Early Voting Resumes in D.C.; Hours Extended to 9 P.M.
• November 6, 2012

Hurricane Sandy has posed a problem for early voters along the East Coast, delaying absentee ballots from reaching their destinations and preventing polls from being opened. D.C. was no exception, closing its polls because of the bad weather.

The D.C. Board of Elections re-opened its early voting, opening polls on Oct. 31. The board has extended voting hours until 9 p.m. at every early voting location and has provided additional equipment in preparation for a heavy turnout. Each voting site’s hours of operation will run each day through Nov. 3, 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

“We want to ensure that every voter has the opportunity to cast a ballot in this General Election. We have added extra voting machines at every vote center and extended the hours of operation,” said Clifford Tatum, the Board of Election’s executive director. “We also want to remind voters that if there are long lines at the Early Vote Center in their home ward, that they can go to any other early voting site to cast a ballot in shorter lines or can go to their polling place on Nov. 6.”

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6. If you have not yet registered to vote, you still can sign up to make sure your vote is heard. Citizens can register to vote at early voting sites or at their Election Day polling place. Polls in D.C. will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. To find a location, visit the D.C. Board of Elections website, dcboee.org.

Weekend Roundup November 1, 2012
•

AIA of DC 125th Anniversary Party

November 2nd, 2012 at 06:30 PM | cdenby@markitectureconsulting.com | Tel: 703-665-1311 | Event Website

Attendees to the Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects will have the opportunity to explore the District Architecture Center, win door prizes, toast the Recognition Award Winners, and enjoy custom made cocktails. All proceeds will fund AIA DC’s educational and public service programming.

Address

District Architecture Center 421 7th Street NW Washington DC 20004

Montpelier Hunt Races

November 3rd, 2012 at 12:30 PM | Begin at $15.00 | education@montpelier.org | Tel: (540) 672-2728 | Event Website

Experience the thrill of steeplechase horse racing at the 78th running of the Montpelier Hunt Races on the historic grounds of James Madison’s Montpelier.

Montpelier Hunt Races always hosts seven races. The first race post time is 12:30 PM and the last race usually begins between 4:30 and 4:45PM.

Address

James Madison’s Montpelier, Orange, VA

The Bayou: DC’s Killer Joint

November 3rd, 2012 at 07:00 PM | Adult $12 Senoir $10 | Event Website

World Premiere. The Bayou Documentary, directed by David Lilling, chronicles the club’s unlikely rise, changing faces, jaunty anecdotes, gaudy on- and off-stage high jinks and mystical allure. The 13-year project culls nearly 100 hours of interviews with prominent performers, impresarios, employees and patrons, and exclusive musical footage in a playful, poignant and revealing homage to a musical icon.

Address

The Center Stage at Reston Community Center, 2310 Colts Neck Road, Reston, VA 20191

Atheist’s Paradise

November 3rd, 2012 at 08:00 PM | $15.35 | UniversePlayers2@aol.com | Tel: (202) 355-6330 | Event Website

With performances from November 3rd through November 25th, the play follows the story of “Doc” Johnson, a philosophy professor and football coach who dedicates most of his time to teaching critical thought. Conflict ensues when a new college president pressures “Doc” to create a winning football team and scale back his teachings. Along the way, “Doc” mentors students Sheila and Bob, who both come to his defense when his role at the college is jeopardized.

Address

Melton Rehearsal Hall, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

641 D Street NW, Washington, DC 20004

American Girl Fashion Show

November 4th, 2012 at 11:00 AM | $55-75 | communications@youreyes.org | Tel: 202-234-1010 | Event Website

Presented by the Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington. Fundraising event perfect for families. Fun and entertainment for everyone. For more information, or to buy tickets, visit www.youreyes.org.

Address

9600 Newbridge Drive, Potomac, MD 20854

Washington Bach Consort presents “The Virtuoso Bach” featuring Elizabeth Futral

November 4th, 2012 at 03:00 PM | Tickets $23-$65, Students 18 and younger $10, Pay Your Age 18-38 | contact@bachconsort.org | Tel: 202.429.2121 | Event Website](http://www.bachconsort.org/index.php)

Bach famously wrote that music is an agreeable harmony for the honor of God and the permissible delights of the soul. Allow your soul an afternoon of delight with an all-Bach program featuring some of the master’s most virtuosic and challenging writing for solo singers and instrumentalists. Concertmaster Andrew Fouts and guest soprano Elizabeth Futral, who performs two of Bach’s most brilliant Cantatas for solo soprano, join other supurb performers in this showcase of musical treasures.

