POTOMAC RIVER CLEANUP
From: "Glass, Laura" <LGlass@MICROS.COM>
We are looking for volunteers, particularly those with kayaks and
canoes, to assist in the Potomac River clean-up at Fletcher's Boat
House
on Saturday, October 26th, from 9 AM to 12 NOON. The event is
rain or
shine. Please wear work clothes and boots that can get wet/muddy.
Bring work gloves if you have some. Trash bags and gloves will
be
provided.
Please check the directions on
http://www.fletchersboathouse.com/directions.htm in conjunction with
a
map. Volunteers meet in the lower parking lot at the picnic benches
near
the boat/canoe launch area.
[Fletchers is entered from Canal Road at the end of Reservoir Rd. --
KS]
MORE ON DRINKING WATER
From: FrantzFSA@aol.com
For those interested in undercounter filtration for lead, and other
materials, check out items #FUGAC250 and UU250 made by Environmental
Water Systems. They also make whole house systems, R.O., and many other
water purification products, even a sports bottle with a filter. Their
products are available through various retail outlets. You can
learn
more at www.ewswater.com. Ph: 702-256-8182.
IN APPRECIATION: BOY SCOUT BREAKFAST
>From Gary Melickian <garym@his.com>
Thank you for including the information in your last issue about
the
Breakfast. I went and had a good time. Engaged in some interesting
conversations with couples on both sides of me. The skits were good
and
a little unscoutlike. The scouts themselves, and there must have been
100 of them, were filing back and forth up and down the aisles. It
was
like the ant hill displays we used to buy in the 50s. Constant motion
and no accidents.
SUGGESTIONS FOR SCOOPING THE DOG POOP
From: "Kip Gregory" <kipgregory@msn.com>
I'd like to add my voice to the chorus about the dog waste problem
in AU
Park. We live near the reservoir and community gardens, and
unfortunately some number of dog-walkers who bring their pets there
fail
to pick up after them. To be fair, the majority do what they
should and
scoop the poop, but not everybody. Kids play there, gardeners
and
others walk there and it's just plain inconsiderate to leave a "present"
for someone else to step in or deal with. I have two suggestions.
First to dog-owners: save the bag your newspaper is delivered in every
morning, put it in your pocket before you walk out the door to take
your
pet for a walk and then USE it if you need to! Second, if you
see
someone who's not cleaning up near your house, say something.
Keep a
couple of bags near your front door and ask if they need one; after
a
couple of times they should get the hint.
BLACKWATER CANYON -- AN EASTERN WILDERNESS UNDER THREAT
From: Tina Namay <outreach@saveblackwater.org>
Outreach Coordinator, Friends of Blackwater
TIME TO TAKE A STAND
The magnificent, wild, Blackwater Canyon near Davis, West Virginia
--
where cascading waterfalls and churning whitewater carve through the
ancient Appalachians -- lies in the heart of northern West Virginia's
Monongahela National Forest.
Today, the sweeping, unspoiled vista of the Blackwater Canyon graces
the
covers of countless West Virginia tourism brochures. But the
Blackwater
Canyon is at grave risk of irremediable degradation. Allegheny
Wood
Products -- a timber company owned by John Crites that recently acquired
the 2,766 remaining non-public acres in the Canyon -- has just asked
the
U.S. Forest Service to turn the Blackwater Canyon Trail, located on
public Forest Service land, into a commercial logging road.
The Blackwater Canyon Trail is a beautiful, grassy pathway that slowly
climbs for ten miles alongside the wild Blackwater River, amid towering
trees, leafy shrubs, liverworts and ferns -- home to rare flying
squirrels, salamanders, trout, and black bear. Like Blackwater
Falls
State Park, the Canyon Trail is a recreational resource for thousands
of
people.
In response to a call from Friends of Blackwater, West Virginians and
citizens from all around the region have been contacting West Virginia
Senators Jay Rockefeller and Robert Byrd, urging the Senators to tell
the Forest Service to deny the timber company request.
According to the World Wildlife Federation, which funded research on
endangered species in the Canyon, the forests of the eastern Appalachian
mountains are so rich in biodiversity that they are on the top of the
list of places that should be protected across the globe.
