Last Monday night, 6B’s Public Safety Committee met to lay the groundwork for guiding the committee’s agendas for the rest of current year. The session was chaired by chair pro tempore, newly elected Commissioner Brian Gorman.
Among suggestions for focusing on the work going forward, were the following:
Hear a crime report from MPD First District every meeting.
Continue discussions about safety at Eastern Market and support expediting installation of static and pneumatic bollards at the Eastern Market Special Use District, including the space occupied by the weekend street vendors.
Continue discussions with residents of Potomac Gardens regarding their specific needs.
Encourage engagement with the Office of the DC Attorney General and departments such as the Departments of Behavior Health and Youth Rehabilitation Services as well as the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, and with representatives of programs including Cure the Streets and the Violence Interrupters.
Monitor City Council legislation dealing with crime issues and advise ANC6B on positions they should take regarding such legislation.
Publicize public safety events, using emails to constituents and posts on the ANC6B website.
Continue neighborhood public safety walks.
Continue monitoring operation of the 911 system and the Office of Unified Command.
Provide a forum for people impacted by crime.
Request regular appearances by the DC Deputy Mayor for Public Safety.
There were two suggestions regarding actions committee members, commissioners and residents can take which pointed to things everyone can do to participate personally in addressing crime issues.
Every month, MPD provides an opportunity for ANC Commissioners and residents to engage directly with top MPD First District officials and raise concerns about crime issues which directly affect them or their neighborhoods. It’s surprising that more commissioners and residents fail to take advantage of this opportunity, especially since MPD offers offers assurances that they respond to concerns which are raised. One suggestion that came out of Monday night’s meeting was:
Encourage residents and commissioners to attend the monthly virtual meeting of the MPD First District MPD 1D Citizens Advisory Council Monthly (next meeting: Tuesday, February 4 – 1st Tuesday. 6:00 – 7:15pm. https://1dcac.com/ )
Regarding a another specific way residents can become personally involved to improve the public safety landscape – albeit long term – resident committee member Ann Keep offered a concrete suggestion, pointing to need for mentoring third grade students in reading. Keep, a Hill East resident, says she worked for 35 years in the DC Jail and that her public safety world centered on the jail and on people who are released. She cited a “chilling statistic – when people are considering the construction of new prisons, they look at third grade reading scores because those are the children that are possibly headed in the carceral direction.”
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Here are the 1st, 2nd (2), and 3rd place winners of the Hill Center’s 2025 Regional Juried Exhibition, juried by Phil Hutinet, publisher of East City Art. The exhibitions run from January 15th through May 3rd.
First Place, Jessica Maria Hopkins. Colors of My Reflection. Acrylic, Acrylic pen, ball point pen on canvas.
Second Place # 1, James Terrell, The Last Supper. Collage, Acrylic Paint, Paper and Fabric.
Second Place #2, Take Me to the Water. Collage, Paper, Fabric, Paint.
Third Place, Maddy Keener, Pick The Gleaming Bones Clean. Acrylic on Canvas.
Capitol Hill Books at night.
Here’s Triple Candies’ January exhibit and a detail from same, in the space in front of the former Li’l Pub at 655 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. Triple Candie is a research-oriented curatorial agency run by art historian co-founders Shelly Bancroft and Peter Nesbett. Their purpose is to create alternative exhibition methods making that the object of critical focus rather than what is displayed.
The Week Ahead…
Highlights:
Tuesday: ANC6A ABC Committee considers proposed letter requesting the city council to pass legislation creating a provision for a moratorium zone for cannabis licenses equivalent to the provision for a moratorium zone for alcohol licenses.
Wednesday: Watkins Improvements Meeting
Monday, January 27
ANC6A Community Outreach Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
Discussion of a new Medical Cannabis Retailer license with delivery endorsement at Dreamy DC, 1111 H Street, NE.
Discussion of a letter requesting the city council to pass legislation creating a provision for a moratorium zone for cannabis licenses equivalent to the provision for a moratorium zone for alcohol licenses.
