This morning, neighbors on Constitution Avenue stepped out their front doors to witness only half of the normal morning commute driving by. The transition of Constitution Avenue from a one-way rush hour street to a two-way, all-day neighborhood street went into effect today.

I don't live too far from where the switch was being made, so Councilmember Wells asked me to check out the traffic impact this morning. DDOT has had light boards along the route announcing the change for several weeks, and this morning, MPD officers were on hand to help remind commuters. Traffic on Constitution Avenue was pretty calm and there were not any major back-ups. It appeared as if some cars had diverted up North Carolina Avenue toward Lincoln Park and around to Massachusetts Avenue or East Capitol Street, but from what I could tell, there weren't any major snags on this first day of the switch.

What did you see or experience? Since the announcement about the change, we've heard overwhelming support from the neighbors as well as some concerns about traffic diverting to side streets. We'd love to hear from any of the neighbors along Constitution Avenue about what they saw and experienced this morning.

A reminder to please join me this Saturday, June 23rd, for the First Annual Ward 6 Family Picnic and Celebrity Softball Tournament.

We’ve got an exciting line-up of activities, celebrities and events scheduled throughout the day. Join the Nationals’ Felipe Lopez, Jesus Flores and Jesus Colome as they play tee-ball with the kids and become celebrity coaches in the Softball Tournament. Plus, we have over a $1,000 worth of raffle prizes to give away (including autographed Nationals’ jersey, autographed DC United soccer ball, 100 Nationals’ baseball tickets, gift certificates to dozens of local restaurants and businesses, free sponsorship for a 3-day youth soccer camp, and many more)!

The celebration will take place at the Rosedale Recreation Center at 1700 Gales Street, NE. We'll get started at 10:00 am and activities will run through the day until 4:00 pm. I hope that this event can bring all of our Ward 6 residents out for a great day.

Here’s an agenda for the day:

10:00 - 11:00 am -- Community Clean-Up of the Recreation Center
11:00 am - 2:00 pm -- The grill fires up for hamburgers and hot dogs
11:00 am - 2:00 pm -- Celebrity Softball Tournament
12:00 pm -- Rosedale pool opens for the summer
12:00 - 1:30 pm -- Basketball (3 on 3 games and Spot Shot sponsored by DC Parks and Recreation)
1:45 - 2:45 pm -- Dodgeball (sponsored by DC Parks and Recreation)
3:00 - 4:00 pm -- Community Clean-Up of the Recreation Center

We’ve already had several groups sign up for the softball tournament featuring celebrity Nationals pitchers, members of the DC City Council, Department of Parks and Recreation and other celebrity guests. It’s not too late to sign up, please contact Daniel Conner at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 202-724-8063. Don’t have a team? Don’t worry! Anyone who wants to play will find a home on a team.

I want to thank our many sponsors: the Washington Nationals, DC United, Voice of the Hill, Hill Rag, Argonaut, Marty’s, Riverby Books, Tortilla Coast, Capitol Hill Bikes, Palace of Wonders, Belga Café, Cantina Marina, Mr. Henry’s, Burrito Brothers, Schneiders, Trover Book Shop, and many more. Several agencies will also provide information about various programs and services, such as summer youth programs and testing for blood pressure and blood sugar. Food and recreation will be provided for all members of the community.

I hope you’ll join me at this great event and bring your family, even the four-legged members, out to the Ward 6 Family Picnic! I’ll see you on Saturday.

Tommy

On Thursday, June 28th, 2007, Councilmember Tommy Wells and representatives from key government agencies will lead another of his ongoing “Community Walk Throughs.” The group will meet at 6:30 pm at Ludlow-Taylor Elementary School, 659 G Street, NE, and the walk will take the group throughout parts of the Capitol Hill NE neighborhood near G, H and I Street, NE.

MPD 1st District Commander Diane Groomes, members of the Mayor’s Ward 6 Neighborhood Services Core Team, and 6C ANC Commissioner Alan Kimber will also take part in the walk.

The Walk Through - focusing on public safety concerns and hazards - will begin at 6:30 pm and community members are encouraged to take part in the Walk Through to share their concerns for follow-up by the Councilmember and Core Team.

The interns are coming, the interns are coming, thank God, almighty, the interns are coming.  Part of my job here with the Committee on Human Services is to supervise our interns.  What a great opportunity it is to be able to help Motivate, Educate and Empower our young men and women.  Currently, we have three interns who are attending college (from UDC, George Washington and from North Carolina) and a young man who Councilman Wells has been a mentor to for many years. We are also expecting two summer youth from the Department of Employment Services bringing us a grand total of 6 interns.

Our interns will be assisting staff with planning and promoting community events, helping to organize information for hearings, working on legislation, assisting with constituent issues, attending community meetings and meeting community leaders.  This process of preparing to supervise has already assisted me in learning more about the District Government.  In order to supervise them I was required to get a police clearance, needless to say I was  knocking on a number of doors, speaking with numerous people trying to get to the right office to have my paperwork submitted and to get fingerprinted.  Fortunately, I did not make America’s Most Wanted, but I still would like to meet John Walsh.  Having gone through all of this, we here in Councilman Wells office are better able to serve and give these young people a good education in District Government.