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Robert Devaney • February 22, 2013

The 265th pope of the Roman Catholic Church — Benedict XVI (Papa Benedictus Sextus Decimus) — announced his resignation, or retirement, Feb. 11, to take effect by the end of the month for health reasons. The 85-year-old Benedict is the first pope since Pope Gregory XII in 1415 to resign.

A press release from the Vatican website reads:

“Dear Brothers, After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

“Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.”

Before the big news, the pope tweeted (@Pontifex) on Sunday: “We must trust in the mighty power of God’s mercy. We are all sinners, but His grace transforms us and makes us new.”

The announcement was met with surprise, if not shock, by many observers across the world, especially by the more than one billion Roman Catholics, led by Benedict. Even cardinals in the Vatican had no idea it was coming, according to reports.

An expert on Roman Catholicism, Chester Gillis, dean of Georgetown College and a theology professor at Georgetown University, talked Feb. 11 to “CBS This Morning,” co-hosted by Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell. Gillis called the pope’s resignation “unthinkable,” adding that if the pope felt he could not continue because of health issues his stepping-aside was “generous” and “a humble act.”

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, held a press conference this morning on the resignation and what to expect in the weeks ahead. “What has to be uppermost in the hearts and minds of all of us is ‘What is God asking of us in making a choice for who will fill the chair of Peter?’ ” said Wuerl, according to the Washington Post. “And I think that’s going to be the only consideration: who among this body has the qualifications, the characteristics, the spiritual gifts to fill that chair.”

Already speculation has begun on Benedict’s successor. Media outlets and bookies, such as PaddyPower.com, are looking at Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria, Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Canada, Cardinanl Luis Tagle of the Phillipines, Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana and others.

President Barack Obama praised the pope: “I have appreciated our work together over these last four years. The Church plays a critical role in the United States and the world, and I wish the best to those who will soon gather to choose His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI’s successor.” French President François Hollande called the pope’s decision “brave and exceptional.” Also via Twitter, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said he was shocked by the decision and expressed “deep respect” for the pontiff.

Pope Benedict visited Washington, D.C., in April 2008. Greeted by President George W. Bush, the pope was presented with a birthday cake in the White House. The pope was serenaded by students from Annunciation Church on Massachusetts Avenue, who sang “Happy Birthday” to him in English and German in front on the Vatican Embassy, where he enjoyed a lunch catered by Cafe Milano. Like his predecessors, he visited the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception next to Catholic University. One of the biggest events of his trip was a mass at the new Nationals Park .

Born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger on April 16, 1927, in Bavaria, the pope attended the seminary as a teenager but was forced to be part of the Hitler Youth and then German infantry briefly at the end of World War II. His family’s home was used by U.S. troops as a headquarters. He returned to the seminary with his brother — and went on to become a professor and the Archbishop of Munich. Becoming a cardinal and then as the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he succeeded the extraordinarily popular, beloved and long-reigning Pope John Paul II in 2005. Benedict has dealt with the sexual abuse scandals within the church and its children — not always to the satisfaction of many, if not the hatred of some. He has been seen as an intellectual, explaining the correctness of tradition and of Christian theology and culture.

Upon his ascension to the seat of Saint Peter, Benedict said, “Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me — a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.”

We shall see and hear more in the days ahead, but a German proverb from Psalms — “An Gottes Segen Ist Alles Gelegen” — should inform our understanding. Once seen in many households in Saxony and Bavaria, these words mean: “With God’s blessing, everything is possible” — or, more literally, “On God’s will is everything placed.”

Robert Devaney •

Add the discount shoe store, DSW, to the new tenants getting ready to fit into the reconstructed Shops at Georgetown Park on M Street. Vornado Realty Trust representative Scott Milsom presented signage plans to a meeting of the Georgetown-Burleith advisory neighborhood commission. The signs will be located at the western to the former mall near Dean & DeLuca. Designs included DSW; other tenants on board included T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods and Pinstripes.

Alex and Ani opened at 3068 M St., NW, on St. Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, appropriately enough, for the eco-friendly, socially responsible bracelet shop: its motto is “Made in America With Love.” Alex and Ani’s creator and designer Carolyn Rafaelian named the fast-growing and Rhode Island-based small business after her daughters. Founded in 2004, Alex and Ani has 28 stores and also has counters within 80 other shops. With Rafaelian’s signature bangles, necklaces, and rings, Alex and Ani also partners with organizations through Charity by Design, it says, “where artwork, meaning cards and signs are created for the charm to help spread awareness of various organizations in need. 20 percent of the proceeds from all sales of the Charity by Design Bangle go directly to the organization or cause involved.”

