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Nico Dodd • April 11, 2016

What do you do in D.C. when the in-laws are in town? They’ve already seen the monuments and the major museums, and they aren’t interested in seeing any holiday movies yet. Check out our list of things to do in town to keep the fun turned up.

Thursday, 9 a.m.

Thanksgiving Day Trot for Hunger at Freedom Plaza

Before loosening your belt buckle and tucking the napkin under your chin, round-up the family members and donate some time to help those that are less fortunate. SOME (So Others May Eat) will be hosting its 10th Annual Thanksgiving Day Trot for Hunger. With over 6,000 trotters expected, metro area residents will gather together for the 5K walk/run that raises money for homeless women, men and children.

Register online at http://www.some.org/events_trot_main.html

Friday, 5:30 p.m.

Second Annual Thanksgiving Dinner and Performance For Military Families at Arena Stage

In gratitude for their service, Arena Stage is inviting wounded warriors, service men and women, and their families to a complimentary Thanksgiving dinner and performance of My Fair Lady. The event’s featured speakers include Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton; Executive Vice President of the United Service Organization (USO) John Pray; and keynote speaker Rear Admiral Jeffrey Lemmons, U.S. Navy and Director of the Inter-American Defense College at Ft. McNair.

Friday-Sunday

Mount Vernon by Candlelight

Join “Mrs. Washington” as she hosts an enchanting evening of candlelight tours for the whole family. Tours include dancing, merry music, and characters from the Washingtons’ world guiding visitors through the first and second floors of the home, adding ambiance and authenticity to a traditional Christmas evening event at Mount Vernon. Live music and festive decorations add cheer to the Ford Orientation Center and Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center.

Tickets: $22 for adults, $15 for youth (12 and under)

Friday-Sunday 2-5 p.m.

“All Sides Considered: New Research on the Maya Collection” at Dumbarton Oaks

Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown is displaying ancient Maya treasures in All Sides Considered. The artifacts illustrate the beauty and ingenuity of Maya art, remarkable production techniques, and the value placed on quality materials. Displays also shed light on the modern scientific inquiry that led to these findings. They are the result of extensive collaboration across disciplines and institutions among Maya archaeologists, art historians, epigraphers, geologists, biologists and others.

Admission: Free

Saturday, 8 p.m.

B.B. King at the Howard Theatre

For more than 60 years, Riley B. King – better known as B.B. King – has defined the blues for a worldwide audience. Since he started recording in the 1940s, he has received countless honors as a national treasure. After 10,000 concerts, B.B. King continues to bring his music to audiences around the globe spending the better part of each year on the road with his beloved guitar, “Lucille.”
Tickets: $150

Sunday, 12 p.m.

NSO Pops: Megan Hilty at Kennedy Center Concert Hall

Megan Hilty, known as triple-threat Ivy Lynn on NBC’s hit Smash, pays tribute to the music of Frank Sinatra, as well as the Rat Pack, Ella Fitzgerald, and Etta James, with Aaron Lazar in NSO Pops concerts led by Steven Reineke.

Tickets: $20-$85

Sunday, Nov. 25 4 p.m.

Pianist Anna Han at the Phillips Collection

16-year-old Anna Han, winner of the 2012 New York Piano International Piano Competition will be performing pieces by Bach, Haydn, Chopin, Rachmoninoff, and Liszt, and Prokofiev.

Tickets: $20, $8 with student ID

Sunday, 5-9 p.m.

ZooLights at the National Zoo

ZooLights at the National Zoo is the annual Holiday lights event at the National Zoo. Walk around a winter wonderland lit by more than 500,000 environmentally friendly LED lights in the shapes of your favorite exotic animals.

Emily Lindstrand •

Mayor Vincent Gray has lowered speeding ticket fees within the District of Columbia. Effective Nov. 5, those caught speeding on camera will encounter lower fines.

