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Peter Murray • March 11, 2015

Smoke and power outages plagued Metrorail the weekend of Feb. 20, while on the H Street corridor, a flash fire ignited atop a streetcar during service simulation late Feb. 21.

Problems started for commuters Friday morning when the power went out at the L’Enfant Plaza station, leaving hundreds of commuters in near-pitch-black dark. The outage occurred around 8:45 a.m., and power was not restored fully until the early afternoon. The station remained open during the outage, but the entrance at 9th and D streets NW remained closed until the lights came back on. Metro said in a tweet that the outage was caused by a “commercial power problem.” Feb. 20 was the coldest day of the year so far, with temperatures reaching as low as 5 degrees at Reagan National Airport.

Then, smoke caused delays and evacuations at three Metro stations over the weekend. Woodley Park Station was taken out of service briefly after faulty brakes reportedly filled the station with smoke on the afternoon of Feb. 21. The station was evacuated, with commuters rushing to escape a potentially life-threatening situation akin to the one that occurred at the L’Enfant station on Jan. 12.

Smoke caused by faulty brakes was also reported at the L’Enfant station Sunday. A D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department spokesman confirmed the source of the cause in a statement on Feb. 22.

Fire struck a streetcar around 11:45 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21. Officials said, “The sparks extinguished very quickly on their own and fire suppression was not required by the first responders on the scene.” No one was injured during the incident but Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a brief statement issued Sunday that D.C. Streetcar would not open to the public until “we know it’s safe, and not a moment sooner.” The as-of-yet not fully operational streetcar has had nine minor accidents since it began simulating service in Oct. 14, with the latest occurring in early January. No one has been harmed in any of the accidents.

Also on Sunday, smoke caused by an electrical arcing event in the third rail led emergency crews to the Foggy Bottom station around 6:30 p.m. A driver alerted authorities after noticing the smoke coming from the tunnel leading from Foggy Bottom to Rosslyn. Smoke did no reach surrounding stations, but officials instituted single-tracking by closing off the tunnel until 7:40 p.m.

A number of other smoke incidents have created problems on Metro in recent weeks, notably causing evacuations at the Dupont Circle and Court House stations in early February. However, Metro officials say that smoke incidents are on the decline, with 120 occurrences in 2012 to only 40 in 2014. There is no official count for 2015.

These safety problems for Metro come at a bad time, on the heels of reports by the Washington Post that Metro’s federally funded alarm system that contacts emergency response radio does not work properly in subway tunnels. Emergency response officials say Metro never notified them that about this critical flaw; they discovered it on their own in 2014 and pressured Metro to fix the problems to no avail. The radio defect held up D.C. firefighters’ rescue efforts at L’Enfant station when smoke killed one and injured more than 80 people on Jan. 12.

Peter Murray •

Glover Park Hardware owners Gina Schaefer and Marc Friedman announced on March 3 that the store is reopening at a new location at 2233 Wisconsin Ave. NW.

The old location at 2251 Wisconsin Ave. closed on Jan. 15, after Schaefer says lease negotiations fell apart when the space’s landlord made a “last-minute” decision to lease the location to another tenant.

Schaefer and Friedman are hoping to open the new store, housed in the same building as Einstein Bagels (and only a few doors down from the old store), sometime in April. They said in a press release, “We love our Glover Park Community and we were committed to reopening in this neighborhood.”

