UPCOMING MEETINGS

**** American University Park Citizens Association -- Tuesday, June 5, 7:30 pm, Tenley Library.

**** 2D Citizens Advisory Council -- Wednesday, June 6, 7:00 pm, 3320 Idaho Avenue.
 

THANK YOU!
I'd like to thank Susan Ellis and her daughter, Susan Wild who donated a used laptop computer to the little ten year old who
will be bedridden for a long period of time due to illness. He and his father, an MPD detective, are very grateful for your
generosity. Thanks for making life a little brighter for this kid.
 

POLICE ALERT -- SEXUAL ABUSE INCIDENTS AND ROBBERY
On Wednesday evening,  a white male, about 30,  walked up to two women ( in separate incidents),  grabbed at their breasts
and then ran. The police want to know if you observed anything or anyone who you think might have been involved in these
incidents. Call the 2D detectives office at 282-0044.  The man was describes as being about 5'8" with a pudgy build. He had a
pot belly and wore tan pants, dark polo shirt and had short dark hair.  He approached one victim in the 3500 block of Reno
around 7 pm, and the other in the 3500 block of Rittenhouse around 7:30 pm. Police think he drove from one site to the other.
One victim was a teenager (15); the other an older woman (about 65). Apparently there have been some similar crimes in
Chevy Chase and the police believe it could be the same guy.  Captain Anthony Poteat contacted me to alert you.
 

**** From: "Robert V. Maudlin" <maudlin@alum.mit.edu>
FYI from PSA 201 - Lt. Eaves reports-- About 9:00pm Tuesday, May 22, PSA 201 recorded its 21st robbery of the year.
The robbery occurred in the 5800 block of 32nd Street NW. The victim reports that she had just exited a Metro bus at the
intersection of 32nd and McKinley Streets NW, when she observed a large white, 4 door, older model car stopped at the
corner. As she began to walk home, the passenger exited the vehicle and began to walk down the other side of the street. After
asking the victim for the time, the suspect grabbed the victim from behind. During a brief struggle the victim was knocked to the
ground, before the suspect fled with her purse.

The suspect is described as a black male in his late teens, he was six feet in height with short hair. The vehicle is described as a
large white 4 door older model vehicle with a square shape, possibly Cadillac or Caprice with DC tags. The first two letters are
either AK or AY.
 
 

POLICE WORKING WITH GANGS
As part of their proactive work to prevent youth violence, the MPD Office of Youth Violence has a program for getting gangs
together to play basketball. This helps to dissipate hostility across the gangs, and has been shown to significantly reduce
violence among  teens. Now that school is out and summer is here, this is especially important.  The big problem is now west
of  the Anacostia with a sizable number of high risk individuals and gangs identified. The Office of Youth Violence works
through churches and community groups. The current challenge is to get the clergy working together.  Inspector Robin Hoey is
the MPD point person for this activity. He can be reached on 727-7752 if  you'd like to learn more or lend some support to
this antiviolence effort.
 
 

CHIEF'S YOUTH COUNCIL
Chief Ramsey has set up a youth citizens advisory council (CAC)  in order to reach out to and hear from that segment of the
community. Representatives are invited from all over the city. At present he is looking for a representative from 2D.  As a
member of the adult CAC, I can vouch for this being an interesting group to belong to. I would recommend this for any teen
who thinks he or she would like a career in criminal justice - police, attorney, prosecutor, judge, etc.  It's a rare opportunity for
access to the Chief of Police and a look inside the MPD. For more information, contact Officer Henry Banks at 727-4218.
 
 

WHEN AN OFFICER IS INVOLVED IN A SHOOTING
There was a letter in today's Washington Post asking for an "independent investigation" of a police shooting several weeks ago.
The letter was written by the Executive Director of the Council of Latino Agencies. What the writer of the letter fails to mention
is that any fatal shooting by a police officer is automatically investigated by the US Attorney's Office and a Grand Jury. It is also
investigated by the MPD's Force Investigation Team of the Office of Professional Responsibility (Internal Affairs). In this
particular incident, because the individual arrested claimed that race was an issue, it is also being investigated by the Civil Rights
Unit of the Department of Justice.