Eric Goulet, Gray’s budget director, noted that automated traffic enforcement generated a surplus of $27 million in fiscal 2012, and this was expected to reoccur in fiscal 2013. Now, lowered fines are expected to bring the extra revenue down to $3.5 million.

Violators caught at 10 miles-per-hour above the limit will be fined $50, rather than $75, and violators caught at 11 to 15 miles-per-hour above the limit will be fined $100 rather than $125.

However, this new regulation will hurt those who are caught exceeding the speed limit by 25 miles-per-hour. These violators will face and increased fine of $300 instead of $250.

These changes do not apply to tickets issued by officers who pull over violators. These fees, and the fine for running a red light, will remain the same.

The bill was introduced by D.C. council members Mary Cheh, Tommy Wells and Marion Barry. Wells argued that fines did not need to be as high as they previously were to have a deterrent effect on speeding.

Gray was able to enforce this bill immediately, working through a regulatory fix rather than the District Council’s lengthier process to amend traffic-camera fines.

Gray noted that he is not seeking a rift with lawmakers. “I’ve said many times that we would have our own plan, so we’re pursuing that,” he said, “If there are other issues on the table, we’d be happy to work with the council.”

Nico Dodd •

Ralph Lauren has announced plans to close Rugby’s 14 stores in 2013, including its location on Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown.

Founded in 2004, Rugby sells a preppy look marketed towards a younger audience.

A salesperson at Rugby in Georgetown said that they learned about the closing on Friday and that they expect that a human resources representative from Ralph Lauren will come to discuss the future of the company this week.

Rugby isn’t the first business Ralph Lauren has opened and closed in Georgetown. RRL, Ralph Lauren’s western wear-inspired line, opened in 2007 and closed in 2009 at 1069 Wisconsin Ave., NW. The Ralph Lauren company still owns the building.

The building the Rugby store is in was formerly Houston’s Restaurant, which closed in 2001.

Update 11/7
According to a bartender at Rugby Cafe, the restaurant and bar will not be closing with the store.

Robert Devaney •

The Halloween night meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E was held three nights late because of Hurricane Sandy. Among the more noteworthy items discussed were the nomination of the O and P Street Project for a preservation award and a liquor license approval for a new restaurant with live music performances.

The Citizens Association of Georgetown has nominated the District Department of Transportation and its O and P Street Project for the Mayor’s 2013 historic preservation award. Pamla Moore, CAG’s chair of the historic preservation committee, sought and received the ANC’s support on the DDOT nomination. The ANC agreed with CAG that the project was a “model of rehabilitation and restoration. . . . DDOT was continuously cooperative with the community and set the highest standard for a public works project.”

Commissioners, such as Jeff Jones and Ed Solomon, regularly communicated with the project’s supervisors at day-to-day operations. “This is not hype,” Jones said. “DDOT deserves this award, from the management level to those who put in the pavers.” P Street business owner, Solomon said that DDOT was “very sensitive to businesses.” Other commissioners concurred on how DDOT listened closely to the community to get the job done right.

Also seeking support from the ANC was Gypsy Sally’s Acoustic Tavern, which plans to open at 3401 K Street, NW, as a live music venue and eatery. It will be on the second floor of the building where the soon-to-open Malmaison will be on the ground floor. Gypsy Sally’s music featured will rock, country, blue grass and folk. The space has a 300-person capacity. One of the owners, David Ensor, is a guitarist and teachers. For more for Ensor, visit www.SilkyDave.com.

As for Malmaison, a dessert specialty eatery and bar, it is being put together by Omar Popal, who also runs Cafe Bonaparte on Wisconsin Avenue and Napoleon Bistro and Lounge on Columbia Road. It is expected to open mid-November.

Details for Gypsy Sally’s: 3401 K Street, NW, Gypsy Sally’s Acoustic Tavern, LLC, License No. ABRA-090582, application for license (petition date, Nov. 19; hearing date, Dec. 3).

David Post •

Pity today’s students. The old math is out. The new math is in.

Under the old math, higher tax rates meant more tax collections.

