Locals in Hill East will have the opportunity to walk with D.C. officials through their neighborhood as part of an effort by the District to help residents feel safer after recent violent crime in the area.
The walk is scheduled to start at Eastern High School (1700 East Capitol St. NE) at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. It will run until 7 p.m., when police will hold a community meeting at Liberty Baptist Church (527 Kentucky Ave. SE).
ANC 6B commissioners, as well as representatives of the Metropolitan Police Department, Office of the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, Department of Behavioral Health and Department of Human Services, will participate.
The safety walk is set to come less than a month after two shootings and a stabbing in Hill East.
“Engage and get questions answered from D.C. government officials, get safety tips and facts, meet your neighbors, feel safe in your neighborhood and get your steps,” an announcement for the event says.
A yacht club along the Southwest waterfront has received permission to periodically fire a cannon after agreeing to a plan intended to address locals’ concerns about noise.
Capital Yacht Club at 660 Water St. SW can shoot its “saluting cannon” every Friday at sunset through Nov. 30 and midday on national holidays, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board ruled this week. The cannon, which will be pointed toward the 14th Street Bridge, also will go off for special functions and events, a club spokeswoman said.
After the club moved to its current location from 1000 Water St. SW last year, locals who live aboard boats in the area complained about noise from the cannon, which the organization has fired regularly since 1957.
The residents and the club in June reached an agreement to allow the cannon firing to resume, pending the approval of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. The club, which holds a liquor license, needed the support of the board to use its cannon again.
Under the board’s order, the club must “alert nearby persons in advance of the cannon firing either by the rapid ringing of a bell for a ten second duration from the CYC clubhouse, a horn or whistle blast, or by oral notification” five minutes before it uses the cannon.
Founded in 1892, the club has about 200 members.
Photo via Facebook/Capital Yacht Club
Fireworks will shoot up along the Anacostia River in Navy Yard tonight.
The “Freedom Fireworks,” which are in support of the U.S. military, are scheduled to go off near Nationals Park after the D.C. baseball team’s game against the Colorado Rockies.
The show likely will happen about 10 p.m., when the game is slated to conclude.
Residents can see the display without attending the game. But tickets can be purchased online or at the ballpark.
Photo via Flickr/Rudi Riet
Hilton, Hyatt Coming to Southwest Waterfront — Hilton and Hyatt have signed a deal to open a dual-branded hotel at The Wharf in Southwest in the fall of 2017. [DC Curbed]
H Street NE Head Shop’s Sales on Upswing — Island Dyes on the H Street Corridor has increased its sales since marijuana was legalized in the District earlier this year. [NBC Washington]
Restaurant on H Street Corridor to Hold English Class — Sally’s Middle Name on H Street NE next month will start a program intended to help restaurant workers with their English language skills. [WTOP]
Goats Get Back to Work at Congressional Cemetery — Congressional Cemetery’s popular lawn-mowing goats are back. Hill Now stopped by the Hill East cemetery to see them in action. [Hill Now]
At least three bars on Capitol Hill are set to show the first Republican debate for the 2016 presidential election tonight.
Molly Malone’s (713 8th St. SE) and Lola’s Barracks Bar & Grill (711 8th St. SE) on Barracks Row both will screen the debate with volume from 9 to 11 p.m. The bars will be extending happy hour through the end of the debate. Special deals include $6 house wines and $8 chicken wings.
Union Pub (201 Massachusetts Ave. NE) will run its happy hour from 5:30 to 11 p.m. for the debate. The bar will have $12 Bud Light pitchers, drinking games, bingo and a photo booth during its watch party.
Tonight’s debate is the first of 11 primary debates involving GOP presidential candidates. Of the 16 candidates, only 10 made the cut for the prime-time debate on Fox News.
The debate is scheduled to run from 9 to 11 p.m.
Photo via Flickr/Gage Skidmore
Breast-Feeding Lounge Opening at Nationals Park — Mothers wishing to breast-feed their babies while visiting Nationals Park now can do so. The ballpark today is set to unveil a breast-feeding lounge where moms can feed their babies in private, without missing a pitch. [Washington Post]
Digital Billboards to Show Missing Girl From D.C. General — Relisha Rudd and other missing children in the D.C. and Baltimore areas will be featured on local digital billboards as part of a campaign by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to find them. The girl disappeared from the D.C. General homeless shelter last year when she was 8 years old. [FOX 5]
Violent Crime Upswing on Capitol Hill — Police statistics show that crime in the Capitol Hill area has increased in the past month. [Capitol Hill Corner]
Car Crashes on H Street NE After Chase by U.S. Marshals, Police Say — A man was arrested yesterday after he crashed a car that U.S. marshals were chasing on H Street NE, according to authorities. [Hill Now]
Children on Capitol Hill are set to raise their voices in song this weekend in a push for D.C. statehood.