Discussion of a new Class C Restaurant license with carry out and delivery endorsement at Dumpling Hot Pot Beyond, 1216-1218 H Street.
ANC6B Executive Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
EMCAC will hold an in-person and virtual meeting in the North Hall, Eastern Market at 7:00pm.
For info on how to join the meeting, go here: TBA
Agenda: TBA
Thursday, January 30
Watkins Improvements Meeting
DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and the DC Department of General Services will discuss the Watkins Recreation Center park and playground improvements on Thursday, January 30, 2025, 6:00-7:30 @ Watkins Elementary School. RSVP at https://watkins.splashthat.com/
Capitol Hill Corner would also like you to know about:
Thursday, January 30. 6:30pm. Free Event at Folger Library.
This panel discussion explores the unexpected ways Shakespeare’s legacy has endured, and how engaging with theater-making enhances the relevance and value of Shakespeare in the everyday lives of people.
The keynote is led by Folger’s Director of Programming & Performance and Folger Theatre Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels in conversation with:
author, adaptor, director, theater scholar and Where There’s a Will podcast host, Barry Edelstein
Latine playwright, educator, facilitator, producer and Director of Public Works at the Public Theater Laurie Woolery
Free Exhibit at the Folger through February 9. Little Books, Big Gifts: The Artistry of Esther Inglis – A special exhibition at the Folger.
Stuart and Mimi Rose Rare Book and Manuscript Exhibition Hall
Free; timed-entry pass recommended
Esther Inglis (1570?—1624) was a professional-class Franco-Scottish refugee, a working mother of eight, and a contemporary of Shakespeare. Earning her living by her pen, she combined her artistic skills and her religious beliefs to create over 60 miniature handwritten and hand-illustrated books. She strategically gifted these books to dozens of prominent European Protestants during a period of religious turmoil. Four hundred years after her death, this exhibition explores Esther’s life and work as an early modern influencer and as the first woman in Britain to preface her works with selfies.
Artists: Open Call at the Capitol Hill Art League – Submissions Close 2/14/24. The Capitol Hill Art League (CHAL) is holding its 14th Annual “Open Call” art competition for artists throughout the DMV as well as Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia. This year’s theme is “Landscape”.
This annual competition awards cash prizes and attracts artists of many varied talents. The juror for the competition is Glenn Kessler, an internationally collected and awarded artist and founder of the Compass Atelier in Rockville, MD.
Capitol Hill Chorale is recruiting 55 and older adults as new members. No experience is required to join an Encore choir! There are no auditions to become a member of an Encore program; interested singers need only to have a love for music and a desire to improve their physical, mental, and emotional health. No singer needs to have any experience with music or singing, and the ability to read music is not necessary. Singers may be seated or standing for all ninety-minute rehearsals and performances. Most importantly of all, Encore is fun! Encore singers love the music, love to sing, and thrive on the camaraderie that comes with the Encore experience. You can register at: https://tinyurl.com/5y9e5up4
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Capitol Hill’s Acqua al 2, which closed in September of 2020, is returning to its former location at 212 7th Street, SE, across from Eastern Market. A placard for a liquor license in the window signaled the return, and an employee at work inside said that the restaurant would reopen in a couple of months with the same menu and the same owners as before, Ari and Stacy Gejdenson.
After Acqua al 2 on 7th Street closed, the space was occupied by a surf and turf restaurant – Harvest Tide – which closed in March of 2024. Meanwhile, Acqua al 2 continued to operate at other locations, including Annapolis and Florence, Italy.
Restaurateurs Ari and Stacy Gejdenson were owners of the Mindful Restaurant Group (MRG) which at its peak had eight restaurants and bars operating in the DMV. The businesses struggled during the pandemic and the Gejdensons dissolved MRG in 2020, closing some restaurants and turning others over to employees, though the Gejdensons remained involved as investors.
It may be a sign of the times – The Lobby Bar (formerly Boxcar) is opening a few doors away in the space formerly occupied by The Hill Restaurant Group’s Boxcar.
