Looking Back Six Months Ago: Snowmageddon!

With this constant parade of 90 degree heat, thunderstorms and humidity, I thought we could take a quick trip back in time to February--a mere six months ago, but it might as well have been a different universe.

I think this looks even crazier now than when we were going through it, and it was pretty crazy then.

14thandYou PSA: Please shovel your walk

With more snow coming (the first few flakes of this new storm are falling as I type these words), we wanted to take a moment to implore you to *please* keep your sidewalk shoveled. Many people don't know it (and, it seems, DPW doesn't enforce it), but there is in fact a law on DC's books that requires people to clear their walkways when snow, ice or other impediments are present. That alone may not be sufficient motivation to get you to break out the shovel (nor, perhaps, the threat of being sued for a slip-and-fall in front of your residence), so instead we're going to appeal to your sense of neighborliness.

Getting around town is difficult enough without having to navigate piles of snow and slush in front of residences and businesses (Im looking at you, 7-11) whose owners couldn't be bothered to keep their sidewalk cleared. If you are physically unable to keep your walk cleared, talk to a neighbor or ask one of the gentlemen walking around our neighborhood carrying snow shovels for assistance (though they will probably charge you).

Your local friends and neighbors certainly appreciate it.

Car-o-saurus

From this past weekend's storm...

Can you find the car in this picture?

The radio antenna on the driver's side might be the only clue.

In other "who's open" news, Cork Market is open today, and doing wine tastings all day. That sounds like a pretty good way to warm up to me.

In case you haven't noticed, the snow has picked up right now--it seems that Logan is smack in the middle of a band of particularly heavy snow at the moment. Also, blizzard warnings have been put in effect until 10 PM. Please be careful out there.

Snowmageddon '10 - Who's Open?

Edit: Mid-City Caffe is open this morning, so if you're up to venturing out and need your morning caffeine fix, stop by. And do keep the reports of other businesses that are open coming. I'm sure they could use all the business they can get today.



So, the Mrs. and I just got back from cheering on the Caps at Nellies, and it's an understatement to say that it's snowing like crazy. I can't think of many storms I went through growing up in Ohio that were this severe. According to local forecasts, a foot of snow is pretty much a foregone conclusion, a foot and a half is quite possible, and 2 feet isn't out of the question.

Craziness, I tell you.

So, in spite of all this craziness, there are still some places in Logan and U Street that are open so you can get your eat and drink on this evening. (This is by no means a complete list, but Mr. and Mrs. 14thandyou weren't exactly able to go scour the neighborhood and provide a complete list.)

Nellies, as we mentioned earlier, is very much open--and quite busy. All of the tables were full when we left, which was shortly after 9:30.

Both Vinoteca and Solly's were open and serving, as was Dukem. Ben's was serving chili dogs, and Cravings was doing a brisk business as well.

Down along 14th Street, both Policy and Masa 14 are open. We're told Saint-Ex is as well, but we weren't able to confirm that.

Now, there are some places that are very much *not* open. If you are in need of supplies to last out the storm, you may be SOL. Both the CVS at U STreet and 10th, and the Rite-Aid at 13th and U were shuttered. A number of businesses that would normally be operating appeared darkened. If I had to guess, I would venture that those businesses who draw their employees form outside of the neighborhood are probably having a hard time opening, or simply elected to respect the safety and well-being of their employees and not open at all.

Any other tips for who is operating this evening? Or tomorrow? Please do share them in the comments. Together, we shall ride out the great Snowgasm of 2010...perhaps with a drink or two. Stay safe!

Snow Ridiculousness, Ch. 1

The line in front of Whole Foods at approximately 8 PM this evening. These people were waiting to get into the store. (Apologies for the crummy shot...it was from my cell phone.)

In preparation for the white death, Whole Foods is closing early

So, over here at 14thandyou we have to confess to getting a modicum of perverse pleasure out of the coming snowpacalypse. Two double-digit snows in one season? It's like I never left Ohio. 16" - 24"? That's ridiculous, but survivable provided you have enough hot cocoa, snacks and and acceptable NetFlix supply.

It's impossible to say what local businesses will or won't be open this weekend. During December's snowgasm, the businesses that were open was mixed: as a general rule, those that pulled their employees from nearby were able to open, whereas those whose employees had to commute in had a much tougher time of it. As always, the best advice is to place a call before heading out anywhere.

And speaking of heading out, if you were planning on making a P Street Whole Foods run this evening, beware: the store is shutting down an hour early for a staff meeting. This staff meeting probably couldn't come at a worse time, what with everyone racing out for their milk and rock salt.

Snow!

Hope everyone is enjoying yet another snow day here in DC. Hopefully we can get through the day without anyone pulling a gun at a snowball fight.

MPD Release Statement on Snowball-gate as (Inter)National Media Pick Up the Story

Greetings, fellow 14th and U-ers!  I hope everyone is enjoying the wintry festivities...which, near as I can tell, involve significant amounts of snow shoveling, driving either entirely too fast or too slow, and observing DC police officers brandishing weapons at a snowball fight.

Unless you've been living in an igloo during the past 24 hours, no doubt you've heard the story by now about the DC police detective who brandished his gun because his Hummer got hit with a few snowballs during yesterday's snowball fight at 14th and U streets.  There have been some conflicting reports about what precisely transpired, but here's the timeline of events as best we can distill them from the various media outlets now reporting this story.

It seems that the snowball fight, which was widely announced via Twitter and elsewhere (including, I noticed, DCist) was humming along quite well, with the exception of the quality of the snowballs themselves--powder snow doesn't pack, people.  (Unless you bring your watergun, in which case you are just not a very nice person.)  Some cars were hit with snowballs as they drove by, others were helped out of a snowy rut by some of the snowball fight participants (including, it seems a police car).  

