It took most of the week, but the snow is (almost) cleared in the Capitol Hill area just in time for the weekend. The snow that’s left over may melt over the weekend, with sunny weather and mid-50s temperatures expected.
The warm weather could make this weekend a perfect chance to make up for time spent hiding inside from the storm last weekend. Here’s everything you need to know to make the most of the weekend in the Capitol Hill area:
Events
Restaurant Week
Multiple Locations
Friday-Wed. Feb. 3
Winter Restaurant Week continues through the weekend with more than 200 eateries throughout the D.C. area offering special fixed-price menus, offering multi-course lunches for $22 and dinners for $35.
The Escape Artist Album Release Party
Rock and Roll Hotel (1353 H St. NE)
Friday 8 p.m.
Local band The Escape Artist will celebrate the release of its new album Constellations with a concert Friday night at Rock and Roll Hotel. Other D.C. bands Drop Electric, Caustic Cassanova and Boon will also play.
The City of Conversation
Arena Stage (1101 6th St. SW)
Friday and Saturday 8 p.m.; Sunday 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
The Arena Stage debuts a new recent Off-Broadway hit “The City of Conversation” about a Georgetown hostess who opens her home to political elite but clashes with her son’s conservative wife. Tickets are available online.
Winter Fun Day
Southwest Library (900 Wesley Pl. SW)
Saturday 3 p.m.
Children and families are invited to enjoy winter-themed stories and activities at the Southwest Library. The Van Ness Elementary PTO will also hold a play date at the party for students, family, faculty and staff to meet.
Kids’ Night Out at Labyrinth
Labyrinth Games & Puzzles (645 Pennsylvania Ave. SE)
Saturday 5-9 p.m.
Parents can free up a date night by registering their kids age 7-10 for Labyrinth’s kids’ night. The event, complete with games, puzzles and pizza runs from 5-9 p.m. and costs $40 per child. Parents can register online.
Ice Yards
The Yards (355 Water St. SE)
Saturday 2-6 p.m.
Ice Yards, which was snowed out last weekend, brings ski chalet vibes to the District with boozy snow cones, a frosty beer garden, live music and ice sculptures. Tickets are for sale online.
Trash Collection
Trash collectors with the District Department of Public Works will spend the weekend collecting trash and recycling from homes along their regular Thursday and Friday routes that they missed during the week. If your trash/recycling is usually collected on Thursday or Friday but was not collected this week, leave cans out through the weekend. Regularly scheduled collection will resume on Monday.
Metrorail
Weekend repairs will begin on all six Metro lines at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
- Orange, Blue, Yellow and Green line trains will run every 20 minutes
- Red Line trains will run between Shady Grove and Silver Spring every 18 minutes, between Farragut North and Silver Spring every 10 minutes and between Silver Spring and Glenmont every 24 minutes
- Silver Line trainswill run every 10 minutes between Wiehle-Reston East and Ballston only
Federal Parks on Capitol Hill Remain Unshoveled — Capitol Hill residents and Ward 6 Councilman Charles Allen called on the National Park Service to shovel sidewalks in and around parks owned by the federal agency around Capitol Hill, many of which remain covered in snow. [Hill Rag]
All Metrobus Routes Running, Trash Pickup to Resume — The Capitol Hill area is slowly returning to normal after last weekend’s blizzard. Metro announced that all bus lines will run today, though some will experience detours. Trash collection will also resume. Those who usually have Thursday or Friday trash/recycling collection should leave cans out over the weekend, as the District Department of Public Works will be attempting to make all collections. On Monday, normally scheduled trash and recycling collection resumes. [Washington Post, D.C. DPW]
Photos: Snow Piles Up at RFK Parking Lot — WTOP has pictures from RFK Stadium’s parking lot 7, where snow plows and trucks are dumping snow from around the district, with snow reaching up to 20 feet high in some areas. [WTOP]
Developer Submits Plans for Mixed-Use Buildings Near Stadium-Armory Metro Station — Donatelli Development last week submitted its plans to redevelop a parking lot near the Stadium-Armory Metro station into two mixed-use buildings. [Washington Business Journal]
Hill East Resident Documents Years of Change on His Block — Hill East resident John Cochran shared photos he’s taken over the past five years which document recent changes to the area around 15th Street SE and Pennsylvania Avenue SE. [The Hill Is Home]
Photo via Twitter/ CharlesAllenW6
(Updated at 10:35 a.m.) Metro to Offer Limited, Free Service Today — Metrorail opened this morning at 7 a.m. with limited service. Trains on the Red, Orange and Green lines are running every 20-25 minutes. At 11 a.m., Metro will extend service on all three lines to include some above-ground service:
- Orange Line is running between Ballston and New Carrollton
- Red Line will run between Medical Center and Glenmont
- Green Line will run between Fort Totten and Branch Avenue
Some Metro bus lines will also operate between noon and 5 p.m. today. Buses on the following routed will operate in D.C.: 32, 33, 36, 53, 70, 90, A6, A8, S4, U8, V4, X2. [WMATA]
Despite School Closures, Eastern High School and Jefferson Middle School Will Serve Breakfast, Lunch Today — D.C. Public Schools and charter schools are closed today as the District works to clear snow-covered roads, but schools throughout the District, including Eastern High School at 1700 East Capitol St. NE and Jefferson Middle School Academy at 801 7th St. SW, will still serve breakfast and lunch for students and their families today. D.C. Public Schools is asking for volunteers to help put together meals between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. [WTOP]
Water Main Break Causes Overnight Water Outages on Capitol Hill — Houses near the intersection of A and 6th streets SE lost water for most of last night as DC Water repaired a broken water main near the intersection. [DC Water]
Trash Collection Cancelled for Monday, Tuesday — The District Department of Public Works announced that it will not be able to complete trash pickup today or tomorrow and is currently assessing its ability to collect trash for the rest of the week.