Under the new math, lower tax rates mean more tax collections.

A hundred years ago, the old math worked. The first income tax in 1913 had a top tax rate of 7 percent, but that was quickly increased to 73 percent to pay for World War I — we paid for wars back then — and tax collections rose dramatically.

During the Roaring Twenties, tax rates were cut to 25 percent (hmm, Romney’s proposed rate). Government revenues declined 70 percent. The nerve of those times.

When revenues dropped by half in the Great Depression, Republican President Herbert Hoover raised the top rate to 63 percent. Revenues doubled over the next four years. After spending massively on stimulus efforts that cut unemployment 23 percent to 17 percent, President Roosevelt, a very wealthy man himself, increased the top rate to 79 percent in 1936, an election year. He still won by a landslide. In 1937, tax collections rose almost 40 percent, but unemployment also inched up to 19 percent.

World War II led to 94 percent rates — remember, we paid for wars back then. Revenues grew more than six-fold from $7 billion to $45 billion. The old math worked. Over the next 40 years, government raised and lowered rates depending on national needs. Even in the 1970s, we increased taxes to pay for the Vietnam War.

President Reagan embraced the new math and said that lowering taxes would increase government revenues. Voters like lower taxes, so they voted for him. He also convinced us that the government is the enemy, but that’s another story.

Reagan cut tax rates and revenues went up. Here’s a dirty little secret: Reagan increased taxes more than a dozen times and doubled the tax on capital gains. Tax collections remained 18 percent of GDP, the same as the Kennedy-Johnson-Nixon-Ford years. Reagan’s deficits – 4.3 percent of GDP – were the highest in US history except World War II.

Reagan deficits crossed $100 billion for the first time ever, then passed $200 billion, and almost reached $300 billion. President George H.W. Bush called the new math “voodoo economics” and courageously lost his presidency with a tax increase he believed necessary to reduce the deficits he inherited from Reagan.

President Clinton raised taxes to 19 percent of GDP, generated the nation’s only four-year streak of surpluses . . . and created 23 million new jobs.

President Bush, the W, cut taxes, increased spending, and didn’t pay for wars. The Great Recession and tax cuts reduced revenues to 15 percent of GDP. Deficits exploded to $450 billion and eventually hit $1.4 trillion in his last year, the highest ever. Bush W’s tax cuts generated one (yes, One!) million new jobs in eight years. That’s the new math.

The Great Recession unemployment rate is half the Great Depression unemployment rate. The Great Depression took 12 years to recover. Today we expect the economy to recover in one year.

Obama believes in the old math. Romney believes in the new math.

I wonder which math will count the votes.

Robert Devaney •

The empty store at 3279 M St., NW, once a Annie Creamcheese retro clothing store, is set to be re-born as a Buffalo Exchange, a resale chain with more than 40 thrift stores through the U.S. that focuses on style trends for its customers who can buy or trade clothing. Buffalo Exchange was founded in Tucson, Ariz., in 1974. Georgetown’s Buffalo Exchange hopes to open by the weekend of Oct. 27. Another Buffalo Exchange is already on 14th Street.

Here is how the store explains itself:

“Buffalo Exchange is unique because clothing and accessories are bought, sold and traded locally with store customers. Bring in your former favorites for trade or cash on the spot. Our ever-changing inventory includes designer labels, vintage, jeans, leather, current basics and one-of-a-kind items. You’ll also find brand new merchandise and accessories. Our clothing is by the community, for the community. Buffalo Exchange stores are located in the heart of progressive, urban neighborhoods, minimizing pollution, congestion, habitat loss and urban sprawl. 80 percent of our clothing and accessories are bought directly from local customers. Buffalo Exchange offers clothing for both men and women and is more fashionable than your regular thrift store. At the buy counter, we hand pick the most desirable items from the public that can be resold. Our prices range widely depending on the label, style, condition and other factors. Many items average around $15. Designer jeans are higher in price, but our prices are far lower than retail.

