“In Shelter from the Storm noted journalist and migration researcher Julian Hattem tells the story of the massive human displacement that is already being caused by climate change. With hard-hitting journalism from the front lines of the environmental apocalypse, Hattem takes the reader on a journey from the South Pacific to the Indian subcontinent, the Mediterranean, and beyond, offering a shocking glimpse into the human geography wrecked by a warming planet.”
Julian Hattem has been a journalist, writer, and editor focused on politics, government, and migration for more than fifteen years. He has been on staff with the Associated Press, The Hill, and The Yomiuri Shimbun, and has written for outlets including The Washington Post, The Guardian, NPR, and The Atlantic. He has reported from four continents and is currently the editor of Migration Information Source, the online magazine of the Migration Policy Institute, and founder and host of the podcast Changing Climate, Changing Migration. Shelter from the Storm (The New Press) is his first book. He lives in Washington, DC.
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The first roll out of the city’s proposed design for the new Rumsey Aquatic Center in March of 2025 produced a strong negative community reaction and especially from CM Charles Allen who had specifically found funding for a second floor which was not included in the plans.
Allen launched a petition drive, ANC6B, the Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee and Barracks Row MainStreet sent letters of support for plan modifications on behalf of the community. Allen announced that in response to the pushback the Department of Parks and Recreation would be coming back to the community with a revised design.
Just before the end of the year, the concept plans for the new design became available. DC law requires the Mayor to submit plans to the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) for consideration before construction can begin on property within a historic district.
The proposed new building will be a destination facility for DPR, serving as a place for competitive swim events, community gatherings, and senior center activities including physical fitness amenities and a maker space. The project will provide approximately 29,000 square feet (up from 20,584) across two levels and will include the program elements outlined below.
Here are the concept renderings being submitted to HPRB – preliminary 3D visualizations showing the basic form, massing, and spatial ideas of the early-stage design.
Birds eye view of existing building.
Birds eye view of new building.
First Floor Plan.
Proposed Programming Summary for First Floor:
Full size 8-lane lap swimming pool.
A smaller therapy pool.
Locker rooms, a family changing room, and bathrooms adjacent to the pools and splash pad.
Staff office.
Tech lounge.
First aid room.
Life Guard room.
Lobby.
Storage.
Second Floor Plan.
Proposed Programming Summary for Second Floor.
Large Multipurpose/Recreation Room.
Senior center with tech lounge, and other amenities.
Small Fitness Room.
Meeting rooms.
Conference room.
Incubator / Maker Space.
Pool-overlook space.
Terrace overlooking North Carolina Avenue.
Toilets.
Storage.
View of Main Entrance from northeast Corner of the building.
View of the south side of the building from C Street.
View of the southeast corner and the Eastern Market Alley from C Street.
Next: Expect DPR is likely to announce a community meeting to present the new plan to stakeholders. The project team will continue to provide regular updates to a broad range of community stakeholders associated with the project, including Councilmember Charles Allen and his staff, ANC6B, Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee, the Capitol Hill Restoration Society, and the DC Preservation League. This will include on-going revisions to the plan up to and including final photo realistic renderings.
This out-of-state vehicle was struck multiple times for gunfire last night.
And this one was struck twice.
Here a photo of the 800 block of E Street, SE, looking toward Barracks Row
NYE Gunfire Near Barracks Row Unsettles Neighbors
by Larry Janezich
Posted January 1, 2026
Just after midnight on New Year’s Eve, residents were alarmed as gunfire erupted on the 800 block of E Street, SE. First mistaking it for fireworks, one resident commented that the shots were accompanied by the sounds of metal striking metal. As it turned out, that sound was the sounds of multiple bullets striking parked cars and it appeared that they had been fired toward 8th Street. There were no reported injuries.
Members of the National Guard who had been patrolling Barracks Row were on the scene within minutes but it is unclear what exactly they saw or how they reacted to the shots. One witness said that the Guard reportedly saw a Mercedes leaving the scene, westbound toward 8th Street.
1st District MPD showed up and recovered a dozen or so bullet casings. One vehicle on the north side of the block with an out-of-state license was struck several times. It had been removed by early Thursday morning. A vehicle parked in front of that car was hit twice, one ricocheting off the roof in the direction of 8th Street.
Residents of the block have complained to ANC6B that patrons of Café 8 on Barracks Row park on the block and after leaving Café 8 continue conversations and playing music outside of their parked cars late at night, prompting residents to sometimes call the police. Café 8 has posted signs in their windows urging departing patrons to respect the residences on nearby streets.
Here’s the proposed location of Wingstop at 406 8th Street, on Barracks Row.
Here’s the current interior of the former illegal weed shop at 406 8th Street. Wingstop hasn’t started a buildout yet, maybe waiting to make sure their application for an exception to the fast food ban on the street is granted.