Jeff Malet •

Smithsonian American Art Museum opens its doors to the Chinatown and the D.C. community in celebration of the 2015 Lunar New Year, the Year of the Sheep, with an afternoon of fun, featuring craft activities with the Confucius Institute, a reading corner with the D.C. Public Library, puppet performances by the Shaanxi Folk Arts Group, calligraphy demonstrations by John Wang, traditional dance performances by the Fairfax Chinese Dance Troupe and much more. [gallery ids="101992,135327,135357,135332,135336,135341,135345,135350,135356" nav="thumbs"]

Gary Tischler •

The Academy Awards Show is a little like Good Old Reliable Nathan from “Guys and Dolls”:

They’re good (partly), old (going back to the 1920s) and, for sure, reliable. At the Oscars, all manners of sins are forgiven—sins of shamelessness, sins of foot-in-mouth-disease, sins of fashion (extremely unforgivable among the unforgiving fashion critics), sins of omission (where are the many missing nominations for “Selma” and the one for Clint Eastwood?), and just your usual run-of-the-mill sins, entirely particular to Hollywood, that enclave of look-at-me, self-absorption, wretched excess, accompanied by hordes of media minions, given to mind-blowing displays of both buttering up and cutting up (and down).

Yet, amid the sometimes unbearably tedious length of the proceedings, things happen. Drama breaks out. Tears, some of them genuine amid the sea of actors, flow. Surprises occur, although perhaps not where they’re expected. The deserving get rewarded (good for you, Julianne Moore; you go, J.K. Simmons) and sometimes people say just the right thing (Simmons, again, the ad pitchman and television character actor who won the supporting award for “Whiplash,” telling viewers to call their parents), and sometimes not (Sean Penn, on announcing the three-time winner Alejandro Inarritu, saying, “Who gave that S.O.B. a green card?).

The favored front-runners pretty much won: Eddy Redmayne for Best Actor, playing Stephen Hawking; Moore for “Still Alice,” playing a woman suffering from dementia; “Birdman” for Best Picture, Patricia Arquette for Best Supporting Actress and Simmons for Best Supporting Actor.

What didn’t happen was almost as interesting—“American Sniper,” which has been getting critical praise (and some damnation, too), and big box office, got hardly anything, and omitted Eastwood again from a Best Director nomination, even though he showed up. “Boyhood,” which had critics swooning as only the smitten can, got little except for Arquette’s nod. The evening seemed to be a triumph of the fact-driven, small, and slightly independent film—witness “Whiplash” and “The Grand Hotel Budapest,” which won a number of awards, letting us see faces we ordinarily do not get to see in People Magazine.

Host Neil Patrick Harris was smooth, but also a little underwhelming, even when he stripped down to his skivvies and revealed himself to be quite buff. There is a little bit of disconnect there, but that might have something to do with the fact that the whole ABC night—counting a 90-minute red carpet show amounted to more than four and a half hours.

Just when you’re feeling a little dizzy, up came Arquette, getting Meryl Streep and other actresses to jump out of their seats advocating for equal pay and women’s rights. Just when you think nothing can move you, country star Tim McGraw singing ailing Glen Campbell’s moving “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” to an audience stunned into silence. Tears erupted also when John Legend and Common sang and rapped “Glory,” the song from “Selma.”

And who knew that Lady Gaga could be such a Broadway star, running through a medley of songs from “The Sound of Music” on the occasion of the film version’s 50th anniversary? Actually, Tony Bennett probably knew.

Those nice surprises and those moving movements almost always make the Oscars, if not relevant, worthwhile.

Georgetowner •

[UPDATE] On Wednesday, Feb. 25, just before 10:40 a.m. smoke poured out of the Steve Madden building at 3109 M St. NW in Georgetown. The building also houses BrandLink D.C., the Wink boutique and the Ury salon and spa.

An official from D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department on the scene said that the fire was spreading within the walls. It is believed that the insulation burned due to some sort of electrical issue. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

“Everyone was able to make it out,” the official said. “No one is injured at this time.”

Firefighters had the fire put out by 11:20 a.m. and began reopening M Street, but a portion remained closed to traffic.

BrandLink D.C. posted on its Facebook page that, even though it experienced smoke damage, ”We are happy to report that everyone is safe and sound.” The event and marketing firm will be working from a temporary office space throughout this week.

The Urban Outfitters building, next to the Steve Madden building, is also closed because of damages because of the fire.

