Wake to Washington

BEATSxJ

Film and music collide at JxJ! The Festival’s film series, BEATSxJ explores the intersection of film and music with films following Chilly Gonzales, Marianne Ihlen, Leonard Cohen, Barbara Rubin, and Dudu Tassa.

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Strengthening the city's immune system

As extreme natural disasters become a more frequent occurrence, city officials are implementing a new plan to help DC withstand the effects of climate change. Resilient DC will work with building owners to help retrofit all flood-prone buildings, along with constructing specially-designed parks that can trap large quantities of stormwater.

Why mayors don’t go federal

The last President to have held the highest local office was Mayor Coolidge (Northampton, MA); before him, there’s Grover Cleveland (Buffalo, NY) and Andrew Johnson (Greeneville, TN). But this year Pete Buttigieg (South Bend, IN) and Corey Booker (Newark, NJ) are already running, with Eric Garcetti (LA) and Mike Bloomberg (NYC) rumored.

Square patties are out, triangular circles are in

DDOT is calling their design for replacing Dave Thomas Circle (Florida x NY Aves) a “virtual circle,” but it’s really more like a wedge. Like: Cycletracks. Dislike: This is still gonna be a clusterfuck, isn't it? 

True crime, gentrification edition

A local realtor and a crooked FBI agent were bribing DC officials to get advance notice of home sales where they might buy TOPA (Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act) rights, then flip the house.

• Two perspectives on TOPA in DC.

Not In My Masonic Temple’s Backyard

Opponents of new apartments on the empty lot on 15th St behind the Masonic Temple say development would disrespect the lot’s historic character. The problem? They didn’t do their homework—the lot wasn’t open until the 90s.

A hard nut to crack

Squirrel this one away for a fun listen: 99 Percent Invisible looks into the science and history of how squirrels became urban dwellers.

Also || Bird rolls out monthly rentals in SF, what it’s like to live in Maryland’s unincorporated towns, downtown Apple Store opens May 11, 750 more dockless vehicles permitted, Brussels takes the lead against congestion, what is WeWork’s impact on the local economy?

7 things to do this May

April is the cruelest month, but May might be the coolest. We combed through our Weekly Scheduler and whoa, this is going to be fun—from Sundress Fest and Kingman Island this weekend to Bike to Work Day, there’s plenty to get excited about.

• GIVEAWAY: Another very cool thing to do this month is BYT’s Queens of Egypt party at Nat Geo next Friday the 10th. To enter our raffle of tickets, invite a friend to an event from our Weekly Scheduler by linking or screenshotting the Scheduler and tagging the friend and 730DC on Insta, Twitter or FB.

Andrew Ridker: The Altruists

We have heard good things about this book! The author is live, in the flesh, on H St! (7 pm)

Tunes: Bacchae at Slash Run

Local headliners Bacchae are backed by Mock Identity (DC) and Scrunchies (MN) for a triple bill of roaring punk and women vocalists. (8 pm)

Reminders from the Weekly Scheduler

• NoMa BID’s POW! WOW! Mural Festival kicks off today and runs through the 12th. Check out work by graffiti and mural artists through walking tours throughout the week.

• The Pulitzer Center hosts award-winning AP reporter Maggie Michael to discuss Yemen’s “protracted” civil war and related crises. (6 pm)

Also || Shut Up and Write | Right Wing & Religious Violent Extremism Policy Roundtable | Library Takeout: The Necessary Changes Have been Made | the other side of deforestation