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Georgetowner • April 17, 2014

Georgetown Park retail space is getting an upgrade with three new additions this month, including shoe retailer DSW, the shop-in-shop Bhldn and a new Department of Motor Vehicles service center.

DSW opened this morning in Georgetown Park at the entrance near Washington Sports Center. The 22,000-square-foot space offers discount shoes, accessories, and handbags for Georgetown shoppers to enjoy. The store will be open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 8pm and Sunday from 12pm to 6pm.

Bhldn, Anthropology’s sister brand, is opening their shop-in-shop within Anthropology tomorrow. Bhldn (pronounced “beholden”) is a bridal boutique focused on vintage inspired gowns and accessories. The shop-in-shop will have their wedding dresses to choose from as well as reception gowns, bridesmaid dresses, and accessories. The store will be open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and noon to 7 p.m., Sunday.

While a ribbon-cutting with Mayor Vincent Gray is scheduled Monday, April 14, the DMV service center is slated to open April 29 at the Georgetown Park space. The center will share an entrance on M Street across from Dean & DeLuca with Washington Sports Club and DSW, but will actually be on the floor below. The new DMV comes just over two years after they shut own the previous Georgetown DMV center in 2013. “There will now be a D.C. DMV service center in every quadrant of the city,” said Vanessa Newton, DMV public affairs specialist.

Georgetown Park, originally an indoor mall, is now focused on retail space on the street.

Paulina Phelps •

With the beautiful weather and cherry blossoms in full bloom, it is easy to forget that “Potholepalooza” season is here.

For those unfamiliar, “Potholepalooza” is a month of the year, when the District Department of Transportation is totally dedicated to reporting and restoring potholes. While this is helpful and beneficial as it makes the road much more vehicle-friendly, it also infamously creates traffic jams and delays.

Due to the weather conditions, the start of “Potholepalooza, “which in past years begins at the end of March, was announced April 9. “The unusually cold winter coupled with the snow and temperature fluctuations have all taken a toll on our roads,” said Mayor Vincent Gray in a press release.

It has already been a very productive year for DDOT. The department has patched more than 9,000 potholes this winter alone — with crews patching up more than twice as many potholes this January and February as they did last year. DDOT has decided to step up its game in other ways as well. For instance, it added more patching crews and increased the goal for fixing potholes from 72 hours to 48 hours.

During “Potholepalooza,” Washingtonians are encouraged to report potholes to get in touch with the city through a number of avenues. For instance, one could call 311, tweet @DDOTDC, or email potholepalooza@dc.gov.

For more information, such as a map of the potholes that are closed, open, and pending is found on this website: [http://gis.ddot.dc.gov/potholeapp/](http://gis.ddot.dc.gov/potholeapp/)

Robert Devaney •

Mayor Vincent Gray and other D.C. officials cut the ribbon April 14 for the soon-to-reopen Georgetown service office of the Department of Motor Vehicles after its nearly two-year absence. As it was previously, the office is located in the Georgetown Park retail complex at 3222 M St., NW. Entry for the DMV center is the one at the western M Street entrance of the retail complex for DSW and Washington Sports Club.

The Georgetown DMV will open for business April 29: hours are 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. The new 12,000-square-foot space has 150 seats and is twice the area as the old center; it is on the lower level. On average, the Georgetown DMV has handled 500 persons per day; the new center will be able to handle at least 600 per day.

Speaking at the morning press conference were Gray, council members Jack Evans of Ward 2 (where the DMV office is located) Mary Cheh and advisory neighborhood commissioner Bill Starrels — along with Brian Hanlon, director of the D.C. Department of General Services, and Lucinda Babers, DMV director — and representatives of landlord Vornado Realty Trust and contractor Davis Construction.

Babers said she was grateful for all the teamwork to make the DMV office return to Georgetown after its May 2012 closing. Declaring it “a beautiful at the DMV,” Babers said, “It takes a village.” Meanwhile, she noted DMV workers were undergoing employee training.