Address

National Presbyterian Church, 4101 Nebraska Avenue, NW

Freshfarm Markets 2012 Farmland Feast

November 12th, 2012 at 05:00 PM | $250 and up | Tel: 202.362.888 | [Event Website](https://freshfarmmarkets.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/FRESHFARMMarkets2012FarmlandFeast/tabid/349514/Default.aspx)

10th annual Farmland Feast showcases our Chesapeake Bay farmers and producers. Local chefs will prepare a spectacular six-course anniversary dinner with local food and local wine pairings. Our mission driven, selective auction takes place during the seasonal cocktail hour; a live auction is held during the dinner. This benefit is a prominent part of the local-food movement in the Washington, DC area, and was named “the locavore party of the year” by DC magazine in 2010.

Registration closes: Friday, November 09, 2012.

Address

The Ritz-Carlton, 1150 22nd St NW

Tricks and Treats: Stress, a Super Storm and an Election
•

A long time ago—sometime in the previous century when we were just starting to figure out that we were not in Kansas anymore—when people got worried about things like jobs, the weather, storms, and strikes and health, they said they were worried, or nervous, and sometimes they might have a drink or two—on the sly, of course—to soothe those very same nerves.

Parents—not always, but usually—would never own up to it, even if they were home and not working, even if they cursed whoever was president, or not, even if they were clearly not feeling good, even as we were heading down to the basement in our home in Ohio because a tornado was coming. My stepdad liked Ike, he liked his Pontiac Bonneville beyond reason, he took care of us without ever loosing his air of steadfast good naturedness, at least in front of anybody. My mom was the nervous one—about just about everything.

These days, we’re not nervous any more. We’re certainly worried and concerned and afraid, but all of that now comes under the heading of stress, as in “I’m so stressed,” or “She’s really stressed out.” Me, I got the most of all possible worlds—I worry, I’m nervous—I pace and not just for the exercise—I try to put a stoic face on things, and I’m, well, you guessed it, stressed.

This week, everyone had a lot to be (pick one): 1, nervous; 2, worried; 3, afraid; 4, have a drink or two; 5, stressed or so stressed. You can’t think of a more stress-nerves-fear-double-shot-of-bourbon inducing combination than to have a thousand-mile storm, part northeasterner-part hurricane-part Frankenstorm approaching during the last days of a presidential campaign, about which just about everyone is already (pick one): 1, nervous; 2, worried; 3, stressed out, really stressed; 4, bored out of our minds; 5, wanting to become a Mayan, if not a Mormon, over.

Here, in Washington, D.C., it was bizarre at the center of the world, but not quite in the eye of the storm—aptly named Sandy—we watched everything play out on television, or on blogs, or on your phone, for as long as they lasted, because we had no choice. Until Sandy came along and passed by, everything in the Washington area was shut down: schools, the government, local and federal, any and all transportation, including planes, trains and Metro rail and buses.

We all hunkered down along most of the Eastern Seaboard as Sandy approached: we bought generators, we bought bourbon, we bought books and candles and batteries and food (non-perishable) and gasoline, and we checked out our insurance, which, for most of us, didn’t cover flooding.

We all hunkered down, in the towns next to the Atlantic, in Alexandria, where it always floods, in our neighborhoods, waiting for wind and rain, of speeds and amount never seen in the history of mankind, or trolls. Everything we heard from the weather folks suggested: to hell with stress, nerves and worry, be afraid, be very afraid.

And so it came to pass we hunkered down in our domiciles in fear, and we watched every five minutes to check the rain fall and its rate. We heard the wind howl through the treetops, and we viewed soaked reporters from beach fronts in Rehoboth, Dewey, Ocean City, and New York and New Jersey, as the storm mugged them. Sometimes, we turned the channel to a 2009 rerun of “Law & Order SVU” or “The Mentalist,” or watched horror movies about zombies.

We watched another sort of horror movie, the endless parade of political attack ads—Romney’s and the GOP Superpac ads of worried small business men, worried women—so many, so suddenly many women in GOP ads—we watched the grizzled old workers saying (about Romney) that “He’ll give you what he gave us—nothing,” and the women worried about four more years of Obama, and Romney and his 47 percent and two ex-governors of Virginia running for the U.S. Senate seat, and the Independent millionaire (is there such a thing?) in Maryland and the back and forth over casinos in Maryland, and Julian Bond in his God-voice mode, pushing same-sex marriage.