Here’s a link to the Annapolis restaurant where you can take a look at their menu: https://acquaal2.com/
The Week Ahead…New Mini-Mall Planned for H Street NE & Photos from the Past Week
By Larry Janezich
Posted January 19, 2024
New Mini-Mall Planned for H Street, NE. The former Biergarten Haus at 1355 H Street, NE, which closed in July of 2023, is among the several properties recently purchased by Jonathan Askarinam and Moe Pishvaeian . The development team – which also includes Ian Ruel – plans to use it and adjacent buildings to open a new food hall with retail and event spaces
On January 15, Developers presented the plan to ANC6A’s Planning and Zoning Committee for combining four H Street buildings (including the former Biergarten Haus) plus three alley lots to create a mini-Union Market with a roof deck event space.
The remodeled combined space will contain 14 stalls for retail outlets. Developers are looking at a number of potential tenants including four or five food stalls, a barber shop, a bar, a tattoo parlor, fitness space, a coffee shop, and a bakery. They envision larger areas as lounge space for work and socializing, starting at breakfast and lasting through dinner where patrons will be encouraged to “come and hang out for a long time.”
The Committee unanimously voted to recommend that the full ANC support the application for Zoning Adjustments providing exceptions from requirements for parking, rear yard, and fast food establishments.
Spin Time Records – a New Capitol Hill Music Outlet: John Lottman, the DC music scene aficionado who has marketed DC Go-G0, Punk & D.I.Y., Soul & Funk, Jazz, Hip Hop & Electic, and DC Americana on-line has opened his brick-and-mortar outlet on the 2nd floor above Barrel at 619 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE.
Here’s Lottman from his website: “Like so many parts of DC, the Capitol Hill I grew up in has become a neighborhood that has “everything,” but feels like it’s lost so much. One thing I can give it back is a record store. It seemed like there used to be one on every block, but the last one closed about 25 years ago….
I want this to be a resource for locals, visitors, and people around the world to dive into the city’s musical life. You can look, listen, and read about this dimension of local history. You might give a local artist you’ve never heard of a spin, or discover a connection to DC in an artist you already knew. And you are guaranteed to find some good music.” Here’s a link to the website: https://spintimerecords.com/ to see their collection. And here’s a link to a WaPo article: https://wapo.st/3IOlThA
ANC6D met January 13 and elected new officers: Chair, Gottlieb Simon (upper right); Vice Chair, Bruce Levine (middle far left); Secretary, Rhonda Hamilton(bottom left); and Treasurer, Fredrica “Rikki” Kramer (upper far left).
ANC6B met January 14 and elected new officers. Chair, Vince Marino (far right); Vice Chair, Edward Ryder; Secretary, David Sobelsohn; Treasurer, Anna Krebs (second from left); and Parliamentarian; Tyler Wolanin. Also pictured above are Commissioner Jerry Sroufe (far left), and Commissioner Karen Hughes.
ANC7D also met on January 14 and elected new officers: Chair, Brian Alcorn (upper left); Vice Chair, Mike Davis; Treasurer, Brett Astmann (lower right); and Secretary, Dev Myers. Also shown is MPD Lt. Stephen Miller (upper right), and wearing chapeau at lower left, Andrew Lightman, recruited by ANC7D as a non-member of the commission, to offciate at the election.
New officers for ANC6A and ANC6C were elected the previous week – one in which scheduling conflicts prevented CHC from capturing.
ANC6A: Chair, Dave Wethington, Vice Chair/Parliamentarian, Amber Gove; Secretary, Jeff Giertz; Treasurer.
ANC6C: Chair, Karen Wirt: Vice Chair, Mark Eckenweiler; Secretary, Andrew Hayes; and Treasurer, Jay Adelstein.
The Week Ahead…
Monday, January 20
Inaugural Day Holiday. Trash and recycling pick up slide one day.
Tuesday, January 21
ANC 6A Transportation & Public Space Committee Meeting will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
Request for an all-way stop sign at the intersection of Tennessee Avenue NE & E Street NE. ANC 6A sent a letter requesting this to DDOT on October 20, 2024. This was not listed in the TSI FY25Q1 or Q2 prioritizations.