“Selling for the first time? If you’re under the age of 18, please call your local store before visiting the buy counter; local laws vary for minimum age to sell. Buffalo Exchange isn’t a consignment store — it’s quicker than that — if we accept your items, you can get cash or trade on the spot. You’ll get the most money for your clothes if you’re willing to accept trade instead of cash for your clothing.”

The Buffalo Exchange at 3279 M St., NW — 202-333-2829 — plans to open by the end of October.

Gary Tischler •

In the wake of last night’s first presidential debate of the 2012 campaign, I got one of those e-mails from Barack Obama—simply titled, “Hey”—which said, and I quote, “I hope I made you proud out there explaining the vision we share for our country.”

Well, with all due respect, Mr. President, not so much.

I got one from ALG, too, (my friends at Americans for Limited Government) who crowed about your “debacle” in Denver, and one of the Washington Post writers, no Romney fan normally, said that he “cleaned your clock,” while Chris Matthews and the folks at MSNBC—MSNBC! for God’s sake—blew up (a regular occurrence for Matthews) at your poor performance. “Where was Barack Obama?” is what Matthews asked, and it was a good question.

Let’s tell the truth. Mitt Romney won the cosmic all important first debate between the two presidential candidates, the debate that was being trumpeted by the media as the most singular debate ever, the one that could win the election, the political equivalent of 2012 on the Mayan calendar. He took over the debate, attacked your record on the economy, had you looking at your shoes a lot, or nodding your head, and general dominated the conversation with anecdotes—those folks he met on the campaign trail—stats about unemployment, a promise that he would not cut taxes and raise the deficit, and generally had you playing defense all the way. Hell, he even stole your thunder on your own wedding anniversary by making a deft quip about it.

Romney was working on the assumption that it was do-or-die time for him, while the President appeared to think he had the grace of a lead in the polls. Romney came loaded for bear. He won the appearance war for the most part because Obama seemed to be weaving like an unsure driver through his answers, reacting often like a student to a professor.

Media types said it was one of the more substantive debates ever—there were no zingers, but lots of serious economic and domestic issues like tax breaks, tax codes, tax structures, Medicare and Obamacare, who cut what, an oft-made assertion by Obama about a five-trillion tax cut plan by Romney, which Romney repeatedly denied. He said he would cut taxes on the middle class and keep the upper class of money makers on the same rate, which seemed new at the time.

The president made no mention of Romney’s “47 percent” speech which had been used effectively against the challenger in the last few weeks of the campaign. In fact, Romney had had a rocky two weeks, stumbling and losing momentum. If his job in the debate was to regain momentum, appear to be a viable president standing next to the current one, stop the bleeding in his campaign and energize his followers while making independents take a serious look at him, he did his job.

Obama on the other hand seemed to be merely trying to stay in place, and his counter-punching—while sometimes effective—did not save him in a battle of appearance.

It must be said that moderator Jim Lehrer—a Public Broadcasting System news veteran—lost control of the debate early on and never really regained it. Romney, by my count, had the last word on every segment simply because he bulled his way into it.

The debate was indeed substantive: lots of broadly discussed issues, even if the devil remains in the details. How exactly true the facts and their meanings were will be discussed by the fact-checkers, which is turning into a whole new tribe of consultants and experts who themselves may lack enough expertise.

It must be said too, that the debate itself had been so hyped by the media—especially the television media, national and local—that as an event it became something out of all proportion to what had gone before, and what is still to be settled—mainly two more presidential debates and a vice presidential debate. The hype—and its assumptions about what the candidate must do and what the debate would mean, including the possibility of deciding the outcome of the election—existed solely to make the debates yet another reality show where national pundits and anchor men and everyone involved from late night talk hosts to Access Hollywood had a stake. It was as if everything the two candidates had done, the countless money they had spent and the SuperPACs that had been created meant absolutely nothing because the debate—this debate—had become the whole enchilada.