Also coming are new requirements for DMV-issued identification cards. There are already newly designed driver IDs. On Oct. 1, updated federal IDs will be required for entry into federal buildings — a particularly acute need for those who work and live in D.C. The REAL ID Act will require revalidation of all driver’s licenses in the years ahead. By April 1, 2016, old IDs regardless of expiration date will not be acknowledged for air travel by the Transportation Security Adminstration.

DMV will notify those whose IDs will become obsolete, Babers said, and assign appointment times to come into the DMV center to revalidate. Baber said DMV has issued 541,000 driver or non-driver IDs.

Nicole Cusick •

On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in the District of Columbia. This act marked an important moment in American history, preceding Lincoln’s more famous Emancipation Proclamation, and is celebrated in D.C. with citywide events.

During the Civil War, D.C. was a common place of escape for slaves running from the slave states of the South. There was a lot of pressure on the president to abolish slavery in the city. In 1862, with the help of Henry Wilson of Massachusetts, Lincoln signed the D.C. Compensated Emancipation Act, a unique law by Congress that abolished slavery in the District and allowed compensation to the former owners.

The black community of the city organized a parade to celebrate the anniversary in 1866. After an absence of 100 years, the parade returned in the 21st Century as part of an annual tradition – and a heightened awareness by citizens of this important step in the march of freedom. Several additional events around April 16 have come along since then.
The D.C. Emancipation Day Parade will run 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday, April 16, along Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, between Third Street and 13th Streets. The parade will feature public officials, government agencies, community organizations, D.C. schools, the military, churches and universities. Since 2005, April 16 has been an official public holiday in the District of Columbia; local government offices will be closed.

At 3 p.m., Wednesday, there will be a free concert near the end of the parade location on 13th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. The concert will include performances by Talib Kweli, Dough E. Fresh, DJ Kool, J Ivy, and D.C.’s own Black Alley Band. There will be vendors with food and drinks to add to the celebration.

To end the day of celebration on a more contemplative note, go the Walter Pierce Park on Calvert Street, NW, at the Duke Ellington Bridge. There will be a luminaire to honor the 8,428 African Americans who are buried in the park.

For more information on Emancipation Day events and the history of the holiday, visit: http://emancipation.dc.gov/

Photos below are from The Emancipation Day Panel; Celebrity Town Hall Discussion at the Lincoln Theatre, April 13.

Centric, a BET Network, the Office of Cable Television, the office of District Council member Vincent Orange and Howard University’s WHUT partner to present the Emancipation Day Panel, a town hall-style discussion focused on important topics affecting youth and the African-American community. Topics involved education, employment, closures of hospitals and healthcare facilities, anti-violence, prison reform and other social issues. Moderated by TV host, reporter and producer Robyn Murphy, the event’s panelists included actress and recording artist Toni Blackman, hip hop artist MC Hammer, Public Enemy’s Chuck D, social and political correspondent Michael Skolnik, president of Russell Simmon’s GlobalGrind.com, and recording artist Monie Love, founder of the Ladies First Women’s Empowerment Organization. The town hall will air as a one-hour television special, complemented with highlights from all official D.C. Emancipation Day celebrations, for future broadcast on CentricTV and WHUT Television.
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Robert Devaney •

The Hyde-Addison Elementary School at 3219 O St., NW, has revised plans to expand its school and play areas, as it presents designs before community reviews groups like the Georgetown Advisory Neighborhood Commission.

The addition of a third building – with a playground on top – on the O Street side of the school property will house a cafeteria, gymnasium and extra classrooms, leading to an additional 25,000 square feet. The new building would be partly underground. While another plan adds a section to the back of Addison School, most favored is the O Street building with its greater use of light and smart connection to the old school. Hyde’s School Improvement Team expressed its frustration with approval delays for the start of construction at the overcrowded and popular school.

At the March 31 ANC meeting, commissioners approved the O Street concept. The Old Georgetown Board will look again at the concept.

During the March 31 ANC meeting, other decisions included:

• While the ANC supports 150 new apartments at the old Latham Hotel, 3000 M St., NW, it disapproved of the facade’s designs, especially the reconstruction of the retail building in front of the hotel.