Request for an all-way stop sign at the intersection of Tennessee Avenue NE and 14th Street NE. ANC 6A sent a letter requesting this to DDOT on October 20, 2024. This was not listed in the TSI FY25Q1 or Q2 prioritizations.
14th & H Streets NE. DDOT issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) to implement a bike lane on 14th Street NE between Florida Avenue and H Street NE, and upgrade and existing bike lane on 14th Street NE between H Street NE and Maryland Avenue NE. Committee has requested DDOT join us to present the plan.
11th and F Streets NE. This area is under investigation for speed issues. ANC 6A sent a letter requesting this to DDOT on October 20, 2024.
Jayme Johnson will present on the 2025 Capitol Hill Classic and has requested a letter of support to HSEMA from ANC6A by March 31, 2025. [Note: this will be covered as the first topic of the meeting to accommodate scheduling]
Color the Curb Program at Maury Elementary. Kim Vacca from DDOT will present.
Both North Carolina Avenue NE and C Street NE from 16th to 14th Street – Committee Member Sussman produced a slide deck on potential improvements to the car and bike lanes in this area. One aspect would be the continuation of the westbound bike lane down North Carolina Avenue NE after the split with C Street NE. Other improvement suggestions aimed at making the blocks in question safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and automobiles.
14th and Ames Place NE. The area is under investigation for traffic speed. This is between the traffic lights on North Carolina Avenue NE and East Capitol Street, and there is no stop sign at A Street NE.
Wednesday, January 22
ANC7D Transportation and Public Space Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 6:30pm.
ANC6B Parks and Public Spaces Taskforce will hold an in person meeting at 7:00pm at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE; Second Floor, Conference Room 3 (Main Entrance Adjacent to Trader Joe’s)
Crime in MPD 1st District and Hill East: 1st MPD District Commander Colin Hall briefs ANC7D Public Safety Committee chaired by resident member Brynn Barnett.
Hall said crime has fallen both citywide and in the First District. In 2024, citywide saw a 35% reduction in violent crime over 2023 and a 47% reduction in violent crime in the 1st District. Homicides have decreased by 68% in the 1st District and robberies and carjackings decreased over 50% in each category.
The 2024 gunfire seen in residential communities on Independence Avenue, SE, Hall said, had been because three neighborhoods had been in conflict with each other. MPD made several key arrests and recovered “a lot of firearms and that quieted everything down.” It currently does not appear to be a hot spot.
MPD made several arrests in response to a spate of robberies involving young females 14 – 17 years old who were repeating juvenile offenders and that has calmed down as well. MPD is working with group homes and is engaging the Youth and Family Engagement Bureau to get juvenile offenders on the right track, but keep them out of the community.
Regarding the shooting at Eastern High School at the end of the year, Hall said, “We’ve identified the people involved and warrants are out. We’ll find them and close the case.”
On the tragic hit and run death of Ronnie Clark on Christmas Eve at 16th and C Streets, NE, Hall said it was still an active investigation: “The vehicle involved was unregistered and we have identified a person of interest and recovered video of the crime. This appears to be a case of speeding then losing control and careening on to the sidewalk. We should be able to share more information soon and to make an arrest in a timely manner.”
Throughout the presentation, Hall emphasized how the community can help fight crime through use of the MPD Tip Line – Text 50411. In addition to anonymously texting tips to the MPD, community members can now use their cell phone to send pictures or video about serious or violent crimes to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Text, photo and video messages are monitored by members of the department 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Tips on serious or violent crimes will be investigated by members of the department. Call 911 for a police response. Tips may also be directed to (202) 727-9099 and may be eligible for a reward.
Pennsylvania/Potomac Avenues Intersection Project Begins this month. On January 8, ANC6B’s Transportation Committee heard a DDOT presentation on the upcoming redesign of the PA/Potomac intersection. The meeting was chaired by newly-elected Commissioner Karen Hughes, ANC6B09.
