Capitol Hill-area residents are set to have the opportunity to chill out in a “fantastical glacial sea” with an undersea bridge and ice chute for free next week, according to the National Building Museum.
The Ward 6 day for the NBM’s “Icebergs” exhibit is scheduled for Tuesday from 9-11 a.m, according to the museum’s website. To get in without paying, Ward 6 residents must bring identification cards that show their zip codes.
The installation at 401 F St. NW will open to the general public at 10 a.m. But if they’re not members of the museum, they’ll have to pay between $13 and $16.
Firehook Bakery and Daikaya also will have snacks, including Japanese “kakigori” shaved ice.
The museum adds on it website:
ICEBERGS is built from re-usable construction materials, such as scaffolding and polycarbonate paneling, a material commonly used in building greenhouses. The 20′ high “water line” allows panoramic views from high above the ocean surface and down below among the towering bergs. The tallest “bergy bit,” at 56′, reaches to the third story balcony of the Museum. ICEBERGS occupies a total area of 12,540 square feet.
Photo via Facebook/National Building Museum
July is Parks and Recreation Month, and the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) wants to celebrate the occasion with a day of sports, games and activities.
DPR plans to host its Second Annual Rec Day at Randall Recreation Center (South Capitol and I streets SW) on Saturday, July 23 at 11 a.m.
The free event will have “fun activities, entertainment and food,” according to a press release.
DPR Director of Communications Gwendolyn Crump said she expects a larger turnout for this month’s rec day in comparison to last year. “We have more activities and more partners,” Crump added.
This year’s activities include basketball, kickball, softball, tennis, a water slide and an obstacle course, according to an event flyer.
The event isn’t just limited to sports. Attendees can also play Playstation 4 games, participate in arts and crafts and watch fashion shows. For young children, the event will include face painting, storytelling and a tricycle relay.
Councilmember Charles Allen of Ward 6 is set to host a community meeting tonight to discuss the future of the proposed homeless shelter in Southwest.
The D.C. Council voted in May to build the facility at 850 Delaware Ave. SW as part of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s plan to shut down the aging D.C. General shelter. Allen is planning to talk about the next steps for the project and how locals can get engaged, according to his website.
The mayor’s Homeward D.C. team, which includes the departments of Human Services and General Services, also is slated to answer questions at the meeting.
The gathering is scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m at the Friendship Baptist Church (900 Delaware Ave. SW).
Three at-large candidates for the D.C. Council are set to square off in a debate on Capitol Hill next week.
At-Large Councilman Vincent Orange, David Garber and Robert White are scheduled to participate in the Ward 6 DC Democratic Primary Debate at Tyler Elementary School (1001 G St. SE) next Thursday, June 2. The event starts at 6:30 p.m.
Washington Informer publisher Denise Rolark-Barnes and NBC Washington reporter Mark Segraves are slated to moderate the debate, hosted by the Ward 6 Democrats.
The D.C. Democratic primary is June 14.
Image via Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization
Ward 6 businesses, organizations and individuals will be in the spotlight on Monday for the annual Brickie Awards hosted by Councilman Charles Allen.
The Brickie Awards were started eight years ago as a way to recognize the people and places that contribute most to the Capitol Hill area community. The awards will be presented at a ceremony Monday 6-8 p.m. in the North Hall of Eastern Market.
Awards will be given in five categories:
- Neighbor Award
- Community Organization Award
- Business Award
- Public Service Award
- Civic Pride Award
The ceremony is free and open to the public and about two dozen local businesses are sponsoring the event with food and drinks. Nominees for the awards were collected from community members over the past two months, with more than 100 nominations sent in.
“We were very happy with the interest that our process generated and Councilmember Allen read through every nomination, which was more than 100,” Allen’s Chief of Staff Laura Marks said. “We have some really fantastic recipients for Monday who really add a lot to the community and are going to be earning some well-deserved recognition.”
Councilman Charles Allen of Ward 6 and Commander Jeff Brown of the Metropolitan Police Department’s First District will take questions from locals in Hill East tomorrow morning.
