Upperville Colt & Horse Show
• June 13, 2011

Click Here for Live Footage of The Upperville Colt and Horse Show!

In the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Fauquier County, Va., lies a historical piece of American equestrian history. The Upperville Colt and Horse Show is America’s oldest horse show dating back to 1853, and a classic event for all Del-Mar-Vas to attend each June. The week-long equestrian event provides an array of English events such as side saddle, children’s hunters and jumping. Sunday was the main event: The Upperville Jumper Classic sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Manuel Johnson.

The green grass was scattered with groups of women in flamboyant hats and men in bowties mingling in and out of the Boxholders’ Tent. They were treated to a banquet buffet, bartenders and a Maker’s Mark adorned with Jack Russell Terrier puppies. Tables covered with light pink and purple peonies, green hydrangeas and white roses gathered spectators to chat about social life and the day’s events.

The riders jumped, the crowd cheered, all while the sun shined. In the end, Kaitlin Campbell and Rocky W took home the honors as Champions of the Upperville Jumper Classic. Just as Campbell was handed her blue ribbon, the rain poured down. Huddled under the Boxholders’ Tent, spectators took some extra time to enjoy the wine and company surrounding them. The dark sheet of water pouring down did not stop anyone from having a delightful time. A special guest, the 2011 Westminster Kennel Club Best in Show Champion, the Scottish Deerhound, was a popular friend that kept many smiling during the intense downpour.

Overall, the horse show was a success; no spectator let the rain wash their good time away.

Jack Evans Report
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Redistricting is a difficult job and this year has been no exception. I want to acknowledge the efforts of my fellow subcommittee members, Councilmembers Michael Brown and Phil Mendelson, as well as the other members of the Council who participated in the process. Most of all, I want to thank the residents who reached out to us by phone and email, as well as by testifying at our three public hearings and speaking at the many community meetings we attended.

The 2011 Census reported the District’s overall population to be 601,723 people. When divided equally among the eight Wards, this results in an average population of 75,215 residents per Ward. Federal law allows a deviation in Ward population of plus or minus 5 percent, which gave us a range of 71,455 – 78,976 residents within which to work. The District’s population increased by 29,664, or 5.2 percent, between 2000 and 2010. It is worth noting that this increase nearly returns the District to its 1990 census population of 606,900 people.

The 2010 Census showed that compared to 2000, Wards 1 through 7 gained population, while Ward 8 lost 215 residents, or 0.3 percent of its population. After the 2010 Census, we learned that Ward 2 exceeded the allowable population range by 939 people, while Ward 7 was below the allowable minimum by 386 residents and Ward 8 was below by 742. All the other Wards remained within the required population range.

The Subcommittee on Redistricting released an initial draft redistricting plan last week and followed that with an additional subcommittee hearing, our third since the process began, which lasted until after 1:00am. In response to this hearing, we were able to issue a revised plan that accommodated a number of the concerns raised. Most notably for Ward 2, we were able to reunite the Penn Quarter neighborhood while also further reuniting the Shaw neighborhood in Ward 6 and restoring the “chimney” toward the northeast corner of Shaw that had been slated to return to Ward 5, which was originally an attempt to reunite a census tract.

The most significant change in the revised plan was to keep many residents of the eastern part of Capitol Hill in Ward 6, pursuant their wishes. The full Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of the revised plan at first reading, with a 12-1 vote, which speaks to the fact that we did the best we could on the subcommittee in balancing competing interests as we redrew the Ward boundaries. A final vote on the Ward redistricting will take place on June 21.

The final step in redistricting is to review the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) and Single Member District (SMD) boundary lines, which we will begin after the second vote on the redistricting plan. Please contact my office if you would like to be involved in the Ward 2 task force or wish to weigh in on any potential changes – I welcome your input.

GU Housing Plan Sparks Controversy as Debates Continue
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The D.C. Zoning Commission will hold its fifth meeting tonight to continue discussions over the 2011-2020 Georgetown University Campus Plan with hearings from locals both for and against the proposal.

Because Georgetown University enrollment grew by 40 percent in the last ten years, the plan seeks to make room for the campus’ growing number of undergraduate students by developing a 15,000 student enrollment cap and adding 250 beds to on-campus housing.

However, the last Thursday’s meeting was bombarded with public protest against the plan. Dissenters said insufficient on-campus housing forces students to move into and alter surrounding neighborhoods.