• Concerning condos planned by EastBanc at 3601-3607 M St., NW, the ANC disliked the stark boxy look and also wanted the developer to lower rooftop fixtures. It asked that the stability of the hillside property of Prospect Street homeowners above be checked out.

•The ANC wants the D.C. Department of Public Works to work out a better way of picking up old trash cans when new trash and recycling containers are given out during the summer.

• Flexi-Pave material that overlies tree box space on crowded sidewalks along the commercial corridor of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street was approved. The special plastic protects the trees’ roots, while allowing water to penetrate and flow through the dirt to roots.

Gary Tischler •

Musically, the guy known as Keb’ Mo’ (a street variation on his given name of Kevin Moore) can do a lot of things. Whether it’s smooth or fast-paced rhythm and blues, funk, jazz, folk and even a little bit of country, here and there, he loves to collaborate with other musicians, notably jazz players or country legend Vince Gill and the great Bonnie Raitt.

But when you get down to it—and he can get down to it—Keb’ Mo’ is a blues man, pure but probably not so simple.

In a way, he’s keeping the tradition alive. The blues (and southern gospel) are the wellspring of rock-and-roll and American pop, rock and all that jazz as well as the songs and poetry of southern African Americans. He is a link to the Delta Blues of Lightning Hopkins, Robert Johnson, the Reverend Blind Gary Davis, Sonny Terry and others, but he’s also a blues man in the contemporary vein.

“I tried to do something different every now and then,” said the Los Angeles-born star in a phone interview. “But you know, people know you for who you are, and they don’t want you to stray too far.”

While he has a string of hit albums—his latest, coming out this month. “BLUESamericana” features songs and music played to good effect in the juicy stews of live performance. To that end, Keb’ Mo’ is playing again at the Music Center at Strathmore at 8:30 p.m., April 3. Perhaps not the hotbed of down and low, low down blues, but there it is.

“People—everybody—respond to the songs,” he says. “It’s about real life. It’s modern blues, but it’s like the old blues, been-down-so -ong songs, people getting love, or sex, or love, losing it, trying to survive, get down with some joy in the music. Today, life is a little different, and I write my songs to be about today. The music, that comes from everywhere, from all the greats, but the songs, they’re mine.”

His voice is direct and smooth. Accessible, it speaks right to the heart and soul, and feet, as the blues are wont to do.

“Yeah, sure, I like to play with other people,” he said. “That Bonnie Raitt, man, she can play. She is one bad-ass player. I can hardly keep up with her.” That’s not exactly true, although Raitt has a high-power way about her on stage, and her playing is what he says it is. “And country music, it’s like regular blues. It’s about drinking, lying, cheating, love, heartache, that kind of thing—you got those guys that could really sing that.”

“Oh, yeah, I had some thoughts about being a rock star, you know that kind of life,” he said. He comes from Compton, Calif., a city in Los Angeles County. “That kind of thing … you know it took me a while to get everything straight, and forget about that. “ One of his musical mentors was a guy named Papa John Creach, who played with Jefferson Airplane, one of the premier rock bands from the San Francisco Bay area.

The really personal and original stuff in his music comes from his own life. He has even written songs for a children’s album, called “Big Wide Grin.” He appeared in 2001, on Sesame Street with the whole gang—Kermit the Frog, Grover, Elmo— all singing “Everybody Be Yo’self.”

Keb’ Mo’ no longer lives in L.A. He and his wife moved to Franklin, Tenn., where they’re raising a six-year-old son named Carter. “That kid is a trip, let me tell you,” he said. “It’s an experience, you know, to be with a little kid. Everything’s new. They got all that energy.”

This is a blues man decidedly in the real world, doing his part: he’s part of the No Nukes group, for which he recorded his own version of the Buffalo Springfield song, “For What It’s Worth.”

