Potential Crime Does Pay
• February 10, 2016

In an effort to reduce crime, the D.C. Council unanimously approved a new program to pay up to 200 people a year to not commit crimes. Based on a Richmond, California, program, the District would potentially pay the at-risk residents up to $9,000 per year. The program would cost $4.9 million over four years to implement, according to the District’s independent chief financial officer.

Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, who wrote the legislation, said in a letter to constituents, “I want to prevent violent crime — particularly gun violence — by addressing the root causes and creating opportunities for people, particularly those individuals who are at the highest risk of offending.”

Sound Off on Airport Noise
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The Citizens Association of Georgetown and the DC Fair Skies Coalition — which was formed last summer to address aircraft noise and challenge new departure routes in court — have participated in roundtable discussions with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the Federal Aviation Administration and other area representatives regarding the move of departure routes from Reagan National to the east side of the Potomac River, creating what they consider to be unacceptable noise levels in Georgetown. The FAA has agreed to study moving the routes closer to the west side of the river, but evaluating environmental and safety issues will take 18 to 24 months.

If you would like to comment on disruptions caused by airplane noise, you may file a complaint with the MWAA at bit.ly/DCAnoise or go to cagtown.org/dcfairskies for more information.

‘Black Georgetown Remembered’ Celebration Moves to Gaston Hall
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A Feb. 24 event celebrating the 25th anniversary edition of “Black Georgetown Remembered,” a book that “chronicles and celebrates the rich but little-known history of the Georgetown black community from the colonial period to the present,” is moving to a larger space — Georgetown University’s Gaston Hall — to accommodate more attendees. Existing tickets will be honored. Reservations may be made by calling 202-687-9298.

The 7 p.m. event will be moderated by Georgetown University’s Maurice Jackson, with a panel including authors Kathleen Menzie Lesko and Valerie Babb, as well as Vernon H. Ricks, Jr., Monica Roaché, Neville Waters III and others. The book draws on “primary sources, including oral interviews with past and current residents and extensive research in church and historical society archives … [the book records] the hopes, dreams, disappointments, and successes of a vibrant neighborhood as it persevered through slavery and segregation, war and peace, prosperity and depression.”

Hyde-Addison Students on the Move
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With construction set to begin in June on a new addition and playground area at Hyde-Addison Elementary School, involving the relocation of a four-foot sewer and storm pipe, students of Hyde-Addison Elementary School will probably spend the next two school years elsewhere. The students may be placed in a different school, such as Hardy Middle School, or in temporary trailers on Ellington Field at 38th and R Street NW.

According to parents, the D.C. Department of General Services originally said that students would not need to be relocated. However, the word in December was that it was likely. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Jeffrey Jones, who will be meeting with officials to get more information, said, “Nothing is set is stone yet, other than that we’re going to get the building built.” The start of construction was moved from March to June to avoid disrupting the current school year.

Out of Control Party at Airbnb Spot
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A Jan. 30 party that rapidly expanded from about 20 people to 150 at a small Airbnb rental property on Georgetown’s Cherry Hill Lane was shut down by police after a neighbor reported it. The crowd, which neighbor Dean Maxwell said he “characterized as a flash mob” to police, grew from 20 to 60 people in an hour before he called the police around midnight. By the time a police officer responded, approximately 25 minutes later, there were about 150 people, he said. According to Maxwell, the responding officer, who called for backup as soon as he saw the size of the party, said, “I’ve never seen anything like this in Georgetown.”

“I don’t want to racially profile the situation, but it was an entirely black guest list,” said Maxwell. “They were nicely dressed. They weren’t hooligans looking for hooligan activity,” he added. According to Maxwell, when the crowd saw the police car they took off running down the hill toward the Potomac, but stopped and turned around when a fight broke out. That was about the time six or seven additional police cars arrived, cordoned off the street and dispersed the party, he said, noting that there were “broken bottles — peach schnapps everywhere — the next day.” No arrests were made, as no laws were found to be broken, one of the officers told him.