Yet Another Fast-food Carryout to Open on Barracks Row
by Larry Janezich
Posted December 31, 2025
Last night, ANC6B’s Executive Committee scheduled a January 13 discussion of an application by Wingstop, the popular* fast food carryout and delivery restaurant, to open an outlet at 406 8th Street, on Barracks Row. The space was formerly occupied by Mother Blossom, an illegal weed gifting shop which was forced to close in 2024 after new regulations banned weed outlets within 400 feet of another. Up N’ Smoke is a legal weed dispensary located less than 400 feet away.
Zoning regulations currently restrict new fast food restaurants from opening on Barracks Row. Wingstop has filed application for a special exception with the Bureau of Zoning Adjustment (BZA). (Earlier yesterday, Washington Business Journal reported the opening to its subscribers, citing the application filed with the Board of Zoning Adjustment.)
Wingstop has over 2,500 outlets internationally and competes with Popeyes which is scheduled to open directly across the street. The block already suffers from an over-concentration of casual food outlets including & Pizza, Ledo Pizza, Boli Pizza, Dunkin’, Chipotle, Maman Joon Kitchen, and a soon-to-open Popeyes and Taco Bell. A Starbucks on the block closed last September and a 7-11 closed in August of 2024. An illegal weed shop on the block was closed down by ABCA last October.
ANC6B will also hear in January from nearby neighbors regarding efforts to negotiate best operating procedures with the forthcoming Barracks Row Taco Bell and Popeyes. (A report in December gave Taco Bell high marks – Popeyes not so much.) Some ANC6B commissioners are concerned about the negative impact on Barracks Row of the large number of fast food and medical weed outlets – especially the 400 block – and are promoting a business roundtable discussion of ways to broaden the economic variety of retail outlets on the street.
BZA is required to get community input on the special exemption and will or already has referred the application to ANC6B. The ANC’s Planning and Zoning Committee will consider the application – possibly as soon as its January 8 meeting – and provide an opportunity for public comment. The committee could then either vote to support the application, oppose it, recommend the ANC protest the application, or forward it to the full ANC without recommendation. The full ANC commission also has the same options of supporting, opposing, protesting, or taking no position.
ANC’s are advisory bodies which must be consulted, but city agencies are only required to give their ANC opinions “great weight.” Given how hungry the District is for revenue, it’s unlikely the BZA will let neighborhood unhappiness about too many fast food outlets – should such opposition develop – stand in the way of an exception.
Rather than go to war with Wingstop by filing a protest with BZA on behalf of the community – a protest they are likely to lose – the ANC Planning and Zoning Committee is may decide to push Wingstop to sign a Settlement Agreement governing its operation regarding hours of operation, noise and odor controls, and indoor trash storage as a condition of ANC support.
“The Stars We Do Not See” – at the National Gallery of Art East Building through March 1. A once-in-a-life-time exhibit of Australian Indigenous art – the largest ever shown in North America.
Collaborative painting – Spirit Dreaming through Napperby County
Painting representing a coming of age ceremony – Elders initiation boys into adulthood.
Painting of a rain spirit, traditionally found on cave walls.
“Burdi, Burdi” (Fire, Fire). A red space where the performance artist sings in the native language of the threats of colonization.
Bark painting showing interaction of Australian natives with global trade partners prior to arrival of the British in the 18th Century.
A group of 12 paintings by Australian Indigenous artists.
The Week Ahead…
Monday, December 29
CANCELLED. ANC6A Community Outreach Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.
The standard business of the Executive Committee is adoption of upcoming meeting agendas. At December’s Executive Committee meeting, the agendas for the December ABC, Transportation, and Planning & Zoning Committee meetings will be voted on as will the agenda for the January Full Meeting of ANC 6B.
Capitol Hill Corner would also like you to know about:
On going:
Folger Library
Ring in the New Year with Folger Consort’s Resplendent Joy. Streaming on-demand now through January 4
In case you missed it, or you want to relive the magic, you can now enjoy Folger Consort’s Resplendent Joy from the best seat in your house. Ring in the new year with touching songs of simple beauty and celebratory odes to the season as many times as you’d like through January 4.
Unlimited access is pay what you will, starting at $25. Pay the price you can afford, your generosity supports programming at the Folger.
Proper Exotic (left) has applied for a medical weed license to open next to Hunny Bunny.
Proposed Weed Shop on 8th Street NE Forces Out Retail Neighbor Say Owners
by Larry Janezich
Posted December 22, 2025
Owners of Hunny Bunny boutique Elizabeth Cronan and Jon Bormet say they are being forced to leave their location at 311 8th St NE because DC medical cannabis policies allow a weed shop – Proper Exotic – to open next door to their business on a block that also includes preschool and family-serving businesses.