If you wanted to get weather info, you got Romney and Obama, you got the woman who isn’t going to survive the next four years, you got them all, millions of dollars worth. It was a twofer—a perfect storm of another sort.

In the end, our region, our city, our neighborhood, our house was spared, and that’s exactly what it was. The waters not only receded, but did not come. Our worst fears were not realized. What happened in New Jersey, and the Jersey shore, in Atlantic City and in lower Manhattan and parts of the biggest city in our country, was not merely stress but a tragedy. It made you pray for people you did not know.

Being a print journalist, I normally don’t have kind things to say about the folks who work in television. But I did not envy the reporters in the field, their sleepless nights, their hours of getting soaking wet, while the anchors did not.

I have a special word for NBC 4’s Jim Rosenfield, reporting for days from the town of Keansburg, N.J., which has been devastated by Sandy and became, for much of its expanse, a sand city. This historic town was virtually destroyed, and that included a legendary amusement park. Rosenfield, the only reporter on site, reported the tragedy and suffering, the devastation of the town in a way that was muted, strong, factual, direct and powerful, with self-evident feeling that was miles from maudlin. Here’s my Emmy to him.

In the end, around here, we continued, and waited for the election. But on Wednesday on Halloween, the children, young and tiny and in-between showed up in their cowboy suits, their batman outfits, the girls dressed as Dorothy from Kansas and Alice from Wonderland. They came door to door in our neighborhood of Lanier Heights, once again, as if they hadn’t gotten the memo that there might not be a Halloween here. There was—our neighbors covered their yard in spiders, spooks and spun spider webs, our yard once again became a bloody cemetery, and pumpkins, goblin, Gotham at St. Joseph’s House, where the Joker was on a bloody poster. Georgetown’s Wisconsin and M intersection was once again festive and ghoulish. It seemed like a trick, this welcome treat.

And now, today, on a Thursday, the polls say the presidential race is tied, and the election is Tuesday. We are, of course, stressed.

A Happy Halloween 2012 in Georgetown
•

It was a calm night with D.C. thankful for being spared the full force of Hurricane Sandy. Accompanied by their parents, adorable little trick-or-treaters dominated the residential streets, east side and west side, in the early evening hours. Then, it was time for the adult parties and the increasingly crowded scene radiating from the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street. Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department were out in force with cruisers, a mobile commander center parked next to Serendipity 3 and officers on horseback. Halloween celebrants walked along the sidewalks, happily meeting and taking photos of any interesting ghoul, monster or fake celebrity. Except for a small Occupy D.C. protest in front of Councilman Jack Evans’s house on P Street around 10 p.m., no other incidents were reported. [gallery ids="101047,136418,136424,136430,136436,136443,136450,136456,136463,136469,136411,136406,136496,136491,136374,136485,136380,136481,136387,136393,136399,136474" nav="thumbs"]

Sandy Is Smacking Washington, Georgetown
•

Hurricane Sandy hit the Washington area today, as if you didn’t know. Georgetown was mostly closed and empty. There were cars on the streets, and it is important for pedestrians to be alert. Many drivers think no one is walking in this weather.

A least through mid-day, a few eateries remained open, including Booeymonger’s, Bourbon Steak, Clyde’s, Cafe Milano, Dean and Deluca, Marvelous Market, Peacock Cafe, Bistrot Lepic, Bistro Français, Wisey’s and Wisemiller’s. The two CVS pharmacies were open. Some businesses boarded up like Lululelon and Papyrus; other threw down sandbags or taped their windows.

The floodgates are up at Washington Harbour. With Tony & Joe’s and Nick’s Riverside Grill just re-opening after 18 months after an April 2011 flood, there was concern for the revamped restaurants and the soon-to-open ice skating rink at the Potomac River complex.

Schools and universities are closed. D.C. schools are closed Tuesday. Also, the C&O Canal is drained. Tonight’s advisory neighborhood commission meeting has moved to Oct. 31.

Sandy is expected to bring rain and high winds today through Tuesday evening. Winds of 30 to 40 miles per hour are predicted from 8 a.m. Monday and will eventually increase to hurricane force wind gusts 60 to 70 miles per hour from noon until early Tuesday morning. Significant tree damage is predicted. Several warnings pertaining to the hurricane have been issued.

The National Hurricane Center recommends staying indoors and being prepared for extended power outages. If you live near large trees, they recommend staying in your home’s lower level or finding shelter somewhere else.

Metrobus and rail service will be suspended until further notice beginning today.

