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

Bikeshare Saga: An article on The Atlantic Cities caused some Takoma residents to wonder why their turn for a Capital Bikeshare station has not yet come. The story refers to an apartment complex, supposedly on Spring Place NW, that made a rejected offer to sponsor a station. One email list subscriber expresses confusion over such the rejection: “I understand that it’s difficult to get there by car, but why would that turn Bikeshare off to locating a station there? Particularly since the Met Branch Trail is supposed to go right through that area, once that portion of the trail is constructed. Seems like a good location for a Bikeshare station.” Yet the same person later found that the neighborhood is viable for a station, just not Spring Place. She writes, “For those of you following this saga, I got an answer from Bruce Levin, one of the developers of the Spring Place building. He confirmed that DDOT didn’t in fact say that Takoma itself was off the beaten path, but that Spring Place was off said path. DDOT would prefer to place a Bikeshare station at a more visible location…. even though that means it won’t be funded by Levin.”

Slapped Sod: A proposal for the Capitol Riverside Youth Sports Park north of RFK stadium has New Hill East residents discussing the intended use of the property and the need for more recreational space in the neighborhood. One member of the email list is concerned about the environmental impact: “Any conversation about pulling up the asphalt or excavating any of the soil already in the RFK site should be thoughtful. Is it really necessary? Could a combination of drilling to create drainage, and capping with sterile soil to level and create berms and swales (not included in the RiverWalk construction) accomplish similar goals?” Another resident, though he supports the concept, also voices concerns: “I’d prefer we knocked down all the buildings on Reservation 13 and built this on the south side of RFK. That being said, what are the cost estimates, who is supposedly footing the bill and what is the plan to mitigate the environmental concerns w/ the contaminated soil? I’m not sure I’d want my kids huffing and puffing around on sod slapped on top of what is there.”

Koi Overpopulation: One nearby resident is overzealous in caring for the inhabitants of Meridian Hill Park’s pond. Borderstan reports that efforts are in place to save a plethora of koi fish from the Meridian Hill Park  pond. The blog writes, “The Washington Humane Society says today, November 30, is the final day for volunteers to come out and help rescue the Koi in the pond at Meridian Hill Park. According to a spokesperson for WHS, ‘This summer, a resident brought several koi fish to the ‘pond’ at Meridian Hill Park in an attempt to beautify his neighborhood. However, the fish multiplied tremendously and now the pond is now scheduled to be drained for the winter season. … When our officers learned that these fish might not survive, they immediately contacted groups across the region to help ensure these fish could be safely removed from the pond and given a new home.'”

Tourists Unwelcome: One Palisades resident has learned the hard way that D.C. still aggressively tickets cars with out-of-state license plates. “Is there any way we can stop the ticketing of out-of-state cars parked overnight in DC? DC is too small to assume that anyone with out-of-state tags is avoiding registration in DC,” a disgruntled Washingtonian writes on the Palisades email list. Answers on the email list include simple solutions like sending a ticket to the car rental company and attaining a guest parking pass from the DMV.