He says “BLUESamericana” is a new phase for him. It’s different from his last album, which included India Arie, Vince Gill and Marcus Miller. If the last album, “The Reflection,” sounds personal, it is with a personality touched by the blues, for all the things that matter: “Do It Right,” “For Better or Worse”, “The Worst Is Yet To Come”, “Somebody Hurt You, “The Old Me Better”, and “I’m Gonna Be Your Man.”

He remains a traveling man. His tour stops at New York City; Victoria, Canada; Evanston, Ill.; Middletown, Ohio; Grants Pass, Oreg., Saratoga, N.Y.; Minneapolis, Minn., among many other places.

But home is in the back of his mind and where he came from, as he sings in a song about his bringing up in L.A. — “There’s More Than One Way Home”: “Daddy came around every once in a while/but momma, she was there all the time/and summertime in Compton was not like TV/but we were right there where we needed to be.”
He says he was influenced by Taj Mahal from the 1970s: “He was doing things his way and that’s what you do”—but he, too, has found that there is more than one way home. “My audience, it’s a little bit of everybody—older people, blues people, black and white, young people. Sometimes, I think I’m the oldest guy in the building.”

Maybe yes; maybe no. Keb’ Mo’ sure doesn’t play or sing like the oldest anything when it the blues.

Paulina Phelps •

Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced April 3 that the weeklong search for missing eight-year-old Relisha Rudd in Kenilworth Park in Northeast Washington, D.C., has ended.

“We came here expecting the worst, a grave site,” Lanier said. “We’re relieved that we did not find that . . . We’re always hopeful. Children are found years after they disappear.”

While the search was unsuccessful in finding Rudd or evidence of what might have happened to her, it did result in the discovery of the body of Rudd’s suspected abductor, Kahlil Malik Tatum. The search of the 700-acre park has been exceptionally thorough with police looking through trash bins, digging large holes and using flashlights to look into storm drains.

The search for Rudd has been described as a recovery operation, but many people disagree. For instance, although the search in Kenilworth Park has come to a close, different conclusions have been posited by other organizations investigating the case. The most recent speculation was by a National Missing Persons Organization called the Black and Missing Foundation. This organization believes Rudd’s disappearance is the result of a human trafficking network. WUSA 9 News reported that co-founder of the organization Derrica Wilson said, “I’m pulling at everything in me and there’s nothing in my gut that tells me we’re in a recovery operation. I feel that we’re searching for a live person.”

Wilson co-founded the Black and Missing Foundation with her sister Natalie Wilson to raise awareness and efforts in locating missing persons of color, a segment of the population far overlooked. For instance, according to the foundation in the last year more than 200,000 persons of color were reported missing. Compared to other cases, Relisha’s serves as an exception as it has gotten a great deal of media coverage, which many people believe is because she is so young.

“This case has really rocked me to the core,” Derrica Wilson told WUSA-9 News. “I personally feel that this little girl was sold. I think her mother sold her to Tatum and I think Tatum has sold her in this worldwide industry of trafficking.”

Wilson says that she believes the investigation needs to expand far beyond D.C. and incorporate more than just police. “She could be anywhere and we need to help find her,” Natalie Wilson said. “We would like the public to get involved. Again, somebody knows something.”

Georgetowner •

Holocaust Survivor to Present Memoir

March 27th, 2014 at 10:00 AM

Holocaust survivor and author Margot Friedlander will visit the German School Washington, D.C., to read from the new English translation of her memoir,”Try to Make Your Life,” the 2009 winner of Germany’s Einhard Prize for an outstanding autobiographical work. The reading will be followed by a discussion with students.

Address

German School Washington D.C.; 8617 Chateau Dr.; Potomac, MD 20854

Future Is Here Festival

March 27th, 2014 at 10:00 AM | Event Website

A fun weekend full of events open to the public feature Actor George Takei, NASA’s Mars Rover Engineer Adam Steltzner, Cosmologist Brian Greene and other visionaries and experts. Also featuring advance screening of X-MEN: Days of Future Past.

Address

See website for more information on location.