Honey Bunny is a Black woman-owned small business at 311 8th Street NE – a boutique manufacturer and retailer specializing in all-natural bath and beauty products. For more than 10 years the business has anchored a family-focused block that includes Petite Scholars Preschool, other child-oriented businesses and longstanding residences. The owners say their store cannot operate alongside a business that requires armed guards, late night hours, and heavy security – features incompatible with residential child-focused corridors such as the 300 block of 8th Street NE.
ANC6A and ANC6C have protested the opening of Proper Exotic before the Alcohol Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) but currently the board seems overly generous in handing out licenses and the City Council seems reluctant to sign off on new regulations to limit where weed shops can open.
ABCA dismissed every entity protesting Proper Exotic, including the ANC and a letter of opposition from council member Charles Allen. ANC6A has appealed the administrative dismissal of the protests and expects a decision around January 7.
There is widespread community opposition to the negative effects on communities brought by ABCA licensing weed shops in areas residents deem inappropriate. Other recent examples on Capitol Hill include Aloha at 528 Eighth Street SE and Garden Hill at 1322 G Street SE.
Cronan and Bormet say what happened to them is not an isolated incident and warn that the proliferation of weed shops are displacing longstanding neighborhood businesses and reshaping communities without meaningful local input.
Here are some photos reflecting progress on the build out for some Capitol Hill restaurants which hope to open by the end of December or early January.
Civic on Barracks Row at 501 8th Street, SE
Taco Bell on Barracks Row at 411 8th Street, SE
Maru San (Peruvian fishrolls) at 325 7th Street, SE
The law finally caught up with Flowerz at 318 Massachusetts Ave NE near Union Station. ABCA shuttered Flowerz, Grass & Co, and four other weed outlets after determining these unlicensed establishments posed a significant risk to public health. Among cannabis products seized at Flowerz were: Marijuana: 68.3 Pounds, Pre-rolled Marijuana Cigarettes: 11.4 Pounds, THC Beverages: 69,036 Ounces, THC Gummies: 504,000 Grams, etc. , etc.
The closing of Flowers apparently opens to door for an establishment three doors away at 312 Massachusetts Avenue NE that is sporting an application for a legal weed outlet in its front window. Ed. Note. (This caption orignianlly speculated about ANC6C’s concern on this outlet.) Update: According to ANC6C Chair Karen Wirt, “The business owner agreed to every condition I suggested to protect the neighborhood. He was willing to listen to concerns, suggestions, and was most cooperative. He stated he wants to be a good neighbor. “
Here’s a photo from Saturday night of this year’s Congressional holiday tree looking down the mall.
And here’s a photo against the backdrop of the U.S. Capitol’s West Front.
The Week Ahead …
Monday, December 22
ANC6A Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Licensing Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm
Vince Morris, Candidate for DC Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives
DC Delegate Norton Challenger Emerges from Ward Six
by Larry Janezich
Posted December 18, 2025
Ward Six resident Vince Morris says he is uniquely qualified to succeed DC’s Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holms Norton. He says he is the only candidate to have worked on key Congressional Committees – both the House Rules and the Senate Appropriations Committees. He was appointed to serve on DC Sports Entertainment Commission by Mayor Adrian Fenty and the DC Public Library Board of Trustees by Mayor Vincent Gray. More local volunteer work in the city included president of the PTA, the LSAT, and Friends of NE Library – the latter for the past 16 years.
He worked for DC Mayor Tony Williams as spokesperson and Communications Director. Over a decade of working for Congress he served as either spokesperson or communication director for members, including Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Barbara Mikulski, and Senators Jay Rockefeller and John Kerry.
Prior to working in government, Morris was a newspaper reporter for 15 years – many of them covering Congress. Since leaving government Morris has been in public affairs and media relations.
This is his first run for political office. Asked why, Morris said that he had needed to balance his work load with his role of being a father to three kids and wanting to be present for them – that he had always been wary of time committed to activities that would pull him away from them. He says, “Now I have bandwidth because all my children are grown up – they’re all in college or out of college and I have time to really devote to something like this.”
So, why is he running? He says it’s frustration with our representation in Congress… he has respect for what Eleanor Holmes Norton accomplished early in her career, but he’s been disappointed because of missed opportunities: “We’ve allowed our relationship with other members of Congress and with the Congress generally to decline and wither and I’ve watched that happen in real time… our relationship now is worse than it’s ever been, so clearly what has been happening in the past is not working and I have ideas for how it can get better. It it would start with developing relationships and ntroducing members of Congress to the community and just educating people on what this city stands for… As the only candidate who has worked both for the District government and for Congress … I really feel like I bring to the table a close understanding of how the process works … so I know how things get done.”
Morris adds that listening to the way the other candidates talk about this campaign, “I know my approach is going to be very different. It’s going to be about building bridges – building relationships and then nurturing those relationships so that when we do have someone else in the White House and when the makeup of the Congress changes we will have more allies who will stand by the city and we can work towards statehood.”
