Thanks to a reader for sending in Snowpig from the corner of Sherman and Irving.
This is Hugh a Bernese Mountain Dog loving the snow in Mt. Pleasant. Thanks to a reader for sending.
Above is Smudge, sent in from Adams Morgan.
And the cool photo below was taken by Isabel:
“You can see the houses at Kansas St. through an upside-down drop of water about to fall off an icicle on my window.”
Photo by PoPville flickr user Suse_dc
The following was written by Josh Glasstetter in American City.
Snow Excuse
Right now, the city is inadvertently letting sidewalk scofflaws off the hook. If a sidewalk isn’t cleared, the city is supposed to clear it and charge the cost to the responsible party—plus a $25 maximum fine. That sounds good in theory, but the city simply doesn’t have a shovel-wielding army to unleash on city sidewalks. The result is that many sidewalks go uncleared, and nobody pays for it—except for the city’s pedestrians.
Washington needs an ordinance that has teeth and can be enforced. If some residents, landlords, and business owners are unwilling to clear their sidewalks, then the city should be able to issue citations akin to parking tickets. The police and public works employees clearly have their hands full during snowstorms, so citations should be issued primarily by other city employees (e.g. parking enforcement staff). And the city could prioritize enforcement by relying largely on tips from 311.
I, for one, would eagerly phone in a report about about a grocery store near me—fully staffed and open for business, but with unshoveled sidewalks—or the gas stations I’ve passed with plowed and salted lots but unshoveled sidewalks. But without a revised law on the books, there’s little any pedestrian can do but trudge on in disgust.
You can read the full story here. Do you agree? Does DC need to change its shoveling laws?
Photo by PoPville flickr user District Shots
I gotta say Twitter really was amazing during the storm. There was terrific info from district agencies like @DDOTDC and of course the residents of many neighborhoods around town. I just wanted to share one insane story. A reader tweeted me asking about Comcast going down this morning. Not 5 minutes later a Comcast employee tweeted back (from Philly) to both of us letting us know what was going on with Comcast. Totally wild. For the record, the reader’s Comcast is now working.
Anyone else find twitter super useful during the storms?
If you’d like to follow PoPville on twitter you can do so here.
Video from houseintherear
Photo from PoPville flickr user J Y W
“Dear PoP,
Saw this link on Wired.com. Might be worth a mention on your website! It is a tool to link those that need help shoveling out with those that can provide it.”
Very cool idea!
We had a lengthy discussion about whether or not to clear snow from our roofs the other day. I debated it myself many times but decided to hope for the best. So far so good, knock wood, knock wood. So I’m wondering what you guys have decided – anyone shovel their roofs? Will you do so today? Or will you let the sun do its work?
Photo from Haley
Photo from PoPville flickr user fromcaliw/love
“Dear PoP,
I just realized today that if I don’t have word to do from my government clients (who stopped responding to e-mails two days ago) then I have to take personal leave. Needless to say I’m a little pissed about it.”
That is brutal. How many folks have had to take personal days off? Are many folks allowed to work from home? How many folks have to bill to government clients and can’t get any work done?
“Dear PoP,
This picture was taken after the lighter snow fall from 2 weeks ago…this is on either 7th or 8th street NE of Grant Circle. I just wanted to ask what’s up with that?”
I’ve seen this boat once before, can’t remember if I wrote about it, but def. think it is awesome. Incidentally on twitter someone asked what’s going to happen when all the snow melts? Anyone know if we are in store for some serious flooding?
Besides the snow, how did your block/neighborhood survive the wind? Many trees down?
I’m posting this a bit early so I can hit the neighborhood bars but it is expected that the Federal Government remains closed as do above ground metrorail stations.
If you have burned out on snowball fights, what are you going to do to pass the day? I have to say I finally saw the movie Zombieland and thought it was fantastic. I dare say a perfect snow day film.