Twentythirtysomething Book Club (T.T.B.C.) with the Georgetown Neighborhood Library

March 27th, 2014 at 07:30 PM | Free | Erika.Rydberg@dc.gov | Tel: 202-727-0232 | Event Website

Are you a local D.C. reader between the ages of 21 and 35? Looking for a more casual book club experience? Then, join the Georgetown Neighborhood Library for Twentythirtysomething Book Club (T.T.B.C.), a new book group for younger adults.
In our first selection, “The Love Song of Jonny Valentine,” author Teddy Wayne (McSweeney’s, The New Yorker) tackles fame and the music industry with the story of Jonny Valentine, a preteen pop superstar already in the midst of his first professional transition.

Address

Gypsy Sally’s Vinyl Lounge; 3401 K St. NW

Open Reception: Interactions: Rodgers Naylor

March 28th, 2014 at 06:00 PM | FREE | gallery@callowayart.com | Tel: 202-965-4601 | Event Website

Interactions, by Rodgers Naylor, on view from March 28 through April 26. In these recent works, Naylor explores the capacity of paintings to express or imply a human story, while keeping his strong focus on the abstract arrangement of light and dark shapes in a composition.

Address

Susan Calloway Fine Arts, 1643 Wisconsin Ave., NW

Taste of the Nation DC

March 31st, 2014 at 07:00 PM | $120-$225 | areddy@strength.org | Tel: 202-734-3536 | Event Website

Tickets are now on sale for Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation® Washington, DC. This year’s event will be held March 31, from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m, at the National Building Museum. The highly anticipated annual tasting event, which supports Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry® campaign to end childhood hunger in America, will feature the District’s top chefs, sommeliers and mixologists united for a cause: making sure all children in this nation have the healthy food they need, every day.

Address

National Building Museum; 401 F Street NW

2014 “For the Love of Sight” Visionary Awards Dinner

April 1st, 2014 at 06:00 PM | $1000.00 | Dinabeau@aol.com | Tel: (202) 530-4672

The Foundation Fighting Blindness will hold the 12th Annual “For the Love of Sight” Visionary Awards Dinner on Tuesday, April 1, 2016 at the Ritz-Carlton on 22nd and M Streets in downtown Washington, DC. There will be a 6:00 pm reception and 7:00 pm dinner and awards program.

Address

Ritz-Carlton, Washington, DC

Craig Gildner Trio at Twins Tuesdays Jazz Appreciation Month

April 1st, 2014 at 08:00 PM | $10 | Event Website

The Craig Gildner Trio brings the unique and full sound of a big band with the combination of stride piano filling out the bass (reminiscent of the styles of Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller), chordal and harmony lines as in a big band, a reed player who knows how to swing with fire and compassion, and a drummer with extensive knowledge of Gene Krupa’s style and a vintage calfskin drum set.

Address

Twins Jazz Club; 1344 U St. NW

Georgetowner •

Fashion For Paws Online Fundraiser, “I will match your contribution! ”

April 3rd, 2014 at 10:00 AM | Event Website

Today begins a 2-day Challenge: Robin Waugh will match donations (up to $5,000) made over the course of the next two days. Fashion for Paws is a nationally acclaimed, one-of-a-kind luxury brand event to benefit the Washington Humane Society. Please help us make a difference in our community by sponsoring Robin Waugh in the Fashion for Paws® 8th Annual Runway Show. Please visit http://support.washhumane.org/goto/RobinWaugh, then click on either of the bright pink buttons to make a contribution.

Address

All over DC.

7th Annual Penn Quarter on the Block: Cocktail Party and Auction Benefiting StreetWise Partners

April 3rd, 2014 at 06:00 PM | $30 in advance; $40 at the door | savannah@streetwisepartners.org | Tel: 646-705-0028 | Event Website

StreetWise Partners is partnering with Weschler’s Auction House to host an evening of cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and silent and live auctions. 100 percent of the proceeds raised will support our signature Career Ventures program– a unique 3-month program that delivers high-impact 2:1 mentoring and professional development services to motivated low-income individuals in the DC area.

