How did it get to be Thursday already? Anyway, better late than never, a quickie round-up of stories on and about the Hill (and sometimes a little beyond):
The Ethel, a 100-unit building designed to offer permanent supportive housing and named after Ethel Kennedy –– local philanthropist, Robert Kennedy’s widow and mother of Maryland’s Lt. Governor–– had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday. The building is part of the redevelopment at Reservation 13, which also has Park Kennedy and other soon-to-come retail. The Ethel will have case management services and amenities to help people transition out of homelessness (EOM). In a Washington Post article, Mayor Bowser was quoted as saying,
“We believe that we should have affordable housing in every part of our city,” Bowser said. “Here, we’re close to amenities for food, great schools, great recreation and the Metro. This is a great place to live.”
This ribbon-cutting happened two days before encampments were cleared at McPherson Square in Northwest. This particular site was one of the last remaining conglomerations of unhoused residents that grew in parks across the District during the pandemic. According to reporting by DCist, many residents were unsure of where to go and did not have vouchers (to places like The Ethel) lined up as of yesterday.
A lovely obituary and tribute to William Outlaw, neighbor and mayor of 10th Street NE. Hill Rag
Ted Lerner, the local real estate magnate and former principal owner of the Washington Nationals, died on Sunday at age 97. Fittingly, Washington Business Journal looks back on his impressive legacy — especially the development of Capitol Riverfront.
DC News Now reports on a recent safety meeting and how Potomac Avenue Station-area neighbors want security to improve.
Capitol Hill Corner shares the concepts for digital artwork to be installed at the K Street NE underpass, which were recently unveiled at an ANC meeting.
Will something finally happen at the southwestern corner of 13th and H Streets NE? Perhaps an Ethiopian restaurant, says a PopVille reader. That corner seems truly haunted despite having businesses thriving next door and across the street, and being incredibly close to a DC Streetcar stop and an X2 stop as well. Whoever gets in there better do some sort of thorough physical and metaphysical inspection.
The Washington Blade crowned our neighborhood as Most Eligible Collection of Antique Homes and we couldn’t be more honored. Did we wear our hair up in hopes of wearing a tiara? Nope, just a coincidence!
It’s school budget season and it seems that, despite the claims that there will be more funding per student, DC Public Schools will mysteriously see their funding cut:
We find ourselves in this situation, despite the Council passing a bill in December of last year ensuring that, in most cases, no school gets less money than they did on a prior year, regardless of dips in enrollment. This can help schools continue funding established programs that would otherwise shutter if there is a budget cut, and gives existing schools stability across the board. DCist
The Chancellor and the Mayor both agree that budgeting in this way could hurt funding for schools with higher at-risk populations and deepen a disparity divide, as reported in the Washington Post back in December. Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker summarized this impending disaster succinctly,
Does this mean there are too many schools in DC, or does it mean that we need to consolidate schools? Perhaps there are hard questions of that nature that need to be addressed, along with taking a hard look at public charter schools.
Want to check your school’s budget? Use the tool: dcpsbudget.com. As you enter different schools around our area, a pattern emerges, unevenly: the more students a school is projected to lose, the more money, almost exponential, they lose. For instance, Eastern High School has gained 127 students and may gain $2.6M. By contrast, Stuart-Hobson Middle School stands to lose 64 students and may lose $330.4k. Ludlow-Taylor lost 17 and loses $326.9k. Tyler Elementary, however, does not conform to that pattern. They stand to gain 14 students, but lose $406.4k ––one of the schools losing the most money in our area in this initial budget. Payne Elementary will lose around $11k but will gain 27. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE, PLEASE. (Tip: This slideshow kind of explains it.)