The children, and their parents, are planning to arrive on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Sunday at 10 a.m. for the performance, according to neighborhood blog The Hill Is Home.
The participants will sing a satirical version of the “50 States That Rhyme” song that was featured Sunday on HBO’s “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.” They are encouraged to print off a copy of the lyrics, said Capitol Hill resident Maria Helena Carey, who is helping organize the event.
“After seeing Last Week Tonight, a few of us parents on the Hill came together and started thinking about doing something like what happened with the sledding ban,” Carey said, referring to locals’ defiance of a congressional prohibition on sledding on the U.S. Capitol grounds.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said the television show gave the push for D.C. statehood a “priceless national platform.”
“These D.C. parents and their kids will be the first to use last Sunday’s momentum to organize and make their own pitch for D.C. statehood,” she said in a statement. “They are highlighting the many opportunities John Oliver’s gift to D.C. offers residents for the taking.”
Video via YouTube/LastWeekTonight
Locals can meet the first-ever deaf contestant on “America’s Next Top Model,” who will host a viewing party for the show on the H Street corridor tonight.
Nyle DiMarco, a 2013 graduate of Gallaudet University, will hold the gathering at Red Rocks (1348 H St. NE) at 6:30 p.m.
“It is inspiring being the first deaf participant on ANTM, knowing I am making a difference by reaching out and educating others about our deaf culture and teaching sign language to other cast members,” DiMarco said in a statement released by Gallaudet.
Created by supermodel Tyra Banks in 2003, America’s Next Top Model will start its 22nd season at 8 p.m. on The CW.
Photo via Gallaudet University
Obamas Dine at Capitol Hill-Area Eateries — Maketto on the H Street corridor and Rose’s Luxury on Barracks Row were visited by President Obama and his wife, Michelle, this week. The first lady celebrated a birthday with friends at Maketto Monday. She then joined her husband at Rose’s to celebrate his birthday Tuesday. [DCEater/The Hill]
Congressional Staffer Charged With Carrying a Gun — A congressional staffer was arrested yesterday after police said they found a loaded gun in his car near the U.S. Capitol. Marine Corps congressional fellow Peter Boby, who is assigned to the office of Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), was charged with carrying a pistol without a license, unregistered ammunition and an unregistered firearm in connection with the incident. [National Journal]
MLB Fan Cycles 9,000 Miles to Nationals Park — Nationals Park welcomed baseball fan Matt Stoltz to the Nationals game Monday as part of his 11,000-mile bicycle ride for charity. [Fox 5]
‘BeerDisneyLand’ to Open in Navy Yard This Spring — Bardo Brewpub is slated to open a new location near Nationals Park this spring, with the intention of pouring its first beers by Major League Baseball’s Opening Day. [Hill Now]
An outdoor “BeerDisneyLand” could arrive near Nationals Park with food trucks, a dog park and movie screenings by April, the business behind the forthcoming beer garden tweeted yesterday.
Bardo Brewpub‘s Bardo Riverfront is slated to open at 25 Potomac Ave. SE in time for Major League Baseball’s Opening Day, owner Bill Stewart confirmed, following a tweet about its opening.
MLB has yet to release a specific date for Opening Day. But it’s typically held in the first week of April.
Stewart said he is moving ahead with the Bardo location along the Capitol Riverfront, despite a failed Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign earlier this year. He said he obtained the $200,000 needed to fund the project from the bank instead.
Now that he has secured the money, Stewart said he is waiting for a permit from the D.C. government.
Founded in 1993 in Arlington, Bardo now only has a location on Bladensburg Road NE.
Image via Bardo Brewpub
Plans for Navy Yard Oyster Eatery Scrapped — Navy Yard Oyster Co. has backed out of its lease to open a new restaurant along the Capitol Riverfront. [Washington City Paper]
Man Arrested for Jumping Over Capitol Bicycle Rack — A man was arrested for jumping over a bicycle rack on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol yesterday. [WUSA9]
Nationals Park Architects Hired by D.C. United — D.C. United has hired Kansas City-based architecture firm Populous to design the team’s new stadium in Southwest. The architects also designed Nationals Park and Camden Yards in Baltimore. [Washington Post]
Spike in D.C. Crime Due to Staffing Shortages, Police Union Says — District officials should have seen an uptick in crime in the District, according to the D.C. Police Union. Delroy Burton, the union’s chairman, said a shortage of staff is responsible. [WTOP]
Capitol Hill Agenda is a listing of interesting events for the week ahead in the Capitol Hill area. If you’d like to see your event featured, fill out our event submission form.
