Bike theft in D.C. has always been a big problem, but when summer crests and more people are out and about on two wheels, it feels like the thieves start getting braver. Well, one Bloomingdale resident wasn't about to let one teenager get away with walking into his neighbor's yard and swiping a bike yesterday afternoon. more ›

Police in the Fifth District uncovered a "massive marijuana farm" inside a Bloomingdale basement on Monday evening, according to a report from the District commander. In an email to the police listserv, Commander Lamar D. Greene reported that an evening burglary reduction unit was conducting their evening patrol when they noticed a back door on the unit block of Adams Street NW open and unattended. When the officers went to check it out, a man appeared and started acting jittery; when the officers investigated further, they found a huge cultivation, distribution materials and three firearms. Several narcotics charges have been leveled against the individuals residing in the residence. more ›

Yesterday morning, we noted that a man was shot and killed near the intersection of North Capitol Street and Florida Avenue NW around 11:10 p.m. on Wednesday evening. More details are now coming to the surface in the crime: the man killed was 33-year-old Bloomingdale resident Billy Mitchell, who was reportedly shot in the stomach while walking home from a theater. more ›

Lydia DePillis reports that after months of heated negotiations, Big Bear Cafe has finally secured a liquor license. Their class CR license will enable them to serve beer, wine, and liquor. There were certainly some comprises: Big Bear will have to close at midnight on weekends and 11 p.m. on weekdays. Outdoor music will have to stop at 9 p.m. Owner of Big Bear, Stu Davenport, was surprised by the quick decision (me too, after all of the arguing) and has no immediate plans to start serving liquor on a regular basis. more ›

Marlo Johnson, the eighteen-year-old who shot a Pepco worker in Bloomingdale last winter and pleaded guilty in May to charges of aggravated assault, was sentenced to eight years in prison today, according to the AP. Johnson, who was 17 when the crime occurred, was part of a group of teenagers who were arguing with the 52-year-old victim, got into a shoving match, then returned to the scene and shot the Pepco worker. Despite being hit in the neck, the Pepco worker survived and testified against Johnson at the trial. more ›

A Bloomingdale blog has republished emails exchanged between ANC Commissioner Gigi Ransom, Big Bear Cafe owner Stu Davenport and blogger Tom Bridge which really give some insight into what kind of mess can result when a small business in D.C. wants to expand in the face of community opposition. more ›

We finally got our hands on a copy of the unanimous resolution made by Advisory Neighborhood Commission 5C last night, opposing Big Bear Cafe's application for a liquor license. The resolution is damning, stating not only the body's opposition to the Cafe's license application, but also that the popular coffeeshop has "been in operation illegally since 2007" due to zoning violations. The body claims that the Cafe "held events...which included alcoholic beverage service without a full or temporary ABC issued liquor license" as one of the myriad reasons that they voted against supporting the application. The ANC also placed restrictions on any voluntary agreement that might be fostered between owner Stu Davenport and the community: mandated closing hours of 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends, extra soundproofing, and a seven-day written notice to all "immediately impacted residents" for any event planned at the Cafe. more ›

Rush hour along First Street near Florida Avenue NW can be hairy, and crossing Florida Avenue at R Street NW by foot or bike is just a nightmare. Accidents there are frequent. But accidents along First Street NW itself are rare, and accidents that are in fact on purpose rarer still. The WashCycle relates an account from the Bike Washington listserv by a bicyclist who was struck, seemingly intentionally, when a driver holding his hand on the car horn ran into the bicyclist's rear wheel. Angry drivers often like to speed by bikes and express their frustration by nearly cutting them off or passing very slowly. And sometimes drivers decide it's okay to use the mass and speed of their vehicles to commit physical violence against slow or annoying bicyclists. Fortunately the biker in this situation was OK (the bike is another story), but nevertheless vehicular violence is very, very bad and, in this case, very probably a hit-and-run crime. more ›

Is Bloomingdale suffering a scourge of teenagers? more ›

WUSA9 is reporting that a police officer shot and killed a man at approximately 10:30 this morning on the 800 block of Upshur Street NW in Petworth. After authorities responded to a report of a person tampering with a vehicle, the suspect fled the scene. A scuffle ensued and shots were then fired. You can count on plenty of police investigating the area today. more ›

Via the comments and IMGoph's blog, it looks like the uproar over a large mural by local artist Lisa Marie Thalhammer is just refusing to die down. A Bloomingdale Civic Association meeting tonight will reportedly focus on whether to force the artist's "Boxer Girl" mural to come down. more ›

A new poll by American Farmland Trust puts three D.C. area farmers markets among the top markets in the entire country (hat tip, WTOP). They may be considered some of the smaller markets in the United States, but they're big in our hearts (and stomachs). Smart Markets at Mason in Fairfax, the Crossroads Farmers Market in Takoma Park, and the Bloomingdale Farmers Market in D.C. all made the top 20 list of smaller markets, coming in at 3, 4 and 7, respectively. The rankings break the markets into small, medium and large. more ›

Yeah, getting around town on two wheels sure can be great. But if you're anything like me, if something goes wrong, you're at a total loss. Just looking at the maze of spokes and gears without some kind of help is enough to drive most normal folks to the brink of insanity. more ›

D.C. Fire/EMS is reporting that four people were shot just before 5 p.m. near North Capitol and R Streets NW, one in critical condition and the rest with serious injuries, all being transported to the hospital. The incident is the second shooting to happen in the same vicinity since this morning. An unidentified individual was shot in the ankle before 10 a.m. this morning near 1st Street NW and Florida Ave. NW. more ›

Bloomingdale residents have long relied on Scott Roberts's excellent neighborhood news and information email list (email scott (at) scott-roberts.net or apply to the Google Group to get it). Today's email was no exception, even if it revealed an alarming trend. Behold these two separate, and hopefully unrelated postings: more ›

Remember 2020 Martini, the three-story, 10,000-square-foot brick oven pizza/pasta/sushi/martini restaurant and bar planned for Old Engine Co. 12, the 112-year-old firehouse at 1626 North Capitol Street? We were deeply skeptical of the concept when NextGen Development first announced its deal with Twyla Garrett of Cleveland-based Garrett Entertainment Corp. last year, and now it seems with good reason. The Bloomingdale blog reported recently that the deal has long since fallen through (hat tip to Arts & Real Estate), and the building is now on the market, listed at $1.5 million. more ›

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The third floor will be devoted to the Mocha Fusion Coffee Lounge, an espresso bar. And finally, a rooftop deck will offer tapas. Sounds a bit ... over the top, to be sure. But aesthetic issues aside, there's some serious questions about the sustainability of such an ambitious project in this neighborhood. The property is being developed by Brian Brown of NextGen Development, and Twyla Garrett of Cleveland-based Garrett Entertainment Corp. Garrett has already built a similar, Italian-themed multi-story restaurant complex in a similarly gentrifying area of Cleveland, which has a music and flash heavy web site you can check out at your own risk. But when you look at the numbers quoted in the Business Journal story, it's hard to imagine how this venture could possibly add up. Brown purchased the property for $600,000, a perfectly reasonably price, but plans to put in $2.4 million for renovations. Garrett plans to add another $1 million herself. How many tables would you need to fill every night to service $4 million of debt every month? It would have to be in the hundreds. It's just hard to imagine a restaurant of that style, in that neighborhood, being able to attract that large of a crowd every night. more ›