement and CSO relining presentation

Community Comment

New Business

• Lawyers Have Heart 10K & 5K, June 13, 2016

• Sprint Four the Cure 5K, September 17, 2016

• Nations Tri, September 11, 2016

• BikeRideDC, May 22, 2016

ABC

Zoning and Planning

• 3254 O St., NW BZA 17535A variance

Old Georgetown Board

Private Projects

1. SMD 05 OG 16-127 (HPA 16-212) 1065 31st Street, NW Commercial, Flag poles
Permit

2. SMD 05 OG 16-124 (HPA 16-197) 3000 K Street, NW Commercial, Alterations to terrace at Fishers Farmers Bakers Concept

3. SMD 05 OG 16-136 (HPA 16-228) 3124 M Street, NW Commercial, Alterations to storefront, up-lights, sign — UBIQ Concept

4. SMD 05 OG 16-129 (OG 16-215) 3222 M Street, NW Commercial, Awnings and sign — TJ Maxx Permit

5. SMD 05 OG 16-118 (HPA 16-190) 3101 N Street, NW Commercial, New pavers at driveway
Concept

6. SMD 05 OG 16-132 (HPA 16-223) 3342 Prospect Street, NW Residence, Alterations, deck, fence
Concept

7. SMD 05 OG 16-133 (HPA 16-224) 3348 Prospect Street, NW Residence, Alterations, replacement windows, roof trellis Concept

8. SMD 06 OG 16-134 (HPA 16-226) 1313 28th Street, NW Residence, Alterations, replacement windows and doors Concept

9. SMD 07 OG 16-101 (HPA 16-173) 2512 Q Street, NW The Georgetown, Alterations, demolition, replacement windows Concept

No Review At This Time by ANC 2E: The following additional projects, which are on the upcoming March 4, 2016, agenda of the Old Georgetown Board, have not been added to the ANC meeting agenda for OGB-related design review and we do not propose to adopt a resolution on them at this time. If there are concerns about any of these projects, please contact the ANC office by Friday, Feb. 26.

1. SMD 02 OG 16-045 (HPA 16-077) 1679 35th St., NW Residence Two-story rear addition, porch enclosure, demo Concept

2. SMD 03 OG 16-137 (HPA 16-229) 1419 33rd Street, NW Residence Parking pad with overhead door Concept

3. SMD 03 OG 16-105 (HPA 16-177) 1431 36th Street, NW Residence Roof replacement Permit

4. SMD 03 OG 16-097 (HPA 16-165) 3259 O Street, NW Residence Door replacement
Permit

5. SMD 03 OG 16-068 (HPA 16-114) 3420 P Street, NW Residence Addition, demolition, replacement windows, site work Concept

6. SMD 03 OG 16-106 (HPA 16-178) 3526 P Street, NW Residence Roof replacement
Permit

7. SMD 05 OG 16-069 (HPA 16-116) 3111 K Street, NW Commercial Alterations, sign – AMC Theaters Concept

8. SMD 05 OG 16-093 (HPA 16-161) 2910 M Street, NW Commercial Roof top HVAC Permit

9. SMD 05 OG 16-013 (HPA 16-021) 3121 N Street, NW Residence New front porch
Permit

10. SMD 05 OG 16-063 (HPA 16-109) 1037 Cecil Place, NW Residence New gate in wall – Existing alterations without review Permit

11. SMD 05 OG 16-090 (HPA 16-138) 1075 Thomas Jefferson Street, NW Commercial Replacement of trellis at roof deck Concept

12. SMD 05 OG 16-114 (HPA 16-186) 1057 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Commercial Back-lit sign – AT&T
Permit

13. SMD 06 OG 16-131 (HPA 16-222) 1325 30th Street, NW Residence Rear dormer
Concept

14. SMD 06 OG 16-125 (HPA 16-205) 2807 O Street, NW Residence Roof replacement
Permit

15. SMD 07 OG 16-135 (HPA 16-227) 3029 Q Street, NW Residence Fenestration alterations, railings
Permit

16. SMD 07 OG 16-088 (HPA 16-136) 3203 R Street, NW Residence New stairs at front and side Permit

17. SMD 08 OG 15-330 (HPA 15-606) 1221 36th Street, NW Institution Addition/alterations – de la Cruz Gallery of Art Concept

Government of the District of Columbia: Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E

3265 S St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20007

202-724-7098 anc2e@dc.gov www.anc2e.com