“Dear PoPville,

My husband’s beautiful bike was stolen from our porch on Allison Street in Michigan Park in the early morning on 5/16. Unfortunately, only the back wheel was locked–not the frame–so the guy took the bike and left the wheel (but came prepared with his own back wheel!). It is a matte green Momentum iNeed STREET bike with a bright orange Yepp child carrier on the back and metal basket in front. If you happen to see this bike (or the thief in the video), please contact me at tracy.higgens(at)gmail.com. We’ve filed a police report and learned our lesson on proper locking.”

Videos of theft in action here and here.

From an email:

“On Sunday January 8, 2017 at 4 pm at Michigan Park Christian Church, 1600 Taylor Street, NE (the corner of S. Dakota and Taylor, NE) leaders of the Interfaith community will come together to affirm “Love Over Hate: A Season of Resistance.” This service and rally is in direct response to the divisiveness and rancor that has been offered in the current political climate in the nation. The Clergy leading this call to resistance are clear that it doesn’t have to do with a candidate winning or losing, but the fact that a sacred social covenant has been broken where those who are considered “Other” have been castigated, threatened, and endangered. Read More

screenshot of youtube clip filmed by Ki Steiner

“Dear PoPville,

Michigan Park/Fort Totten residents: beware of the screaming fox and protect your small dogs!
I live in North Michigan Park just behind the Fort Totten Metro. Apparently we have a neighborhood fox, a screaming fox, that frequents my block. A few nights ago around 1:00 am, my husband and I heard what we thought was a woman screaming, and looked out the window to see a red fox chasing a small dog down the sidewalk. My husband ran outside to find the fox standing a few feet from the small dog who was desperately trying to get back into his yard under the fence. My husband yelled and charged at the fox and it ran off, but the dog did appear a little roughed up. The dog’s owner eventually came outside due to the dog’s yelping, and we explained what we saw.

I thought that incident would teach the neighbor not to let her dog out late at night by itself, but again, last night at 2:00 am, I was woken up by the screaming noise of the fox followed by a small dog crying. Read More

“Dear PoPville,

I came home from work today to find the attached flyer stuck in my mailbox. Looks like the shots I (and at least one other commenter) heard were not at 8th and Emerson, but around the corner on the 700 block of Delafield, NE.

Sad that there was damage, and terrifying that the bullets entered people’s homes. When someone asked about the 8th and Emerson shooting on the 4D listserv, an officer said that they responded and found nothing. Seems they were looking on the wrong block.

I hope that the person who made the flyer sees this and knows that some of us did call, and I hope MPD figures out what’s going on and arrests whomever is behind it.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Miki J.

“Dear PoPville,

I’ve lived on the 5000 block of 8th St NE (near South Dakota, not far from Fort Totten) for 2.5 years. The first two years were very quiet, but recently there’s been something going on near 8th and Emerson. After a 5 pm assault/ armed robbery and then some nighttime gunfire a few months ago, I was told that the people responsible had been arrested and the issues should stop. Then, on Friday night, I was awakened by several bursts of gunfire again. I called 911, cops canvassed and found nothing.

I’ve lived and worked and volunteered in DC since 1993, much of it in neighborhoods on or just beyond the edge of gentrification. I’ve coped with the attendant crime by not walking around after dark, being nice to my neighbors, and hanging out on my porch a lot so people know me. I’ve had bikes stolen, and cars, and two burglaries. I’ve called 911 dozens and dozens of times. Read More

“Dear PoPville,

We tweeted DC water over a week ago about water bubbling near a pole in our neighborhood. They responded to a tweet and apparently sent a team. That team couldn’t “find” the pole after 3 tweets with an approximate address. Then we saw someone sent a 311 form. 2 weeks later that pole is still pushing out water. I can’t believe a pole pushing out water is good. Anyone have experience with DC Water that is actually positive!!!

10th and Emerson/South Dakota NE. Still running, just checked. A response from DC water via tweet says it’s been added to the list basically, but it’s still almost 2 weeks now.”

Ed. Note: I’ve had positive experiences with DC Water but will make sure they see this again.

Update from DC Water:

“Our crew went out there. It’s coming from a manhole and not coming from the pole. So we evaluate repairs based on four factors: Property Damage, Number of Residents Affected, Public Safety and Large Shut off/Small Leak.

If the leak is not causing property damage, impacting public safety nor causing a loss of service to residents, it’s considered a low priority. Unfortunately, in this particular situation we have not been able to get to the leak because new leaks pop up several times a day that will jump the line. The median age of our water pipes is 79 years old which means it’s really old. We are aware of the leak. It is job #15-378336 and we will repair it as soon as we can.”