Chef Fabio Trabocchi signed a lease last week with MRP Realty for a new restaurant in Georgetown, according to the real estate group, which owns Washington Harbour, the popular multi-use complex on the Potomac River. Trabocchi plans to open the 7,500-square-foot Fiola Mare, in fall 2013; he already operates Fiola in downtown D.C. To be located on the west side of Washington Harbour, the fish-happy eatery will have inside and outside dining along with a raw bar.

P.S.: The General Services Administration extended bidding until just after noon, Feb. 20, for the West Heating Plant on 29th Street, the two-acre government property with some restrictions and community leaders urging use of the open land as parkland. As of noon, Feb. 19, Bidder # 2 was winning with a $5.2 million amount. The auction can still be extended by GSA, if it so chooses.

Georgetowner • February 19, 2013

RED Opening Night Reception

February 15th, 2013 at 05:00 PM | Free | info@oldprintgallery.com | Tel: (202) 965-1818 | Event Website

RED will open with a nighttime reception on February 15, 2013, from 5-8pm. RED is a group show of contemporary printmakers who feature the emboldened and passionate hue in their prints. The artists use this energizing pigment to excite the eye and engage viewers- drawing them into their dynamic compositions. The show will be on view until April 13, 2013.

Address

The Old Print Gallery; 1220 31st Street, NW

Chance for Life

February 16th, 2013 at 01:00 PM | 55-300 | info@chance-for-life.net | Tel: (703) 519-6696 | Event Website

The 8th Annual Chance for Life Charity event is an evening of poker, wine tasting and dancing to fund research seeking a cure for pediatric spinal cord cancer.

Address

City Tavern; 3206 M St NW Washington, DC 20007

Washington Bach Consort presents “Bach for All Seasons”

February 17th, 2013 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

In honor of the 35th Season & by popular demand music director & founder J. Reilly Lewis & National Presbyterian’s glorious Skinner organ star in an all-Bach program built around the “Great Eighteen,” BWV 651–658, begun in Bach’s youth in Weimar & revised in his final years in Leipzig. Singers from the Consort chorus perform Bach’s exquisite harmonization’s of the various melodies upon which these keyboard masterpieces are based.

Address

National Presbyterian Church; 4101 Nebraska Avenue, NW

Authors on Deck

February 20th, 2013 at 12:00 PM | free | Tel: 2027372300 | Event Website

As part of the United States Navy Memorial’s “Authors on Deck” book lecture series in honor of Black History Month, author Bland Simpson will present his literary work, Two Captains from Carolina: Moses Grandy, John Newland Maffitt, and the Coming of the Civil War (University of North Carolina Press; September 2012). Two Captains from Carolina twines together the lives of two accomplished nineteenth-century mariners from North Carolina–one African American and one Irish American.

Address

United States Navy Memorial; Naval Heritage Center; 701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Robert Devaney •

The West Heating Plant on 29th Street, a big clunk of Federal property in Georgetown for sale by the General Services Administration, got some love on St. Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, when one bid for $500,001 showed up on the GSA auction website.

Bidder number one popped up on the GSA website in middle of the afternoon with fewer than five days remaining on the auction, which began Jan. 18 and closes Tuesday, Feb. 19.

A half-million dollars may sound like a low-ball amount for a prime, two-acre site, just half a block from the M Street business corridor, but the Valentine bid illustrates the problems with the property for would-be owners. No new building is allowed on the site, no new windows may be added to the existing heating plant and parkland is to be incorporated along the property. The building’s new owner must also begin a massive clean-up and reconstruction, such as tearing out pipes and the metal features of the interior with a good detox of the entire structure, estimated to cost in the tens of millions of dollars.

The strategy that some bidders might wait for the last few days of the auction to put in their bids remains to be seen.

Georgetown developers and citizens have been discussing the impending sale for more than a year. Along with Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans and others, the Citizens Association of Georgetown asked for part of the site to be green space, connecting it with the C&O Canal and Rock Creek. Developers and commercial real estate owners appeared to have the money and plans drawn and ready to go.