For more events, be sure to check out our event calendar.
Tuesday
Metropolitan Police Department’s First District National Night Out
Folger Park (3rd and D streets SE)
Time: 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Learn about safety and meet with citizen volunteers, friends and neighbors.
Wednesday
‘Stomp the Yard’ on NoMa Summer Screen
Storey Park (1st and L streets NE)
Time: 7-10 p.m.
Watch “Stomp the Yard” al fresco as part of NoMa Summer Screen. Coolers, dogs on leashes and kids are welcome for the free screening.
Thursday
Canal Park Outdoor Movie: ‘Pitch Perfect’
Canal Park (200 M St. SE)
Time: 7-10 p.m.
Have a picnic and see “Pitch Perfect″ for free as part of the Canal Park Outdoor Movie Series.
Sunday
‘Bring Back Joy’ Trapeze Circus
Trapeze School New York – Washington DC (4th and Tingey streets SE)
Time: 6:30 p.m. (doors), 8:30 p.m. (show starts)
Experience circus action, get your face painted and eat some Nando’s Peri-Peri chicken, all while raising money for “Clowns Without Borders.”
Photo via Facebook/Trapeze School New York – Washington DC
A public charter school in Navy Yard has appointed a new leader.
Royston Maxwell Lyttle, a school administrator, is the new principal of Eagle Academy Public Charter School at Capitol Riverfront, the school announced last week. Lyttle has worked for the school since 2006.
In addition to its Capitol Riverfront campus at 1017 New Jersey Ave. SE, Eagle Academy has a location in Congress Heights. Both of the campuses serve students in preschool to third grade.
Lyttle has held positions including summer school principal, vice principal and interim principal at Eagle Academy.
He succeeds Nicole Walker, who served as principal at the Capitol Riverfront campus for two years.
Lyttle wasn’t immediately available to comment. But a news release issued by Eagle Academy said he “strongly believes that all students should be provided a high quality education and all students can learn at high rates no matter their social or economic background.”
Photo via Eagle Academy Public Charter School
The District’s ‘Streetcar Ninjas’ — D.C. has brought on streetcar expert Timothy Borchert to serve as “launch manager” for the District’s streetcar line on the H Street corridor. D.C. Transportation Director Leif Dormsjo calls Borchert and his staff “streetcar ninjas.” [Washington Post]
Driver Involved in Capitol Barricade Crash Charged — Antonio Pierorazio, 51, who crashed into the barricade near the U.S. Capitol Friday morning, has been charged with felony destruction of property and unlawful entry, U.S. Capitol Police said. [WTOP]
Waiting Outside Rose’s Luxury on Barracks Row — The Washington Post talks to people who wait hours to grab a table at Rose’s Luxury on Barracks Row. “It feels like an accomplishment,” Majia Welton, a 31-year-old health-care policy consultant, said while waiting in line. [Washington Post]
Synthetic Drug Use in District — The D.C. Fire and EMS Department reported 439 overdose cases involving synthetic drugs in June and 149 of them in July. [DCist]
Massachusetts Avenue NW near I-395 will be off limits to car drivers for several hours this weekend due to construction work on the Capitol Crossing development.
Numerous partial and full street closures are scheduled for Massachusetts Avenue and H Street NW between 2nd and 4th streets for the duration of August, including this weekend, according to the D.C. Department of Transportation. The construction will bring:
- Full street closures on Massachusetts Avenue between 2nd and 4th streets from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
- Full street closures on Massachusetts Avenue between 2nd and 4th streets, and H Street between Massachusetts Avenue and 4th Street, on Mondays and Tuesdays from 7 p.m. to midnight.
- Occasional weekday single and double-lane closures on Massachusetts Avenue and H Street from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Any other closures in the area this month will be announced as they occur, DDOT spokeswoman Michelle Phipps-Evans said.
DDOT and Property Group Partners are working on the installation of a high-voltage electric line, as part of the Capitol Crossing development over I-395.
The development’s first building at 200 Massachusetts Ave. is expected to be finished in 2017. Construction on Capitol Crossing’s four other buildings is slated to conclude in 2019.
Photo via Google Maps
