The Manhattan Project
Morning Roundup: Second Helpings Edition
Compromise Uncertain on Same-Sex Marriage Law
Fire at 17th and L NW Forces Evacuations
Sculpture Garden Ice-Skating Rink Remains Closed
Marc Fisher: As the Senate gets ready to debate the District voting rights legislation, Fisher lists the dozen top reasons why senators from both parties should vote to enfranchise the city's residents. The more and more we look into it, the better the case looks. Let's hope the Senate agrees.
Tom Knott: You know Knott's verbal insanity is in good form when the title of his weekly column is "It's Gathering of Eagles vs. nitwit marchers." Preparing for this weekend's anti-war protest, Knott throws out a warning -- be fearful, peaceniks, for you shall suffer the wrath of the Gathering of the Eagles. As we detailed this week, the Gathering of the Eagles, an anti-antiwar group, will be on hand to let the protesters know that supporting the troops means supporting the war, with no exceptions. "This should be taken as a warning to the innocents who live in the region and the unlucky tourists who planned a vacation at the same time the nitwits of the nation planned a celebration of their insanity," warns Knott. "Stay away from the downtown part of the city if it is at all possible. The start of the Million Nitwit March is Saturday." And what does Knott think of the anti-war movement? "They make me sick."
Harry Jaffe: While many argue that a Starbucks is a sign of a gentrifying neighborhood, Jaffe posits that a local hardware store is a true sign of a healthy community. Drawing upon the examples of Capitol Hill's Fragers, 18th Street's Candey Hardware and Brookland's Brookland Hardware, Jaffe writes, "A great, old time hardware store is an excellent barometer of a community's health. Any crossroad of four-lane highways can support a Home Depot. You can find a Lowe's every five miles along suburban strip malls. But how many D.C. neighborhoods can sustain a genuine hardware store where you walk in the door and the owner says "Whaddaya need today?'"
Jonetta Rose Barras: Sure, it's great that $2.3 billion over 10 years was appropriated for school repairs. But, Rose Barras argues, it's not how much money you have -- it's how you spend it. This week she details that trouble the District has had with various contractors hired to repair the city's crumbling school facilities, and how many of them keep getting public funds. She focuses in particular on Dynamic Corp., a Maryland-based contractor that got $7 million worth of D.C. contracts over 2006-2007 but whose history in government work was never evaluated and whose contracts have never been properly vetted. On top of that, a District lawsuit alleges that they were responsible for the fire that almost destroyed the Georgetown Public Library earlier this year. The kicker? Two months after the fire, they were given another city contract.
Loose Lips: Sometimes the tables get turned on even the best of us, writes LL this week. According to the column, community activist-extraordinaire Dorothy Brizill may be getting back some of the fire she often directs at the city bureaucracy. Apparently the Columbia Heights home she shares with fellow activist Gary Imhoff has been subject to proceedings before the Board for the Condemnation of Insanitary Buildings. Writes LL: "Glass is missing from several front windows. The front porch is rotting away. The slate roof is bare and sagging in places. Gutters and trim have rusted into the brick façade. The entire exterior seems not to have seen a paintbrush since Home Rule." And while Brizill has promised to make necessary repairs, none seem to have happened as of yet. Will she be forced to move? In her own particular way of saying "No," Brizill states: "I’ll be damned if Mayor Adrian Fenty is going to run me out."
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Interesting that the Knott article is in the Metro section, rather than Opinion. I know that the Washington Times leans right, but the lack of any pretense took me by surprise. Also, you guys might want to link to the non-printer-friendly version of it, as the current link causes the print dialog box to open.
As much as I bitch about customer service in DC, even I have to admit that Fragers is an exception. They are friendly, motivated, and usually know what they are talking about.
Candey Hardware has a going out of business sign in the front window....
The people at Frager's are wonderful. I've only been there a handful of times because I rent and don't have many hardware needs......but now that I'm reminded of the store I'm trying to think of an excuse to go this weekend.
MT Pleasant has its own local hardware store and it rules
Don't forget the hardware store at 14th & P! (Logan Hardware?) It's an Ace franchise but locally owned.
Frager's Hardware borders on the supernatural. It may well be the Room of Requirement from the Harry Potter series.