A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.
Don’t Sting Me, Bro: Several weeks ago, a member of the Navy Yard Neighbors email list wrote to ask what he should do following the theft of his bike and, at the suggestion of others, sent around a picture of his ride. Over the weekend, a second member wrote, “Hey i think I saw your bike locked up in front of 602 I street SE.” “That is my bike!!! Thank you so much. I am going to call the police right now to see what can be done,” the original poster responded. He later provided an update: “I wanted to thank you all for helping me with my missing bike. Thanks to the information you all provided me with and the watchful eyes of my neighbors…my bike was just recovered…In my particular situation I made the police report and posted as much detailed information as I could here for the list. Lo and behold, a neighbor happened to walk past this bike secured to a pole about 7 blocks away this morning! I immediately called the non-emergency MPD number, but was told to call 911. I made the call, explained the situation and about 10 minutes later I met an officer in a squad car at the location of the bike. He pulled up the report, verified that it was mine, and then went to extraordinary lengths to help me recover it. To someone who asks, “Why didn’t they mount a sting operation and wait until the jerk who stole it came back to unlock it? One criminal off the streets AND you get your bike back!” the original poster replies, “The officer said that it is likely that the person who locked it to that pole is an individual who bought it without knowing it was stolen.”
Mockingbird Diaspora: “Has anyone else noticed birds chirping loudly in the middle of the night? I woke up at 3am the other night, and it couldn’t get back to sleep. The chirping literally sounded like a car alarm. I googled it, and there doesn’t seem to be a good explanation, though many other people elsewhere in the country are noticing the same thing lately. We’ve recently moved to the area, so I’m wondering if this is normal….” asks a member of the TakomaDC email list. Responds another, “We’ve noticed the same thing and no it is not normal,” though a third writes, “That has always gone on near us so it seems normal. Very quiet nights usually brings on the music.” To staunch the speculation, another poster sends along a paper from the Cornell University Bird Study Center discussing the northern migration of mockingbirds, which parallels with suburban growth.
Get in the Van: In response to a regular report of serious offenses reported in the Fifth District, a member of the MPD-5D email list asks, “Is it just me or has there been a rash of stolen cars in 503 over the past few days?” An MPD commander says, “There were three stolen from the area over the weekend, and of note is that two were Dodge Caravans and the third a Chrysler Voyager, which is essentially the same product. These vans are very easy to steal by breaking the steering column, so we suggest that anyone who has any Caravan or Voyager use a club on the steering wheel to discourage thieves, many of whom are often young kids.”
Cleveland Park, ISO: “I’m looking for someone who can repair unfired Mexican terracotta figures. One will be a simple repair, the other quite complex. Has anyone had experience with having these kind of repairs done?” asks a member of the Cleveland Park email list. Presently, it seems no other members have sought to fix their unfired terra cotta.