Nwe 04 09 2014

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Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Serving Chevy Chase, Colonial Village, Shepherd Park, Brightwood, Crestwood, Petworth & 16th Street Heights

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Vol. XLVII, No. 15

The NorThwesT CurreNT

Candidates look ahead to November

■ Education: Lottery, feeder

patterns under consideration

Current Staff Writer

By gRAHAM VYSE Current Staff Writer

Deputy Mayor for Education Abigail Smith unveiled initial proposals over the weekend to redraw D.C. school boundaries and reform the way District students are assigned to public schools. Developed by an advisory committee that Smith chairs, the proposals include three policy scenarios. Each aims to address issues such as overcrowding and underutilization

Brian Kapur/The Current

Locals volunteered their time on Saturday morning to clean trash along the banks of Rock Creek and elsewhere in the park. One of the cleanups took place near North Portal and East Beach drives in Colonial Village.

By KAT LUCERO Current Staff Writer

REAL ESTATE

DC Design House offers diverse look at interior styles — Pullout

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of school facilities, which have cropped up across the District since boundaries and assignment policies were last overhauled in 1968. At the first public meeting on these ideas — held Saturday at Dunbar High School — the deputy mayor stressed that the scenarios were meant primarily to begin community conversations and would almost certainly be revised. She explained that the final reform plan, which Mayor Vincent Gray is scheduled to announce in September, would be shaped by feedback from D.C. residents over the coming months. See Boundaries/Page 5

Georgetown tree box plan clears preservation hurdle

Brian Kapur/The Current

The 2nd District police launched a community bike ride Saturday.

for high visibility, help officers scour their neighborhood. The shift from patrolling on foot to on bike inspired the new effort’s name: the “Orange Helmet Patrol.” While none of the 11 residents

Cadets, Bulldogs collect key wins on the diamond — Page 11

may help boost tree canopy Current Staff Writer

and six officers at last Saturday afternoon’s event literally wore an orange bike helmet, Loftus said he hopes the catchy name will draw participants. Before the outing started, 2nd District Cmdr. Michael Reese told riders he wants this initiative to “be a trendsetter” in the city. “I hope it’ll grow and [we can] keep it up,” he said at the 3320 Idaho Ave. police station, where the riders met. “The visibility is great.” Maegan Rees, a Northeast resident who came to support one of the police patrol riders, said it’s a “great way to know your local police officers” and said she’d like to see a similar effort in her H Street neighborhood. See Police/Page 5

SPOR TS

■ Environment: ‘Flexi-Pave’

By BRADY HOLT

Bike ride aims to boost community policing The 2nd District of the Metropolitan Police Department has launched a monthly community bike ride for all skills and ages, with the goals of building closer relations between residents and police officers and decreasing crime. “The ride will encourage information sharing between the community and the police,” said Sgt. Patrick Loftus, head of the 2nd District’s Mountain Bike Patrol Unit. This new public safety initiative is a spinoff of a traditional community policing program called the Orange Hat Patrol, in which residents, usually wearing orange hats

SP

District details options for school boundaries

SPRINg CLEANINg

By gRAHAM VYSE With the end of the Democratic primary last week, victorious candidates turned their attention to the general election, setting out to broaden their appeal before facing voters again this fall. After defeating Mayor Vincent Gray to win the Democratic mayoral nomination last Tuesday night, Ward 4 D.C. Council member Muriel Bowser sought to unify the activist base of her party, which had been divided by a crowded field. In her victory address, Bowser explicitly called on Democrats to stick with their nominee in the general election, where she will likely face atlarge Council member David Catania, an independent. “Are we loyal, Democrats?” Bowser asked. “The residents of the nation’s capital have always elected a Democratic mayor and a Democratic president — and in big numbers. We’re going to do it again in November.” The focus on bringing the Democratic Party together continued FriSee Election/Page 3

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Georgetown’s commercial streets may soon be getting leafier. The Old Georgetown Board last Thursday approved the use of a rubbery new surface in tree boxes along Wisconsin Avenue and M Street, which city arborists say will help trees survive in the neighborhood’s tough conditions. The Flexi-Pave material is a porous rubber made from recycled tires that covers the dirt in tree boxes, fitting flush with the sidewalk. It’s designed so pedestrians on crowded, narrow sidewalks can step into the tree boxes without trampling the dirt (which harms tree roots) or tripping over uneven surfaces. “I think it’s going to be a big win in a few years when we have a lot more healthy trees in Georgetown,” said John Thomas of the D.C. Urban Forestry Administration. The Old Georgetown Board — part of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts — had to sign off on the use of

SHERWOOD

Bowser may avoid full complement of campaign forums — Page 8

Brian Kapur/Current file photo

Officials say trees have trouble surviving on the busy sidewalks.

Flexi-Pave because the neighborhood is a federally protected historic district. Initially there were some concerns that preservationists would reject the rubber surface as not in keeping with Georgetown’s character. But according to Tom Luebke, secretary to the Fine Arts Commission, the board members said they had no objection as long as their staff identified a suitable color for the material. “They thought it was a reasonable way of dealing with it, understanding the constraints,” said Luebke. Flexi-Pave is being eyed only for See Trees/Page 5

INDEX Calendar/37 Classifieds/46 District Digest/4 Exhibits/39 In Your Neighborhood/10 Opinion/8

Police Report/6 Real Estate/Pullout School Dispatches/7 Service Directory/43 Sports/11 Theater/41

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