It was like a Home Depot crammed into a 7-Eleven.Acting DC Fire Chief John A. Donnelly • Discussing the fire that took out the iconic Frager’s Hardware last night. It was the largest fire in the district since 2008. The owner of the iconic Capitol Hill business, which first launched in 1920, promises to rebuild, though he might update the building so it’s a bit less packed to the gills. “We can address our space issues — the aisles were too tight, the shelves too tall,” saild owner John Weintraub. “We’ll come back bigger and better and stronger.”
Frager’s Hardware, a DC institution, taken down in fire: A 90-year-old DC landmark, Frager’s Hardware was severely damaged and likely destroyed by a four-alarm blaze earlier this evening. The good news is that the fire was contained to the Frager’s building and the only injuries thus far were minor ones to firemen. But the loss to the community is huge, and many on social media left messages honoring the local hardware store. (Disclosure: My fiancée works across the street from Frager’s and visits the store regularly as a function of her job. When I told her about this, she said, “Oh my god, I was just there yesterday!”)
(photo via @GeorgeWNEW)
Anyone want to carpool to DC this November?
Already here, but this screams “Tumblr Meetup.”
You do have to give the government some deference. Right now there are 200 trucks, and I think the government has a right to say the limit is 250. That’s it. That’s going to be our food-truck industry.DC City Councilor Vincent B. Orange • Offering a sort-of-awful take on food trucks, which have become very popular in the city but are facing some tough regulatory drama from local officials. Bloomberg has more details on the trials and tribulations of operating a food truck in the nation’s capitol.
Watergate: The Video Game
Journalists: It’s the game you’ve always wanted to play. Forget finding Carmen Sandiego. In Watergate: The Video Game, you’re on the hunt to expose Richard Nixon’s corruption. Here, the real sleuthing happens through interviews, document acquisition and hard-hitting reporting. This is the best way to celebrate the Pulitzer Prize that the Washington Post received 40 years ago today for its coverage of the Watergate scandal.
FJP: I like the 8-bit glory of it all. — Michael
If we’re a little bleary-eyed tomorrow, it’s because we’ve spent all night investigating Watergate.
If you hit “no”, you’re resigned to listening to the police scanner for the rest of your life.
Fifteen seconds before this train reached the station, this guy jumped on the tracks. Someone managed to snap a photo of the incident … but here’s the crazy part. The train stopped. The guy wasn’t hurt. Though it could have been quite the scary moment. I used to get off at this stop every single day for work. (via BuzzFeed)
» SFB says: (Warning: I’m about to get passionate about local coffee.) I’ve been to most of these places, and a lot of them only get the coffee part right. The part they get wrong is the experience part. There’s this trend in DC of local shops rebelling against wi-fi users, which is stupid because it turns away potential regular customers. Filter, for example, has good coffee but it’s not a good spot to sit and work because it’s very small and always packed (and its Foggy Bottom location offers no wireless). Among the local chains that get the combination right are Bourbon Coffee near Foggy Bottom (which is an international chain, kinda, as it also has locations in NYC and Rwanda), Firehook Bakery in Cleveland Park, Tynan Coffee in Columbia Heights, Sova if you’re willing to go all the way to H Street, and Pound the Hill and Ebeneezer’s — both in Capitol Hill. There’s nothing downtown that’s as good as any of the shops I mentioned, and most of them close before like 9pm, alas. (Murky in Arlington used to be a good local option, but they closed and the owner opened Chinatown Coffee, which is OK.) — Ernie @ SFB
EDIT: I knew I was forgetting one; Big Bear Cafe in Bloomingdale is nice. Thanks foxwithsocks.
SECOND EDIT: This is 100% on the money. It’s not that I want somewhere with wi-fi, though that helps. It’s that I want somewhere that has a good neighborhood vibe on the side of the coffee. DC doesn’t have that.
Asking for a friend. More details:
Fans of Caribou Coffee might want to start loading up on caffeine now, as the Minnesota-based company confirmed today that it’s closing down 88 locations around the U.S. A further 80 will undergo a rebranding makeover and re-emerge as Peet’s Coffee & Tea sometime in the next year or so.
“Over the past few months, we at Caribou have revisited our business strategy, including closely evaluating our performance by market to make decisions that best position us for long-term growth,” the company said in a written statement, via KARE News.
The 88 under-performing stores will be going away quite soon — April 14 is D-Day for those stores, but there’s no list identifying which locations will be shuttered.
Stores getting a makeover are scattered across Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Illinois and Eastern Wisconsin.
It’s worth noting that a ton of people will lose their jobs over this, some of whom are taking to the company’s Facebook page to rip the chain. While I’ll be disappointed about my loss of a coffee chain that was good for writing SFB posts even if their coffee was only “OK” (DC is loaded with chains, and good local shops are hard to come by), my minor frustration is nothing compared to the folks who are about to lose their jobs.
Man billed after father dies waiting for ambulance
(Photo: NBCWashington.com)
Durand Ford, Jr. says the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Service Department has sent him a $780.85 bill for an ambulance that he called for his father early on the morning of Jan. 1.
Ford tells News4 that his father died waiting for that ambulance, after it took more than 30 minutes to arrive.
This sounds like something that happens in D.C. It’s awful and it deserves to be called out by the press.
Spotted in D.C. today: A DJ, busking for donations. I wonder if this is how Skrillex got his start. The stuff you see on inauguration weekend … — Ernie @ SFB
EDIT: From the comments: “albertis said: Skrillex got his start being the front man of a band named From First to Last.” Thanks for taking my snark seriously, pal.
The reporter...
I can’t add much to what’s already been (and will be) ...
One of the perks of being an early employee...
Over the last 90 days, the Digg...
#FMMDI (at 30 Rockefeller Plaza)
Thanks. I guess my thoughts are as follows:
1. I think...
The Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department is investigating whether any city laws were violated when NBC’s David Gregory displayed what appeared to be a 30-round gun magazine on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, a spokesman confirmed to POLITICO.
hahahahahahahaha.
Meet the depressed.
Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg visited Washington DC joined by Senator Charles Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to ask for fiscal help from the federal government for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.
In New York City, the public and private losses caused by Hurricane Sandy, which were not covered by private insurance come to $15.2 billion. New York City’s recovery is vital to America’s continued economic recovery and growth.
Read the Mayor’s remarks delivered yesterday at the U.S Capitol Building at http://on.nyc.gov/UdLnVc.
Highlight from the remarks: “We haven’t waited for the help that we hope to get from Washington to come, but given the scale and the impact of the storm, Federal assistance is clearly warranted.”
Here’s the official Million Puppet March route map! See you in DC on 11/3
So this is apparently happening right now.
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