Morris’ first hurdle will be collecting 2,000 signatures on a nominating petition to get on the primary ballot. He says, “We can’t start collecting signatures till January 26th – that’s when the petitions become available … I will be all out on 4th week in January. I’m fortunate in that because I’ve lived on Capitol Hill here in Ward 6 since 2000 and have been very active in the community through volunteer work and I easily know 2000 people right here in Ward 6 but I’m going to – of course – work around the city to get petitions signed by residents from all 8 wards.”
Looking forward to the social media battle, and asked if he has a thick skin, Morris says, “I do have a thick skin. One of the things that you gain when you work in the news businesses, you get used to editors telling you what you wrote is terrible … I have worked I worked in Congress for members of the leadership and you very quickly get adjusted to subsuming your ego for their needs…if you take things personally you don’t survive very long on the hill … I think I can handle anything that everyone says and I actually would love the opportunity to talk to people and have them ask tough questions.”
Morris says, “I look forward to that process and I think that’s really how you separate the wheat from the chaff – the other thing I’ll say on that you know, I was a Division One football player and if you’re an athlete at a very high level you get very used to not having an ego because it’s all about the team and you have to sacrifice for the greater good of your teammates and I feel like a big part of my personality was shaped by that experience. It’s also a bonding experience but the main thing is it’s a reminder that the team can’t succeed if one person is doing their own thing and so you need to work together towards a common goal. That’s been my philosophy for a lot of things in life and I would apply some of those same lessons to this challenge.”
During the interview for this article, CHC asked Morris about how he thought DC had changed under President Trump. He answered and later elaborated on the answer in a video posted to his campaign site on Facebook – see here: https://bit.ly/4j8jyzs
General Manager Melissa Campbell (left) and Labyrinth Owner and Founder Kathleen Donahue
Labyrinth Games & Puzzles Changes Hands
by Larry Janezich
Posted December 17, 2025
After 15 years, Labyrinth, the puzzle/game emporium onat 645 Pennsylvania Avenue on Capitol Hill will transition to new ownership. Owner Kathleen Donahue will handoff the business to longtime General Manager Melissa Campbell at the end of January 2026.
Donahue, who founded the store in 2010 says, “I never expected Labyrinth to become what it has. I feel very honored that I was able to be a part of it, and I’m thrilled to have found someone who is ready and willing to carry on our legacy.”
Campbell, a former middle school science teacher, came to the store in 2019, bringing a love of games and a passion for community building. She says, “Labyrinth has always been about joy, connection, and community,” Campbell said. “I am honored to continue Kathleen’s legacy and ensure that Labyrinth remains a place where people feel welcome, supported, and excited to discover something new.”
Donahue will spend more time traveling with her newly retired husband and caring for her aging mother, but will continue to support Labyrinth as a consultant and remain active in the local small-business community – including ongoing service on the Board of Eastern Market Main Street.
In 2020, Labyrinth launched its eCommerce site and now ships nationwide. For more, go here: www.labyrinthdc.com or follow @labyrinthdc on social media.
Photo Essay: Wreaths Across America at Congressional Cemetery Honors Veterans
by Larry Janezich
Posted December 15, 2025
It was cold Saturday morning, but some 200 community members turned out to pay tribute to the 1700 plus veterans – some dating to the Revolutionary War – interred at Congressional Cemetery. The volunteers also served to place wreaths purchased by the community through donations to Wreaths Across America on the graves of veterans whose remains are buried here.
The Presentation of Colors by members of the DC National Guard.
SGT Vicky Golding (vocalist) sings The National Anthem.
Mark Hudson, Executive Director of Congressional Cemetery, reminded those attending that at its core, Congressional Cemetery is a historic and active burial ground “and all of our efforts support the mission to preserve and protect these hallowed grounds while we respectfully celebrate the lives of those whose remains lie in eternal rest here.”
Hudson’s remarks were followed by Colonel Vincent A. Cummings, Command Chaplain for DC National Guard who stood in as keynote speaker for DC National Guard Commander Brigadier General Leland Blanchard II. In his remarks, he said, “Our support of Wreaths Across American reinforces the unique role the National Guard plays in our community. We’re part of the society we serve and those relationships build trust, strengthen connections, and ensure we remain ready and always there for the people of DC….
Congressional Cemetery’s Program Director A.J. Orlokoff called each service to step forward and place a commutative wreath to those assembled.
Volunteers receive wreaths to place on graves.
A member of the National Guard speaks the name and salutes the memory of a veteran after placing the wreath.
Wreaths Across America is a nonprofit founded to continue and expand the annual wreath laying at Arlington as well as at thousands of veterans’ cemeteries and across the country and abroad.
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