[February 25, 2014] Smoke poured out of the Steve Madden building at 3109 M St. NW in Georgetown just before 10:40 a.m. Feb. 25.

An official on the scene said that the fire burned within the walls. It is believed that the insulation burned due to some sort of electrical issue.

“Everyone was able to make it out,” the official said. “No one is injured at this time.”

There are serious traffic delays at the scene.
[gallery ids="101993,135318,135322,135325" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

Twentythirtysomething Book Club (T.T.B.C.)

February 26th, 2015 at 07:30 PM | Free | julia.strusienski@dc.gov | Tel: 202-727-0232 | (Event Website](http://www.meetup.com/Twentythirtysomething-Book-Club-T-T-B-C/)

Are you a local reader at least 21 years old? Looking for a more casual book club experience? Then join us for Twentythirtysomething Book Club (T.T.B.C.), a new book group for younger adults.

For our February meeting, we will be reading Robin Sloan’s 2012 novel, “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore.”

For more information, check out our MeetUp page or email erika.rydberg@dc.gov or julia.strusienski@dc.gov.

Address

breadsoda; 2233 Wisconsin Ave. NW

2015 DC Design House Bare Bones Tour

February 28th, 2015 at 12:00 PM | $5 or free with purchase of $30 DC Design House ticket for April 12-May 10 | dcdesignhouse@theloftatai.com | Tel: 301-807-0910 | [Event Website](http://www.dcdesignhouse.com/)

Take a tour of the 2015 DC Design House before the designers work their magic. See the 27 empty rooms in this new McLean, VA home built by Artisan Builders and then come back from April 11 to May 10 to see the beautiful designs. It’s the 8th Annual event with 100% of proceeds benefitting Children’s National Health System.

12 noon until 3 p.m.

Address

956 Mackall Farm Lane; McLean, VA 22101

Paintings, Calligraphy and Ceramics by Stephen Addiss

February 28th, 2015 at 12:00 PM | [Event Website](http://robertbrowngallery.com/)

Robert Brown Gallery hosts an opening reception for an exhibition of work by painter, poet, ceramicist, musician and Japanese art historian Stephen Addiss. A professor for thirty-six years, Addiss retired in 2013 from a position at the University of Richmond. He began studying calligraphy and ink painting in 1969 with Asian scholars, later studying in Japan and Taiwan.

Address

1662 33rd St. NW.

Aaron Burr Lecture at Georgetown Library

February 28th, 2015 at 01:00 PM | jerry.mccoy@dc.gov

Jamie Stiehm, a columnist for Creators Syndicate and a contributor to usnews.com, will give a free 1 p.m. lecture: “The Intriguing Aaron Burr: Vice President and So Much More.” The third vice president of the United States, Burr served under Thomas Jefferson from 1801 to 1805.

Address

Georgetown Neighborhood Library, Peabody Room (third floor), 3260 R St. NW.

Russian “Ballades, Fantasies, and Satires”

February 27th, 2015 at 12:00 AM | $50 | [Event Website](http://thercas.com/)

Soprano Natalia Kraevsky and bass Grigory Soloviov will sing songs in Russian accompanied by pianist Vera Danchenko-Stern, founder and artistic director of the Russian Chamber Art Society, at this third concert of RCAS’s 2014-2015 season. Danchenko-Stern’s Peabody Conservatory colleague, pianist Alexander Shtarkman, will also perform. Tickets, include a wine and dessert reception. For tickets, visit their website.

Address

Embassy of Austria, 3524 International Court NW.

701 Restaurant Hosts Four-Course Wine Dinner with Crosby Roamann Winery

February 27th, 2015 at 07:00 PM | $90 | Tel: (202) 393-0701 | [Event Website](http://701restaurant.com/)

701 Restaurant invites guests to come celebrate one of Napa Valley’s finest wineries, Crosby Roamann, on February 27th at 7 p.m. The experience is priced at $90 per person (not including tax and gratuity) and guests will enjoy Executive Chef Benjamin Lambert’s four-course feast while winemaker Sean McBride will orchestrate pairings.

