Kelly Byrnes • August 6, 2015

Be on the lookout for Peetniks on M Street.

Peet’s Coffee & Tea, a specialty coffee and tea company that started the artisan coffee movement in Berkeley, Calif., in 1966, plans to expand to Georgetown, landing at the busy intersection of 33rd and M Streets NW. The new location will be the seventh shop in the greater Washington, D.C., area in addition to the restaurants and retailers that carry the coffee to brew and sell.

Last year, Peet’s said it was opening 23 new stores in a phased rollout across the D.C. market. Its D.C. flagship store opened in April 2014 at 1701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, steps from the White House. According to the company, Peet’s “entry into D.C. will become the company’s second largest retail market outside of California and its biggest East Coast retail footprint.” In addition, Peet’s is the official coffee of the Washington Nationals.

The Georgetown Peet’s will join a host of other nearby coffee joints–both local and national names—though there is no word on when the doors will open to the public.
 
Next to the now-shuttered Rhino Bar and across from Georgetown Cupcake, the corner spot at 3299 M St. NW previously housed Red Fire Grill Kabob, which closed in 2013. It looked like the building might become a clothing store, but Sandro, a Paris-based fashion label for women and men, pulled out of its lease on the property a few months ago. Before its closing four years ago, the Indian restaurant Aditi was there for 23 years. The building has stood empty for two years.

Kelly Byrnes • July 27, 2015

Police have arrested a suspect in the July 4th stabbing death of a 24-year-old D.C. man in the NoMa-Gallaudet Metro station.

An arrest warrant was issued for Jasper Spires for first-degree murder while armed, following the stabbing, which occurred around 12:50 p.m. Saturday as a Red Line subway train was pulling into the NoMa-Gallaudet station in Northeast D.C.

The victim, identified as Kevin Joseph Sutherland, had no signs of life at the scene, according to fire and emergency service personnel.

A 2013 graduate of American University, Sutherland was served as a secretary in student government and was a former Congressional intern for Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.).  

“[I] am absolutely heartbroken by the tragic loss of intern, staffer and wonderful friend, Kevin Sutherland. I’ve known few as selfless and decent,” Himes tweeted July 5.

Sutherland was employed at New Blue Interactive at the time of his death. The company expressed its sympathies over his passing in a statement made on its Facebook page: “Our thoughts and prayers are with his entire family during this difficult time.”

Authorities believe the attack was random, though it comes just a day after Spires, 18, was released from policy custody for a June 2 robbery. According to Superior Court records, the incident had been amended from a felony charge to a misdemeanor.

Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier said she is unsure why the initial charge against Spires had changed. “We are going to look into that investigation and see what happened. It seemed like a solid case. Obviously, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will be looking at it as well,” Lanier told the Washington Post. 

Kelly Byrnes • July 16, 2015

On June 19, 150 years ago, one of the last groups of American slaves learned that they were freed of their bondage, a moment in history that continues to be celebrated today.

Juneteenth, as the celebration is called, commemorates the 1865 announcement of freedom by U.S. Army Gen. Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas. While Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in rebel states two years before in 1863, news of the Emancipation Proclamation did not reach Texas until June 19, 1865.

Now a cultural holiday, Juneteenth is marked with events that recall the struggles and triumphs of African Americans.

Washington, D.C., has been a hub for Juneteenth celebrations in recent years, including a 2000 effort to call upon Congress to recognize Juneteenth as an official state holiday. The campaign proved successful, as Juneteenth is now observed as a state holiday or day of observance in the District and 43 states.

Books and reading are at the center of this year’s celebration, whose slogan is “Literacy is the backbone of freedom.”

Hosted by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the two-day Juneteenth Book Festival will feature a June 19 conference with discussion panels, workshops, as well as an awards reception at Sankofa Video Books and Cafe on Georgia Avenue NW. The main event, a family-friendly outdoor festival, is planned for June 20 at Anacostia’s St. Elizabeths East Gateway Pavilion? at 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, in which every child will leave with a book to recognize the importance of literacy in freedom and civil rights.