The broker in change, Jones Lang Lasalle, touts the building as “Georgetown Heating Plant: A Landmark With Monumental Potential.”

The views from the heating plant’s rooftop are indeed monumental — the Potomac River directly south, to the east, view of the National Mall and Watergate, to the north the National Cathedral and just west all of Georgetown before you — and made the property seem like an easy sale. The 29th Street building itself was the site of a June 19, 2012, congressional hearing that chided GSA’s slowness in disposing of old and unused government property.

How is how GSA describes its prime property at 1051 29th Street, NW: “The 2.08-acre property is located in the historic Georgetown district of Washington, D.C., and contains one building, a 110-foot tall former heating plant and four large fuel oil storage tanks. A large concrete and stone retaining wall surrounds much of the site consisting of 9,335 rentable square feet over six partial interior floors. The building footprint is approximately 100 feet by 200 feet. The plant contains significant amounts of equipment and piping related to the former steam generation activities. Steam generation activities ceased at the facility in 2000; since then the property has been used for office purposes and as the site of the backup fuel supply for the GSA Central Heating Plant. GSA vacated the facility in May 2012.”

For sales information and online auction assistance, contact Tim Sheckler — 202-401-5806 or Tim.Sheckler@GSA.gov

For more information —www.georgetownheatingplant.com.

Gwendolyn Shearman • February 11, 2013

The current plan is vague and far in the future, but residents could see a Metro Rail station in Georgetown by 2040.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority released its latest strategic plan, “Momentum,” which describes a $740-million-per-year investment for the projected growth, including possible plans to separate and extend Metro lines. In addition, the report states that $1 billion per year is “necessary to continue to maintain safety and reliability of the system” as well as $500 million more to “maximize the capacity of the system’s core and prepare it for the transit projects that are coming on line in the region.”

The priority is to focus on the immediate needs of the transit system, but Metro is also looking into the future to prepare for the anticipated 30-percent increase in the area’s population in the coming years. Metro Rail is the second-busiest rapit transit system in the U.S. after New York City, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

The proposed plan is to separate the Orange and Blue lines, allowing more commuters into the city and alleviating strain on the Metro in Rosslyn. Doing so would connect Rosslyn to Georgetown by way of a tunnel underneath the Potomac River.

Once work on the Silver line — Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, connecting Loudoun, Dulles Airport and Tysons Corner to downtown Washington — is completed, the expected increase in traffic to Rosslyn is the reason for the suggested M Street stop. While the plan specifically mentions the tunnel, it doesn’t necessarily include a station in Georgetown.

Bob Starrels, an advisory neighborhood commissioner for the south of Georgetown where a subway station might be located, cautioned about expecting a Metro stop in the District’s oldest neighborhood. “If there were a possibility of a station it’d be orientated more towards Virginia Avenue or U Street most likely,” Starrels said. “Never say never, but the chances are slim.”

The idea of a Metro stop in Georgetown has long grabbed the attention of the public. In fact, it is the lack of such a stop that has created an urban myth: At the very inception of Metro Rail, Georgetowners actively campaigned in the 1960s against a Metro station because it would bring in more of the city’s black population into the historic village. This is untrue. While there were a few residents who did voice opposition at that time to any additional visitors, especially blacks, most Georgetown businesses simply did not actively lobby the Metro board — which determined where subway stations would be built. Not filled with office workers like downtown D.C., Georgetown did not have the daytime business traffic to warrant a stop.

To read Metro’s “Momentum” plan, click here.

Robert Devaney •

What do you mean “Death is imminent”? That’s the voicemail for a reporter from a caller who sounded like Albrecht Muth, according to the Washington Post. Here’s the Post account on Feb. 1: ” . . . Muth, the eccentric German charged in the 2011 beating death of his elderly Georgetown wife, has been hospitalized as a result of a hunger strike, sources familiar with the case said Friday. Speaking on condition of anonymity because Muth’s case is pending in D.C. Superior Court, the sources said Muth was removed from the D.C. jail and has been in critical condition at a local hospital as a result of his hunger fast. It is unknown whether his trial, scheduled to begin March 25, will proceed. Muth, 48, is charged with first-degree murder in the August 2011 death of his wife of 22 years, Viola Herms Drath, then 91. Authorities said Muth beat and strangled his wife in their Georgetown home.” Drath’s birthday is Friday, Feb. 8; her Facebook page is still active.

