This Could Be Yours For $199K


1624 4th St NW
Originally uploaded by In Shaw

Looking on Redfin there are a few places in NW DC that can be had for less than $200K. This is one. It will more than likely need work. However, it may be one of those things you can fix up while living rough. Sort of a bachelor project or something for a super handy couple.
Yet, it is interesting to see the number “1” in front of the numbers for some abodes again. Haven’t seen that number starting housing prices since 2003. Don’t be fooled by the 4 bedroom 3 bath claim. Houses on that side of the street are small and are usually 2 bedroom and at the most 2 bathrooms.

Thanks metro

I would like to thank the metro employees at the Shaw/Howard this station for dealing with the man laying on the platform this morning. The guy may have been very, very sleepy and drunk, but coming off a train to some guy just laying there is disturbing. It would have been one thing if he decided to nap on one of the benches, but turning himself into one big ole trip hazard is unacceptable.

DI4Y (Do It For Yourself)

I can’t say this weekend was quiet. The folks across the alley and over a few doors are putting a deck up. So this was a weekend of hammering and guys yelling at each other.
They sort of had a small deck-like thing, a legacy from before they bought the house. It was grey warped wood with splotches of moss and mold. It was also small, just big enough for 2 guys to sit out on it to smoke. The deck they are getting would allow for a table, where two-four-six guys can sit, smoke and maybe have a few beers. Considering how much use the old deck got, new one will get used often.
I’m thinking of some home improvements as well for 2009. The 1st floor was to have a shower, but I didn’t have the money for it in the renovation. I’m thinking I’ll save up some money, talk to David my contractor, get a figure from him, and add 30% on top of that. Also scheduled for 2009 is repainting the house. With the colors B &IT have for their house and the color of the house next to me, the color I’m choosing will make the three houses my alma mater’s school colors. Though the neighboring house’s color is a little on the pastel side to truly be a fighting school colors. Eh, close enough.
I think there is something special about home improvements people do for themselves, and not to just try to sell the house. Considering the cost, the hassle of dust and discomfort of strangers tromping through your house (if paying someone else to do it), it pretty much keeps improvements down to things that are needed. Also the improvements are truly ‘custom’ to the way the residents live.

Something bad happened at Catania Bakery

I have no details but when I wandered over there around 8something AM there was a cruiser and a bakery delivery van blocking off the alley. In front there were a couple of the Latino workers, a cop, and a woman with her dog hanging out in front. When I got closer to the entrance I saw a sign saying there wouldn’t be any retail sales today. I asked the Latino guys. There English and my Spanish, not so good. All I got was the word assault out of the whole thing. The cop was busy chatting with the lady with the dog, and I asked if anyone was hurt. No. With that I headed home.

Book Review: Home Girl: Building a dream house on a lawless block, pt 2

See part 1 here.
One chapter says it well, “Nice Bones, Rotten Organs”. Besides the drug trade going on outside the author’s house the other main drama of the book is the renovation of the house she bought in Harlem. I have to say I’ve been lucky. I found one main contractor for the big stuff and I have stuck with him and it has been a good relationship. The author, Judith Matloff, sadly has a multi-ethnic, multi-skilled, multi-competent, crew tearing her house apart at any one moment. Old houses are like old people, they are charming but they do have problems that come with age, and poor maintenance. Part way through fixing the place up she calls in some experts who come up with a laundry list of things that needed addressing.
I’m also lucky in that I got to live in my house long enough to have a clue of what it needed and how I wanted to live in it, before taking on major renovations. I know, for me, that my bedroom only needs to be functional, and not some oasis or retreat from the world. And then there are a bunch of things that I wanted to customize to the way I live and want to live (radiators, claw foot tub, Corian counter tops, etc), that no developer could ever foresee. But enough about me.
The second major theme is the business of drug dealing and it is a business. It confirms Sudhir Venkatesh’s work in looking at the drug dealing that goes on in the streets of Chicago, NYC and DC as a business with a hierarchy. In Gang Leader for a Day, the manager of the drug trade was J.T., in this book it is Miguel. Our street has one too, and so reading Matloff’s and Venkatesh’s experiences, re-affirms what I am (thankfully) seeing less of, on my street each year. Managers, main drug leaders, whatever tend to be a little older (in their 20s or early 30s) and keep their foot soldiers, the younger men selling, running, looking out, etc in line. A manger’s primary interest is to move product with as little interruption as possible. Which on the good side means they are not interested in starting up turf wars or any other activity that would bring greater police presence. This is illustrated (in a chapter I’m currently at a loss to find), when the author is very pregnant, is threatened by a female crackhead and her boyfriend on the author’s front stoop. She calls the cops, however Miguel lets it be known that if she had just informed him, instead of calling the cops (bad for business) he would have taken care of it.
I know it sounds strange, but in these situations it is not unusual to work out some sort of ‘peace’ with the dealers, while at the same time battling the drug trade through other channels. As a middle class (white

WANTED: Robert Hannah “Rob”

UPDATE= DCist reports that an arrest has been made!