C&O Canal Becomes a Winter Wonderland
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The hushed quiet of the snow-laden Chesapeake & Ohio Canal and towpath is evident from the 31st Street bridge. After the snow melts and spring arrives, work will begin fixing the locks of the canal, parts of which need major repairs. Plans call for a new canal barge, as the decrepit one lies benched nearby, awaiting its disposal.

The canal’s construction began in 1828, and this year it celebrates its 45th anniversary as part of the National Park System. This Georgetown treasure awaits — and desperately needs — more restoration work. It’s hard to believe that a 1950 government proposal advanced the idea of making it a parkway from Georgetown to Cumberland, Maryland.

News and Town Topics
• August 17, 2015

Georgetown Theater Sign Returns July 28; Neon to Be Lighted Sept. 23

A block of Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown will soon be getting its mojo back, according to architect Robert Bell. And, by mojo, we mean the iconic vertical sign — now being refitted to be relighted — which hung for years on the front facade of what was the Georgetown Theater.

Bell bought the old theater property in October 2013 and is renovating the building at 1351 Wisconsin Ave. NW for retail and residential space. The theater’s neon sign, which used to show the illuminated word, “GEORGETOWN,” was hauled away Sept. 16, 2014, to be refurbished at Jack Stone Signs, which originally manufactured it in 1950.
“The target date for rehanging the sign is July 28, high noon,” Bell told The Georgetowner. “The target for turning the neon sign back on is the autumnal equinox, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m. I hope to have the new front doors and windows complete and hopefully the canopy for the lighting.”

“The building itself should have all the exterior complete, including the brick garden wall in back in August,” Bell continued. “All of the windows, which are solid mahogany, have been delivered. So, all is moving ahead full speed.”
Bell, and his rejuvenation of the old Georgetown Theater, was the subject of a Jan. 15, 2014, Georgetowner cover story.

EastBanc Condo Plan for Penn. & M Gets Mixed Reviews

Developer EastBanc presented its designs for a five-story, red-brick boxy building at Pennsylvania Avenue and M Street at the monthly meeting of the Georgetown-Burleith Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E June 29. Near 28th Street, the site provides an eastern gateway to Georgetown.

Plans call for a 70-seat ground-floor restaurant, eight 2,000-square-foot rental apartments and roof top space. The near-triangle of land sits next to Rock Creek Park and across from the Four Seasons Hotel. It currently holds a Valero gas station and auto repair garage.

According to EastBanc, construction could begin by next summer on the property, which it bought for $4 million in March.
While the commission approved demolishing the gas station and welcomed a reinvention and reuse of the property, several balked at the designs, perceived as boxy, bland and blocking open space.

Commissioner Jeff Jones, who summed up the feelings of some in the commission and in the neighborhood, told meeting attendees and EastBanc presenters of the planned construction: “I feel like this is an opportunity. It’s a blank space. I like authenticity in Georgetown as far as all the different types of architecture that we have. I’m OK with a modern building here. This is almost pedestrian-like.”

“We struggled a lot with the building,” EastBanc’s Anthony Lanier said. “It’s a building that grows on you over time. … It’s a very difficult building to understand, and it’s a very difficult site to build on.”

Victoria Rixey, who spoke for the Citizens Association of Georgetown at the meeting, gave the design faint praise: “We feel that this building speaks to the architecture of the West End. This is sort of a ’60s style where you have the concrete slabs with the brick infill, and we feel it belongs better in that neighborhood.”

Besides aesthetic criticisms, EastBanc has more hurdles for the 7,400-square-foot property at 2715 Pennsylvania Ave., NW. (It contracted with well-known Portugese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura for the design.

The Old Georgetown Board reviewed EastBanc’s demolition request and design concept July 2. In September, the D.C. Zoning Commission will designate the property’s category, which stills calls for at least three parking spaces. Also, there is a 50-foot height limit for the structure.

Bowser Signs Synthetic Drug Act into Law

Joined by police officers, D.C. administrators, local politicians 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 offense. 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.

