As reported here, "[President Barack Obama] is donating $100,000 to Africare," with headquarters in Shaw, "which funds HIV/AIDS programs, public health programs, water resource development and agriculture in 25 countries in sub-Saharan Africa." ...

“[Obama] plans to donate the $1.4 million from his Nobel Peace Prize to helping students, veterans' families and survivors of Haiti's earthquake, among others, drawing attention to organizations he said "do extraordinary work."

The signs are required for the enforcement of the gun free zone laws. These laws allow enhanced penalty for people caught in violation of DC gun law. The gun free zones are not intended to deter, reduce, or prevent crime, rather to increase sentencing.

From section: § 22-4502.01
For the purposes of this subsection, the term "appropriately identified" means that there is a sign that identifies the building or area as a gun free zone. (b) Any person illegally carrying a gun within a gun free zone shall be punished by a fine up to twice that otherwise authorized to be imposed, by a term of imprisonment up to twice that otherwise authorized to be imposed, or both.

Vote by March 15:

The Washington City Paper is sponsoring it's annual "Best Of DC" polls. Support any of the Shaw Main Streets businesses, below, or cast your vote for your other favorite businesses in and around the Shaw community.

Vote by March 24:

Show your appreciation to your favorite new Shaw business: Vote in Shaw Main Streets’ fifth annual Best New Shaw Business of the Year contest! New businesses that opened in 2009 are eligible. Businesses that relocated within the Shaw Main Streets service area or changed names and service businesses not located in retail locations are not eligible. The business that receives the most votes will be recognized as the Best New Shaw Business of 2009 at the Shaw Main Streets Annual Meeting on March 24, 2010, at 7:00 PM at Old Dominion Brewhouse, 1219 9th Street, NW.

Here is the list of candidates:

• Adu-Genet Cafe, 811 Florida Avenue, NW
• Independence Federal Savings Bank, 1301 9th Street, NW
• Little Ethiopia Restaurant, 1924 9th Street, NW
• The Motley Bar, 1318 9th Street, NW
• Old City Green, 902 N Street, NW
• The Passenger, 1021 7th Street, NW
• Rock Starr Inkk Tattoo Studio, 809 Florida Avenue, NW
• Rucker International Barber Shop, 809 Florida Avenue, NW
• Salina Restaurant, 1936 9th Street, NW

To cast your vote, send an email to BestinShaw@gmail.com with the name of your favorite new retail business of 2009 in the subject line and your name in the message no later than 12:00 PM on Monday, March 22, 2010, in order for your vote to be counted. Only one entry per email address will be accepted.

Be sure to let your favorite business know you voted for them. And then plan to attend the Shaw Main Streets Annual Meeting to see which new business won the award.

Alexander M. Padro, Executive Director
Shaw Main Streets, Inc., 1426 9th Street, NW, Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20001-3330
202-265-SHAW | ShawMainStreets@aol.com | www.ShawMainStreets.com

"This spring there will be some big changes at Marion Street Community Garden. Just so you know, DPR will be dumping some wood chips on the south-eastern corner of the property sometime this week (hopefully).

On March 20th, DC Food For All is holding a volunteer workday to level out parts of the ground, put up the fence in back, sheet mulch and spread woodchips around.

On April 10 there will be another volunteer workday to construct raised beds, an outdoor classroom and set up the space for mass planting. Very soon we will post a schedule of regular open times when anyone can come in and help out or talk as well as workshops for adults and children and other upcoming events."

If you have any questions or would like to participate, please contact one of us:
Lola Bloom lola@cityblossoms.org
Rebecca Lemos rebecca@cityblossoms.org
Liz Falk liz@CommonGoodCityFarm.org

From CM Evans' Office:

Hearing Date Set for Neighborhood and Victims Rights Amendment Act of 2010 (view/download bill):

Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans is pleased to announce that a hearing date has been set for Bill 18-595, the Neighborhood and Victims Rights Amendment Act of 2010. The hearing before the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary will take place on Monday, April 19th at 11:00 am in Room 123 of the John A. Wilson building (1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW).