“The U.S. Capitol and the White House were built through the uncompensated labor of the ancestors of Americans of African descent during the tyranny of enslavement,” says Ronald V. Myers, Sr., chairman of the National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign and National Juneteenth Observance Foundation. “The leaders of the ‘Modern Juneteenth Movement’ will continue to honor their contributions in building key American institutions during the annual observance of Juneteenth in the nation’s capital.”

This is the first year of the annual festival, which will feature publisher Haki Madhubuti, author Marita Golden, as well as Myers. 

Kelly Byrnes •

Cat lovers, rejoice! Crumbs and Whiskers, Washington, D.C.’s first cat cafe, officially opened its Georgetown doors June 20 after months of anticipation.

For a $12 weekend cover charge and signature of a waiver, customers can spend an hour cuddling and mingling with furry friends in the mellow yet modern dwelling, located at 3211 O Street NW. The three-story site houses 20 vetted and vaccinated felines, all of which are up for adoption through partnership with the Washington Humane Society.

The cats are primarily between 1 and 3 years of age, and while some are a bit older, all are equally friendly, loving, and curious.

Crumbs and Whiskers caters to keeping both kitties and customers comfortable by supplying an array of throw pillows and cushions among the cat houses to allow for easier interaction between the two, as well as being stocked with as many mouse toys as there are lint rollers to keep both felines and humans happy.

Patrons can enjoy a selection of light refreshments from coffee and tea to shakes and cookies, which are prepared by Gtown Bites across O Street and delivered to Crumbs and Whiskers upon ordering.

Owner Kanchan Singh believes her business will be a success in finding forever homes for the cats who roam the cafe. The 24-year-old began her initiative as a Kickstarter campaign, which raised more than $35,000 by 700 backers.

Crumbs and Whiskers is open daily and online reservations are encouraged.
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Kelly Byrnes •

The former Georgetown home of famed chef Julia Child is now listed for sale at $1.1 million.

The 1,364-square-foot property, located at 2706 Olive St. NW, housed Child and her husband Paul in 1948 prior to their residence in France, where she studied French cuisine. In 1956, after years renting the property to tenants while abroad, the Child’s returned to the home, where the late chef conducted cooking lessons from its kitchen.

The house, built around 1870, boasts four bedrooms, three bathrooms and an aged yellow exterior, and is being sold as is. It’s unknown whether the kitchen has been modernized or still intact from Child’s cooking days nearly 60 years ago.

Though considered a fixer-upper, the house’s history is a major selling point. Before Child’s presence, the builder behind the three-story Colonial, Edgar Murphy, and his family occupied the home for over 40 years until his death in 1913. An African American carpenter, Murphy and his family rented out a separate unit within the space to black tenants to earn extra income, at a time when Georgetown was a neighborhood rooted in African American culture.

Between the history of Murphy’s ties to the house and Child’s culinary reputation which grew there, the dwelling has molded into a local symbol of prosperity, a charm that potential buyers can’t put a price on.

Kelly Byrnes •

Four Georgetown establishments — Lady Camelia Tea Room, Georgetown AMC, Chaia Tacos, and an unnamed Greek restaurant to be located on Prospect Street — have acquired new liquor licenses, the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration announced June 25.

The Administration announced in late May the licenses would be open for application and reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis. The announcement came on the heels of license cancellations at M Café, Puro Café, Zenobia Lounge and Pizzeria Uno.

Georgetown’s Moratorium Zone places a number of permit restrictions on area establishments, including a limit to 68 liquor licenses issued to restaurants to allow for sale and consumption of beer, wine and spirits. All Georgetown hotels, as well as businesses located in Georgetown Park, Prospect Place, Georgetown Court and Washington Harbour are exempt from the moratorium.

The moratorium is currently in effect in Georgetown until February 2016 and is one of five neighborhood moratorium zones in the District along with Adams Morgan, Glover Park, and both East and West Dupont Circle areas.

