With the new year, 826DC is making a big push to deepen our volunteer base. With only one full-time employee, we are almost entirely volunteer-run, and need lots of help serving the more than 1,500 young people we tutor in our center (located inside “The Museum of Unnatural History”) and in partnership with teachers throughout the district.

We have no minimum time commitment, and volunteers do not need to have previous experience writing, tutoring or teaching to help out. Interested? Sign up here to learn more or email volunteer@826dc.org!

• Paila Chilean Grill has been open for a few months on Park Road between 14th and 15th, and it was featured in this great Washington Post article.
• Maple, a new Italian restaurant, soon open on 11th Street, between Park and Monroe.  Prince of Petworth and New Columbia Heights provide more information.
• Coffy Cafe, a coffee shop and crepery, will open in early 2012 on 14th Street, just north of Park Road.  Keep updated on its progress via its Facebook page.
• A new 24 hour diner / bar / lounge from the owner of The Diner and Tryst is currently under construction, and slated to open on 11th Street between Park and Monroe in April.
• Z-Burger’s build-out is nearly complete, and they will open in February.
• The Pinch will serve contemporary American cuisine at 14th and Parkwood, beginning in the Spring.
• Construction is also underway at Jackie Greenbaum’s future taqueria on 11th Street.
• Le Caprice D.C., a french bakery, will open within a few weeks on 14th Street, in the Allegro condominium building.
• In other local culinary news, neighborhood favorite Room 11 recently began serving brunch, to rave reviews.  Room 11 will soon be expanding into its adjacent building.

• Other aspects of our 2011-12 agenda include working (with folks already making headway on this) on establishing and publicizing a Friends group for the 11th and Monroe Park, so that it is up and running when the park reopens, working on neighborhood parking issues, and improving neighborhood tree boxes / green space.

• Finally, as folks have noted on the Columbia Heights Listserve, rats are becoming a bigger and bigger neighborhood problem.  If folks have ideas for good speakers / strategies re: combating rats, please share them.  Some suggestions I have heard include (1) soaking rags in ammonia and leaving them where rat dropping appears, (2) making sure all trash cans and dumpsters on or near your property remain closed, (3) sealing holes in fences, (4) contacting a pest control company to fill rat holes / dens with poison, and (5) keeping your yard clear of piles of leaves and weeds.  If you notice a rat infestation in your area, definitely contact Gerard Brown at gerard.brown@dc.gov or 202-535-2636, who can help direct city resources towards abatement.  Most of all, we need to encourage our neighbors to be responsible regarding trash and litter in order for this problem to be resolved in the longer term. Here is a helpful webpage with more rat control tips:

http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/Agencies/permits/ridrats/ratcontrol.html

We will have a public meeting in early November to address these and other issues, time and place to be announced.

I am pleased to announce a team of Ward One graffiti eradicators have been deployed in the Ward since the beginning of the summer.  I secured this funding through Children’s Youth Investment Trust Corp (CYITC). After losing our Ward 1 Green Teams funding, there was an explosion of graffiti in Ward 1. We had to address this problem ASAP.

Gang related tagging, in particular, have to be removed as fast as they go up.  This additional team of four gets the job done!  The team also provides a Ward One focus to the ongoing work of the DPW graffiti removal teams which are deployed throughout the city.  In addition to removing crew/gang taggings, the team has been assisting the Department of Parks and Recreation on maintaining clean and graffiti free / gang free parks in Ward One, for example the Girard Street Playground, Bruce Monroe Park, and the Park @ LeDroit.

The team of four has already removed 130 illegal graffiti taggings in Ward One.  These are full time jobs working 40 hours a week, Mondays through Fridays.

The team is under contract with the Columbia Heights Youth Club and Career Path DC. They also work in partnership with the Department of Public Works and the Metropolitan Police Department. The team is also working with 50 young people at the Columbia Heights Youth Club and team of 6 interns on special environmental awareness programs that will be ongoing throughout the year.

This joins our Graffiti Mural Art program which continues and has been funded for several years now.

If you spot a Ward One tagging, please give my office a call at 724.8181 and we will get the word to the team.

Speaking of new neighborhood businesses, we heard from Jackie Greenbaum about her forthcoming taqueria on 11th Street at our May 4th meeting.  Detailed minutes from that meeting, including notes from her presentation, can be located here.  As discussed in more detail in the minutes, we also covered new initiatives related to neighborhood parking, landscaping, and improving the dog park.  Please contact us if you would like to assist in any of these endeavors.  [I note that we are missing a few old meeting minutes; the full archives will be updated soon].