At last Thursdays’ meeting, the Citizens Association of Georgetown testified against the proposal, saying it violates D.C. zoning laws, which state “The university shall be located so that it is not likely to become objectionable to the neighboring property because of noise, traffic, number of students, or other objectionable conditions.”

The CAG believes large student populations in the area cause problems for the neighborhood by bothering residents and scaring off potential businesses and investors. CAG president Jennifer Altemus showed the board a video presentation to further prove CAG’s point depicting young people outside bars in Georgetown apparently drunk, yelling and fighting.

The Burleith Citizens Association is also taking issue with the campus plan. The BCU believes university provided on-campus housing and housing incentives would better serve students and the surrounding community.

The University is standing firm behind the proposal which has been in the works for over two years.
“The Campus Plan was created with rigorous care with over two years of planning,” said Jack DeGioia, president of Georgetown University, in his testimony at the initial proposal meeting. “The goal is to reaffirm Georgetown’s commitment to partnership. The 2011-2020 Campus Plan is a modest and responsible plan for the university’s future with substantial commitments that respond to community and city concerns.”

Garrett’s Restaurant & Railroad Tavern Shuts It’s Doors
• June 10, 2011

When Garrett’s Restaurant and Railroad Tavern shut its doors for the last time on Monday, it was not simply another restaurant closing but rather the loss of a popular community hangout loved and frequented by locals, students, employees and tourists since 1979.

Garrett’s has been noted for its casual, chill atmosphere, and the restaurant’s weekly game nights and holiday events have attracted neighborhood regulars.

Nick Hardt, a longtime employee at Garrett’s, said he would miss the camaraderie and personality of the restaurant.

“Everyone knows your name, and it’s one of those places that’s been here awhile and it’s just fun,” said Hardt. “It was a gathering place for the neighborhood.”

Staff and friends gathered at the Town Tavern in Adams Morgan to commemorate the end of an era and relive old memories. For the restaurant employees, the parting is sad but amicable.

Hardt believes the restaurant closing reflects an ongoing change in the Georgetown area and a shift in the social scene as rent increases and bigger businesses move in. He hopes to see Garrett’s reopen, but thinks it unlikely that it would reopen in Georgetown.

As for the restaurant’s old haunt? “Hopefully it’s not another Starbucks,” said Hardt.
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Camberely Homes Unveiled
• June 8, 2011

“The Centennial Collection employs state-of-the-art construction methods and energy-saving features to provide a high performance home that ultimately can save homeowners money and reduces their impact on the environment. By exceeding the International Energy Conservation Code, we believe the Camberley Centennial Collection delivers a luxury home at the leading edge of the home building trend that satisfies the needs of today’s increasingly environmentally conscious consumer.”
– Alan Shapiro, president of Winchester Homes.

Awareness for energy efficiency is rapidly growing. Taking action, Montgomery County sets a precedent by executing a law disclosing energy expenses to new homeowners. Raising the bar to “go green,” Montgomery County showcases it’s benefits on May 9th, 2011 with Camberely Homes’ most cutting edge home design.

In Popular Run’s community of Silver Spring, Maryland,Camberely Homes, a luxury home building division of Winchester Homes, will have revealed the first Building America/Builders Challenge home. Built in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the home is found as a new success,balanced with science and art as it exceeds more than 40 percent of energy efficiency and Winchester Homes’ consumers’ Your Home. Your Way™standards.

The innovative models, named as the Centennial Collection, showcases the U.S. Department of Energy’s effort to push forth for more affordable, environmental friendly homes while encompassing the exact style of its prospective homeowner.

A computer energy model called Residential Energy Service Network (RESNET) Home Energy Rating System (HERS) indexed less than 60 versus compared to the 100 found in a standard home, hence the 40 percent plus savings in energy. While these numbers provide credible statistics, the architectural floor plans construct a design to avoid futile space and more artistic appeal.

Camberley Homes, a winner of the Gala Award Winner for Best Architecture and Design in 2010, welcomes you to be in awe of its Centennial Collection. It’s new, fresh, innovative achievement opens doors for home building pioneers and wilder dream homes.
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National Memorial Day Parade photo gallery
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The National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, DC is a flag-waving event with patriotic marches and floats. The Parade is sponsored by the World War II Veterans Committee and is an annual tradition of remembrance for those who have died serving our country. Click on one of the photos below to begin the slideshow. To see additional images in hi res, Click Here. (all photos by Jeff Malet)
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The Memorial Days of Our Day
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I imagine that every Memorial Day, especially here in Washington, where we live in the same moonlight and sunshine that falls on Arlington National Cemetery, is the same.

