Pepco not working very hard

There were definitely more firemen here than Pepco workers. There seems to be two men and a truck working.

Still estimated for a 3:00 a.m. return to power for our neighbors at the Lansburgh.

The Lexington currently has power.

Pepco reporting is incorrect

Pepco now reports that only 5 homes are without power; however, the Lansburgh is clearly without power.

E Street is open again. But the area does smell like smoke. Restaurants and stores on the first level of the Lansburgh are still open.

Pepco has arrived; 364 homes without power

45 minutes after we first reported about the situation on 8th and E Streets, Pepco has finally arrived to fix the problem.  

D.C. Fire and Police are reportedly leaving the area to let Pepco take over.

Pepco says they do not know the reason for the outage (we do), but they expect the power to be back on at 3:00 a.m.  At least that's their current estimate.

364 homes are affected by the power outage at this time.

We'll keep you updated.

Smoking Manholes on 8th and E Streets, Possible Underground Fire

DC Fire and EMS say there is a possible fire underground. Several manholes are smoking.

Corroded Cables and Penn Quarter Power Outage

We are hearing that cables under the street have corroded, causing the power failure and the street closing.
No word on how long it will take to fix. Or why there are more fire trucks than construction trucks.

E Street Closed

The ladder truck wasn't leaving, but relocating to E Street, which is also blocked off now between 8th and 9th Streets.
We have received word that at least half of the Lansburgh is currently without power.

Trouble on 8th Street

8th Street is blocked off by crime tape. The tape stretches from the Lansburgh to the Lexington, blocking off both sidewalks and the street.

There is a power transformer on the western side of 8th Street - maybe that is the source of the trouble?

The fire department looks as if they are getting ready to leave, with the ladder truck pulling out already.

National Mall littered with tents and structures for fireworks

Last night The Mall was packed for the fireworks show, as it is every year.  You would think that the National Park Service would have July 4th circled on their calendar as they approve permits for festivals and other gatherings on the National Mall.

Yet we were surprised to see last night that the mall was still littered with large tents and other tall structures, which blocked the view of the fireworks for many.  It pushed the already large crowd to the sides, where it became even harder to see.

Concrete barricades, a large tent, and a particularly large structure (no telling what it is) left a gaping whole in the crowd at this location (to the right of where the photo was taken), which was already pushed between an area of the lawn that was blocked off and another large tent:

The National Park Service should have required that all structures be removed from The Mall by Sunday, July 3rd when they approved the permit for this festival.  Particularly when they saw the festival included many tents and some extremely large tents in the middle of the mall.

This added to the mismanagement of the fireworks display this year, including opening 14th Street as the farthest "checkpoint" (at least officially) open to the east (which really meant just walking between two buses and provided no security at all).  That left crowds of people walking west to 14th street, getting on the mall, and then walking back east again.

Then, the buses that were blocking the streets further east didn't move to allow crowds to leave at the end of the fireworks, when everyone is leaving at the same time:

After the crowd narrowed to get between the buses it then dispursed again, but when the crowd got to Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues there was nothing to block off those streets.  Therefore streams of pedestrians entered the road from all angles without paying any attention to traffic signals while a tide of vehicles honked their horns and flashed their lights in front of helpless police.

The fireworks on The Mall attract a large number of people to our neighborhood each year--it's no surprise this year.  You would think they would clear the mall of structures that block views and have a better exit plan for the crowds.

Dalai Lama arrives in D.C. today

One of the largest events of the year for the Verizon Center isn't the Wizards or even the Caps - it's the Dalai Lama.

Arriving today, the Dalai Lama is expected to draw a crowd of about 100,000 people for a 10-day event called the Kalachakra.  There will be three days of ritualistic prayers and chanting meant to symbolically purify the arena and the Dalai Lama will give three days of basic teachings on Buddhist thought.

The Dalai Lama's birthday also falls while he is here (tomorrow) and will be celebrated at the Verizon Center.

On Saturday, the Dalai Lama will hold "A Talk for World Peace" at the Capitol's West Lawn.  The event will bring a lot of celebrities to D.C. (and probably Penn Quarter) including: Whoopi Goldberg, Kalon Tripa (Prime Minister of Tibet), and other officials of the Central Tibetan Administration.

Chick-fil-A cows to run on D.C.

The cows that grace Chick-fil-A's ad campaigns will be stampeding through the streets of Washington on Thursday.  The cows will be traveling via an open-top bus and giving out free chicken sandwiches, as well as other prizes (such as cow headbands and masks).

On Thursday, you can find the cows at:

• Union Station - 9:30 a.m.

• Lafayette Square - 11:45 a.m.

• Lincoln Memorial - 1:00 p.m.

The first 400 fans to meet the cows at each location get a free chicken sandwich.

Graffiato to open for lunch tomorrow

Graffiato will open for lunch tomorrow, but the lunch menu will be mostly a pizza menu.  Lunch will be served from 12:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.

The menu isn't online yet, but we imagine it's the pizza section of the dinner menu, which already enjoys longer hours than the rest of the menu.  

Checkpoints for July 4th fireworks on The Mall

Remember that you can only enter the National Mall for the fireworks today at predetermined checkpoints.   Those checkpoints aren't necessarily the most convenient places to enter the mall, they are:

•West entrance, or George Washington Memorial Parkway side of Memorial Bridge

•Constitution Avenue and 23rd Street

•Constitution Avenue and 17th Street

•Constitution Avenue between 14th and 15th streets

•Independence Avenue and 14th Street

•Westside of 14th Street, at Jefferson Drive, SW

•Westside of 14th Street, at Madison Drive, SW

•Maine Avenue and Raoul Wallenberg Place, (Le. formerly 15th Street) 
George Washington Memorial Parkway Checkpoints: (no access to National Mall) 
•Columbia Island/Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove

•Gravelly Point, immediately north of National Airport 

•Washington Sailing Marina at Daingerfield Island

•U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial and Netherlands Carillon

•Memorial Circle (access to National Mall via Memorial Bridge restricted to pedestrians only) 

A look inside America Eats Tavern

You have probably seen the progress at America Eats Tavern, the old Cafe Atlantico, which is expected to open on Monday.

DCist has some pictures of the inside if you want to get a sneak peek. 

It looks interesting, to say the least.  The Cafe Atlantico shell is largely the same with windows hanging (literally - by rope) from the highest ceiling, some with historical pictures of America from the National Archives.  There are other, similar photos on the wall as well as several paintings featuring the American Flag.  The rafters are painted red, white, and blue.

It looks like they aren't cutting corners though or making this a major tourist trap.  For example, drinks will be served in metal julep cups or copper Moscow Mule cups.  Some will come in mason jars, and will feature metal straws.

See the pictures here.