Here’s a rendering of the completed project. DDOT Project Manager Abdullahi Mohamed said the agency is moving to construction phase and will focus on the Potomac Avenue/ PA Avenue Circle, and will include new signal lights, street lights, and handicap ramps. The kick off for the project will be on January 27 – the purpose is to enhance pedestrian safety and optimize traffic flow. The completion date is December 28, 2026. Construction of bike lanes east on Pennsylvania Avenue will begin once the circle project is complete. The National Park Service will maintain the circle.
Snow storm collapses Pennsylvania Avenue Streetery – last week, this was the scene on the 600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue – spelling the perhaps temporary end of this streetery.
Basquiat X Banksy at the Hirshhorn through October 26. This exhibit features two major paintings by the artists – the first time either artist has been exhibited in the Hirshhorn. Above is Basquiat’s Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump (fire hydrant), 1982.
Meeting location will be 700 Pennsylvania Ave SE; First Floor (entry adjacent to Trader Joe’s).
For info on how to join the meeting virtually, go here: https://anc6b.org/
Among items on the draft agenda:
Consent Agenda
Community & Commission Announcements and Speak Out
Reminder of Upcoming Meeting Dates
ANC 6B Input on Other Items of Concern
ANC 6B Letter to on Write-In Certification Timing
Alcoholic Beverage & Cannabis Committee
Kenneth H Nash Post 8 American Legion t/a Kenneth H Nash Post 8 American Legion – 224 D Street SE. Substantial Change to Retailers Class C License to add a Games of Skill endorsement to their operations.
Planning & Zoning Committee
321 D Street, SE. Historic Preservation Application
1900 Massachusetts Ave. SE. Zoning Application. Project: Construction of new correctional facility. Owner(s): Department of General Services Applicant.
1355-1359 H Street, NE. Bureau of Zoning Adjustment. To combine five lots (2 facing H street NE, 3 facing alley) and convert to a retail and eating and drinking establishment use an existing, semi-detached, mixed use building in the NMU-4/HA and MU-4 zones: Special Exceptions from minimum parking requirements and rear yard requirements and eating and drinking establishment use requirements.
1232 Maryland Avenue, NE. Zoning Adjustment Application. To construct a two-story plus cellar rear addition, to an existing, attached, two-story with cellar, principal dwelling unit in the RF-1 zone. Special Exception from lot occupancy requirements and rear addition requirements.
Capitol Hill Corner would also like you to know about:
Hill Center Event, Wednesday, January 15. Hill Center Galleries 2025 Regional Juried Show Opening Reception. 6:30 – 8:30 pm | FREE | Register Here https://bit.ly/3DSwokM
The exhibit will showcase new exhibits from local artists all across DC, Maryland and Virginia. During the reception prizes will be awarded. All pieces of art will be on display throughout our Galleries and online at Hill Center Galleries. The exhibitions run from January 15th through May 3rd.
Design team rendering of the new DC Jail at 1900 Massachusetts Avenue, SE.
Last Thursday night, Meridith Moldenhauer, Zoning Counsel for the DC Correctional Treatment Facility Project, presented current renderings of the new jail being built in Hill East to ANC6B’s Planning and Zoning Committee, chaired by Commissioner Vince Mareino. The new jail is in Ward 7, but Ward Six and ANC6B border Ward 7 so it has a say in how the new jail will affect the Ward 6 community. The correctional campus is located at 1900 Massachusetts Avenue, SE.
Moldenhauer’s task was to present a request for zoning waivers having to do with the setback from the property line and use of materials on the exterior façade of the structure.
This rendering shows the main entrance to the institution on Massachusetts Avenue. The renderings in Moldenhauer’s PowerPoint presentation included here are those presented to the Zoning Commission in preparation for a hearing on the project’s design and zoning changes scheduled for March 17. But those drawings from the design team of CGL Companies, CORE architecture + design and Neoscape, Inc., are currently being revised in response to a critical review by the DC Commission on Fine Arts (CFA) last November.