“Given the Council’s legislative process, we must move swiftly to provide these crime fighting tools to the members of the Metropolitan Police Department and other law enforcement agencies to use before summer, when crime typically increases,” Evans said.

The bill, introduced by Evans and Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham and supported by the Executive, includes provisions to create a new public nuisance statute; authorize the ABC Board to conduct criminal background checks on applicants for new retail or wholesale licenses; establish a ten year mandatory minimum for gang members who use guns to commit murder, robbery, kidnapping, and assault with intent to rob or kidnap; and moves to encourage the establishment of a specialized Gun Court with a separate gun court case calendar in an effort to move gun-related cases through the criminal justice system.

“Many residents, particularly in Ward 2, but also throughout the District, are anxious to see any and all additional measures that can help keep our neighborhoods and residents safer put into law. This hearing, while I am pleased it has been scheduled, is long overdue,” said Evans.

Those who wish to testify should contact Ms. Heidi Tseu, Committee Clerk or Deborah Kelly, Legislative Clerk for Councilmember Mendelson at 202-724-7808, by fax at 202-724-6664, or via email at dkelly@dccouncil.us, and provide their name, address, telephone number, organizational affiliation and title (if any) by close of business on Thursday, April 15. Persons wishing to testify are encouraged, but not required, to submit 15 copies of written testimony. If you are unable to testify at the hearing, written statements are encouraged and will be made a part of the official record.

6-8pm, Thursday, March 18
"DDOT Public meeting on innovative bike lanes on Pennsylvania Avenue and elsewhere in the Central Business District"
The Heritage Center of the the United States Navy Memorial
701 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Chris Ziemann, our Ward 2 DDOT Planner, has announced at the ANC2C meeting a plan to accommodate increased bicycling in the city, and to prepare for the expansion of the bikesharing program.

DDOT is developing innovative new bike infrastructure in the greater downtown area. Because of the high demand for curb space, large numbers of buses, and heavy loading, DDOT has looked to other cities such as New York and Montreal for designs to both protect cyclists and accommodate downtown activity.

Please join us to review the latest plans for innovative bike lanes on the following streets:

• Pennsylvania Avenue NW
• I Street NW
• L Street NW
• 15th Street NW
• 9th Street NW

Bicycle parking will be provided. Metro, Green and Yellow Line, Archives/Navy Memorial Station.

Photo source: James Valore, New York Times, from David Byrne's Bike Messenger Op-Ed.

[Video clip 7 min 13 sec]

At the Wednesday, March 3, ANC2C public meeting, Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans gave an update about the District of Columbia's finances and the effect of the current economy on development in Shaw. He discussed most of the large local developments in the area:

• CityCenter (financing not available)
• Convention Center Hotel (in litigation, when solved, we'll be in the ground the next day)
• CityMarket at O (positive steps being made)
• Kelsey Gardens/Addison Square (stuck, cannot find equity partners)
• Parcel 42 (stuck, proposed project no longer doable financially)
• RadioOne (RadioOne bailed out, United Negro College Fund may do the project)

Mr Evans noted that between March 15 and May 15, the Council is scheduled to have deliberations and markup the budget Mayor Fenty submits to them. Once the budget is determined at the District level, it is then sent to Congress for final approval (hopefully) by October 1 when the District's fiscal year begins.

The District has a $400 million dollar problem going into this fiscal year. Mr Evans also noted that 80% of the District's budget goes to: education, human services and public safety and suggested that creative cuts may need to be made to those areas in this budget cycle in order for the District to remain fiscally sound. He notes that Maryland has a $2 bllion budget shortfall which is less than Virginia's $4 billion budget shortfall.

At the ANC2C public meeting, Wednesday, March 3, Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans posed some questions and expressed concerns he'd like Superior Court Chief Judge Lee Satterfield to address during the community meeting on March 4.