My friend took it to heart and started thinking about getting used to the idea that maybe a Romney presidency wasn’t the end of the world. After all, it’s not listed on the Mayan Calendar.

The hype reached a crescendo on the eve of the debate, which had one local TV reporter saying, “. . . Now, it’s up to the people and the pundits.” Seriously? The people, yes, but the pundits?

Meantime, Mr. President, with all due respect, do yourself proud next time for yourself. Don’t worry about me, I’ve already gotten over last night.

Casey obrien •

With the first presidential debate complete, there’s only one thing on everyone’s mind: what is going to happen to Big Bird? The giant yellow-feathered bird from Sesame Street was brought up for one second during the debates, yet trended nationwide on Twitter, generated 17,000 tweets per minute and had multiple parody accounts set up in the bird’s name.

The comment which sparked it all was when Governor Mitt Romney spoke about stopping the subsidy to the Public Broadcasting Service: “I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS, I love Big Bird. Actually like you, too. [to moderator Jim Lehrer] But I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for.”

Big Bird doesn’t have to worry, however, as PBS gives “very, very little funding” to Sesame Street, said Sherrie Westin, Sesame Street’s executive vice president, in an interview with CNN last week. Corporate sponsorships, product sales and donations make up most of the show’s funding, according to Westin, who is a former head of the Georgetown Business Association.

“Quite frankly, you can debate whether or not there should be funding of public broadcasting,” Westin told CNN. “But when they always try to tout out Big Bird, and say we’re going to kill Big Bird — that is actually misleading, because Sesame Street will be here. Big Bird lives on.”

Despite the reassurance, Big Bird is still conquering social media. It was the fourth mentioned term on Facebook last night, after “Obama,” “Romney” and “debate.” Several Big Bird parody Twitters have popped up, including @BigBirdRomney and @BIGBIRD; another account, @FiredBigBird, has been suspended.

@BigBirdRomney has tweeted “If you don’t vote Obama, Mitt Romney is going to be eating me by the end of November. Show your support. #BigBird2012” and “There was one clear loser in the debates: me.” Among his tweets, @BigBirdRomney has also tweeted several joke pictures, featuring fellow Sesame Street mates, including Grover and Bert and Ernie.

“You’re just reminded of what a connection ‘Sesame Street’ has, and what a place Big Bird and those characters have in people’s hearts,” Westin told Politico Oct. 4, the day after the debate. “The great thing is, that’s on both sides of the aisle.”
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Robert Devaney •

“Sufficient encouragement has already been given to us in our undertaking to make us feel that our interest in Georgetown and our labors will meet with the approval of a kindly and interested public.”

So wrote Ami Stewart, founding editor and publisher of The Georgetowner, on its front page, dated Oct. 7, 1954. It was Volume 1, Number 1, and sold for ten cents. Stewart, a former sales representative for the Washington Star, laid out the new local newspaper at Little Caledonia, a famed home goods store on Wisconsin Avenue, with the Randolph sisters. Yes, you might call it low-tech, old school,

The newspaper grew with its news and profiles of a quieter time and include homespun ads of retail shops along Wisconsin Avenue and M Street. Already, however, it was on its way to becoming the newspaper whose “influence far exceeds its size” — a quote from fashion designer Pierre Cardin during a garden party. Check the Georgetowner archives and see the story, written before the 1960 election season, on an N Street resident who was planning a run for president: John F. Kennedy.

Stewart ran the Georgetowner until the mid-1970s when she moved to a nursing home. Her assistant editor since the late ’60s had been David Roffman, who took over upon Stewart’s passing and gave the newspaper his own flare, especially during the 1980s. By himself, he swept the streets with an elephant vac, before the work of more formal non-profits. He knew the town when its nightlife was young and on top. His team of writers and sales reps included his brother Randy Roffman. At that time, writer Gary Tischler arrived and remains with the paper and is considered central to its heart and soul.

