Jimmy's Ward Report - Monday, October 12, 2009

Joe’s Movement Emporium Open House Celebration for their New Theatre – Sunday October 18: 12 PM – 5 PM – Free & Family Friendly – Thriller Dance with Brooke Kidd – Performance & Class with Reggie Glass – Demonstration by Arachne Aerial Arts – Location: 3309 Bunker Hill Road. (Also there will be an Oct 16th Dedication Ceremony and an October 17th Concert Gala – For more information call 301-699-1819)

DC Glassworks Open House – Saturday October 24th from 3:30 to 8:30 PM - If you have not gone to one of their open houses, you really should. You can watch glassblowing demonstrations or try your hand at making a glass paperweight, pumpkin or flower. There are chips, soda, wine and beer available for a small donation. It is really wonderful to see the magic in the making of vases, bowls, etc. DCGlassworks is at 5346 46th Ave in Edmonston (a little behind Franklin's). You can get directions from their web site: www.dcglassworks.com.

Dog Park Opens In Our Area - A new dog park just opened. It is located at the corner of Nicholson St and Ager Rd in Hyattsville, MD. It has a separate section for small dogs.
A dedication and activity fair is scheduled for Saturday November 7 from 12 noon to 4 PM. A separate message about the dedication/fair will come soon. In the meantime, get your dog and check out the new park!

Mount Rainier Autumn Festival Celebrating Glut’s 40th Anniversary – Saturday November 7th (new date) - Featuring block party entertainment (face painting, children’s games, live music) and food vendors. It will be on 34th Street between Bunker Hill Road and Shepherd St. For more information call Eric Walenza at 503-516-6672 or e-mail Eric at ewalenza@gmail.com

Mount Rainier Urban Grain Bin Opens For Business - The Preserve Our Planet (POP) Corn Cooperative, the City of Mt Rainier and the Save Our Sky Home-Heating Cooperative officially opened the Mt Rainier Urban Grain Bin last Saturday (October 10th). The 20-foot-tall, 9-foot-wide structure holds about 20 tons of dry, shelled feed corn which will be used as heating fuel in pellets stoves to save money, reduce carbon emissions and support local farmers. Members of the coop get convenient access to an environmentally friendly alternative to natural gas, oil or electric heating. Anyone can join! The Mt Rainier co-op expects/hopes for 10, 20, 30 new members this year. Members who get their primary heating from corn spend $500-1000 per season, usually saving several hundred dollars and paying for their stoves in about 5 years.

It is located at 3601 Bunker Hill Road. The same location for the Bike Co-op and the Tool Shed.

This year the co-op is attempting a bulk purchase of corn/pellet stoves. If you're interested in joining the purchase(s) and saving an additional $200-1000, plus getting a federal tax credit of 30% up to $1,500, please visit the website and contact the co-op. {www.saveoursky.com}

Mt Rainier Corn Stove Tour - If you want to see a corn stove in action, there will be a neighborhood open house on Saturday November 21st from 10 AM to 2 PM at the following locations: 4008-31st. St., 4108 32nd St., and 4112 32nd St.

Leaf Pick-up Schedule

Public Works has developed a new calendar for leaf pickup. Here are the instructions:

Have leaves raked to curb side on designated day. Do not rake leaves after leaf vacuuming has started, because public works will not be able to come back to your address. Rain or machine breakdown may cause a delay.

Area 1
Rake Leaves Out by Nov 1
For Collection Nov. 3-19

3800-4600 30th Street
3800-41500 31st Street
3700 34th Street
3700 35th Street
3500-3800 37th Street
3400-3600 Eastern Ave.
3500 37th Street
3400-3700 Perry Street
Wells Avenue
Newton Street
Oak Lane
4000-4200 28th Street
4000-4500 29th Street
2800-3300 Shepherd Street
2800-3200 Taylor Street

Area 2
Rake Leaves Out by Nov 15
For Collection Nov 17-26

3800-4500 32nd Street
3800-4100 33rd Street
3100-3300 Perry Street
2900-3300 Bunker Hill Road
Rainier Avenue
2800-3200 Upshur Street
3100-3200 Varnum Street
3100 Webster Street
3100 Windom Street
3100-3200 Arundel Road
3800-4500 34th Street
3800-400035th Street
400 36th Street
4000 37th Street
3400 3700 Bunker Hill Road
3400-3700 Shepherd Street
3400 Taylor Street
3400 Tilden Street

2nd Pick Up Schedule

Area 1
Rake Leaves Out Nov 29
For Collection Dec 1-10

Area 2
Rake Leaves Out by Dec 13
For Collection Dec 14-24

Crime Rate Shows Decrease From 2009 – The Chief reported that there was a 29% reduction in crime offenses compared to 2008 for the period January through September; there were 272 crimes reported in the first 8 months of this year compared to 380 in the same period in 2009. There were 53 cases of robbery, 2 cases of rape, 8 aggravated assault, 38 burglaries, 125 larcenies, 44-auto theft, and 2 arson.

City Passes Resolution In Support of Strong Storm water Regulations - The City Council passed a resolution at its last meeting urging the County to pass the strongest possible storm water regulations. I am not an expert in this area but our city has a history of flooding and we have long dealt with wet basements and flooded yards. It only makes sense that with new development and re-development, that water be retained on site through use of environmental site design (rain gardens, green roofs, etc.) rather than running into our over-burdened pipes and sewers. In addition, storm water runoff is a major cause of water pollution, in our local rivers and into the Chesapeake Bay, which affects us all, and has a big economic impact on the area. We hope the County passes this kind of strong regulation.

Mount Rainier Mixed Use Town Center Community Meetings – The County Planning Department began holding a series of meetings to get input on plans for revising development policies and design standards in the downtown area (Mixed Use Town Center (MUTC)). The County will examine current market conditions and amend the development polices and revise the urban design standards in order to promote reinvestment and redevelopment opportunities. These meetings give our residents a time to comment on their vision of our downtown and how we can implement that vision. The first of these meetings was held last Monday, October 5.
The next meetings will be on Monday October 19th at 7 PM and Saturday October 31st at 9 AM. Both meetings will be held at the Bunker Hill Fire Station on Rhode Island Ave.

New Restaurant Opens and A New One Coming - ZZPizza opened its doors last week with great reviews about its food. It is located at the corner of Bunker Hill and 34th Street. It looked very busy the first week. We all hope that residents give them plenty of business. I also noticed that there is a new paint job at 4400 Rhode Island Avenue (the old ‘4400 Club’) between Volta and Webster in Brentwood. I went in and found that the new owner is planning on opening Restaurant Brentwood. He hopes to open it by January 2010.