There has been much written about this particular incident,  but little if anything has been said about the fact that the officer
involved suffered a broken wrist and elbow before he fired. Nor has much been written about the fact that the two men
involved in the attack had previous ADW (assault with a dangerous weapon) convictions.

If I recall the incident correctly, the officer stopped because these guys were sitting in a vehicle, drinking. It's too bad for
everyone involved that it ended the way it did, but until the reports from all these investigations are in, I'll give the benefit of the
doubt to the officer. I don't want our police, whether on or off duty,  to ignore people drinking and driving.
 
 

PARKING GUEST PASSES NEEDED
From: BUNNYRBTT@aol.com  (Carol Barth)
As one of the residents who has recently had multiple tickets written for cars parked in front of my house, I would like to
recommend that each resident household be issued a "guest pass" for those who are visiting for longer than 2 hours.  My 80
year old father lives in an independent senior facility in Kensington, Md and often helps out with child care for my 16 year old
special needs son. He has received more than one ticket parked in front of my house when he has been here caring for my son.
I have sent in the tickets in less than the allotted time period with a letter of explanation asking to be excused from the parking
violation fee, and I have been denied. I have also e-mailed the mayor's office suggesting my "guest pass"  idea, and have never
received acknowledgment that I wrote.
 

**** From: "Phil Heinrich" <phil.heinrich@dc.gov>
I spoke with Carol and agreed to contact a colleague at DMV to see if there is an already existing special parking permit that
would fit this particular case.

While I support the idea behind a "guest pass", I am also keenly aware of the potential for abuse of a pass of this type.  Many
people from MD would love to park all day in areas near Metro, and if they had a friend who could offer them a guest pass,
they could do so with ease.  Therefore, any guest pass of this type would need to be difficult to counterfeit, and would also
need to be restricted to the block where the "host" lives.  There may need to be further restrictions that make such passes
unavailable on blocks close to Metro stops.
Phil Heinrich, Neighborhood Services Coordinator, Ward 3 282-7952
 

**** It seems to me that we really need to be able to get guest passes for situations like the above and for people who come to
our homes to make repairs, remodel, clean, babysit, etc. How can we get this going? -- KS
 
 

FLAGS AND FIREFIGHTERS
From: jean mammen <jemammen@bellatlantic.net>
Memorial Day I saw one of our fire trucks at the Safeway, and it didn't have a flag.  I remember them as always sporting two
flags. I spoke with one of the firefighters who was bringing out groceries.  He said their flags were too tattered to use, and they
didn't have new ones.

Isn't there a "friends of" group?  Could someone check into whether the firefighters want and need flags? how many? what
kind? Probably they need to be heavy with reinforced grommets.  And where to get them and what cost.  I would be happy to
outfit one truck.
Jean Mammen
 
 

RIGHT TURN ON RED
From: <Esmfriend@aol.com>
FYI, Friendship Terrace also rejects the idea of removing the prohibition of "No turn on Red" at 42nd & Albemarle and 42nd
and River Road.  I created a petition and many of our residents signed it.  I mailed it in to Wil DerMinassian, Associate
Director of the Division of Transportation under the Bureau of Traffic Services last month.  I was very pleased that the ANC
voted unanimously to oppose it as well.  I hope these signs stay in place for the sake of our elderly residents and the students.
Dawn Quattlebaum, Administrator, Friendship Terrace
 
 

DOUBLE PARKING AT JANNEY SCHOOL
From: "Tommy Tomlinson and Penni St. Hilaire" <tommyt@erols.com>
I notice a lot of talk about the traffic around Janney school, especially concern that the safety of the children might be
endangered by removing the right-turn-on-red restriction and the increase in congestion that might result from the development
of the old Sears/Hechinger store.