Publisher David Roffman retired from the newspaper in 2009 and moved south. He still contributes from time to time, as you can see by his opinion piece, “A Portrait of a Georgetowner.” He recalls his own special time here, as so many do, but we would hasten to add the words of Councilman Jack Evans: “Today is the golden age of Georgetown.”

“Small community newspapers are tricky businesses,” said Tischler of the newspaper and Roffman two years ago. “With all due respect to other such publications in this city, no other paper is so associated with place than the Georgetowner. And it’s fair to say that Roffman, when he owned and published the paper, reflected the community in all of its facets. He wasn’t just a publisher, and his efforts weren’t only about stories, scoops, ads, deadlines and headlines. He was the village’s biggest cheerleader and booster.”

Today, owner and publisher Sonya Bernhardt has entered her 13th year at the helm of the newspaper which is now part of the Georgetown Media Group. She publishes the Georgetowner and the Downtowner, directs the business and the group’s presence on the web along with staff and interns. Her passions include the community as well as promotion of small and local businesses. She is also an avid fundraiser for various causes including research for cancer cures. With the newspaper, she is committed to the Georgetown House Tour, the Senior Center, Living in Pink, Volta Park Day and Francis Scott Key Park, to name a few. Many of her other causes echo Roffman’s interests, as do her frustrations as a small business woman. A few of us have laughed, “Sonya, you sound like Dave.”

Bernhardt’s publications reflect a 21st-century vibe and, she says, “the Georgetown lifestyle, focusing on the arts, history, real estate, education, dining, health, fashion and philanthropy.” Her Georgetowner reveals a wider world, while keeping tradition close. Indeed, under her watch, you could read a newspaper that contained an opinion piece by Pierre Salinger, President Kennedy’s press secretary, as well as a style article by a young freelancer.

With a print circulation of 40,000, the Georgetowner is mailed to all Georgetown residents and businesses. The newspapers’ distribution covers parts of D.C., Maryland and Virginia. And, of course, its web site contains all that is in the print product and additional stories and photos not seen in the paper.

So, as the Georgetowner celebrates its 58th birthday, it looks to its past, present and future. It is all there for you to read, both hard copy and digital. Visit www.Georgetowner.com, and look for us on Facebookand Twitter.

Hayley Markovich •

When Mayor Vincent Gray spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the finish of the O and P Streets Rehabilitation Project Sept. 18, he recalled that streetcars last ran along the renovated historic tracks 50 years ago.

Today, the District is going back to the future: Residents, workers and visitors to Washington will travel in the coming years on new D.C. streetcars.

The re-introduction of streetcars were announced by the District Department of Transportation in 2009 and will serve all eight wards of the city. The H Street/Benning Road Line will be the first to open and carry passengers in summer 2013.

This line is a two-mile line that will operate on lines in existing travel lanes from the intersection of 1st Street, NE, and H Street, NE, to the intersection of Benning Road, NE, and Oklahoma Avenue, NE. It will connect Union Station to the H Street business district and the Benning Road business district and residential area. Streetcars will travel east and west and will have a total of eight stops at Union Station: 5th Street, NE and H Street; 8th Street, NE, and H Street; 13th Street, NE, and H Street; 15th Street, NE, and Benning Road; 19th Street, NE, and Benning Road; Oklahoma Avenue, NE, and Benning Road.

The Anacostia Initial Line Segment is scheduled for completion in summer of 2013. It is a three-quarter-mile streetcar line that will run from 2750 South Capitol Street to the Anacostia Metro. It will connect the Naval Annex to Barry Farm and then to the Anacostia Metro Station.
Additional segments are being planned.

The streetcars will bring many benefits to D.C., include another travel choice for residents and commuters, connecting neighborhoods and commercial corridors and encouraging economic development.

During the first half of the 20th century, the District had a bustling streetcar network that stopped providing service on Jan. 28, 1962, in favor of busses. With the completion of the first line and continued construction Washington, D.C., will join a growing number of cities that have reinstituted streetcars including Portland, Seattle and Tampa.
For more information, visit www.dcstreetcar.com.
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