Kelly Byrnes •

Dozens of protesters gathered July 9 at the Old Post Office Pavilion, the site slated to become the Trump Hotel next year, to join forces against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

At the same time, a smaller group of Trump supporters also showed up near the protestors.

Led by local elected officials and activists of community groups, the crowd voiced anger towards Trump’s recent comments in which he degraded Latinos and Mexican immigrants, referring to them as “criminals” and “rapists.”

At the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 12th Street NW, shadow Sen. Paul Strauss (D) of the District of Columbia rallied the crowd, saying, “This building is on the people’s land, and it is the American people’s building. The Trump name stands for nothing but intolerance and hate.”

Strauss cited recent racial victories, including the passage of a bill to take down the Confederate flag from the statehouse in South Carolina and the court ruling to cancel the Washington Redskins trademark registrations over concerns that they convey a derogatory image of Native Americans, to provoke passion from the crowd.  

Latino presence was strong at the protest, with participants vigorously chanting Spanish phrases, such as “Si se puede” –translated to English as “Yes, we can.”

Maryland state Sen. Jamie Raskin (D) called upon the Republican Party and its constituents to recognize Trump’s controversial comments. He also urged citizens of Maryland, D.C. and Virginia to “boycott Trump hotels, boycott Trump casinos and boycott Trump politics.”  

The protest comes just one day after celebrity chef Jose Andres, a Spanish immigrant, backed out of plans to head a restaurant in the upcoming Trump Hotel.

Trump has faced plenty of backlash for his discriminatory comments, as NBC, Univision and Macy’s have all cut their corporate ties with the business mogul. 
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Kelly Byrnes • June 22, 2015

A retrial was granted by a federal judge June 4 to continue the case of the man convicted of murdering Chandra Levy.

Ingmar Guandique, who was sentenced in February 2011 to 60 years in prison for the murder of Levy, will be tried before a new judge and jury, it was announced by D.C. Superior Court Judge Gerald Fisher.

“Unless there is something else to be said, I would grant the motion for a new trial,” Fisher said.

The decision has been anticipated by Guandique’s defense attorneys, who have argued that a false and misleading testimony was given during the 2010 trial by his cellmate Armando Morales. Prosecutors believe the jury was correct for convicting Guandique, but added that the “unique circumstances” of the case makes the request for a retrial hard to oppose.

Levy was a 24-year-old Washington intern, when she disappeared in May 2001. Her remains were found in Rock Creek Park the following year. The case garnered national media attention when Levy was traced to be having an affair with former Rep Gary Condit (D-Calif.) Although investigators initially suspected Condit in Levy’s disappearance, he was later cleared. 

There has been no forensic evidence nor eyewitnesses to link Guandique, 34, to Levy’s murder. However, he has been accused of assaulting other women in Rock Creek Park, and was serving a 10 year prison sentence for assaulting two women at knifepoint at the time he was charged with Levy’s death.
  
The new trial will be presided by D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert E. Morin, who set a June 12 hearing to schedule the trial for later this year or possibly in 2016.
 

Kelly Byrnes •

Two persons killed in a house fire near Dupont Circle during the early morning hours of June 3 were reportedly Georgetown University students, according to Sherri Kimbel, representative for Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans.

The identities of the victims have yet to be released. The college students, reportedly a male and a femaie, who lived on the third floor of the rowhouse on the 1600 block of Riggs Place NW, were trapped as flames engulfed the first floor.

During an Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2F meeting on the evening of June 3, Kimbel announced the victims as Georgetown University students, through information obtained by neighbors of the property. (ANC 2F serves such neighborhoods as those around Logan Circle, Thomas Circle and the Washington Convention Center.) Thomas Lipinsky, communications director for Evans’s office said that this report was neither confirmed by the D.C. Fire & Emergency Medical Services Department nor the Metropolitan Police Department.

Georgetown University spokesperson Stacy Kerr could not confirm at this time to the Georgetowner whether those killed in the fire were, in fact, Georgetown student or their identities.

Five others, including three firefighters, sustained minor injuries in the blaze, which began around 2:45 a.m. Wednesday. An investigation is ongoing.