CAPITOL HILL CORNER

The Week Ahead…& Some Photos from the Past Week

by Larry Janezich

Posted January 4, 2026

Good news for PA Ave Hill East neighborhoods – Streets Market is coming soon to 15th and PA Avenue SE, with organic, conventional, local, international, and everyday essentials. All stores are open every day frem 8am – 10pm. 

Here’s a link to their food menu:  https://www.streetsmarket.com/menus?menu=food-menu-1   Photo credit: Bob Gellman

Elsewhere in Hill East ongoing problems apparently continue to befall DC Capitol Square at 15th and East Capitol involving an expired business license, unpaid taxes, and a series of lawsuits. It’s not clear where this is headed.   

Barracks Row Taco Bell at 411 8th Street opened last week.  

Open early – closes late.

Meanwhile, next door, here’s a recent photo of Popeyes’ buildout as it inches closer to opening.   They’ve had issues with stop work orders for not complying with building permits.  ANC6B’s Planning and Zoning Committee will discuss Popeyes this and related issues at their monthly meeting on Thursday. 

Finally, there’s a new plaque in front of Grubb’s Pharmacy at 326 East Capitol Street.  It commemorates Grubb’s status as the oldest operating pharmacy in the District of Columbia, dating to 1867.

The Week Ahead….

Monday, January 6

ANC6B Transportation Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.

• For info on how to join the meeting, go here:  https://anc6b.org/

Agenda:

• Traffic Issues in Intersections in 6B05

ANC7D will hold a virtual Administrative Meeting at 7:00pm. 

• For info on how to view the meeting, contact 6D@anc.dc.gov

Tuesday, January 6

ANC6B Alcohol Beverage & Cannabis Committee Meeting

• For info on how to join the meeting, go here:  https://anc6b.org/

Agenda:

New Applications

• CIVIC On Eight – 501 8th Street SE.  New Application for a Retail’s Class “C” Tavern.

Protests/Other Updates

• Ambar – 523 8th Street SE.  Ongoing negotiation regarding settlement agreement and protest hearing. Parties have requested continuance while discussions proceed.
• Continue Discussion for “Vision for Barracks Row Roundtable Planning
  • Finalization of Roster for Barracks Row Roundtabl

MPD 1D CAC will hold a virtual meeting 6:00pm – 7:15pm.

• Agenda and connection details here: https://1dcac.com/

Thursday, January 8

ANC6B Planning & Zoning Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.

• For info on how to join the meeting, go here:  https://anc6b.org/

Among items on the draft agenda:

• BZA Application for Fast Food special exemption for Wingspot at 406 8th Street, SE.
• Discussion of fast food openings at 409 and 411 8th Street, SE (Popeyes and Taco Bell)

Capitol Hill Corner would also like you to know about:

Tuesday, January 6 Faith in Democracy Interfaith Concert on the Hill

Lutheran Reformation Church at 212 East Capitol Street NE

5:00 – 6:30pm

Tickets: Get your FREE Eventbrite Ticket HERE:  https://bit.ly/4pmKSLE

You are invited to the first ever Faith in Democracy Interfaith Concert at Lutheran Reformation DC.  Come hear music based on multiple faiths and sacred scripture as we help people of ALL faith traditions counter growing partisan polarization in America. Let’s reclaim January 6 each year as a day of hope, light and unity.

Music from the Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Baha’i and Christian faiths.

For more information: Faith in Peace Concerts:  https://faithinpeaceconcerts.org/

For 5pm Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/@faithinpeaceconcerts

Hill Center Event:

Thursday, January 8, 7:00pm – 9:00pm, $23.00.  Get tickets here: https://bit.ly/4poj1ee  

Global Sounds on the Hill Featuring Qais Essar & Sonny Singh in Concert: SANGAT

Weaving together the ancient sound and haunting melodies of the rabab, a 2,500 year-old instrument from Afghanistan, with bold trumpet lines and anthemic Punjabi vocals, Qais and Sonny ground their music in ancestral wisdom and usher us into the future with their uplifting new sound. Drawing inspiration from hundreds of years old mystical poetry from the Sikh, Sufi, and radical bhakti traditions, their music centers oneness and connection in times of increasing division and hierarchy.  Sangat is not only a meeting of diverse musical and spiritual traditions, but also a reflection of using art as a vehicle for connection, resistance, and healing. 

Tuesday Jan 6 – Book Talk on Migration Crisis – Capitol Hill Author Julian Hatten

Solid State Books – 600 H Street NE – 7:00pm

Shelter from the Storm

How Climate Change Is Creating a New Era of Migration

by: Julian Hattem

See here for more info and tickets: https://www.solidstatebooksdc.com/events/2025/1/6

“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.

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 8^th 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 8^th Street. 

1^st 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 8^th 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. 

*Here’s a link to a Wingstop menu:  https://www.wingstop.com/menu

Proper Exotic (left) has applied for a medical weed license to open next to Hunny Bunny.

Proposed Weed Shop on 8^th 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 8^th 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 8^th 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 8^th 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.

Currently, there are 13 legal weed shops operating in Ward 6 and at least four more including Proper Exotic, Aloha, and Garden Hill have applications pending.  For a complete current list, go here:  https://abca.dc.gov/service/find-medical-cannabis-retailer#gsc.tab=0

The Week Ahead…& Some Photos from the Past Week

by Larry Janezich

Posted December 21, 2025

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

For info on how to join the meeting, go here: https://anc6a.org/community-calendar/

Agenda: 

Discussion of the application for a retail Class B Beer and Wine by US Spirits, LLC at 50 Massachusetts Ave NE Suite M118.

Discussion of the renewal of a Class C tavern license with Entertainment and endorsements at The Haymaker 1015 H Street NE.

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.