"Judges on our Superior Court [don't] seem to have an understanding of what we deal with in inner city communities. Why do they think prostitution is a 'victimless crime' ... when it is totally disruptive to the people and residents and businesses where it's taking place? ...

[The Honorable Chief Judge Lee Satterfield will] blame the police and the US Attorney's office. [He'll say] 'it's not us it's them. If they would properly paper the cases, then our judges would respond.'

“The information I get is that, no, it's that [the judges] release people and don't take this stuff seriously. Most of the judges on our Superior Court don't live in Shaw. They live in suburban parts of the city where they don't have these problems. They drive through it, but they really don't understand it. And I would tell [Judge Satterfield] that personally.

“What can we do to educate the judges on the seriousness of what they view as not serious crimes? ... Some of the stuff I did get [ Councilmember Phil Mendelson ] to do was to give the judges the ability to hold people. ... What do [the judges] need from us to do that?

“It's very problematic. The way our judges are appointed in this town is ridiculous. They are appointed by the President of the United States. Judges on our Superior Court are like from California. Can you imagine if I lived in Washington DC and I became a judge on the California Supreme Court? It's absurd! It's absolutely absurd! It would never happen!

“And yet it the District of Columbia, we have people who 'happen to know Bill Clinton,' so they're on our Superior Court. Well big deal, that doesn't help us. That's a long-winded answer with a little frustration. But they've got to focus on crimes that are occurring in our communities that impact us — even though where they live, they don't see it.

“And don't let [Satterfield] give me the 'it ain't me, it's the other guy.'”

[Photo credit: Fashionfightspovertydc used under a Creative Commons license]

From left: Commander McCoy was honored by Councilmember Jim Graham, Chief Cathy Lanier, Assistant Chief Patrick Burke with the resolution proclaiming February 27 "Larry McCoy Day." (Photo courtesy Marco Santiago, MPD.)

Former Ward 2 (Third Distric) MOCR Joseph Martin with Assistant Chief Diane Groomes, sans uniform but dressed to the nines, were on hand with hundreds of other guests to cheer McCoy's accomplished career and honor his service to the District.

There was a fantastic dinner and ceremony to honor the achievements and service of (Retired) Commander Larry McCoy's last night at the Washington Navy Yard. Among his many achievements, McCoy is credited for enhancing more truly effective community policing in crime ridden neighborhoods like Shaw, and getting officers more involved on non-crime related community outreach. Although he was extremely critical at first — he told the Shotspotter reps (which were present as a large contingent last night) not to waste his time at initial presentations. But he was eventually convinced of its usefulness; Shotspotter has apparently been so effective that The Federal Govt (thankfully not the District) is paying for it to be expanded to the National Mall and the surrounding buildings.

McCoy also lead the MPD security detail from The Obama Inauguration, which was noted to be the the largest event in the District's history. Of much more importance to some of us in Shaw, McCoy was the Commander in charge who helped us (after a successful local petition and outreach) rid Scott Montgomery of the open air drug market, gang menace and other nightly nuisances that most of us thought would never end until the MPD finally came in one day and launched the most impressive special operations sweep I've ever seen — rivaling Hollywood its dramatic execution and masterful effectiveness.

Chief Lanier, Assistant Chief Groomes made appreciative and humorous remarks on behalf of MPD and the Administration. CM Jim Graham made a presentation on behalf of the Council. Residents and activists from all the the Districts McCoy served in over his career were present to show our appreciation for making our neighborhoods safer.

11am-1pm, Saturday, February 27th

City Blossoms will be hosting a workday at the Marion Street Garden (on Marion Street between P and Q) to clean up a bit, lay down some neighbor-donated cardboard and get the garden ready for spring. If you are interested in coming by or helping out in any way, please contact rebecca@cityblossoms.org or lola@cityblossoms.org.