D.C. Water recommends having containers full of frozen tap water to provide additional cooling during power outages. Additionally, they noted that clogged storm drained can be reported by calling 202-612-3400.
The American Society of Civil Engineers will be available to provide information regarding the hurricane and its impact. The contact person is Jim Jennings at 703-295-6406.

Ready.gov, sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has extensive guidelines for hurricane preparedness.

Other handy phone numbers:

•Pepco: 1-877-737-2662

•Dominion Power: 1-866-366-4357

•BGE: 1-877-778-2222

•Potomac Edison: 1- 800- 255-3443

•NOVEC: 1-888-335- 0500

•SMECO: 1-877-747-6326

•Rappahannock: 1- 800-552-3904

•Verizon: 1-800-837-4966

•Comcast:1-800-XFINITY (1-800-934-6489)

•RCN: 1-800-RING- RCN (7464-726)

•Cox: 703-378-8422
[gallery ids="101035,136187,136200,136180,136204,136172,136210,136166,136215,136193" nav="thumbs"]

Annual Living In Pink Luncheon & Boutique, November 2, 2012
•

The Living in Pink Annual Luncheon will be held on Nov. 2. This annual luncheon and boutique is a fundraising event to raise money for breast cancer research.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, except for nonmelanoma skin cancers. The chance of developing invasive breast cancer at some time in a woman’s life is about 1 in 7 (13.4 percent).

The mission of Living in Pink, founded in 2004 by two-time breast cancer survivor and mother of four, Michele Conley, is to help find a cure for breast cancer so that the next generation of women will not have to endure the emotional and physical pain of breast cancer surgery and treatment.

To purchase tickets and learn more about Living in pink, visit livinginpink.com

Biz Group Hosts Autumn Reception at the Ritz
•

After its monthly board meeting on Oct. 17, members and friends of the Georgetown Business Association relaxed at Degrees bar and lounge of the Ritz-Carlton on South Street, catching up with each other and drinking seasonal concoctions like vanilla-infused cognac champagne and spiced Manhattan and sampling finger foods that included beef Wellington, quiche and smores. People were talking about GBA treasurer Karen Ohri’s appearance on a Fox 5 News segment that highlighted the changes in Georgetown retail, especially the reconstruction of the Shops at Georgetown Park which will add discount stores to the M Street commercial scene. Also discussed was GBA’s economic forum at the City Tavern Oct. 18 and GBA’s big annual meeting on Dec. 12.

Check out (GBA’s Karen Ohri on Fox 5)[http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/19837492/changing-business-landscape-in-georgetown] [gallery ids="101026,135829,135824,135820" nav="thumbs"]

Man Invades Georgetown Home, Strikes G.U. students.
•

Early Saturday morning, Oct. 20, two Georgetown University students were assaulted in their home on the 3500 block of O Street.

A public safety alert was emailed to the campus community at 9:45 a.m.
on Saturday by the university’s Department of Public Safety. It reported the two students noticed the intruder around 3:45 a.m. He struck the two students and retreated towards campus. The email describes the suspect as a 5-foot-10, 21-year-old weighing about 160 pounds, having brown hair, and wearing a light blue shirt an blue jeans.

The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the incident.

Fabio Trabocchi to Open Restaurant at Washington Harbour; Citronelle to Reopen
•

Chef Fabio Trabocchi plans to open his next restaurant, the 7,500-square-foot Fiola Mare, at Washington Harbour in fall 2013, according to the Washington Post. Trabocchi has signed a letter of intent with MRP Realty, which owns the popular waterfront complex on the Potomac River in Georgetown. Trabocchi already has Fiola in downtown. Architects for the new restaurant’s build-out of HapstakDemetriou, which has offices at Q Street and Wisconsin Avenue, the Post added. The fish-happy eatery will have inside and outside dining along with a raw bar.

Meanwhile at Washington Harbour, Farmers Fishers Bakers will open in November in the old Farmers & Fishers space, next to Sequoia and Tony & Joe’s, in front of the soon-to-open ice skating rink. Maintaining the rustic theme, Farmers Fishers Bakers will include a “farmhouse sushi” bar.

One block north of the waterfront complex on K Street, chef Michel Richard has told the Washington Post that he plans to re-open his famed Citronelle on 30th Street.

While Richard will be working on opening his New York restaurant next year in the New York Palace on Madison Avenue behind St. Patrick’s Cathedral, he told the Post: “I want to stay in D.C. My wife would never move to New York.”

Asked if he will reopen Citronelle, Richard told the newspaper: “Oui . . . in ‘May or June’ and in its original Georgetown location, the Latham Hotel.”