Georgetown University’s Track and Field Team Under Investigation for Alleged Misconduct

After facing an investigation earlier this year over racial bias, the Georgetown University track program is being probed about allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

A day after a blog post titled, “Georgetown Track Exposed,” appeared online July 16, providing information about sexual misconduct on the men’s track team, Georgetown University released a statement acknowledging a probe into such activities that started in April 2015. In addition, the university’s communications office wrote that the university has met with every member of the team to review school policy and the allegations. The university also closed the men’s track locker room, where some of the misconduct was said to have occurred.

The university’s statement did not bring light to the activities that led to the investigation, though it did note that the sexual misconduct investigation is “separate from a review regarding allegations of racial bias within the track program being conducted by the Georgetown University Office of Institutional Diversity Equity and Affirmative Action, which began in late March following a report of racial bias.” That investigation stems from runner Stefanie Kurgatt’s claims that track program coaches conspired to kick her off the team.

The “Georgetown Track Exposed” blog post, on the other hand, provided more detail on why the team is under investigation for sexual misconduct. The anonymous blogger wrote, “During conversation concerning discrimination [with the university], issues of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the MEN’s LOCKER ROOM were brought up.” The writer goes on to describe a video the men’s team produced as a trailer for its annual “Hoya Snaxa Awards” that included long distance runners performing “overtly sexual activities between each other.” The awards, emails posted by the anonymous blogger show, were given out for things like “Hottest Mom,” “Best Drunken Performance,” among with other crude superlatives.

The author says that the video previewing the awards “prompted the university to open an additional Title IX investigation based on violations of the Georgetown University’s Code of Sexual Conduct.” In addition, the blogger says the university immediately took the video, which was released “through Georgetown University email accounts,” down.
Neither investigation has concluded.

Citizens Association Concert with the Walkaways

The final concert of the summer for the Citizens Association of Georgetown’s Concerts in the Park series featured the alt-country band, the Walkaways, in Rose Park on July 12. Some neighbors brought picnics or enjoyed the Rocklands and Surfside food trucks — and free Haagen Dazs ice cream and Sprinkles cupcakes. Everyone enjoyed the music, young and old, including Frida Burling.

Join the Mayor on the Ward 2 Walk July 25

Mayor Muriel Bowser will join the Ward 2 Walk on Saturday, July 25, 9 a.m., part of the FitDC Billion Steps Challenge.
FitDC is a new, fresh health and wellness initiative conceived by Mayor Bowser to encourage all District of Columbia residents from Ward 1 to Ward 8 to get out, move more and adopt a healthier, more active lifestyle.

There are lots of resources and programs in D.C. that help empower residents to improve their health and wellness. The program offers encouragement and support to help achieve [gallery ids="102147,133068,133060,133073" nav="thumbs"]

Cherie Cannon: Memorial at Christ Church June 29
• July 16, 2015

Well-known Georgetowner Cherie Dawson Cannon died May 28 at her Q Street home.

“If you lived in Georgetown during the past 40 years you may have had the good fortune to know Cherie Cannon,” according to former Georgetowner writer Grace Bateman. “Cherie and her husband Jim lived in the tall wide house at the corner of 34th and Q Streets, N.W. Since Jim’s death in 2011, Cherie lived there alone, keeping track of village life from her kitchen window overlooking Volta park. The tree box outside Cherie’s door mirrored her cheerful personality. Instead of English ivy or boxwood, Cherie grew zinnias and marigolds, and there was usually a volunteer tomato plant or two.”

Cherie Dawson Cannon was born in Annapolis and lived for a time in New York, where Jim served as an aide to Governor Nelson Rockefeller. The Cannons moved to Georgetown in 1975 so that Jim could work as an advisor to Vice president Gerald Ford. Cherie and Jim had two sons and two grandchildren of their own, and they were honorary grandparents to neighborhood children. Cherie was active in the community, serving as executive director of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E in the late 1980s, and as a volunteer at Oak Hill Cemetery and at Christ Episcopal Church. For a time, she managed the Christ Church thrift shop.