CFA was critical of the design for not fitting well enough into the neighborhood (specifically the materials of the exterior) and for looking too much like a carceral institution.
Currently, the façade has three layers – a security barrier, an opaque window wall system, with the exterior covered by a decorative perforated screen or “scrim” of pre-weathered Corten steel panels. Moldenhauer said the intent was to make the façade look like “leaves and trees with a ‘scrim’ over the top.” One of the critiques from CFA was that the Coren steel might darken over time presenting a more threatening visage to the community.
Here’s a schematic of the footprint of the new structures. What will emerge on the opposite side of Massachusetts Avenue remains to be seen, since that will be up to private developers.
The timeline for the project anticipates construction beginning in 2027 and completion in 2034. So far, only the first phase of the project has been funded by the Mayor’s budget, at $463 million. An estimate for the final cost of the project has not yet been released.
For an earlier CHC report, go here: Update & Timeline for New DC Jail and the Correctional Treatment Facility https://bit.ly/3XG5T9J
Joe Cooney on December 30, 2024, at his home on South Carolina Avenue, SE. On the mantel behind him is a photo of his late wife, Lovey Marie Guillory.
Capitol Hill Worker-Priest Marched with King & Co-founded DC Legal Services for the Poor
by Larry Janezich
Posted January 8, 2025
Joe Cooney was a young cleric at Catholic University Law School in 1965 when Dr. Martin Luther King issued a call for clergy to support the second Edmund Pettus Bridge march in Selma, Alabama. On Sunday, March 7th, “Bloody Sunday,” civil rights marchers on the way to Montgomery, Alabama, had been attacked on the Edmund Pettus Bridge by state troopers and county police and King was responding with a call for a second protest on Tuesday, March 9th.
Cooney had been ordained as a Catholic priest the year before and got superiors’ permission to travel on short notice to Selma where he marched with Dr. King and some 2,500 others in what was known as “Turnaround Tuesday.” King led the way, but in the face of a temporary restraining order, Cooney recalled that the march stopped on the bridge, marchers knelt to pray, and then turned around and returned to their rallying point. Afterward, he returned to DC. A third march all the way to Montgomery on March 21st, was protected by National Guard, FBI, and federal marshals.
Cooney said that the experience motivated him to volunteer for SCOPE that summer. The social action and education organization was created by the King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference to increase voter registration. Cooney was assigned to work in Taliaferro County, one of the least populous counties in Georgia and birthplace and home of Alexander H. Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy during the Civil War. At summer’s end he returned to DC and graduated law school in 1966.
Asked what called him to the clergy, Coooney said he grew up in Pennsylvania coal country where the local mine operator was the Pittston Coal Company – and “the worst thing you could say about anybody is that they worked for Pittston. Their police were hated…I had five members of my extended family who were killed in the mines.” Cooney said his experience of growing up there and the example of the worker priests in France and Latin America motivated him to become a priest – “People called me a communist at the time.” The French worker priests were clergy who were not assigned a parish but who worked at ordinary jobs without clerical garb in the community. According to Cooney, that practice continues within the Catholic Church today.
The summer of 1966, he again signed up with SCOPE and became involved in school integration. Cooney said they were not very successful in registering people to vote, “so Dr. King told us to go back to your community and work for civil rights there. I came back in the fall of 1966 and then in the fall of 1967 with five other priests got permission from superiors to start a program which among other things was a legal services program. The idea was to train law students. At the beginning, we worked mostly on civil problems of patients at St. Elizabeth’s.”
Cooney said, “We started the St. Martin Deporres House located at 123 11th Street, NE.” Martin Deporres was a Peruvian laybrother who advocated for social justice and was canonized in 1962 by Pope John XIII. The decision to locate in NE was because of a nearby shelter for alcoholics on 12th Street, established by a Dominican layman. “This was the beginning of our effort to provide help for the poor,” Cooney said, “King’s idea was to relate to the poor and do things in the community.”