As more than 850,000 locals leave the D.C.-area this Labor Day weekend, residents who stay behind can look forward to a free concert at the U.S. Capitol and their last chance to go swimming before all the Capitol Hill-area public pools close for the season.
The National Symphony Orchestra will play its annual free Labor Day concert on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on Sunday at 8 p.m. The concert will feature classic patriotic tunes, some Aaron Copland classics and several other well-known songs.
On the eastern side of the Hill, the Rosedale Pool at 1701 Gales St. NE, the last pool open in the Capitol Hill area, will be open all weekend and close for the season at 6 p.m. Monday.
Here is some other information for the holiday weekend:
- City Services: D.C. and federal government offices will be closed Monday. Trash and recycling collection will be pushed back one day for the whole week. There will be no street sweeping on Monday, but the schedule for the rest of the week will not change. Parking meters and restrictions only will be enforced in the neighborhoods surrounding Nationals Park and along the H Street NE streetcar route.
- Roads: All roads will be open throughout the weekend, as construction-related projects are ordered to take place off of streets until Tuesday.
- Riding Metro: On Monday, Metro trains and buses will operate on Sunday schedules, with scheduled work on the Red, Orange, Silver and Blue lines.
Photo via Kennedy-Center.org
Smokers will soon have fewer excuses for throwing their cigarette butts on the ground.
The Capitol Hill Business Improvement District plans to install special containers to collect butts near bars and restaurants on Pennsylvania Avenue SE and along Barracks Row. Next month, the 300 block of Pennsylvania Ave. SE and the 700 block of 8th Street SE will each have two of the receptacles, known as Ashguards.
The fire-safe metal containers, which each cost about $260, hold hundreds of cigarettes in their one-gallon tanks. To buy the Ashguards, the BID is using a $2,500 grant from the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program of Keep America Beautiful, a nonprofit organization that fights for cleaner cities. After the BID purchases the receptacles, any remaining grant money will go toward a public service announcement that discourages cigarette littering.
“It just seemed like those units would make the most sense because they target high-smoking areas,” BID spokeswoman Kelly Maslar said.
The BID will canvass the blocks set to get the Ashguards and count every cigarette butt on the ground. Then, they’ll count again this summer to see if cigarette litter has dropped.
The BID has received six previous grants for the outdoor ashtrays since 2009. The organization previously used grant money to install ash tray lids on garbage cans near the Potomac Avenue Metro station. The number of cigarette butts littering the area decreased by 38 percent last year after the lids had been in place for three months, the BID estimated.
“We could definitely continue to grow the program,” Maslar said.
Anacostia Riverkeeper, a group that works to protect the waterway, also received a Cigarette Litter Prevention Program grant this year. But it wasn’t immediately clear how the organization based in Navy Yard will use the money.
A representative of Anacostia Riverkeeper wasn’t immediately available to comment.
Photo via Glasdon Inc.
Small Plates Bistro Opening on H Street NE — A seasonal vegetable-oriented restaurant called Sally’s Middle Name will replace Pizza Parts & Service at 1320 H St. NE. Its name is a joke about how the owner has a middle name but his sister doesn’t. [Washington City Paper]
D.C. Apologizes for Delayed Trash Pickup — After trash and recycling in some areas has sat outside for weeks, crews will work through the weekend to catch up, the Bowser administration announced. Hazardous conditions in unplowed alleys delayed pickup. “Our crews are going all hands on deck and will work through the weekend to ensure that all trash is picked up in the next 72 hours,” a statement from the city said.
No Metro Fare Hikes for Now — Metro officials announced they have put on hold a plan to raise fares and substantially cut service. [Metro]
Taylor Gourmet and Chop’t to Open Near Nationals Park? — JDLand hears that the two fast-casual restaurants will open locations on 1st Street SE between M and N. [JDLand]
Staff Announcement — Hill Now has a new reporter: Andrew Ramonas. He comes to us from The National Law Journal and previously worked for Mainjustice.com. Originally from Illinois, he has lived in the D.C. area since 2005 and is a George Washington University alum. You can follow him at @andrewramonas. Welcome, Andrew!