Robert Hannah, aka “Rob,” is wanted on an outstanding Felony Warrant for Voluntary Manslaughter in connection with the beating death of Tony Hunter which occurred at 8th & N Street, NW, in September 2008. Hannah is described as a 18-year-old black male (date of birth: 8/11/1990), 5′ 7″ in height, and 148 lbs. His last known address is in the 1100 block of McCullough Court, NW. He is known to frequent the area around 7th & O Streets, NW. Download a PDF WANTED poster for distribution.

The case is under investigation by members of the Homicide and Sexual Offenses Branch. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Detective Jed Worrell on 202 645-9618 or 202 486-1596 (cell); Detective Jackie Middleton on 202 645-5501 or 202 497-4606 (cell); or the Metropolitan Police Department’s Command Information Center (CIC) at 202 727-9099. Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call 1-888-919-CRIM [E]. Anonymous information may also be forwarded to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by text messaging 50411
–originally posted 10/10/08

ANC2C02- Don’t vote yourself into an abusive relationship

They basically confirmed something that I always knew to be true, many in this neighborhood fear reprisal from Leroy Thorpe if they ever “supported” his opponent in his re-election bid. Just two years ago I will admit that I was in the same boat but today I am not scared and to tell you the truth if Leroy were stupid enough to do something to me or my family it would say more about the man than anything I have ever written on this website.

Off Seventh
Another commenter on the Off Seventh’s blog already compared it to an abusive relationship. But let me stress that point even more. Voters of 2C02, you are like Tina Turner, just after she’s escaped a long abusive marriage to Ike, redone her image, and Ike comes threatening Tina with violence to force her to come back. ANC2C02, be the strong Tina. Be the Tina that goes forward on to bigger and better things, not the Tina who makes excuses and lives in fear.
Please don’t be in denial about how bad it is and was. Daddy 5-O has a good refresher of why you don’t want to go back. It should also be good reason why the rest of you all in 2C shouldn’t keep the enablers of the abuse (Brooks & Curtis) on either.
Before I finish this I want to thank everyone who voted for Kevin Chapple back in 2006. Especially the voters who were abroad at the time and submitted their absentee ballots, who made their neighborhood a better place to come back home to. By doing so you brought in a man who truly serves the people of 2C. Kevin is a man who shares information with the people, knowing that information is power, and power belongs to the people.

DC Archives Holdings, pt 2

See Part 1, and I take no responsibility for the accuracy of this catalog.
Mayor’s Office (and predecessor, the Board of Commissioners)
Minutes, Including orders, of the Commissioners. 1953-67
Records relating to executive session meetings of the Board of Commissioners(“Confidential Memorandum”), 1957-1966. (6 cu ft)
Photographic prints and negatives, slides, and other visual records from the Office of Communications and its successors, ca. 1946-1990. (22 cu ft)
General Correspondence of Mayor Walter E. Washington, 1967-1969. (18 cu ft)
Speeches of Mayor Marion Barry, 1979-1990. (12 cu ft)
Office files of Mayor Marion Barry, ca 1985-1990 (bulk) (2.74 cu ft)
Subject files of the Mayor’s Press Secretary, ca 1989-90. (4 cu ft)
Records of he 1978 & 1982 Mayoral Transition Committees; records of cabinet meetings, 1979-82; and “Pre-Policy” meetings, 1984-85; and Policy Discussion Group meetings, 1982. (9 cu ft)
Subject files of Mayor Walter Washington,, 1967-69 (ulk), 1961-70 (inclusive) (18 cu ft)
Subject files of Deputy Mayor Thomas Fletcher, 1967-69 (bulk), 1961-70. (inclusive). (17 cu ft)
“Chron files” Reading Files. Mayor’s Correspondence Unit, 1979-85. (8 cu ft)
Letters Received, Board of Commissioners, ca. 1908-28. 18 cu ft. [Estrays from the Letters Received in RG 351 in the National Archives]

Planning Office
Project files, re. to building the Convention Center, 1965-84; and correspondence and other records, 1985-87. (ca 13 cu ft)

Police Department
“May Day Report, 1971. (1.5 cu ft)