Church approval was difficult to get, but the Church was being revitalized by Vatican II and “the Master General (of the Dominican Order) in Rome suggested we establish a St. Deporres House. I don’t think our Province would have gone for that. Legal service was a part of our charter which included other kinds of outreach to help the poor.”
Within months, the priests had a falling out with Catholic University and the diocese. Two of the priests – one of whom was a charismatic priest named Father Thomas – held mass for alcoholics in the back yard and attracted a crowd from the community. While saying mass, Father Thomas did not wear part of the vestments priests wore while saying mass. Cooney said that the Bishop became upset, resulting in a letter from the Cardinal to the diocese saying the two priests “were taking liberties with the liturgy” and stopped us from holding mass there.
Because of relationship with the diocese, Cooney said, “the dean of law school got cold feet and withdrew support for the House, so we decided to run the organization on our own.” The project needed money so Cooney went to work for Department of Agriculture as an attorney in the Civil Rights Division. Cooney said, “We continued to be active and the Cardinal had us in twice to give us a lecture.”
“What happened then was Dr. King was killed in spring of 68 and the city exploded,” Cooney remembered… “Social activism stopped – the movement broke into separate groups along gender and racial lines – and inter-racialism collapsed. We continued but had problems recruiting.”
There was also the change in the attitude of the Church, he said. Rome was changing. Cooney said that “the Master General who started us was practically fired. The whole church atmosphere was changing. There was a lot of dissension. “
Cooney continued with Legal Services in the face of this conservative backlash to Vatican II and says, “I continued working outside of the church and went to work for three years for the US Commission on Civil Rights. I stayed there until 73 then moved over to our University Legal Services (ULS) full time.” In 1975, he went on leave from his order to provide parental care until the spring of 1976. Meanwhile, the Dominicans province he was in withdrew religious support for the St. Martin Deporres House. By then, however, the legal services effort had been privately incorporated as a non-profit organization and University Legal Services continued. After the shutdown, Cooney said, “I decided that’s not what the vocation is any more.”
After serious health issues, Cooney decided, “It wasn’t for me – they not only wanted me to close up shop they wanted me to go to the Philippines to teach at a law school. They didn’t want me working…I got the hint.” He applied for and was granted dispensation from vows from the order; “I’m just not working for the Dominican Order anymore. I do not say Mass unless I were to have permission of a bishop. But I could give last rites and absolution.“
Cooney married Lovey Marie Guillory in 1979, whom he met at ULS. She was an attorney and prominent civil rights activist from Lafayette Diocese, LA. She is the author of an autobiography, Born on the Kitchen Floor in Bois Mallet. They bought a house on South Carolina Avenue, SE. Joe, retired from ULS in September, 2014. His wife passed 7 years ago. Now 91, Cooney continues to live in his home on South Carolina Avenue and is a continuing and engaging presence in the neighborhood.
Summing up, Cooney said, “Dr. King put me on the right path, directing my Catholic energy in working for the poor. And that’s the story of my life.”
University Legal Services (ULS) continues today as a private, non-profit, 501(c)(3), community-based organization that provides housing counseling and disability advocacy for human, civil and legal rights and protection for individuals throughout the District.
List of ANC Commissioners for Five ANCs Capitol Hill ANCs
by Larry Janezich
Posted January 7, 2024
The five ANCs which Capitol Hill Corner covers with some regularity will meet this month to elect officers.
The list of commissioners is as follows, along with links to the ANC websites which have contact information for those commissioners. (Some websites have not yet been updated, but soon will be.)
Thursday, January 2, ANC Commissioners were sworn in at a ceremony held at the Walter E. Wshington Convention Center. Image provided by Council of DC.
An image from the other side of the room. Photo: CM Charles Allen’s office.
An image of Ward 7 Commissioners being sworn in – oath being administered by newly-elected Councilmember Wendell Phillips. Photo: Council of DC.
You don’t see this every day – fresh Black Winter Truffles from Spain, vacuum-packed and available at Eastern Market’s Bowers Fancy Dairy Products.