Today I came by the school shortly after 3 when the children were getting out.  As always, the cars of their parents  there to
pick them up were double parked with absolute indifference to traffic, blocking it both ways and creating nasty congestion.
That aggressive or less tolerant drivers might decide to break though with consequent risk to pedestrians and children, not to
mention other drivers, seems not to enter their minds.  That everyone is annoyed by the inconsiderate double parkers is of no
consequence.  Telling the double parkers that they are
creating a severe traffic problem is greeted with annoyance that anyone would dare suggest they move along, after all they are
picking up their children.  It seems to me that the concerned parents are creating their own hazard and that rules about left turns
on red simply compound the problem.  Perhaps the parents should consider how they can improve their own driver etiquette
and consideration for others.  Certainly it would improve the safety situation for their own children if they were as concerned
about their own driving habits and the problems they create as
they are about ensuring that other drivers conform to their wishes.
 
 

OBTAINING A ZONING VARIANCE
From: "Jeff Spigel" <jspigel@hotmail.com>
I would welcome any thoughts/advice regarding how to obtain a zoning variance for a renovation for our home.  We want to
tear down our existing old sunroom and rebuild it so it's usable but D.C. is telling us that existing zoning regs. prohibit building
the rear of the house past the front
of our detached garage, which in essence says we can never build an addition unless its another story.  Any thoughts would be
appreciated. Thanks  Jeff Spigel (jspigel@hotmail.com)
 
 

VIRUS ALERTS AND HOAXES

**** This is about a hoax virus alert.  Bottom line:  if you receive an e-mail saying to delete an .EXE file from your computer,
don't do it.

In April-May 2001 there appeared a hoax message concerning a new virus that was reportedly discovered in Windows' Long
File Name Backup utility SULFNBK.EXE.  Computer experts checked several versions of this utility from Windows
installations and found no infection in it.

 **** From: Mary Rowse <MERowse@aol.com> and "Bill Adler" <billonline@adlerbooks.com>
There's a virus hoax making the rounds regarding family photos. Some information about this hoax is at
http://www.europe.f-secure.com/hoaxes/fampics.shtml and elsewhere.
 
 

COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

**** From: "Wendy Togneri" <togneriw@learningfirst.org>
My husband and I are looking for a part-time nanny for our 4 month old son. We are hoping to share a nanny with someone
else in the neighborhood. Would  anyone be interested in sharing?
Wendy Togneri, 202-296-5220 x 14

**** From: "Katharine Landfield" <klandfield@earthlink.net>
We are looking for a mother's helper for 3-5 hours a day, Mon. - Fri., for the second half of June, all of July, and all of August.
We will have a second baby (due July 2nd) and will need help with light housekeeping, some babysitting for the older boy (18
mos.), some cooking, and running errands (all nearby; no car necessary).  Job is perfect for nannies whose kids are away for
the summer, for your mature high school daughter, or for college students.  We are 3 blocks from the Tenley metro.  If you
know somebody who would be interested, please email.  Thanks!  klandfield@earthlink.net
 

**** From: gshibley@gis.net
I live in the semi-detached house at 4811 41st Street, and it seems I'll be moving in the near future.  Regretfully, then, I must sell
my house and everything in it.  All furniture, furnishings, yard tools, etc. must go. Though I'll likely be having a yard sale within
the next month, I wanted to let neighbors know in advance -- and invite them to call and see if I've got something they've been
needing. Number:  202/364-1287.  Folks can speak with me (Gail Shibley) or Kelly Rogers.  I can also be reached via email:
gshibley@gis.net.

**** From: "andrew strasfogel" <squasher@altavista.net>
We have several items for sale or giveaway.  Inquiries should be directed to Andrew, squasher@altavista.net, located in AU
Park on Chesapeake Street, NW, 202 966-6194
1. Steamer trunk with key  Very solid.  $25.00
2. Recycled attic stairway, including 8'9" wide tread aluminum steps and all hardware.  $25.00
3. Free to a good home or to a charitable organization! --   Set of blue dishes,  assorted curtain rods and hardware.

**** From: Janebstew@aol.com
We are relocating overseas (Rome) for 6 months starting at the end of August, and we are looking to offer our spacious house
for rent (furnished) during that time.
Jane Stewart