Address

Weschler’s Auction House; 909 E Street NW

JT3 Art Short Film Happy Hour

April 4th, 2014 at 06:00 PM | $20-$35 | dtrigg614@gmail.com | Tel: 6098656451 | Event Website

Enjoy short films created by JT3 Art grant recipients, 1 complimentary glass of wine, and appetizers! We will also screen the top 6-second films submitted by young filmmakers ages 16-24 and guests will vote on their favorite. This event benefits the JT3 Art grant program, which provides unrestricted grants to aspiring filmmakers ages 18-34.

Address

City Club of Washington; 555 13th Street, NW

The Pimps of Joytime

April 4th, 2014 at 09:00 PM | $15 | info@gypsysallys.com | Tel: (202) 333 – 7700 | Event Website

Pimps of Joytime’s infectious “Janxta Funk” connects audiences with the funky side of Brooklyn live on the dance floor. Critics from NPR to BBC Radio have come to love their eclectic musicality, and the group is currently on tour with a brand new single and new album to be released later this year.

Address

3401 K St NW, Washington, DC 20007

26th Annual Potomac River Clean-Up

April 5th, 2014 at 09:00 AM | volunteers@accokeek.org

This is a great volunteering opportunity for families, service-learning students, as well as Boy/Girl Scout and corporate groups. Trash bags and gloves will be provided; please wear sturdy shoes and clothing appropriate for slippery and wet conditions. All volunteers should check in at the Visitor Center before being directed to a cleanup spot on-site.

Address

3400 Bryan Point; Accokeek, Maryland 20607

GNP’s “Scandal Tours”

April 5th, 2014 at 01:00 PM | $30 | Event Website

Gross National Product, the comedy group that created the “Scandal Tour” is celebrating its 26th year and pushes the satirical pedal to the metal with the latest Scandals, including but not limited to: Ready for Hillary, Secret Service counter assault team “blackout” incident in Amsterstam, Gov. Bob McDonald, Chris Christie and continues with the Obama, IRS, AP, and a special appearance of some “Putinmania” as we Crim-ea a river, as we roll out a new stop at the Russian Embassy.

Address

Old Post Office Pavillon; 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Contemplative Yoga in Nature

April 6th, 2014 at 09:30 AM | Suggested $20 cash donation (40% of the proceeds goes to Oatlands) | dtsumuki@aol.com | Tel: Aimee Eddington at 703-777-3174 | Event Website

Experience the restorative power of classic yoga in nature’s exquisite beauty!

Contemplative Yoga will focus on the essence of Yoga: the complete practice of the Eight-Fold Path in order that we may be more fully awake and engaged in our everyday lives.

Bring yoga mat, water, walking shoes and any props that are helpful to you.

Offered every first Sunday of the month at 9:30am

This specially designed, all accessible Contemplative Yoga practice will take place in the beautiful circa 1810 greenhouse at Oatlands in the winter months. In warm weather, the class is held in the breathtaking garden, or the historic Carriage House in case of rain.

Address

20850 Oatlands Plantation Lane; Leesburg, VA 20175

Choral EvenSong

April 6th, 2014 at 05:00 PM | Free | Tel: 202-333-6677

Christ Church of Georgetown continues its Choral Evensong series with the music of Philip Radcliffe, Healey Willan, and Christoph Willibald von Gluck. Sung by the professional Choir of Christ Church, this series is free and open to the public as a gift to the community.

Address

31st and O Streets, N.W

Constellation Dinner

April 7th, 2014 at 07:00 PM | $ 175.00 | thegrillroom.dc@capellahotels.com | Tel: 202-617-2424 | Event Website](http://www.thegrillroomdc.com/)

The Constellation Dinner offers the opportunity to learn about the amazing world of astronomy as part of a continuing change of exclusive experiences & perks curated specially for Capella’s guests & Washington, D.C. locals. The evening includes a 3-course dinner & wine pairing in The Grill Room’s private dining room, complimentary use of superb telescope and equipment further enhancing the viewing experience, dessert, and hot beverages on the rooftop.

Address

The Grill Room at Capella Washington DC; 1050 31st Street NW