Dear PoPville

“I don’t know what bothers me more, the fact that my bike got stolen as I was trying to help or that these detectives so nonchalantly blew me off literally as a crime was happening because it wasn’t their district.”

By Prince Of Petworth

Ed. Note: If anyone happens to spot the bike you can email me at [email protected] and I’ll pass on to OP.

“Dear PoPville,

As I was riding my bike home tonight, I hear an accident behind me on the corner of Upshur NW and Kansas Ave NW right in front of the Petworth Library. I head over to see if the drivers were ok and call 911. In the rush to make sure the drivers were ok, I did not lock my bike up but leaned it against the railing of the library.

As I am on the phone with 911, two detectives from Third District walk up and tell me they’ve called in the accident. As they tell me this, other bystanders start yelling at me that my bike is being stolen. I turn around and it’s gone. I tell the two detectives that my bike was just stolen as I was talking to them and the response I get was “sorry that’s for 4D, we’re 3D. You’ll need to file a report with 4D” and walked away from me back to their car. (more…)

Missed Connection – Starbucks 16th & U

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by Jim Havard

Ed. Note: If any of these are you, please email [email protected] so I can put you in touch with OP. PoPville is not affiliated with either party, please proceed with any potential connection at your own risk using caution as you would any online encounter. For those curious about past missed connections, some have been made and when possible I’ll try to update when/if more are made. One out of two connections were made last week.

“Dear Popville,

On Wednesday, 4/28 I met a girl in the U Street Starbucks line around 10:45 am. We were both waiting outside to enter the building and struck up a brief but pleasant conversation. We commented on the various Starbucks closings in the region, and she said that she worked down the street. (more…)

“Have you seen any solar carport/pergolas around town?”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

Have you seen any solar carport/pergolas around town? We are considering building one for some shade in our super sunny back patio/parking pad and got a quote from a solar installer. ($14k-$20k for both the structure and panels post-tax-credit depending on size).

Our lot occupancy is currently maxed out for our zoning at 60% but in researching what counts as building area, I found there was a rule making in 2016 that says building area does NOT include: (more…)

“Handyman / contractor recommendations for repairs before moving in”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by Caroline Angelo

“Dear PoPville,

We just bought a house in Cap Hill / H St Corridor area and are moving in in two months. Since this is our first home (always rented), we don’t have a lot of repairman connections. There are some minor repairs we need to make in the house–nothing major, but stuff I want fixed before we move in. For example, there are some gaps and deteriorated mortar on the exterior, we want to relocate the AC unit, the deck bannister is loose and needs to be fixed, etc.

Do you have any recommendations for a good, trustworthy handyman in the area?”

“Unidentified flying object over Columbia Heights”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by Diane Krauthamer

“Dear PoPville,

I saw something weird in the sky and wanted to see if anyone else in the columbia heights may have spotted it. Around 10:45pm on 4/28 i saw an object flying pretty low to the ground, coming from the children’s national hospital area and flying West across the sky. It was mostly dark but had red lights on either side that were really spread far apart, almost like a plane’s wings, but i couldn’t see anything in the middle and there weren’t lights in the middle. The way it was traveling, the lights were in the front and back not side to side like for a plane.

It was also flying too close to the ground to be a plane, it almost looked like it was skimming over the treetops, so i thought it was a helicopter but the two lights were so far apart and it was shaped so different than a helicopter. (more…)

“Woman in mini white SUV yelling at dog owners doesn’t just keep to Navy Yard!”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

I wanted to send an update to this story you posted about a woman in Navy Yard yelling at dog owners about them not feeding their dogs enough. I had an encounter with this same lady in Dupont Circle today (Tuesday). She held up traffic to slow down and yell out her car windows at me that my dog was “acting that way” (barking at a squirrel, ha) because I underfeed my dog. (more…)

“The dog bolted across Connecticut and seemingly disappeared into the depths of the neighborhood.”

By Prince Of Petworth


via google maps

“Dear PoPville,

My husband and I were sitting outside of McClellan’s at Connecticut and Florida around 6, 630 yesterday. A woman ran sprinting by chasing after her dog who’d gotten loose. The dog bolted across Connecticut and seemingly disappeared into the depths of the neighborhood. We never saw the woman come back with her dog. As a fellow dog-owner, my heart went out to her. I was wondering 1) Did she catch him? 2) If not, is there anything I can do to help search for him? Happy to help, if she wants or needs it.“

“Delayed DC tax return”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by C Buoscio

“Dear PoPville,

For a variety of reasons, we’re getting tax refunds for the first time in a while. The IRS refund came quickly but it’s been several weeks since we filed and still haven’t received anything from DC. We have direct deposit set up so problems with the mail shouldn’t be the issue. I’m curious if others are also having delays in getting their DC refunds.”

View More Stories