Allen and Brown are coming together from 8 to 9:30 a.m. to chat with residents as part of the councilman’s monthly community office hours at Curbside Cafe. Residents are free to raise any issues they may have about Hill East and other Ward 6 neighborhoods.
The eatery at 257 15th St. SE is on the same block where a boy was shot earlier this month. Brown’s district includes the area, as well as most of the Capitol Hill area.
RSVPs can be made online, but walk-ins are welcome.
Photo via Facebook/Charles Allen
Most people only fly the flag with 50 stars on Flag Day, but some Capitol Hill residents chose to show their D.C. pride by putting their three-star flags on display.
Neighbors United for D.C. Statehood held a Twitter photo contest on Flag Day to celebrate civic pride and rally the statehood movement. Organizers announced the winners yesterday via Twitter.
Contest winners from Capitol Hill are:
- Ward 6: Best Ward (Most Photo Submissions)
- Capital Rowing Club: Best Citizen Group Shot
- Lyndsey Medsker: Best Citizen Shot for Artistic Expression
Neighbors United for D.C. Statehood is a grassroots advocacy group dedicated to achieving statehood for the District.
“Our goal is to one day celebrate Flag Day by hoisting a 51 star U.S. flag that includes the District of Columbia as a full in equal member as one of the United States of America,” Neighbors United advocate Josh Burch says on the organization’s site.
Recently, Councilman Charles Allen of Ward 6 proposed legislation that would allow anyone to purchase a D.C. flag that was used at the Wilson Building. The flag would come with a certificate of authenticity and a request to make a donation to the D.C. Statehood Delegation Fund.
“Flags are symbols,” Allen said. “The D.C. flag, to me, symbolizes pride in the place I live and also the injustice that is a lack of representation.”
Photo via Twitter.com/CRCRowDC
(Updated at 12:05 p.m.) Departing Ward 6 City Councilman Tommy Wells will be director of the District Department of the Environment, Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser announced this morning (Friday).
Bowser praised the “livable, walkable” brand of her former campaign rival, and his role in instituting the plastic bag fee.
“He’s been focused on how we can green our city and make our city sustainable for his entire time on the Council,” Bowser said. “He’s going to help us clean up the Anacostia.”
Wells, who is the first agency director Bowser has appointed, said he was ready for the challenge of making the District more environmentally friendly.
“As someone who keeps an canoe on the Anacostia River, I could not be more thrilled to have this role in the nation’s capital,” he said.
Wells noted that he will be the first former D.C. Council member to serve in the cabinet of a mayor.
“That’s what states do all the time,” he said to applause.
In other Council news, committee assignments have been made, according to Washington Post reporter Aaron C. Davis. Ward 6 Councilman-elect will sit on the Education, Transportation and the Environment, and Business, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs committees. Elissa Silverman, a Hill resident and at-large Councilwoman-elect was assigned to the Finance and Revenue, Housing and Community Development and Business, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs committees.
The announcement was made inside 400 E St. SW, where a new fire station, Hyatt Place hotel and retail are being built now. The LEED Silver building is set to open in fall 2015, officials said.
(Updated at 8:55 a.m. Wednesday) Democrat Charles Allen has declared victory in the race to represent Capitol Hill in City Council.
He told supporters at his results viewing party at the 8th Street SE bar Molly Malone’s that he was honored to replace Ward 6 City Councilman Tommy Wells, for whom he was chief of staff.
“I am humbled and challenged to step into this job,” he said to cheers on the bar’s packed second floor.
A final count of all precincts showed a landslide win for Allen. He commanded 81 percent of votes, Board of Elections data shows.
Libertarian candidate Pranav Badhwar won 10 percent of votes.
Allen said he would defend the city against Congress.
“We have some incredibly hostile neighbors down on Pennsylvania Avenue,” he said. “We’re going to have to do a lot of work … But we’re not going to let some congressman from Texas determine what we do in D.C.”
Allen ran on promises to reform city schools, create affordable housing and increase government accountability.
In other Ward 6 results, Joe Weedon was elected D.C. State Board of Education member for Ward 6. He won 45.5 percent of votes. Mark Naydan received 26 percent.