The President comes to say the right things, to lay wreaths, to honor our soldiers. There is a parade, there are speeches, and the Rolling Thunder roars into town. Grizzled Viet Nam vets come again to the memorial wall, tattooed, their wives and families with them, and still hold their breaths at the sight of a familiar name among the 55,000 engraved in the marble.

You can imagine this happening in towns small and large, any town worthy of a city hall and a statue, all over America. This memorializing, this home stand before the long hot summer, accompanied by furling flags, salutes, picnics, noisy cars and furniture sales. These are the customs of our land.

And we are at war, our soldiers in harm’s way, as they put it. The harm now is from roadside bombs, suicide bombers, rifle and mortar fire, the random explosions of fire from across the way.

And since 1983 or so, every Memorial Day is a little different, the picnic smoke, the music of taps, the memories of other years, because the list of the fallen grows every day.

In a commendable service, The Washington Post began an occasional section called “Faces of the Fallen,” which lists the soldiers with their pictures and particulars, and it always runs on Memorial Day. And so the day is different, as the war in Iraq rolls on and continues to do so. These faces are immediate, not terribly long gone, fallen not on the wayside but in places they never imagined to be growing up.

They have military faces in the way military photographs and IDs are taken, dogtags with eyes and ears and a stare. They are from all over, representative of the way we are now, so much more diverse than before, with many Hispanic names among the dead, and the faces and names of women, too.

Looking at the faces, the clichés gurgle up like water in a desert, a kind of relief. To name them is to create an echo: Senft and Locht and Pape, and Ortiz and Holder and Gassen and Harris, Middleton and Buenagua, Ramsey and Robinson, Flannery and Chihuahua, Carver and Carroll, Luff and Finch Lancaster and Cruz and Crouse, Simonetta and Villacis Gandy and Jones.

And to friends, they are Jason and James, Kelly and Ethan, Chad and Austin, Devon and Ardenjoseph, Austin and Buddy, Sean and Amy and Omar and Conrado.

And they come from places that in some other life we all imagined living in America, from Conway, NC, from Marina, CA, from Hutto, TX, from Hagerstown, MD, from Redwood City, from West Palm Beach, from Pittsburgh, from Princeton, from Tell City Indiana, from Derry New Hampshire and Akron Ohio.

And they died, were “killed while conducting combat operations,” from makeshift bombs at the hands of suicide bombers and other service-related causes.

And they are the reason why all the Memorial Days of our day are different.

Information and names are taken from the Washington Post’s “Faces of the Fallen” section, which ran on Memorial Day, May 30, 2011.

Weekend Round Up May 26, 2011
• June 2, 2011

Free Summer Saturdays at the Corcoran starts this weekend

May 28th, 2011 at 10:00 AM | Free on Saturdays! | Event Website
Join the Corcoran Gallery of Art and College of Art + Design for FREE Summer Saturdays – back by popular demand! This summer, from Memorial Day through Labor Day weekend, enjoy free admission to the Gallery, including special exhibitions Chris Martin: Painting Big and Washington Color and Light. Enjoy special programs, Gallery tours, workshops, demonstrations, and performances for all ages.

Kicking off the first Free Summer Saturday this Saturday, May 28 at 2 p.m. is Body, a free performance by interdisciplinary artist ChajanadenHarder, who invites residents in all eight wards of D.C. to respond to the questions: “What do you most desire?” and “What have you lost?” by writing their answers on eight life-size body casts, which are then both performed and collapsed. Come see for yourself all summer!
Address
500 17th Street NW, Washington, DC, 20006

National Sporting Library &Museum Book Fair

Saturday, May 28, 2011, 10 am – 5 pm, the Library will host the NSLM Book Fair. Six authors are scheduled to talk for 20 minutes then sign books, beginning at 11:00. The authors are: Rita Mae Brown, Kate Chenery Tweedy and LeeanneLadin, Tim Rice, Bill Woods, and Norman Fine. Booksellers will be on hand and the authors’ books will be available for purchase. Check www.nsl.org for details in early May.

