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

Banned in Rock Creek: Park View D.C. reports that dogs can no longer be walked in Rock Creek Church Cemetery: “The first issue the church needed to address was the growing number of complaints from families who had come to pay their respects only to find dog feces on graves. The second problem was owners who off-leashed their pets on the grounds. Again, the church had been made aware that untethered dogs had intruded upon both those visiting grave sites and burial services.” One commenter is mostly supportive, writing, “Yeah, I go to the cementary to bird watch and saw the notice sign all through the month of May. I never saw anyone walking their dog, or any dogs off-leash, but the Church’s actions are understandable. When I stroll around, I actively avoid others in the cementary in general as a way to preserve the peace and tranquility that everyone coming there obviously is seeking. If I see a cool bird like a Bay-breasted Warbler or Balitmore Oriole, I just give lots of space to others if the bird is near them. I just hope the Church doesn’t take this policy too far, since ‘eyes on the street’ do make the cementary safer!”

Encroaching Wildlife: In response to a posting about an “aggressive fox” on the Palisades email list, a member writes the following: “This sure sounds like rabies. Rabid animals are uncharacteristically aggressive. If either of your pets were bitten, their survival may depend on getting rabies shots for them, and pronto. I have some relevant experience: Once I was bitten by a mysteriously aggressive dog (at our Palisades 4th of July parade, of all things). The dog’s owners fled w/ the dog, which raised suspicion that the dog didn’t have the required vaccination. To my recall, there is a window of about three days, after which the effectiveness of the shots plummets. Remember that without timely shots, rabies is still a fatal disease I had the shots — ugh.” Also on the Palisades list is notice of “a very sick half-grown coyote,” which appeared in a resident’s backyard. Without any additional detail, a list member speculates, “Wondering if its related to the howling fox from the last post. Maybe coyotes chased after the foxes cubs and she tried to defend herself or get help from humans. I do have a wild imagination.”

What’s for Dinner in LeDroit? Left for LeDroit attempts to debunk WAMU’s conclusion that the neighborhood is a food desert. The post concludes, “Furthermore, once the Howard Town Center project takes flight, it will feature its own grocery store. The project is about a half-mile from Anna J. Cooper Circle. So there you have it. Within 1 mile of LeDroit Park one will find a Giant, a Safeway, and a Harris Teeter. That hardly qualifies the neighborhood as a food desert.” But a few commenters don’t necessarily agree. One, before launching into a lengthy diatribe on the ills of the area’s grocery options, says “But instead of reflexively pushing back against the label of ‘food desert’ can we agree that there is room for improvement in the (limited) food options we have in LeDroit?” Another writes, “I think the ‘food desert’ characterization of LeDroit Park is quite accurate (at least if you don’t have a bike or car). As far as urban living goes, LeDroit lacks convenient access to any form of grocery store. A half an hour walk to and from Giant just isn’t convenient, and that Giant isn’t all that great.”

Minty Fresh: Available for the taking, via the Shepherd Park email list, are “Shepherd Park Heirloom, Statehood Spearmint” plants. Writes the poster, “I have some hearty mint roots with overgrown plants (12″) and some small mint plants (5″). This organic mint has stood in Jonquil St soil throughout restrictive covenants, civil rights, the Vietnam war..I believe they will witness statehood. Let me know if you are interested in some ‘Shepherd Park Heirloom, Statehood Spearmint’ It’ s ‘da’ bomb’ in iced tea (p.s. I don’t know if it is spearmint or peppermint).”