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Kelly Byrnes • August 17, 2015

Joined by law enforcement and other community officials, Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the “Sale of Synthetic Drugs Emergency Amendment Act of 2015” into law July 10, in a proactive step to cleanse Washington, D.C., of synthetic marijuana.

The new law allows the Metropolitan Police Department to enforce harsh penalties on businesses found selling the substance and comes on the heels of a dangerous spike in overdoses and links to violent crimes around the city, most recently a fatal stabbing aboard a Metro train.

Authorities are now granted the right to issue businesses caught selling the drugs a $10,000 fine and to be shut down for 96 hours as a first offence. Repeat offenders will be fined $20,000 and shut down for 30 days followed by the revoking of their license.
“The District will not tolerate the selling of these drugs,” Bowser said upon signing the law. “This is very important legislation that will help get synthetic drugs off of shelves of D.C. retailers and off the streets.”

MPD Chief Cathy Lanier praised the efforts made by city government officials to pass the law and added that law enforcement will be vigilant in stopping the sale of synthetic drugs.

“This drug is dangerous not only to those who use it, but everyone around them. The risk is just too high for us not to be aggressive,” Lanier said.

Synthetic drugs are packaged under brand names like “K2,” “Scooby Snax,” ”Spice,” and “Bizzaro,” with dangerous side effects like suicidal or erratic behavior, seizures and even death. The illegal hallucinogens also render users to be aggressive and disorderly. 
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Kelly Byrnes •

The fourth annual Day of Archaeology Festival will dig up both fun and facts at Dumbarton House Saturday, July 18.

Presented by the local non-profit organization Archaeology in the Community, the free event will feature family-friendly activities like face painting, live music and crafts as well as mock-excavations of artifacts.

To bring the festivities to life, the D.C. Historic Preservation Office will be nearby at 3324 Dent Place NW, the site where the current Yarrow Mamout Archaeological Project is underway. The project aims to answer the question of whether the man it’s named for, a freed Muslim slave, is buried on the Georgetown property which he owned following his 1796 emancipation. Mamout is believed to have been born in West Africa in 1736 before being shipped to Annapolis, Md., where he lived as a slave for more than 40 years.

Information sessions will be held at the property throughout the day to teach visitors about the local history behind the site and give them a glimpse into the hands-on archaeological investigation taking place, in addition to volunteer opportunities to help with the dig. The project has been in talks since 2012 and is now closer than ever to discovering the truth behind the local legend.  

The Day of Archaeology Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Peter Murray •

At midnight July 20, the U.S. and Cuba resumed diplomatic relations after 54 years of broken ties. Amidst the celebration, the media went into a frenzy, creating copious Cuba content. Below are some of the more interesting pieces, on history, architecture, politics, gossip and more that came out of the day.

As part of the network’s coverage on Cuba, CNN looked at the fraught history of the Cuban Interests Section here and the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.

CNN also took video inside the Cuban Embassy on 16th Street, showcasing the property’s elaborate architecture, ornate stain glass ceiling, marble staircases and more.

The New York Times reports on the U.S. embassy opening from the ground in Cuba, and looks at the changes the country faces as diplomatic ties fade away.

A new CBS poll shows that 58% of Americans support resuming diplomatic ties with Cuba while only 24% oppose it. In addition, 54% of Americans support ending the trade embargo between the two countries.

In a press conference today, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said that as diplomatic ties resume, so should the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba end. He added that the blockade “caused a lot of suffering to the Cuban people.”

The Washington Post’s Reliable Source theorizes that restored diplomatic ties will lead to more soirees at the Cuban Embassy, where an exclusive bar Hemingway’s serves the best mojito in town, according to one source.

In other U.S.-Cuba news, the U.S. Men’s national soccer team trounced the Cuban team 6-0 on Saturday to advance to the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) Gold Cup Semi-Finals.

Kelly Byrnes •

Local business professionals will gather July 21 for an open house presented by Summit Commercial Real Estate. The event, sponsored by Georgetown Professionals as part of their monthly happy hour occurrences, will be held at 3255 K Street NW, formerly the Cycle Life building.

Beginning at 6:00 p.m., the evening will feature food and beverages provided by Rockland’s Barbeque and Grilling Company. The event presents an opportunity for community outreach by teaming with DistrictGolf, a non-profit organization that supports veterans through their “Hit with Heros” program, which they launched this year.