We asked candidates for the Ward 6 City Council seat to tell in 750 words or less why Hill residents should vote for them tomorrow (Tuesday).
Here is Democratic candidate Charles Allen’s unedited response:
Having served my Ward 6 neighbors in a variety of roles over the last decade, I am ready and excited to take on the challenge of representing your interests as the next Ward 6 member of the DC Council.
People choose to call Ward 6 home because our neighborhoods are an extension of our living rooms – with great schools we can walk to, parks to gather in, and local businesses that know us by name. These serve as anchors for our community and we must ensure that all residents see this vision realized.
But Ward 6 is more than a sum of its great places. The true spirit of Ward 6 lies with its people. Each person adds to the strength and diversity of our neighborhoods and I want to make sure that Ward 6 is a place we can always call home. For those like myself with young families, this means bringing great schools to all corners of the Ward. We’ve seen a transformation in our neighborhood elementary schools and I will bring the same energy and urgency to improve our middle and high school choices. For others, this means fighting for affordable family-based housing, and ensuring that we can successfully age in our homes. For everyone, this means a safe neighborhood with small businesses that support our lives. These will be my priorities.
Ward 6 has a great story to tell, but we also have new challenges to face. I’m a problem solver and reformer by nature, and I’m excited to take on this next role. I know I can bring people together to find common sense solutions because I’ve done it before – whether as Chief of Staff for our Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells, as policy director for the DC Primary Care Association, or simply as your neighbor. I look forward to continuing to be a voice for progressive priorities and seeking solutions to the social justice issues facing our city.
I hope I can count on your support and I ask for your vote as we work together for a better Ward 6 and a better city.
Photo courtesy of Charles Allen
We asked candidates for the Ward 6 City Council seat to tell in 750 words or less why Hill residents should vote for them tomorrow (Tuesday).
Here is Libertarian candidate Pranav Badhwar’s unedited response:
After speaking extensively to residents of Ward 6, I’ve based my platform on the positions that matter most to our citizens. My solutions include helping improve our public schools, spurring entrepreneurship and creating more jobs, reducing crime, easing transportation costs, and expanding affordable housing –all while reducing the DC Council’s spending.
You should vote for me because my …
Qualifications and Experience Extend Beyond Politics:
- I have over 20 years of professional experience in strategy, technology, and operations. I know how to listen to people, build consensus and make good investments. Anyone can spend other people’s money, but making sure investments payoff is hard work, and the skills required are not only political, but professional skills I have honed in effectively developing, coordinating, and operating large-scale services.
- I also have experience with what is being called “Smart Cities.” Experts say that the next 10 years will bring more technological change than the last 100. At least one D.C. Councilmember should understand how to harness technologies to improve services and reduce costs, and to make sure that people do not get left behind.
Solutions Are Win-Win:
- Traditional D.C. policies exclude our citizens from opportunity through failing schools, excessive job licensing requirements, and a counter-productive drug war. These policies treat symptoms, but maintain barriers to opportunity, causing persistent poverty, homelessness, and crime. DC then raises taxes to pay for failed programs, leading to higher prices for rent and basic goods and services, making city life unaffordable for many, including seniors on fixed incomes and the poor.
- One hundred percent of my solutions remove barriers at the root of the problem AND reduce spending. As the only candidate with two children in DC public traditional and charter schools, I know both systems well and my uniquely transformative schools solution is a win-win for teachers, students, and society. The only candidate with the courage to call for a total end to the drug war, which criminalizes non-violent behavior and severely restricts employment, I offer better alternatives to spending vast police and judicial resources only to destroy human potential. My affordable housing policies offer many choices, more realistically conforming to human need and emphasizing urban revival over government-sponsored gentrification. Please see www.Pranav4DC.com for details.
Accountability Rules Build Better Government:
The District of Columbia government paid a settlement earlier this year for abusing civil asset forfeiture rules, which allows police to seize people’s personal property on mere suspicion of wrong-doing, without even filing charges against them. But no public officials were liable, so city taxpayers ultimately paid the cost. The public pays the penalty for being abused by public officials. This is plain wrong. Read More