Address

701 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Cantate Chamber Singers presents the St. John Passion of J.S. Bach

March 1st, 2015 at 04:00 PM | $35 ($45 for premium seats in first few rows), age 18 & under FREE, students with ID $15. | exec@cantate.org | Tel: 301-986-1799 | [Event Website](http://cantate.org/)

Cantate (Gisèle Becker, Music Director) presents Bach’s masterpiece in the rarely performed fourth version of 1749, with period instruments. Featuring Joseph Dietrich singing the role of the Evangelist, Kevin Frey singing the role of Jesus, soprano Mary Ellen Callahan, mezzo-soprano Barbara Hollinshead, baritone Steven Combs, and tenor David Wolff.

Address

Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church; 6601 Bradley Blvd; Bethesda, MD 20817

Time for Three

March 1st, 2015 at 05:00 PM | $25. – $30. | sam@stjohnsgeorgetown.org | Tel: 202-338-1796 | [Event Website](http://www.stjohnsgeorgetown.org/)

The groundbreaking, category-shattering string trio transcends traditional classification, with elements of classical, country western, gypsy and jazz idioms forming a blend all its own. Performing music from Bach to Brahms, arrangements of The Beatles, Katy Perry, Kanye West
and Justin Timberlake.

Free parking at the Hyde Addison School parking lot directly across from the church.

Address

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Georgetown; 3240 O St. NW

Linnea Kristiansson •

The Washington Harbour Ice Rink on the Georgetown waterfront will close for the season this Sunday, March 1.

The rink is the largest outdoor ice skating venue in the region. Open annually from mid-November until March, the ice rink at 3050 K Street NW transforms from a picturesque fountain in warmer months and is open for recreational skating every day, including holidays.

With a couple of days left in February, take the opportunity to enjoy a healthy activity right on the Potomac, with a warm beverages rink-side.

Go, before the season ends! See you on the ice.

Opening hours:

Monday-Tuesday 12:00-7:00pm
Wednesday-Thursday 12:00-9:00pm
Friday 12:00pm-10:00pm
Saturday 10:00am-10:00pm
Sunday 10:00am-7:00pm

Prices:

Adults: $10.00
Children/Seniors/Military: $9.00
Skate Rental: $5.00
Season Pass: $195.00
10 Admission Pass: $85.00
Socks/Gloves: $4.00

Helmets and penguin skate aids are available, free of use, first come first serve.

Weekly events:

College Night Skate: Each Thursday, Receive $2 off Admission with a Valid College ID
Cartoon Skate: Every Saturday morning from 10:00am — 12:00pm
Rock N Skate: Every Saturday night from 8:00 – 10:00pm

For more information on ice skating, signing up for lessons, and general questions call (202)706-7666.

Robert Devaney •

In plain sight of construction workers, passers-by and 7-Eleven customers, two men, one of whom was armed, approached a parked Mercedes SUV, demanded keys from the female driver, who left her car, on the 2600 block of P Street NW at 1:30 p.m., Feb. 25, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. The men drove away from the scene. The carjacked vehicle was later stopped in the 900 block of Ingraham Street NW in Brightwood Park, north of Petworth, after a crash on the same day. One suspect was arrested. Police say another person is sought in connection to the crime.

Before the carjacking in front of the 7-Eleven, according to NBC4 News, the same suspects, one of whom showed a gun, attempted a carjacking on the 3100 block of P Street NW. The 7-Eleven on P Street was robbed twice in January.

If you have any information on these crimes, call MPD at 202-727-9099.

Robert Devaney • March 8, 2015

The scene: Gaston Hall in the Healy Building at Georgetown University; a Nov. 12 lecture hosted by the Georgetown McDonough Global Social Enterprise Initiative in partnership with Bank of America. On stage: Georgetown University President John DeGioia; Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan; McDonough Business School dean David Thomas; student Ammu Menon.

