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

Plant Loss: Plant thefts are plaguing Hill East, according to residents on the New Hill East email list. One person writes that her aloe plants were stolen from her porch: “Our beloved aloe-vera plant was taken off our front porch sometime last week. If anyone sees a large plastic planter with two large aloe plants (looks like a spiky cactus) plus three tiny ones, please let me know. Maybe it got too heavy for the taker, and they just left it somewhere in the neighborhood?I’ve had it for years, and would love it back.” Other residents have chimed in with similar anecdotes. One list subscriber who dealt with a similar incident a month ago wrote, “I can’t imagine it was worth more than $4, so my question is, who is stealing worthless plants, why, and what do they do with them? I agree with you, to the owner, the plant is beloved, and the sense of violation is powerful. I just don’t understand why, if they’ve already made the decision to steal something, a thief would steal something of such little obvious value…” Another poster offers this answer: “A crack-head will steal ANYTHING that they feel someone will buy from them…. even something worth a couple of bucks……. even worst are the people who place orders and/or buy from them!” Yet another list subscriber felt is more closely related to holidays than to drug abuse, and wrote, “This iw [sic] common around mother’s day and other holidays. The plants are likely wrapped and given as gifts or sold. We’ve even had instances of newly planted trees and shrubs being pulled out of people’s yards. People will steal anything if the opportunity presents itself, I think.”

Pink Powder: A mysterious pink powder has some Tenleytown residents confused. One neighborhood email list subscriber writes, “Could anyone tell me what the pink powder is that has been poured at the base of large trees in tenleytown/ Is this harmful to pets? Mydog sniffed and licked at it while I was looking the other way.” Presently, no one has offered answers.

Go-Go Protest: In Shaw discoveres the secret to a successful protest: the city’s indigenous, percussive go-go beats. The blog writes that a protest in the Penn Quarter area was significantly enhanced by some Rare Essence-esque strains. The author wrote, “I avoided that side of the street but I could hear drums, that sounded like plastic pails and a cow bell. Yes, cow bell. I saw the guy with the cow bell did not see the drums. They had a pretty good beat going on and sounded like pretty good go-go music, the only thing missing was Chuck Brown. The young adults off to the side seem to like the music as well and swayed and dare I say, danced. Go-go gave this a distinctive flavor. It was not just a protest, it was a party, a DC party.” Sounds like Occupy D.C. needs a go-go band.

Salaries for the Shady: One U Street NW resident lets loose some steam regarding the recent lift of a salary cap for certain District officials. “It would be one thing if our current council and appointees weren’t so darn shady and actually competent in doing their jobs, but they’ve yet to prove that,” the resident wrote to the neighborhood email list. “Are you really surprised that the Feds don’t take DC seriously or want to give them statehood? You’ve got Marion Barry wanting to have his drug addict felon son to take over his position on the council. Really?? I mean sure he’s followed in his father’s footsteps with being a criminal but to run on the council? GET REAL!”