A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.
Modified Homes: And Now, Anacostia is displeased with a current blight plaguing the fronts of Anacostia homes: satellite dishes. “It ain’t cool, or allowed, to install satellite dishes on the front of a house,” the blog writes. There’s photographic evidence of two houses on W Street SE that feature satellite dishes on the front of the house instead of the back. The author is concerned with preserving the historic nature of Anacostia and kindly asks residents to keep satellite dishes in backyards, where they aren’t visible from the street.
Helpful Tips: A commenter on a Brookland email list recently posted a lengthy article titled “Things Your Burglar Won’t Tell You” that provides tips for residents who might be robbed. The list includes slightly hilarious bits like, “Love those flowers. That tells me you have taste… and taste means there are nice things inside” and “It’s raining, you’re fumbling with your umbrella, and you forget to lock your door – understandable. But understand this: I don’t take a day off because of bad weather.” While the list is useful, the fake-robber-narrator makes it a little hard to take it seriously. At the end of the list, the author of the post suggests that people should use wasp spray instead of pepper spray to ward off intruders. “If you don’t have a gun, here’s a more humane way to wreck someone’s evil plans for you. WASP SPRAY,” they write. And there you have it!
Missing in Action: Watch out! A neighborhood alert was issued by a resident on the Takoma email list about a knocked-down stop sign at the intersection of of Sandy Spring Road and Aspen Street NW. A resident who was driving on Sandy Spring was “almost broadsided last evening by a car crossing Aspen without stopping since the sign was lying on the ground.” That someone flew through the intersection clearly indicates the need for a replacement sign, but commenters aren’t too optimistic. One member of the list wrote, “I don’t have much hope of it being resolved quickly as the woman said it was impossible for her to enter that it was the intersection of Aspen, Sandy Spring, and Willow St.”
Most Likely to be Found: A member of the Chevy Chase email list is attempting to take a walk down memory lane and is on the hunt for old yearbooks. The writer is searching for Immaculata High School yearbooks from the years 1959 to 1962. “I would just need to borrow them for a few hours. If anyone has them or any ideas where I could get them it would be greatly appreciated,” she wrote. No one on the list seemed to have any advice on where to procure artifacts from the now-defunct Catholic institution.