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A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.
Don’t Shoot: In response to information about Councilmember Marion Barry’s 2012 State of the Ward Address, set for March 20, one resident was “taken aback” by the fact that “the Ward 8 State of the Ward Address is scheduled for the same night that a Ward 8 Primary Forum is being planned by several co-sponsoring Ward 8 community organization, including tow Ward 8 ANCs. The third Tuesday is also the same night that the Fairlawn Citizens Association has been meeting for years, as well as ANCs 8B and 8E.” One response to the outraged email: “I’m just the messenger, not the organizer of the event.”
Potty Poopers: A parent on the Brookland email list needs advice on “EC (elimination communication),” a method used to potty train infants. One parent responds, saying that their daughter was “ECed and it was great for us! She didn’t poop in a diaper after 6 months, was in underwear at home fulltime by a year, and was in underwear in public fulltime by 18 months.” The goal, this parent says, isn’t to potty train kids early; rather, “the real foal is increasing communication-giving baby the opportunity to tell you they have to go and then providing that opportunity.”
¡Mas!: Residents of Chevy Chase are demanding more from their police reports. One resident writes on the email list that the “police blotter” emails, issued to the community regularly by the police department, are practically useless. They contain nothing of substance, telling us only that a “robbery” or a “burglary” occurred at such-and-such address on a specific date. But it is the details of crimes that are important and can help people protect themselves. If thieves stole copper gutters it would be helpful to know this — rather than that there was simply a “theft.” Another resident writes, “MPD knows when crime reports are issued citizens are going to want more details. It happens every day. Why can’t MPD offer these details up front so we don’t have to waste our time and MPD’s seeking information later?” Chief of Police Cathy Lanier responded saying, “Unfortunately I cannot change the daily reports. They are generated by the automated system that pulls data automatically. We don’t have sufficient personnel, nor does it make sense to assign a person to retype information from police reports in all 7 Districts daily. The lieutenants and captains know the details of the reports in their areas and can answer questions as they arise.”
Sir Speedy: Park View DC “wanted to start the week off with some good news of a sort.” After alerting DDOT via Twitter that there was a “dangerous pothole” on the block of 500 block of Irving Street NW on Feb. 3, the pothole—which was more likely a “patch on a utility cut rather than a pothole”—has since been fixed. A commenter notes, “I hit that pothole at night and now one night and now one of my tires has a huge bubble on the side and is essentially ruined. I’m a very careful driver but that makes two ruined tires in the last 9 months from poor road conditions in the District.”