Columbia Heights

Dear PoPville – Advice on Dealing with Street Harassment

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user nevermindtheend

“Dear PoPville,

This weekend I heard about something that happened to a friend of mine a few weeks back. He was exiting Coffy Cafe (14th street and Park rd) at about 8 pm on a Friday night and trying to catch a cab when three teenagers blocked his way and started asking him for bus fare (he couldn’t quite make out what they said but thinks it was something about a bus fare). When he ignored them and tried to move on, they kept blocking him and verbally threatening him. My friend then turned back and went back inside the coffee shop, and they followed him inside. He ordered a cab on his phone from inside the coffee shop, and the teens hanged around the coffee shop for a few minutes and left.

I’m not really sure what the goal was here on their part, and I know harassment happens, but what surprised/alarmed me personally about this is that it happened in the middle of a busy street. I’m new to DC and I try to be aware of my surroundings and avoid secluded areas at night but I’m wondering what to do if harassed like this in the middle of a busy place.”

Pig On The Patio returns to the Heights this Weekend

By Prince Of Petworth

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3115 14th Street, NW

From an email:

“The Heights will welcome summer and host its annual Pig on the Patio event this Saturday and Sunday, June 7-8, 2014, with drink and pork specials served all day throughout the restaurant. In addition, on Saturday, June 7, EatWell Natural Farm’s Manager Erica S. Porch will be at The Heights so diners can “Meet The Farmer” and learn about the farm-to-table process.

The roast starts at 9:00 am rain or shine on the 80-seat patio, which was recently revamped to include comfortable lounge seating and fire pits. Specials feature all parts of the pig, and range from small bites such as Pig Ear “Frites” ($6) to entrees like the Pig Head BLT ($15). A sampling of the entire pig can be experienced with the the Head To Tail Platter ($20), served with cole slaw, collard greens, and grilled corn.

The Heights_POTP_Menu (PDF)

Drink specials include a Bacon Bloody Mary ($10) made with candied bacon, jalapeno and a bacon rim, Butternut Porkslap Pale Ale ($5) and an EatWell Farmhouse Punch ($9) made with bourbon, EatWell Natural Farm strawberries and lemon balm. The Pig on the Patio celebration runs Saturday June 7 from 9:00am-11:30pm and Sunday June 8, 9:00am-10:30pm.

On Saturday, EatWell Natural Farm’s Manager Erica S. Porch will be on The Heights’ patio from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm promoting farm-to-table operations, across the street from the weekly Columbia Heights farmers market. Porch will be sampling food brought from the farm, and selling plants such as squash, zucchini, tomato, pepper, tomatillo, cucumber and herbs for $3 to $4.She will also discuss and offer a sign-up for the Summer Volunteer Day held at the EatWell Natural Farm in La Plata, Maryland, held Saturday, June 21, 2014, which give volunteers an opportunity to spend a few hours at the farm with tour, group work & education (such as planting and weeding) and a free lunch, provided by an EatWell restaurant.”

Popping up on Kenyon and Razed from 13th and Park Rd, NW

By Prince Of Petworth

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Kenyon between 13th and 14th St, NW

Thanks to all who’ve been sending emails and updates about the pop up above on Kenyon Street. One writes:

“We’ve been watching progress on Kenyon between 13th and 14th. Looks like they will be keeping part of the spire so that’s good. Builders say it will be three separate condos. Interested to see finished product.”

And nearby the old building at 13th and Park Rd, NW has been completely razed. You can see renderings for the new condos coming here.

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13th and Park Rd, NW June 2014

Prior to Demo:

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13th and Park Rd, NW February 2014

Garage Sale Fundraiser Tomorrow to Support Family in Need after House Fire

By Prince Of Petworth

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“Dear PoPville,

The Cesar Chavez Public Charter School for Public Policy will be holding a fundraising garage sale this Saturday, May 31 from 10am-12pm at 770 Kenyon St NW. All proceeds will be donated to a family in our community whose home was destroyed in a fire.

We have kids games, men’s and women’s clothing, shoes, a twin bed, sports equipment and more.

We are also accepting donations of items or money. If people are doing some spring cleaning and are interested in getting ride of lightly used, garage sale quality items, you can drop them off at the school any time between now and Saturday.”

Rough Times at the Columbia Heights Giant

By Prince Of Petworth

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A reader writes:

“Looked like the impending apocalypse the other night in the produce section at the Columbia Heights Giant. It’s often bad, but I usually don’t see completely empty shelves…”

UPDATE from Giant:

“We apologize for the stock conditions captured in the photo. When this photo was taken, there was a mechanical problem in the refrigerated case where we display our bagged salads. The case has been repaired and is operating properly at this time. We regret any inconvenience to our customers.

We have brought the community’s comments to the attention of our store managers and staff. We know that our customers have many options to shop for groceries and want to ensure that they find a pleasing experience and well-stocked store when shopping with Giant.”

Fire on the 1300 block of Irving St, NW

By Prince Of Petworth

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@IAFF36 tweets:

“House Fire – 1325 Irving St NW – 3-story rowhouse, fire showing #DCFD”

@DCPoliceDept tweets:

“Hosue Fire: 1325 Irving St NW (Vacant). No injuries reported. 1300 blk of Irving St is CLOSED. MPD is handling traffic control.”

@wowindc tweets us these photos:

“Irving eastbound btw 13th and 14th blocked off due to fire.”

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Another reader sends the below photo via email:

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Construction for 40 New Condos Starts on Chapin Street just west of 14th

By Prince Of Petworth

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Thanks to all who sent emails:

“I just walked past some new construction on Chapin Street, N.W. (just off of 14th behind View 14th). There’s a long-time vacant lot there that’s being turned into condos. I asked some of the guys what was going to be built and they pointed me to an older man who said condos. I asked how many and he said 40 condos.”

Another reader adds:

“My boyfriend and I asked them what was getting built and they said, “a 6-story condo building”.”

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