It’s a bracing day on (and off) the Hill. Listen: There will always be people who are going to try to tell you that their northern city upbringing is superior because they know “real” cold. But guess what? Today was the first frost for DC — and Boston and New York City.
Confidential to the people wearing shorts out there: Stop it. You’re making me cold.
What’s going on this fine, cold Tuesday before Thanksgiving?
Well, the mask mandate was dropped yesterday– a move that was rather unpopular and even prompted a letter signed by 10 of 13 members of the DC council to the Mayor, entreating her to reexamine her actions. Not much changed, however. People were still masking up except for the few randos who don’t mask and never did. People were still wearing their masks aboard metro, except for the people who unmask to talk. That’s not how you do it, folks.
The onus to enforce masking, here and everywhere, is now on business owners. The Washington Post‘s Petula Dvorak writes about the uncomfortable position this mandate puts people in. Mayor Bowser, however, remains adamant that masking won’t be making a comeback, even as Montgomery County, MD, reinstated their mandate over the weekend.
In case you missed it, the final redistricting map was released on November 19 and it was… well, it was underwhelming for Ward 6. Here’s the link to the map at Councilmember Elissa Silverman’s site, and below are a few close-ups of what will be changing:
Here is the wide shot of Ward 6. At first glance, the changes are evident: There is no more Shaw dogleg to the west; much of Hill East is now part of Ward 7; and a large chunk of Navy Yard is now in Ward 8. But how does it all work out?
As you can see, Ward 7 crosses across the Anacostia and takes the areas bound by C Street NE, 15th Street, Potomac Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue. The eastern bit of Hill East and Barney Circle are now in Ward 7 according to this map– in other words, they are the Shaw and half of Kingman Park of ten years ago. Redistricting is an ugly job and there is no way to keep everyone happy. Unfortunately, this means that communities are sometimes pushed across boundaries.
And a large part of the um… Ballpark District? JDLand? Capitol Hill South? Navy Yard? is now part of Ward 8, which leapt northwest across the Anacostia. The area is bound by 11th Street to the east, Virginia Avenue/Southeast Freeway to the north, and there is a bit of a funky division to the west, where New Jersey Avenue provides the line up until M Street SE, and then the boundary slips a little farther west to South Capitol Street. What do you think? If you want to weigh in, email info@thehillishome.com
And if you want to read more, here is the DC Line‘s recap, The Georgetown Voice’s, Washington City Paper‘s as well as DCist‘s. The Council will meet to discuss on December 7 and the final boundary vote will come on December 21.
In case you missed it, or you don’t subscribe, Councilmember Charles Allen sent his most recent update on Friday the 19. You can read it here.
200 homicides this year, and the year is not over. We’ve lost too many District residents to violence. Washington Post
The Library of Congress is celebrating Native American Heritage Month and they have a blog post about Congressional Cemetery and its Native American residents, as well as the 9/11 totems.
POLITICO takes a tour of lobbying spots around the Hill, and they also highlight the Oracle house on the Hill.