Good afternoon, Capitol Hill, and a happy Mardi Gras to you all!! The rain has subsided, the temperature isn’t dropping as much as it ought, and Mayor Bowser is in South Carolina campaigning for Mike Bloomberg (WUSA) and she wants to increase the number of people in the police cadet program (Washington Post). The weekend saw a spate of homicides– 10 in total– so maybe the timing is not coincidental (NBC4). So you know, the days are always interesting, and getting longer. What else is going on?
The Hill East taskforce meeting took place at St. Coletta’s yesterday evening. You may have seen the tweets where commissioner Denise Krepp tried to get more District agencies to attend this meeting– originally a briefing on Reservation 13 issues. However, only MPD’s Commander Morgan Kane replied and sent a representative. Capitol Hill Corner has a very thorough rundown of the Monday night meeting, whose focus became the perceived lack of government presence and communication in the Hill East project. As neighbors, we want to trust that our elected officials are doing right by us, but when repeated requests for communication go unanswered, it’s hard not to be frustrated.
Speaking of frustrations, did you know DC has a rather low property tax rate, compared to the rest of the United States? Our good friends at WalletHub, who share all sorts of neat infographics, have a great state-by-state comparison. The rate may be low (0.55%), but the median price ($568,400) is so high that it doesn’t appear to make that much of a difference. You win some, you lose some, huh?
The Georgetowner reports on WMATA’s planned major line changes to the D lines, which includes the beloved D6– a major east-west line with termini at Stadium-Armory and Sibley Hospital. Although many of the changes affect the western end of the city, this line is a major connector for Capitol Hill, and changes to it would likely affect commuting patterns for adults and kids alike. There will be a public meeting seeking public input tomorrow.
In new retail news, Captain Cookie and the Milkman will take over the former Pitango space– welcome news for summer cravings. Capitol Hill Corner
Five new black-owned businesses coming to H Street NE is good news, especially with Horace and Dickie’s departure. Washington City Paper has the details.
Whenever The Roost opens, people are going to go crazy trying to figure out what to hit up first. The newest announcement is a pizza slice joint called, aptly, Slice Joint. Eater has the details.
The Ella Grace was short-lived, but it’ll go away with a bang. We hardly knew ye, Ella. Eater