Please act now! Let Senators Byrd and Rockefeller know that you
oppose
the misuse of our public land. You can send a message to the
Senators
at www.saveblackwater.org; or call or write them directly:
The Honorable Robert Byrd, United States Senate, 311 Hart Senate Office
Building,
Washington, DC 20515-4802, senator_byrd@byrd.senate.gov
The Honorable Jay Rockefeller, 531 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510, senator@rockefeller.senate.gov
And for more information on how you can help save the Blackwater Canyon,
please call 1-877-WVA-LAND. Your voice can stop this terrible
desecration.
Friends of Blackwater, 501 Elizabeth St., Room 3, Charleston, WV
25311
304/345-7663, fax: 345-7684, email: info@saveblackwater.org
COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD
**** From: "marina jovanovic" <jovanovicmarina@hotmail.com>
I would like to add my name to your list of babysitters. I am
a 24 year
old female living in Bethesda Maryland, looking for anyone who
requires
a responsible and experienced babysitter. I have experience with
children of all ages, from new-borns to 13 year old children.
Please
contact me at this e-mail if you have any inquiries,
jovanovicmarina@hotmail.com.
**** From: LCRosenman@aol.com
Free: mounted, nearly new snow tires -- pair of Vredestein 185/70 SR13
tires and wheels. Call 202 966 0255.
**** From: "Jeffrey Modell" <j.modell@verizon.net>
We are planning on building a small addition and doing some major
remodeling. The work will include breaking out exterior walls. Anyone
have recommendations for good architects? Please contact
j.modell@verizon.net.
CRIME IN THE 'HOOD
October 1 to 20
ASSAULT
-- 5100 Wisconsin, 10/14, 1430, street
-- 4000 Albemarle, 10/09, 1530, unknown
-- knife, 3900 Fessenden, 10/09, 2230, house
BURGLARY
-- 4000 Fessenden, house
-- 4200 Butterworth, rest home
-- 4200 Wisconsin, office
-- 4900 45th, house
THEFT -- 18
THEFT FROM AUTO -- 14
BREAKING INTO VENDING MACHINE - 4300 Military, hotel
THREATS - 4700 Wisconsin,
DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY
-- 5000 Wisconsin, office
-- 4600 Wisconsin, restaurant
-- 3700 Chesapeake, street
PROPERTY TAX INCREASE
From: "Anthony Gorman" <ajgorman2@hotmail.com>
I thought you might want to be aware of the District's plans
to
increase property taxes as part of the plan to close the projected
budget deficit. The proposal to increase the transfer and recordation
taxes from 1.1% to 1.5% has been approved by the city council.
As yet,
the Mayor has not signed this into law and it may take until the end
of
the year before this happens. Once the increase takes effect,
however,
both buyers and sellers will each have to pay the additional 0.4%
increase, although properties less than $250,000 are to be exempt.
For
sales of single family homes in our area, this would translate into
an
additional tax on buyers and sellers of perhaps $2,000 to $3,000 each.
I imagine this may come as an unwelcome shock to the local real estate
market - it certainly puts DC transfer taxes way ahead of both those
in
Virginia and Maryland from what I understand.
Surprisingly, I have seen little press coverage of the issue.
An
earlier proposal to raise District income taxes (by 0.1% I believe)
was
unpalatable but at least it would have spread the pain more equitably.
I am also surprised that the DC government has not cut expenditures
more
aggressively. For example, in Virginia thousands of state
employees
may be laid off, yet the Mayor has remained silent on the possibility
of
layoffs in the District, no doubt for political reasons. Even
so, it is
not clear that even after the elections the District government will
take a cold, hard look at the government payroll and see where fat
can
be cut - there is surely still no
shortage of poorly performing District employees - some of them grossly
overpaid - not to mention the all-too-frequent instances of financial
mismanagement for which individual accountability is well overdue.
Recall the recent admission by the financial controller of the $35
million squandered on a failed computer system, or the perennial
mismanagement of the DMV under Regina Williams. In any
event, the rush
to close the District's budget gap without adequately exploring a broad
range of alternative financing options looks set to have a large
adverse effect on those unfortunate residents who happen to be selling
or buying a house in
the District in the near future.
-- END --