Also on stage — and the main attraction — was a global activist, talking about social enterprise and advocacy, as if he were a rock star. Oh, wait, he is a rock star. He is Bono.

The program handed out at Gaston Hall proclaimed it thus: while it showed time, place and sponsors, but front and center appears one simple word, “Bono.”

The lead singer for the Irish rock band U2 was also in D.C. to meet Vice President Joe Biden and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. Bono’s fight against AIDS and extreme poverty is legend. While his well-executed Gaston Hall speech informed and entertained, it went beyond its goals to charm, convince and claim students, professors and politicians.

Musician and activist Bono began by waving back to the student crowd, giving a shout-out to DeGioia’s son, J.T., who is learning the chords of “Sunday, Bloody Sunday.”

“At this lectern or podium, I am oddly comfortable,” Bono smiled. “Welcome to Pop Culture 101. … What am I doing in Healy Hall? I could be on my third pint at the Tombs.”

Becoming sympatico with the audience, Bono congratulated the crowd for re-electing President Barack Obama and was glad that all were now free from “the tyranny of negative ads.” He added, “I’d like to hear an attack ad on malaria.”

Acting as if a Hoya, Bono dumped on Syracuse and Duke universities and their mascots, “a fruit” and “the devil.” To wit, he concluded, “God is a Catholic.”

Bono pronounced AIDS the huge disease but said the “biggest is extreme poverty.” He called this fight a transformative element for the college-aged generation.

For this activist, the 21st century really began in 2011 with the protests of the Arab Spring along with the advent of mobile phones and other digital devices, saying the pyramid of power has flipped. “There are millions of levers of power,” said the rocker, who added that today is analogous to the rise of punk rock in the late 1970s taking on progressive rock. Bono then joked that the audience had never heard anyone link the Arab Spring with the punk band, the Clash.

Cuts in the budget can hurt, he cautioned: “Don’t let an economic recession become a moral recession.”

Bono focused on sub-Saharan Africa, talking about the success of Rwanda in reducing AIDS, thanks to American support. He talked about the dark side of expansion, as al Qaeda controls part of Mali, citing the three extremes of our times: poverty, climate and ideology.

As “an evidence-based activist,” Bono said the heart was not the most important aspect of action; it is justice. “You want data. I got data.” He mentioned the Asian Tigers — even the Celtic Tiger — but added the African Lion. “Aid is just a stopgap,” he said. “We need Africa to become an economic power.”

Bono said he could just imagine the headline: “Rock Star Preaches Capitalism.”

Asking the students for a drum roll, Bono paused to reveal a force of change: “Enter the nerd . . . it’s the era of the Afro nerd.” And another huge obstacle in the developing world? Corruption. But again with digital mobile activists—and websites like IPaidaBribe.com—it is becoming harder to do so without someone knowing.

Bono turned to the work on foreign aid by political and business leaders, thanking those sitting in front of him, such as House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vt., and former Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, the younger Barbara Bush (because of President George W. Bush’s substantial aid to Africa) among others, such as Irish Ambassador Michael Collins and singer Andrea Coor.

Still, in a politico mood, Bono jumped into a quite good imitation of Bill Clinton to the roars of laugher from the audience. “He’s more a rock star that I am,” Bono said.

As for the Jesuit tradition, he offered founder of the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius of Loyola, warrior and priest, as the exemplar for “the conversion of the heart” and service to others.

“That’s what I’m hoping happens here at Georgetown with you,” Bono said. “Because when you truly accept that those children in some far off place in the global village have the same value as you in God’s eyes or even in just your eyes, then your life is forever changed. You see something that you can’t un-see.”

It looks like Georgetown Business School picked a perfect keynote speaker to pump up its Global Social Enterprise Initiative, which “aims to prepare current and future leaders to make responsible management decisions that yield both economic and social value.”

Now, that is wide awake in America.