This weekend, the Eastern Market craft vendors moved off of 7th Street, and into the North Hall. On Thursday at 12:00pm, the vendors of the South Hall will hold a moment of silence as the U.S. Navy honors former President Carter with a 21 gun salute from the Navy Yard.
Saturday afternoon, the American flag flew at half staff over the US Capitol in honor of former President Jimmy Carter. The 8 foot security fence reflects the two National Security Events taking place this week: The Joint Meeting of Congress on Monday to count the electoral ballots, and the Lying in State Tuesday – and Wednesday, with the State Funeral following on Thursday. See details below.
The Week Ahead…
Monday, January 6
Snow Emergency in effect. Schools will be closed and trash will not be picked up. Residents will be notified when trash collection resumes.
ANC6B Alcoholic Beverage & Cannabis Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
Kenneth H Nash Post 8 American Legion t/a Kenneth H Nash Post 8 American Legion – 224 D Street SE. Substantial Change to Retailers Class C License to add a Games of Skill endorsement to their operations.
Appointment of ABC Resident Member for 6B06
ANC6C Alcohol Beverage Licensing Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
Update from Commissioner Wirt re: Kae LLC 312 Massachusetts Ave., NE, Medical Cannabis Retailer New License.
The Consortium at 201 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Class C Tavern New License
ANC6D will hold a virtual Administrative Meeting at 7:00pm.
Please contact the office at 6d@anc.dc.gov if you wish to have a link to view the meeting.
National Special Security Event. U.S. Congress will hold a joint session to count electoral ballots. The US Secret Service says those who live and work in the District can expect security measures in place like those that are put in place during the State of the Union address.
Tuesday, January 7
National Special Security Event.On Jan. 7, former President Jimmy Carter’s body will leave Georgia and be flown to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where a motorcade will drive him to Washington, D.C. There will be a service for members of Congress at 3 p.m. in the Capitol Rotunda.
Carter will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol from 7 p.m. until midnight Tues., Jan. 7, and again from 7 a.m. Wed., Jan. 8 until 7 a.m. Thurs., Jan. 9. Viewers can come to the Capitol and pay their respects during those hours.
At 9 a.m. Jan. 9, Carter’s body will be taken from the Capitol to the Washington National Cathedral for his National Funeral Service.
The Washington Navy Yard will conduct a 21-gun salute to honor President Jimmy Carter on January 9, 2025 at 12 PM. The Navy is honoring Carter’s life and legacy, including his time at the U.S. Naval Academy during World War
“The Secret Service will use drones as part of the comprehensive security plan.
Motion to elect officers: Chair – Dave Wethington (6A04); -Vice Chair/Parliamentarian –Amber Gove (6A04); Secretary – Jeff Gierst (6A06); Treasurer – Roberta Shapiro (6A02)
Motion to elect members and leaders of the permanent Committees for 2024.
Plenary Session:
Suggested Motion: ANC6A approve a 10 percent increase in the compensation for services provided by the ANC 6A administrator and note taker. (The last increase was approved in October 2020.)
Suggested Motion: ANC6A protest the application for Substantial Changes to a Class C Tavern license at Henceforth DC at 1335 H Street, NE, unless a settlement agreement is reached.
Suggested Motion : ANC6A protest the application for a new Class C Tavern at Ethio Vegan at 1362 H Street NE, unless a settlement agreement is reached.
Suggested Motion : ANC6A protest the application for a Medical Cannabis Retailer license for Dreamy DC at 1111 H Street NE, unless a settlement agreement is reached. ANC 6A will request formal confirmation from ABCA that the proposed location for Dreamy DC does not violate any of the proximity limits in the Medical Cannabis laws or regulations.
Suggested Motion : ANC6A ANC 6A protest the application for a Medical Cannabis Retailer license for Proper Exotic at 13 8th Street NE, unless a settlement agreement is reached.
ANC6B Planning and Zoning Committee hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
Historic Preservation Application for 321 D Street, SE
1900 Massachusetts Ave., SE [7F08] . Zoning application for construction of new correctional facility. Owner(s): Department of General Services Applicant: Eric DeBear
409 8th Street SE – Popeyes
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