A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.
Holy Kwame: Ward 5 Democratic Committee chairman Robert Vinson Brannum wrote a message to the Brookland email list about recently resigned Council chairman Kwame Brown. “Our prayers go out to him, his family, his former council colleagues, and to the people of the District of Columbia,” he wrote. But the nicety wasn’t accepted so easily by email list members. “YOUR prayers go out to him. Please don’t speak for anyone else who may or may not share your feelings on this,” one person wrote. “I agree,” another said. “Why do people always say ‘he/she was such a good person, bla bla bla’…they are not good people and should rot in a jail cell.” Another concerned member wrote, “Not being a religious person myself, I’m not sure about this, but…are we only to pray for ‘good’ people? Somehow it seems appropriate to pray for the sinner.” Brannum responded to all the hubbub by posting Psalm 51.
No Fun for Civilians: In several Florida counties, when someone leaves an advertisement on a poster next to the street, local officials simply dial the number on the ad and pester the responsible parties. Those calls are automated, but a member of the Fairlawn email list suggested that residents launch their own version of the anti-sign pollution campaign. “How about we select a set of numbers and all of us call them until their voice mail box is full!” Another list member enthusiastically agreed in extra-large font. Several members discussed recruiting the police for help but also made the calls on their own. But the fun was shut down: “MPD has asked us to refrain from calling because DPW has a taskforce,” a member wrote to the list. “With that I’ll slink back into my corner of frustration.” To emphasize his sadness, he added an emoticon. What’s wrong with letting the people show some concern for their neighborhood, get a bit of revenge, and have fun planning an old-fashioned prank all at once, MPD?
Fun with Raccoons: A Tenleytown email list member complained about a dead raccoon at Tenley Circle. She said she called 311 to have it removed, but the people she talked to told her that Wisconsin and Nebraska Avenues do not intersect, despite the fact that she had been at the circle where they intersect. “Granted this was not an emergency,” the poster wrote, “though I would assume the raccoon had rabies, but if this had been a fire, auto accident, pedestrian hit, etc. I would imagine that no action could have been taken.” Another poster saw a problem bigger than a raccoon: “This is troubling to me, that our city government doesn’t know its own streets.” A third had the best solution: “Make stew!”
Craigslist for Dummies: New Columbia Heights posted a complaint about the difficulty of seeking housing on Craigslist, mostly thanks to insufficient or misleading information posted by posters. Among the pointers for people hoping to facilitate an easier housing process: Say where the house is. “’Washington, D.C.’” is not helpful at all,” the post says. Also, learn a general outline of the city’s map. “I know Columbia Heights is a hip place and people want to be there (which itself is a pretty cool and interesting thing), but there is no such thing as ‘Columbia Heights North’ like this culprit says.”