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The D.C. Court of Appeals overturned the 2010 conviction of “an Arlington man accused of breaking into homes and sexually assaulting male Georgetown University students as they slept,” according to the Washington Examiner. The court ruled Jan. 31 that Todd Matthew Thomas “can get a new trial because prosecutors were allowed to tell jurors that he was previously convicted of sexually assaulting another man in Virginia.”
Thomas had been sentenced to 26 years in prison for burglary and assaults on five male Georgetown students between 2007 and 2008. The assaults occurred on 33rd and 35th Streets near the university’s main campus. During the trial, Thomas claimed another “Georgetown Cuddler” had committed the crimes, because there were similar attacke on female students — and he had been wearing an electronically monitored ankle bracelet at that time.

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Despite Feb. 1 reports in the Washingtonian and DCist blog, Georgetown Cupcake was happy to report that it has no outstanding tax bill to the District of Columbia. The hugely popular corner bakery at 33rd and M Streets had everyone wondering how such a bill of about $189,000 would convert into cupcakes. The problem was first reported by the Washington Business Journal. “Georgetown Cupcake has paid its taxes to the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue in full, and the Office of Tax and Revenue has acknowledged receipt of payment,” said Katherine Kallinis, co-owner with her sister Sophie LaMontagne. Kallinis also wrote to the Washingtonian: “The misunderstanding regarding the lien has been resolved, the lien is in the process of being terminated, and we expect confirmation of the termination later today.”

Georgetowner •

CAG: 4th Annual Georgetown Art Show

February 7th, 2013 at 06:00 PM | Tel: 202-368-5878 | Event Website

CAG (Citizens Association of Georgetown) invites all to celebrate and view the talent and creativity of Georgetown resident artists at CAG’s 4th Annual Georgetown Art Show. Free to the public, the show will launch with an opening reception on Thursday, February 7th from 6 to 9 p.m. and will be open from Friday, February 8th thru Sunday, February 10th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the House of Sweden (2900 K Street, NW). CAG’s unique show will feature artwork by local Georgetown residents and artists who have studios in Georgetown. Media will include oil and watercolor paintings, prints, sculpture and photography. Most works will be for sale, with a few on loan from private collections. Click here for more about the show.

Address

House of Sweden; 2900 K Street NW

Free Design & Remodeling Seminar: How to Fall in Love with your Home Again

February 9th, 2013 at 10:00 AM | FREE | dana@hopkinsandporter.com | Tel: 301-840-9121, #27 | Event Website

Hopkins & Porter will be offering “How to Fall in Love with your Home Again”, free design and remodeling seminar on Saturday, February 9,10 AM – 2 PM. Over lunch you will have the time to talk one-on-one with our professional designers.Some of the subjects will be:

Ways to Open Up Your Floor Plan to Fit Today’s Lifestyle

Your Checklist for a Successful Remodeling Project

How to Let the Light In

Kitchens & Baths: The Important Details

Additions – Affordable Solutions with Style

Address

Hopkins & Porter, 12944-C Travilah Rd., #204, Potomac, MD 20854

Mardi Gras Masquerade

February 9th, 2013 at 09:00 PM | $60 | Event Website

Hosted by Art Soiree Productions and Alliance Francaise DC. Dress up with playful masks to celebrate the French tradition. Performance by Blues Style Brass Band. Black Tie Optional.

Address

The Washington Club; 15 Dupont NW

Noche de Pasión 2013

February 9th, 2013 at 07:30 PM | $275 | ebunting@washingtonballet.org | Tel: (202) 274-4515 | Event Website

The Washington Ballet’s third annual Noche de Pasión (Night of Passion) will celebrate the creation of The Washington Ballet’s Latino Scholarship Fund at a glamorous Carnaval-themed party at the Brazilian Ambassador’s residence. The event will feature a VIP reception with Ambassador Vieira, a specially choreographed performance by The Washington Ballet, fabulous music and silent auction.

Address

The Residence of the Ambassador of Brazil

Reconciling Church Service

February 10th, 2013 at 11:00 AM | free | dumbartonpastor@yahoo.com | Tel: 202-333-7212 | Event Website

Dumbarton United Methodist Church will celebrate its 26th anniversary of being intentionally welcoming to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual persons and their families with our Reconciling Sunday Celebration on Sunday, February 10. “The World Is About To Turn” is the theme of the service, based on recent progress of these and transgendered people for equality. Rev. Vicky Starnes will be our guest preacher. After worship, we will have a festive pancake breakfast and Mardi Gras party.

