What’s going on, Capitol Hill? It graupeled/snow pelleted a little this morning, so winter is here to stay. What else is going on?
By the way, the Capitol Christmas tree is getting lit on Wednesday, December 1 starting at 5 p.m. The gates will open at 4 p.m. and entry is along the Peace Monument in NE and the Garfield Monument in SE. No masks are required since it’s a public event. To learn more about this year’s Christmas tree from California, you can click here (and watch there too). By the way, the Norwegian Embassy tree at Union Station will be lit on December 8.
Cheese the cat has been reunited with his humans. If you’ve been in the painful situation of having to put up lost pet signs, please remember to take the signs down once you’ve found your pet. And if you see one of these signs, please take it down.
Attorney General Karl Racine announced an expansion to the Cure The Streets program that started in 2018. Cure the Streets seeks to target areas that have been historically and disproportionately affected by gun violence and treats the violence as a disease. You can read more about it here.
Redistricting is in its last stretch and there will be a special ANC 6B meeting on Wednesday, December 1 at 7:30 p.m. via WebEx. You can learn more about this meeting by clicking here. You can see a detailed final map here, the committee’s report here, as well as analysis and thoughts on redistricting from Capitol Hill Corner and the Hill Rag (Thank you to Commissioner Steve Holtzman for sending these links along.) Additionally, Commissioner Brian Alcron, whose single member district is among the most affected in the redistricting process, as it will be currently cut in half, had this to say to the redistricting committee in an email (lightly edited for length):
Dividing the Wards up 15th Street will not change how the neighbors view these developments, but will change how residents east and west of 15th Street will be represented in these matters. For example, the present Ward 7 Councilmember’s views about the redevelopment of RFK Stadium are already at odds with those residents who will be most directly impacted by the redevelopment of land in their backyards – his future “Hill East Island” constituents who live east of 15th Street and those Ward 6 residents who live west of 15th Street. …[I]t can be incredibly challenging for residents to receive meaningful engagement of a Councilmember and their staff if residents live outside of the Councilmember’s Ward, as ANC 6A noted in its November 11 letter to the Redistricting Subcommittee. For those east of 15th, living as an island apart from the rest of Ward 7, our voices may be drowned out in a manner that the Kingman Park portion of Ward 7 experienced over the past 20 years. Thus, as these plans advance and remain under the direct purview of Ward 7 leaders, my ANC 6A08 constituents and all of the residents of Capitol Hill have a legitimate concern about the representation they will receive in these matters…
The Small Business Administration’s, uh, administrator, Isabella Casillas Guzman, took a tour around Eastern Market this past Small Business Saturday. It was pretty exciting for our small businesses. SBA.gov
Mayor Bowser held a press conference yesterday announcing a new initiative to help with traffic and dangerous driving around school zones. She set the correct tone, condemning people’s needs to get places faster as inexcusable and urging District residents to slow down. Jordan Pascale from DCist/WAMU wrote about the conference and included some of the more uneasy reactions to the initiative, which is only to be carried out at 7 school zones out of 244 around the District. It’s a good start but we need more.
When asked about Omicron, the Mayor replied this:
Long story short, folks: Keep wearing your masks and please please please get vacinated and boosted! Go to coronavirus.dc.gov for more information.
It’s still Giving Tuesday, but please feel free to use this post as a guideline for your year-end giving. The Hill is Home
TikTok is opening an office in DC and it’s going to be in NoMa, near Union Market. Cue all the reaction sounds and the silly dances– we’re gonna be famous! Bisnow
16th Street SE is looking safer already:
Hey, remember that story from POLITICO on the lobbying houses around the Hill? Well, reader and former writer at the gone-but-great Voice of the Hill Valere Jablow shared this thread on whether this is legal or not. Take a look below.
Want to get in the festive spirit? People have replied to our call for good moments with District agencies and it’s really heartwarming. Folks are especially thankful for the DC Public Library, the DMV and DDOT’s Forestry service. If you’re on Twitter, add your own!
Update: From our friend @eat_dc, Kaiju opens this afternoon at 5 p.m. Kaiju is at 525 8th Street SE, next door to Ambar Balkan Cuisine.