A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.

Examine This: Members of the Shepherd Park email list are feeling a bit overwhelmed with the number of newspapers left on their lawns. After a resident noticed a large amount of copies of the Examiner left on neighborhood lawns, they advised the email list to call the distributor to cease delivery. However, when one person tried to call, the voice mail box was full. Another member said that calling King wouldn’t do anything, “It stops for awhile and then starts all over again. I have called, yelled and threatened legal action and yet it always starts again.”

One Scoop of Mad Cow, Please: Joining the likes of Curbside Cupcake and Red Hook Lobster Pound, Capital Meats, which sells raw meat, will hit the food truck circuit. Unfortunately, customers may not be getting the ground-beef equivalent of a health-department approved cupcake, according to the Convention Center Community Association. The blog published an email sent from a program manager at the Department of Health that called for a cease-and-desist from Capital Meats: “As you may be aware, it has come to the attention of the DC Department of Health, Food Safety & Hygiene Inspection Services Division (FSD) that at least one (1) of your company’s trucks have been seen in the Washington, DC area conducting sales of meat improperly and without the valid license and other permits required by DOH and DCRA.”

Fill ‘er Up: Residents who live near the Benning Road gas station have been warned to show extra caution when at the pump.  A member of the MPD-1 email list reports an awkward situation he experienced while filling his tank Wednesday night: “At least 3 people–2 women and 1 man—asked me if I had any change. They were pacing around some of the pumps. At least one of them was standing next to the window of the station. I half-expected someone to come up from behind me.” In response, a member who identifies as a police officer writes, “Everyone should be vigilant every time they are at any gas station.”

In Defense of Upward Mobility: The Brookland email list is embroiled in an ongoing debate concerning the good and bad points of change in the neighborhood. After one member expressed anxiety about perceived troublemakers, another took offense. “I have followed exchanges on this listserv for the past year with disgust and disappointment over the pretentiousness and self-importance conveyed by individuals who are closer on the spectrum to the haves than the have-nots: floating ideas such as using pepper spray to fend themselves against ‘miscreant’ youths who harass individuals near the Metro or on the MBT…you and I *know* what that is code for: ward off people of color because you can’t come to terms with your privilege and how it has contributed to income and racial disparities…” Others on the email list disagree with that statement: “What I don’t understand is where you propose someone in my demographic live. One thing that has impressed me about growing up and living in the DC area is that over the years it has become increasingly integrated. PG County, where I grew up, has attracted a lot of black money and wealth to a community that, when I was a child, was a lot more white (and, incidentally, less prosperous). I’ve seen DC become more integrated too, with white people moving into areas that have been historically black. I usually interpret this as a sign of progress. Not to say that there isn’t racial tension or injustice; there is, and plenty of it. But I’m not sure how more integrated neighborhoods undermine that, as I think you’re suggesting,” remarks one member.