Georgetown Professionals offers opportunities for sponsoring events to coincide with their monthly Happy Hour gatherings, and reach out to over 2,000 local professionals as well as over 600 firms in the greater D.C. area.

Peter Murray •

The Metropolitan Police Department’s Human Trafficking Unit has arrested 41 men since July 14 for soliciting prostitution in Northwest D.C.

Starting in January, the MPD unit has conducted a number of sting operations at hotels around Thomas Circle not far from the city’s old Red Light District on 14th Street NW. Police lured johns online with fake advertisements, giving the men men hotel room numbers and arresting the ones who showed up.

Police were spurred by reports of street prostitution from local businesses and churches around Thomas Circle and along the bustling 14th Street corridor downtown. Prosecutors in the District have increasingly focused on prostitution cases of late in an effort to battle human trafficking.

The arrests come after Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans proposed new legislation that would crack down on johns by allowing police to tow and boot their cars. The “honey, I lost the car” bill, as Evans dubs it, is meant to embarrass johns and decrease prostitution in the city. He said recently there has been an “enormous increase in street prostitution” in the city.

His proposal comes from a long line of ideas the District has experimented with to crack down on prostitution since the early 1990s. Other ideas tested out by the city government to put a damper on prostitution include banning right turns on certain streets and starting a “John School” to shame and frighten men caught soliciting prostitutes.

Robert Devaney •

The Sovereign, a bar and bistro to be located at 1206 Wisconsin Ave. NW in Georgetown, will open in the late fall, according to owner Neighborhood Restaurant Group. The restaurant will be in the building which once housed the famed Champions Sports Bar and later Blue Gin in an alley on Wisconsin Avenue, just north of M Street. The space has been vacant for almost four years.

“The two-story bar and bistro will be comprised of an 84-seat first floor dining room and 47-seat bar on the second floor,” according to the restaurateurs. “Known for his award-winning beer lists at Birch & Barley, ChurchKey, Rustico and more, beer director Greg Engert is curating and creating a Belgian beer list unlike any other at the Sovereign alongside a menu of classic Belgian cuisine from executive chef Peter Smith.”

“There is substantial talent behind this operation,” said investor and business partner Greg Talcott, who has been a Georgetown restaurateur for decades and was involved with Blue Gin and the Third Edition. Working with Mike Babin of NRG on some of the details to finalize plans for the bar and bistro, Talcott said, “Getting the process completed has taken a long time.”

The company noted its own serious authenticity: “The Sovereign will showcase the widest array of drafts and bottles from the very best Belgian brewers. With 50 drafts and 200+ bottles, the beer program will feature the work of Belgian brewers who embody the standards, techniques, and innovative spirit that underpins the fabled Belgian brewing culture.

“Just as the Sovereign will be championing brewers that use simple, true recipes and let technique and patience yield complex flavors, so will the menu feature rustic ingredient-driven dishes of Belgian cuisine, which draws from French, German and Dutch cooking traditions. Executive chef Peter Smith of PS7 and Vidalia has developed the menu –which will be available throughout the restaurant and bar– by combining his French training with experience gained while traveling through Belgium with Engert.”

The new place looks like it will be more than beer heaven. It will include many old-world favorites, such as Dutch-style mussels, anchovies and pickled onion or gruyere with caraway seeds. Expect old-world wines as well.

Robert Devaney •

The partial collapse May 1 of the Watergate parking garage was caused by human error, according to D.C.’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. It determined that workers had put too dirt on top of the three-story structure and that the added weight caused the the collapse. It then issued notices of infraction to the Grunley Construction Company, which is working on the $125-million renovation of the Watergate Hotel, next to the garage, and to the Chapel Valley Landscape Company. The two fines — “for exceeding the allowable loads on top of the structure” — by DCRA are $500 each.

The collapse hurt two persons, prompted the evacuation of the office and other buildings and a massive D.C. Fire Department response along Virginia Avenue NW. It destroyed or damaged about 30 vehicles parked in the garage. Broken water pipes flooded businesses.

Grunley Construction and Developer EuroCapital Properties for the hotel responded to press inquiries by saying their investigations are still undoing.

