Potomac Gardens.The senior housing building in Potomac Gardens, the public housing complex in Southeast D.C. in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, caught on fire Thursday night. Many know of Potomac Gardens because of the various disagreements the surrounding neighbors have had with its existence, but I know the Gardens because for three years I tutored kids who live there. Following the two-alarm fire, a 79-year-old woman is in critical condition in the hospital. Two other…

MPD has made an arrest following the shocking assault of a female pedestrian on the 1300 block of Pennsylvania Ave SE. A juvenile suspect was arrested this morning with no incident at his residence. Police will not release more information about the suspect, as he is a juvenile. The woman was punched in the face for no apparent reason last week. She suffered a broken jaw after the attack. Following this incident and an unrelated…

During my first five years in the District, I lived near the Potomac Avenue Metro station in a neighborhood known as Hill East. Though more modest than Eastern Market, which was only blocks away, the area had a nice mix of new and longtime residents, young and old, and black and white. But like many other “transitional” neighborhoods, Hill East saw its fair share of crime, much of which was discussed, debated and dissected on two extremely active local listservs. The discussions ranged from mere warnings to frustrated demands for more police activity — and, as I reported here two years ago, even a somewhat outlandish demand that residents march on Potomac Gardens, a housing project located at 13th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue SE, where many local criminals were said to live or seek temporary refuge.

Update: We’ve gotten information that Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) will be hosting Friday night potlucks in Potomac Gardens starting on May 30 to discuss issues related to neighborhood safety. He’s indicated that he’ll ask the police department’s top brass to attend, as well as community leaders. As the District continues grappling with a stubborn and constantly shifting crime problem, residents in one Capitol Hill neighborhood are debating a controversial response — marching on…