Hi there, Capitol Hill! How are things? Sure, it’s thunderstormy around here, but life keeps rolling by at the same weird pace that’s now become our new normal. What’s going on?
The District of Columbia Public Schools will be virtual at least through November 6, the end of the first term. The news was not a surprise because, after all, it was what teachers and many parents (including yours truly) had been pushing for over the summer. The one surprise was that the Mayor delivered the news one day before she’d announced she would. The next step should be to distribute digital devices to everyone and let families turn them down if they don’t need them. Washington Post
Want to help students in our area bridge the digital divide? Help Serve Your City by donating or volunteering with their Back To School Bash program. The program assembles backpacks with digital devices and other fun and essential supplies to start the school year off.
Incidentally, the Washington Post also has this hair-raising item about how school openings have gone elsewhere in the United States.
If you’re a parishioner at Dt. Cyprian’s/ Holy Comforter Roman Catholic Church at the corner of 14th and East Capitol Streets, you know by now that Monsignor Charles Pope has tested positive for coronavirus and the church is closed for two weeks. Pope had said, before contracting COVID-19, that people who were wary of the coronavirus were “lukewarm Catholics.” Wonder what he calls a Catholic with a throughly preventable shortness of breath and a fever of 105. NBC Washington
Should the DC Public Library system be open? DCist talked to several staffers, including some at Northeast Library, which shut down for a day earlier in July, after a librarian tested positive for COVID-19, which was first reported on this blog.
Take a walk around the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood with JDLand. Every time you blink, this neighborhood changes.
Pier 1354 is opening this Thursday. It’ll have a, oyster-slurping, crab-cracking party feel in a lovely patio, which many will recognize as the one around the Gallery O on H. Washington City Paper
Things are moving for Reservation 13 again, according to an article from Washington Business Journal, as the city moves closer to issuing requests for proposal, or RFPs, for some of the properties there and in places like the Reeves Center and St Elizabeths (no apostrophe). Although it remains to be seen just how communicative the government will be with the neighbors, moving closer to requesting RFPs and publicly announcing the fact both seem like solid steps forward. ANB 6B10 commissioner Denise Krepp shared the electronic communication she received from the District on Friday regarding its plans and she was cautiously optimistic.
Armani Johnson steps up to helm the kitchen at ABC Pony and after reading this piece, all I can think about is Old Bay cheddar biscuits. This thought will sustain me for weeks, until I can finally get my hands on some. Eater DC
A reader let PoPVille know that El Piquín is back at Eastern Market. Yum.
The Washington Post celebrates the architecture of yet another high rise in the Navy Yard area. The new building, Crossing, sounds darling and quite exclusive, with rents hovering between $1,825 to $5,385. Washingtonian reports on the fact that fewer people want to live in luxury apartments, noting that, “Prices have been particularly affected around NoMa and H Street, where buildings are offering an average 6.3 percent discount off full-price rent, and around Capitol Riverfront and the Southwest Waterfront, where they’re knocking off 5.7 percent.” I guess luxury is finally affordable?
By the way! I’m putting together an Election 2020 page with info, resources and candidate interviews and statements. Check it out here.