Closed since 2007, the Watergate Hotel is slated for a fall 2015 reopening.

The Watergate complex, known for the 1972 burglary that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon, lies along the banks of the Potomac River next to another Washington landmark, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Georgetowner •

Mad Fox Breweries is finally set to open its D.C. gastropub, Max Fox Taproom, at 2218 Wisconsin Ave. NW, between the Subway sandwich shop and De Vol Funeral Home, after finding additional work was required in renovating the building.

Mad Fox CEO and executive brewer Bill Madden and business partner Rick Garvin started Mad Fox in 2007 and since have become very active in the craft beer and brewpub community. Falls Church will remain the hub of the whole operation, as all of the beers will be brewed there in its 16-barrel brewery. The new location will showcase Mad Fox’s award-winning handcrafted beers with draught and English-style cast service, including up to 24 draught and cask options.

“We have plenty of capacity in our brewery and we’ll be able to serve all of our Falls Church fans, wholesale clients and the Glover Park tap room without any compromises,” Madden said.

Robert Devaney •

President Barack Obama spoke at American University’s School of International Service, making his case for the Iran nuclear deal agreed upon his administration and the Iranian government. Evoking President John F. Kennedy who made a major foreign policy speech at the same university in 1963 and also President Reagan in his dealings with the Soviet Union during the 1980s, Obama gave a history lesson and reasons why the deal ought to be approved by Congress in September.

The president arrived at Nebraska Avenue NW late, just before noon, apparently because someone could not print out a crisp copy of his speech. “Even presidents have problems with toner,” he began. The day before was his 54th birthday, and he, first lady Michelle Obama and others dined at the hard-to-get-into Rose’s Luxury restaurant at Barrack’s Row near Capitol Hill.

Today’s almost hour-long speech before about 300 people, excluding press, was deadly serious: how to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of Iran. Among the VIPs in the first row, front and center in the audience, was Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Interrupted by polite applause from time to time and a bit of laughter once or twice, Obama argued how diplomacy averted nuclear war in the 20th century and how the Iran Deal was an either-or decision: “The choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy and some sort of war — maybe not tomorrow, maybe not three months from now, but soon.”

He said the same crowd against the Iran Deal was the same one which pushed for the Iraq War in 2003. He warned about walking away from the current agreement trying to get a better deal for the U.S. and its allies: “What’s more likely to happen, should Congress reject this deal, is that Iran would end up with some form of sanctions relief without having to accept any of the constraints or inspections required by this deal.  So in that sense, the critics are right:  Walk away from this agreement and you will get a better deal — for Iran.”

At the same time, while acknowledging Iran’s terrorist activities, past and present, Obama appeared to insult those opposing the administration’s deal: “I realize that resorting to force may be tempting in the face of the rhetoric and behavior that emanates from parts of Iran. It is offensive. It is incendiary. We do take it seriously. But superpowers should not act impulsively in response to talks… Just because Iranian hardliners chant ‘Death to America’ does not mean that that’s what all Iranians believe. In fact, it’s those hardliners that are more satisfied with the status quo. It’s those hardliners, chanting ‘death to America,’ who’ve been most opposed to the deal. They’re making common cause with the Republican Caucus.”

At the end, the 44th president pulled back and circled back to the 35th president, saying, “John F. Kennedy cautioned here, more than 50 years ago, at this university, that ‘the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of war.’  But it’s so very important.  It is surely the pursuit of peace that is most needed in this world so full of strife.”

After a quick TV commercial-quality appeal — “My fellow Americans, contact your representatives in Congress.  Remind them of who we are.  Remind them of what is best in us and what we stand for, so that we can leave behind a world that is more secure and more peaceful for our children.” — Obama left the stage and made it back to the White House in time for lunch.

See the full text of the Aug. 5 speech, as provided by the White House, here.

Chuck Baldwin •

A new hospital has been officially proposed at Georgetown University, replacing a parking lot next to the main hospital. MedStar Health filed a letter of intent with regulators on July 30, which states the $400 million hospital is “intended to address current and future needs for additional care capacity and overcome the structural limitations … that impede additional medical surgical delivery upgrades.”

Approval of the plans requires numerous internal and external reviews and a public hearing before the District’s State Health Planning and Development Agency can act.

Construction is intended to begin by the end of 2016 and finish in 2020.