Address
The National Sporting Library and Museum
102 The Plains Road
P.O. Box 1335
Middleburg, Virginia 20118-1335
Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m

Memorial Day Concert

May 29th, 2011 at 05:00 PM | $15 Free for Students | Tel: 202.244.7191 | Event Website
The National Men’s Chorus, with Thomas Beveridge, artistic director, and Paul Skevington on organ, offers our ever-popular Memorial Day concert honoring the brave men and women who served in the American military. This annual event is a day or remembrance and gratitude for our freedom and liberty. Hear the rich tones of an all-male chorus singing America’s favorite patriotic songs, accompanied by organ, brass, and percussion. Stand and be honored as the chorus sings the song of the military branch in which you or a loved one served. Saint Luke Parish, 7001 Georgetown Pike, McLean VA. Tickets $15, students free. 202.244.7191 www.nationalmenschorus.org
Address
Saint Luke Parish
7001 Georgetown Pike
McLean VA.

Free Memorial Day Weekend Events at the Navy Memorial

May 30th, 2011 at 10:00 AM | Free and open to the public | tkiland@navymemorial.org | Tel: (202) 380-0718 | Event Website
Memorial Day Weekend Events featuring Rolling Thunder, a performance by the Rock Band Fourmanchu, commemorative wreathlayings and a traditional Navajo dance
Address
United States Navy Memorial
Naval Heritage Center
701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20004

Find more event on our Calendar

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses US Congress (photo gallery)
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses US Congress on Tuesday, May 24, 2011. During the address, Netanyahu reaffirmed the close ties between the U.S. and Israel and once again rejected any suggestion of redrawing Israel’s borders with a future Palestinian state along 1967 lines.
To see additional images in hi res, Click Here. (all photos by Jeff Malet)
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Farewell Free Sightseeing
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As the cradle of U.S. politics, the whole of DC is biding its time and bracing itself for the imminent government shutdown. Although there’s still a chance to avoid the freeze, the odds are slim that Congress will be able to reach a consensus on the allocation of the 2011 federal budget before Friday’s midnight deadline. While it’s clear that a shutdown is looming around the corner, in these days of fractured parties it’s still uncertain how long it would last and how exactly it would affect the lives of DC residents.

Most noticeably, DC’s trash collection, street sweeping services, libraries and the DMV would close. Museums such as the different branches of the Smithsonian Institution along the Mall and the National Zoo would also shut down. Luckily, the animals in the zoo would continue to be cared for, fed and guarded during the shutdown, and private museums such as the Newseum would remain open.

It is currently unsure whether or not the National Cherry Blossom Festival would continue – festival organizers are trying to come up with a plan that will allow the events, such as Saturday’s parade, to take place as planned. Without federal funding, however, the festival must support its own cost of operations.

Because this shutdown is happening during tax season, it will have a larger impact on the IRS than shutdowns have in the past. The IRS will run on minimum staff for the duration of the suspension, meaning that tax returns filed online would be filled but those sent via snail-mail would remain unopened for an indefinite period of time. This does not mean, however, that you can file your taxes late without getting fined – they’re still due April 18.

Money and services from Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the Veteran’s Administration would be given out to those who were receiving assistance before the shutdown. Because of trimmed-back staff, however, new requests to these programs could go unanswered and become backlogged until the governmental hiatus is lifted. A backlog of federal loans could also occur. The Federal Housing Administration stated that federal home loan guarantees would be withheld and it is likely that requests for federals student loans would be postponed as well. Federal funding for unemployment programs could be stopped, leaving state governments to continue providing support for the unemployed on their own. Similarly, the shutdown could delay grants for research and police training.

The police forces that have already been trained would, however, continue to perform their duties as will jail systems and the court system although some cases, such as those concerning child support or bankruptcy, may be stalled. Agencies that protect homeland security such as the U.S. Coast Guard and security guards at airports would also continue their work, although many of their workers would have to go unpaid. Individuals trying to get new passports would also be affected, as they would have to wait until the shutdown ended to register for one.

Government websites that aren’t “essential” wouldn’t be updated, possibly because government workers in “unnecessary” positions would get an unexpected vacation as they wouldn’t have to go to work during the shutdown. They also, unfortunately, wouldn’t get paid for the duration of time that the hiatus lasts. After the 1995 shutdown these workers were reimbursed, but it’s still unclear whether or not that would happen at this time.

Some things, however, would remain the same. Public schools, for instance, would continue all of their services including providing lunches for students. NASA would continue to prepare for the April 29 launch of Endeavour, the military would continue to perform its duties unfazed and the U.S. Postal Service, true to form, would carry on delivering the mail.