“Cherie Cannon was a Georgetowner who cared about her community,” former Georgetowner publisher David Roffman writes. “She volunteered her services to Virginia Luce Allen’s Georgetown Senior Center untiringly. She was always present at CAG meetings and ANC meetings, often offering her opinion on local matters. She once volunteered to clean up the office of The Georgetowner but threw up her arms and said, ‘It’s like a trainwreck in the offices.’ Everyone who knew her felt she was someone special.”

A memorial service is planned for Monday, June 29, at 11 a.m. at Christ Church, 3116 O St. NW. Cannon was predeceased by her husband, James M. Cannon III, and is survived by sons James M. Cannon IV of Silver Spring, Maryland, and Scott D. Cannon of Arlington, Virginia, and two grandchildren, Dawson G. Cannon and Elizabeth Elena Cannon. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to “Women of Christ Church” in memory of Cherie Cannon.

A Daughter’s Love Story: the Legacy of Carol Stuart Watson
• June 22, 2015

“The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Carol Stuart Watson, the Nation’s Capital Illustrator” was the name of Marjorie Young’s lecture about her mother, Carol Stuart Watson, at the Georgetown Public Library June 13.

For the Georgetowner — which recently marked its 60th anniversary — Young was telling a story close to its heart and its beginning in 1954, when her mother Carol Stuart, an artist, editor and writer, helped founding publisher Ami Stewart create the look of the iconic newspaper for the oldest neighborhood in Washington, D.C.

“To say my mother had a lifelong love affair with Georgetown and its colonial neighbors would be an understatement,” Young said. She arrived at Georgetown Hospital on August 14, 1931, the eldest of seven children born to Dr. Leander Scales Stuart and Henrietta Christine Kreh Stuart.

By 1954, Stuart was at the brand-new Georgetowner Newspaper. “Those days at the Georgetowner, my mother told me, were the happiest time in her life,” Young said.

In 1960, Carol and David Watson founded Carriage Trade Publications, which was located under the Whitehurst Expressway next to the old coal power plant.

“They befriended and did business with the owners of many of the finest shops and restaurants in Georgetown and across the region,” Young recalled. “Mom used her considerable talents to teach their many customers how to build comprehensive brand image campaigns. She had a terrific influence on the visual brand language of the entire area. She designed the shapes, colors, materials, finishes, typography and composition which directly and subliminally communicated the personality of the District.”

For Young, her June trip was an emotional return to Washington after so many years. She could see and feel her mother’s writing in Georgetown, she said.

The Georgetowner still possesses copies of the Federalist-antique-style map of Georgetown that is seen in homes around town. It was drawn by Carol Stuart Watson, who with her husband papered the city with maps, posters, dining guides, calendars and Christmas cards. She drew the first images of the pandas for the National Zoo. She illustrated children’s books, drew murals in building lobbies and worked at Johns Hopkins’s Applied Physics Laboratory. Watson died of lung cancer in 1986.

“I think one of the most remarkable things about my mother is that she accomplished all of this by age 54,” Young said. “She accumulated a long list of achievements in her short time on this earth, and she left an indelible imprint on her beloved community, that rippled out across the District and throughout the nation. … I’ll always think of her as a loving wife and the most incredible mother, but I’ll also remember mom as a prolific artist, a superb photographer and as a person who simply appreciated beauty in everything: music, flowers, nature, family. Mom was as sensitive as any lens in a camera.” [gallery ids="102120,133783" nav="thumbs"]

Lauralyn Lee Thanked by Georgetown
• June 18, 2015

Georgetown University bid farewell to Lauralyn Lee, its associate vice president for community engagement and strategic initiatives, June 4 with a reception at historic Riggs Library. Well-wishers presented her with a plaque that holds a brick from the Georgetown neighborhood and a brick from Healy Hall, connected by a rope: “for bringing together Georgetown University and the Georgetown Community — forever tied together as one!”

At Georgetown for 13 years, Lee worked on the recent campus plan that resolved many issues and created the Georgetown Community partnership, a standing group of university administrators, students, community leaders and residents. But Lee won’t be going too far away. She is continuing her work as consultant and remains in town.