But someone finally hit the wrong vehicle--that would be the Hummer driven by an off-duty MPD officer self-identified at the scene only as "Detective Baylor".  It seems Det. Baylor did not take too kindly to having his Hummer struck by some powdery snowballs, so he did what any right-thinking police officer might do:  he stepped out of his vehicle, brandished his weapon, and began threatening to make arrests.  Shortly thereafter, several other patrol cars showed up, apparently responding to reports of a man with a gun (ostensibly Det. Baylor who had not, according to any reports, identified himself as a police officer when he exited his vehicle.

The reason why Det. Baylor pulled his weapon was a matter of some dispute yesterday, until this video surfaced of Baylor angrily proclaiming that he had pulled his gun because he had "been hit with snowballs."  At least one person whom Baylor identified as having been the snowball hurlers were briefly detained and issued warnings

Clearly, this is some bad press for the MPD--and it has been drawing the attention of national news outlets, local blogs, and even international news agencies such as the BBC.  So how does the MPD respond?

By issuing a statement this evening acknowledging the officers who responded for "deescalat(ing) the situation quickly without incident or injury" and barely mentioning the fact that the off-duty officer pulled his weapon at all:

"The Metropolitan Police Department is looking into the circumstances involving the report of officers 'pulling their guns' on a crowd that had been throwing snowballs in the area of 14th and U Streets, NW.

On Saturday, December 19, 2009, an off-duty MPD member was reportedly operating his personal vehicle in the 1400 block of U Street, NW, when the vehicle was suddenly pelted with a barrage of snowballs. The member who was in plainclothes, stopped his vehicle to inspect for any damage that may have occurred. He then reportedly identified himself and went to investigate a crowd that had gathered as being the possible origins of the projectiles. Due to the number of individuals in the crowd and developing traffic conditions, the member called for assistance.

Arriving officers from the Third District responded to the scene for the report of a possible man with a gun incident unfolding at that location. Responding officers cautiously approached the scene as is protocol with a potentially dangerous assignment such as an armed individual, but at this time there is no evidence that they pointed any weapons in the direction of the crowd or at any individuals. Those officers were quickly able to ascertain that the individual in question was indeed a fellow sworn member and were able to deescalate the situation quickly without incident or injury.

The original videotape footage shown yesterday by a local media outlet did not appear to visibly show the off-duty member drawing his weapon during the course of his actions. However, the department has subsequently received additional images and statements that would seem to support the allegation that the off-duty member did pull a gun. The Metropolitan Police Department is intent on conducting a full investigation in determining all of the exact circumstances surrounding this incident.

The Metropolitan Police Department has truly appreciated the cooperation from the community as we all team together to tackle the many challenges encountered during these severe weather conditions."

Now, 14thandYou wasn't there for the fight, and we aren't in a position to take sides here. But there is documented proof that the Detective exited his vehicle and drew his weapon because he had been hit by snowballs. We can all agree that hitting any cars--particularly those carrying MPD officers--with snowballs shows very poor judgment. But does the MPD view the Detective's actions to be an appropriate response? Their statement merely re-states the obvious, so no clues can be drawn from that. Clearly, some at the scene were frightened enough to call the police regarding the Detective's actions. And so, we're left waiting for another statement by the MPD, including an official identification of the officer in charge.

What's interesting is that people are in near-universal agreement over how this situation could have been easily defused: either the officer could have simply continued on driving through. Or, he could have gotten into the spirit of a city that had ground to a halt in light of an historic amount of snow, gotten out of his vehicle, and hurled a few snowballs back. That is, if he could have found some snow of the non-powdered variety.

Fear the White Death

Update 11:24 AM:  If you're reading this now, you're too late.  Godspeed.

Cover your children! The Capital Weather Gang is calling for anywhere from 7"-14" of snow this weekend to blanket our fair city. As a transplanted Ohioan, all I can say is "Wheeee!"

However, this is DC, and I have noticed that things are done a bit differently here. With that in mind, I present a few items of preparation which you should immediately embark upon in order to ensure the survival of yourself and your loved ones throughout the coming White Plague:

• A foot of snow might create a mild inconvenience for those attempting to get to the grocery store. Thus, be certain to head out tonight and purchase ridiculously huge quantities of milk, bread and toilet paper. This will be useful for creating milk & TP sandwiches when your power goes off and all of your other food is destroyed.
• Do you have enough batteries for your flashlight? Do you have a flashlight? Make a beeline for your local hardware store and purchase at least one flashlight for every room in your house, along with 2-3 spares. Then, purchase at least a dozen batteries of every type in order to ensure appropriate periods of light for the inevitable dark weeks ahead.


• Do not, under any circumstances, expect to rely on candlelight for your home lighting needs during the coming storm. You will need to save your matches in order to ignite the pieces of flooring you will be ripping out in order to make a fire to stay warm. Pine flooring tends to burn quite well, I am told.


• Have you noticed that people who live in hurricane-prone areas of the country tend to board up and/or tape their windows in advance of an approaching storm? You should do that too. We are, after all, talking about 7"-14" of SNOW, for god's sake. Who cares if you perceive no real risk to your home's insulated windows? The white death can attack in many different ways. Better to be safe than sorry.


• Finally, and perhaps most importantly, please head immediately to your nearest gas station and fill up your tank. For added peace of mind, bring along several gas cans and fill them up, too. After all, with a foot of snow expected, you never know when your local gas station might reopen--and you do not want to be stranded without an adequate supply of milk, bread and toilet paper when the White Death comes.

As for myself, my preparations will include ensuring that I have an adequate supply of Brooklyn Chocolate Stout, and a well-positioned seat on the sofa to watch Armageddon. Flashlights are nice and all, but beer is better.