Living in PinkNovember 1, 2012
• November 1, 2012

When it comes to illnesses, especially with, but not limited to, cancer, we live in a time of high and keen awareness, a time of activism, and pro-activism, of an urgency working toward finding a cure, of gathering and distributing information and reaching out. This is the age of ribbons, runs and research.
The first time Michele Conley was diagnosed with breast cancer, she was 35, a mother of four young children with a career as a State Farm Insurance Agent living in Chevy Chase. She was a self-described fanatic when it came to athletics, running, physical fitness and exercise.

That was in 1995, and back then, there wasn?t a ribbon or a run for every illness, and what you could call medical activism of the kind started by Susan G. Komen for the Cure non-profit was not as all-pervasive as it is today. Many of the options now open to cancer-diagnosed patients were not yet available.

?I was shocked, but went through the chemotherapy, the radiation and the surgery,? she said. She had reason to be optimistic afterward?the cancer seemed to have gone into a long remission.
In the interim, her mother was also diagnosed with breast cancer and then, five years after her own bout with breast cancer, it came back.

?I had a much harder time with that,? she said. ?It was a tough, very tough. But this time, I thought, let?s go get it done with. And I thought, I?m going to do everything I can to not just fight this but end it in some way.?

This time she opted for radical surgery ? double mastectomy and hysterectomy ? which meant a hospital stay and a lengthy recovery period.

We visited Conley in her State Farm Office on upper Wisconsin Avenue, and found an outgoing, straight-talking, attractive blonde woman who gave no appearance of having gone through such a life-changing ordeal, even if it was in the somewhat distant past. When she talked about her experience, she was blunt, direct, animated.

There was no complaint, no whisper of long suffering. There was talk about running marathons, her
four children, about the hope and need to find a cure for cancer, which had made long and wrenching
visitations in her life and that of her family.

She?s a doer, pro-active, purely active. ?I?ve always been like that, and I think I get that from
my mother, who is amazing, really amazing,? she said. ?When we found out that mom, Annette,
was diagnosed, we went to the doctor together, and we were told about options and plans, and what
was required, starting in her case with chemotherapy. And she listened, and she said, ?Well, okay,
let?s do that. When do we start??

That ?let?s do it? attitude comes natural to her. Because she did more than just take on the cancer
and all it entailed. In 2004, she decided to do something a little more involving. She started the
?Living In Pink? Foundation, with a core committee of ten women, which sponsors a yearly fundraising
luncheon (It?s Nov. 2 this year) as well as the awarding of a grant, which supports innovative
research toward breast cancer research. Or, as the mission statement reads, Living in Pink was
created to ?help find a cure for breast cancer so that the next generation of women will not have to
endure the emotional and physical pain of breast cancer and treatment.?

Conley is president of the foundation, her good friend Dr. Pamela Peeke, a Bethesda physician
and diet and fitness specialist, is Chief Medical Advisor and Laurie Zorc is Director of Operations.
?Things have changed over the years, all sorts of cancer foundations and treatment centers
are have emerged,? she said. ?We?re all working toward the same thing, and I want to help. I met
through Dr. Peeke a lot of people who went through similar things and that?s one of the other things
that results from all this, the knowledge that we?re not alone. You can?t feel like you?re handling
this alone.?

?For me, I have to say that my children, twins Brooke and Denver, 22, Brendan Riley, 19 and
Forrest 17 have been just a tremendous source of support for me,? she said. ?They?re the reason
you want to fight so hard, but they were also there for me, especially the second time. Not fighting
back was not an option.?

?We?re looking toward the future,? she said. ?We?re talking about the future of our children.
Recipients of Living in Pink Research Funding have included Dr. Eliot Rosen from the Lombardi
Cancer Center at Georgetown University; Dr. Koji Itahana from the University of North Carolina;
Dr. Sandra M. Swain of the Washington Cancer Institute at the Washington Hospital Center;
Dr. Robert Strange of the University of Colorado; Dr. Ehsan Samei of the Duke University Medical
Center and Ann-Marie Simeone of the University of Texas-M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
?It?s a lot different today,? she said. ?More and more people and groups are involved.

Married for a second time to mortgage banker Mark Eigerbrode, Conley is in some ways much
the same woman as she was before she encountered the disease that looms so large in the minds of
women. She is still a runner, a doer, a straightforward, plain speaker with style and verve. Except
you think that everything she does now has a dollop of urgency in it. ?Cancer,? she said, ?is not for
the faint of heart.?