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When some Eckington residents decided that they couldn’t face the prospect of another plexiglass-laden fried-chicken shack moving into the North Capitol Street corridor, they chose to launch their resistance from another eatery: They asked the would-be restaurateurs to meet with them at Ella’s Coffee and Fine Art on North Capitol, which they rented out on Dec. 10. When the 70 or so chicken foes were stood up, they chose Ella’s as the site for placing a petition against “additional low-quality food establishments.” As of Dec. 16, some 150 people had dropped by the cafe to sign the petition, many of them including comments such as “Already have a KFC, need a place to sit down at,” “No more chicken bones,” and “Don’t feed our children and poor people deep-fried chicken.” The proprietor of Ella’s, who declines to give her name, says her restaurant frequently hosts local civic groups but doesn’t necessarily endorse their opinions. “This is not something we spearheaded,” she says. Dave Jamieson