Address

3133 Dumbarton St. NW

An Affair of the Heart

February 11th, 2013 at 11:00 AM | 125 | Kirsten.Baier@heart.org | Tel: 703-248-1787 | Event Website

The 65th Annual Luncheon and Fashion Show is one of the oldest annual fund-raising events of any nationally recognized non-profit group with proceeds earmarked to reduce death and disability from heart disease. The fashion show will feature MaxMara presented by Bloomingdale’s. .

Address

The Marriott Wardman Park Hotel; 2660 Woodley Road NW

Gary Tischler •

Listening to Mayor Vincent Gray give his 2013 State of the District Address Feb. 5 at the Sixth and I Street Synagogue, you wouldn’t guess that the mayor had had a day of trouble since he took office two years ago after defeating incumbent Adrian Fenty.

Gray’s speech—buoyed by news of a major surplus, and more immediately by the Revered Dr. Lewis Anthony’s rousing invocation—seemed more like a celebration, a kind of rolling up the numbers and pluses and big plans for the future, most notably a whopping $100-million commitment to create more affordable housing in the District of Columbia, where the real estate market is once again hot, along with figures for property prices, commercial construction and development and the population, all of which are rising. He also hinted that the long drought in pay raises for city employees—i.e, government workers, teachers, firemen and police—might be coming to an end in the future.

In fact, the speech, which touted numerous accomplishments, an economic surge, a 50-year low for the city’s homicide rate, could almost sound like the shaping of a record the mayor could run on, if he was to run again. But politics—and the still ongoing investigation into the mayor’s campaign, and other unsettling and unsettled problems—seemed so far from the mayor’s mind that he said nary a word about them. Politics, in fact, seems to exist only in the mind of the media in search of somebody that might flat out say he is running for mayor in 2014, although Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells has indicated he’s thinking about it.

It was a strange atmosphere for the speech—outside there were demonstrators protesting impending school closings in the District, and representatives and signs for candidates for the April 23 special election for the at-large council seat left open by Phil Mendelson, who is now the District Council chairman. Among the numerous candidates for the seat are former at-large councilman Michael A. Brown who lost a bid for re-election, interim at-large Councilmember Anita Bonds and Republican Patrick Mara, returning to the city-wide political arena.

Brown stood upstairs in the back, a man without a seat, for the moment.

Downstairs, officialdom of D.C. local politics mixed and mingled—most prominently Ward 8 Councilman Marion Barry, working the crowd as of old, along with Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans who has seen a lot of the downtown development now coming to fruition in his ward and former Mayor Anthony Williams, who spurred the initial effort to halt D.C.’s population decline. Much of the gains being touted on the dais by Gray had their roots in the two administrations of Williams, generally considered to be a success in the eye of the public. The big applause getters: the affordable housing announcement and former Mayor Williams.

If Gray has kept his political profile low, it’s plain to see that he’s been busy nonetheless. He and D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi announced a $417-million surplus for fiscal 2012 earlier. Gandhi also announced that he would be retiring in June. “Previously, we had been in a somewhat precarious position, partly because of the national economy in general, but also because in the past, the city’s rainy day fund was drained severely,” Gray said. “That’s not going to be the case anymore, we’re going to set much of that money aside.”

“I can say the city is doing extremely well, better than what is normal nationally in terms of growth, and other economic activity,” the mayor said. But he saw a mixed blessing and a danger in the prosperity, in the sense that not all have shared in it: “We are in danger increasingly of becoming a city of haves,” he warned. “We need affordable housing, and I’m going to commit $100 million to affordable housing as a one-year effort.”

Gray echoed Rev. Anthony in his invocation, when Anthony said, “Yes, we must support the growth of business, but we also have to make sure that business doesn’t’ give the rest of us the business.”

That call to make sure that the city could take care of, find jobs and housing for the middle class and below, take care of the needy, the sick and the homeless, dotted a good portion of Gray’s speech, when he wasn’t peppering it with sports phrases, including the words “home run” and “touchdowns,” which appeared often. He noted that this past season both the Redskins and the Nationals became winners and play-off contenders. Significantly, he said nothing about “draining threes” or “dropping the puck,” given how the Wizards and the Capitals are doing.

