Rock Creek. The Anacostia. The Potomac. If you had to guess which of these waterways is least likely to be safe for swimmers on a given day (if swimming in DC were legal, that is), which would you choose?
If you said Rock Creek, you’d be right. Recent articles in DCist and The Washington Post highlighted weekly water quality reports from Anacostia Riverkeeper, a group that seeks to protect and restore the Anacostia rivershed. DCist reports “sites in Rock Creek fail bacteria level tests almost every week.”
The Post article follows Bill Sittig, an Anacostia Riverkeeper volunteer and former ANC 3F commissioner, as he collects samples from the Melvin Hazen Run.
Too hot for Washingtoniana: A ground-level storefront at 4340 Connecticut Avenue has been the temporary home of the DC Public Library for the past eleven months. It has been closed, for the most part, for the past two. DCist digs into why: heat waves and an HVAC system that couldn’t handle them. (Washingtoniana reopened last week after repairs.)
The button says “push to walk,” so why don’t the cars stop? WAMU answers a listener question, and since its HQ is at Connecticut and Windom Place, so you just know that at least some of the audio is coming from a crossing nearby.
Stopping speeding on Beach Drive: Smoother pavement from the three-year project has brought with it speedier traffic. To calm things down, crews have installed “speed tables” near Broad Branch Road and a couple of other intersections. Read WTOP’s coverage or check out the Post.
How to catch a spy: Forest Hills-based documentary filmmaker Aviva Kempner spoke to the Post in June about “The Spy Behind Home Plate,” her film on Washington Senators catcher and OSS agent Moe Berg. Her subject was an elusive one even for Kempner, whom the Post describes as “a relentless digger.”