Gray also touted improvements in the D.C. Public School System and also noted the surge in the number of charter schools, which was perhaps not necessarily a part of the master plan of school reform. He touted the District’s huge strides in growing Early Childhood Education and the modernization and renovation of many of the District’s remaining public schools.

He touted such economic development achievements as CityCenter D.C., moving apace in the center of downtown, CityMarket at O Street and Costco/Shops at Dakota Crossing and the Skyland Shopping Center in Ward 7. He also cited what he called an ambitious economic development strategy announced last fall to create 10,00 new jobs and grow revenue by $1 billion. He noted that he proposed and signed into law the Technology Sector Enhancement Act of 2012.

Point by point, the mayor seemed confident, pleased with the present and planning the future: the economy is booming, the homicide rate is at a 50-year low, D.C. is gaining a little more than 1,000 new residents every month, school enrollment is growing and the rainy day fund is set to contain $1.5 billion, assuring safety against the pressures of the national economy and the continued fiscal battles between the administration and congress.

Listening to Gray, the investigation of the campaign, the departure of Chairman Kwame Brown and Ward 5 Councilman Harry Thomas, and a host of ethical problems in the city government seem almost a distant memory. News of prosperity can put a little spring in your walk, and that’s what appears to have been the case with a resurgent Mayor Gray.

Sara Gilgore • February 7, 2013

Following last week’s announcement that 15 Washington, D.C., public schools have been scheduled to close, Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools Kaya Henderson testified before the District Council’s education committee Jan. 23 to discuss the rationale behind the plan that has sparked opposition from community members and local organizations.

“For the first time in a long time, people have hope about the District of Columbia public schools,” Henderson told the council.

D.C. Public Schools finalized the changes that will take effect at the end of this academic year, including the consolidation of 13 of the identified schools – the other two of which are slated to close the following year – and “several expanded quality program offerings.”

The initial proposal to close 20 schools was altered after DCPS received enormous feedback and eliminated five schools from the list. The revised and current plan will affect more than 2,400 students and 540 employees, as first reported by the Washington Post.

Some people are opposed to Henderson’s plan — but not simply because it will force students to relocate to different schools.

Empower D.C., a local grassroots organization, believes Henderson’s plan is discriminatory, “blocking the school doors for hundreds of black and brown students,” according to attorney Johnny Barnes.

Barnes is working with Empower D.C. to combat the school closings plan. Its litigation strategy was announced at a press conference Jan. 23 in front of the Wilson Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, during the chancellor’s meeting with the council.

“We intend to vigorously and zealously pursue those legal avenues available to the parents and children affected so that all young people in Washington, D.C., have the same access to quality education,” Barnes said in a Jan. 18 statement.

Another feared consequence of Henderson’s plan is that DCPS will struggle to compete with the public charter schools that already serve more than 40 percent of public school students in the District, according to the Washington Post. Many worry closing 15 schools could exacerbate the problem, driving students to these charter schools rather than other conventional public schools.

However, DCPS says it believes the plan will ultimately prove to be advantageous, as funds and resources from the under-enrolled schools can be reallocated and more efficiently utilized.

“We’ve spent the last two months combing over every single comment, data point and proposal,” Henderson said in a Jan. 17 statement. “Now, it’s time for us to look to the future, for us to plan for the best ways that we can support our students.”

Gwendolyn Shearman •

With the temperatures dropping and winter in full swing here in D.C., new winter coats are being purchased and old ones are being thrown out. Before you toss the fur that either you no longer want or is in bad shape, take it over to Buffalo Exchange to contribute to its Coats for Cubs drive.

The annual drive aims to collect furs and redistribute them to wildlife rehabilitation programs across the country. Rehab centers use the donated furs as bedding for wild animals, such as raccoons, foxes or even cubs, that have been orphaned or injured. Your unwanted furs can make a natural bedding more suitable than blankets for wild animals.

Buffalo Exchange, the family-owned and -operated fashion resale retailer, took over the program from the Humane Society of the United States in 2006, when financial cuts forced it to discontinue the program. Since then, Buffalo Exchange and the Humane Society have collected more than 7,500 furs.

Donations of real fur coats, accessories, trims and shearlings can be dropped off at Buffalo Exchange’s Georgetown location at 3279 M St., NW, or at its 14th Street location. The drive runs through April 22, which is Earth Day.