Tag Archives: 20018

News, The Daily Feed
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Death at Construction Site in Brookland

Photo courtesy of
‘construction vertigo’
courtesy of ‘amarino17’

[Update, 11:30a: DCRA has re-checked their records, and the site had all the required permits, and passed several inspections during the process.  This appears to have just been a tragic accident, not a permitting process gone awry.  OSHA has been brought in to investigate the incident.  According to DCRA’s Gil, the trench had intended to be 7-8 feet deep, and was 5 feet deep when it collapsed. Late yesterday, a man working in a construction trench at a house on Evarts Street NE in Brookland was buried alive when the trench structure gave way.

While DC Fire & EMS worked to save the man before he succumbed, the trench’s collapse was too serious.  This morning, I spoke with DCRA about the site, and they revealed that the work the man was doing was unpermitted, and that an inspector from the property inspection oran park company had told the man to stop work earlier in the day. [please note correction above – ed.]

“We’ve had people do incredibly dangerous unpermitted work before, but I can’t recall last time it resulted in a person’s death,” said Helder Gil from DCRA this morning. DCRA had been on the site yesterday, and had issued a stop work order for the site, but unfortunately the man returned to work after the visit.  Our thoughts are with the man’s family today. It’s recommended to learn more information about injury cases with professional lawyers.

Falling from high places is the number one most common construction accident, causing almost 35% of construction injuries. Falling Debris. Tools, building materials, pieces of scaffolding, or other supplies can do serious damage if they fall from significant heights and land on a worker. In case you have suffer a similar accident, and your settlement was not enough. An average personal injury settlement amount is anywhere between $3,000 and $75,000. Of course, most cases fall in between the very high and very low end of average settlements. There are also outliers – you’ve probably heard about people getting settlements that are millions of dollars, here is how to respond to the demand letter with a low settlement.

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Ward 5
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Dispatches from Ward 5: High Density Edition

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘TomLeGro’

If you’ve ever been to Rustik in Bloomingdale, you’ve probably noticed that it has this big, gorgeous patio… with nothing but firewood on it. Rustik has a voluntary agreement with the Bloomingdale Civic Association allowing patio seating for reduced hours, but has not yet secured the public space permit required to actually seat people outside. The hearing with the Public Space Management Administration is on March 24, and neighbors are writing letters in support of Rustik’s petition to Juan Amaya at the Space Permit Office.

In Brookland, the 901 Monroe project is moving along through the hearing process. On March 14th, the Zoning Commission held a setdown hearing on the project. The commission seems generally in favor of the idea, but would like to consider setting down a version of the plan with zoning that would restrict its height further. The Commission has asked for a number of additional documents: shade studies  on how the proposed development will affect the surrounding area, perspective drawings of how it will look from various points around the neighborhood (12th Street retail, the Metro station, etc.), as well as a copy of the Brookland Small Area Plan. The developers have until tomorrow to turn in this information and the Commission will consider the issue again at their March 28 meeting. Continue reading →

News, The Daily Feed
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Candlelight Vigil for Raj Patel tonight in Brookland

Photo courtesy of
‘lights joined’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

On Saturday night, two men in masks with guns walked into the Newton Food Mart to rob it. They held the owner’s wife and son at gunpoint when the owner, Raj Patel, came out from the back room.  The robbers shot him in the chest and he died from his wounds.  Tonight at 5:45, a candlelight vigil will gather at St. Anthony’s on 12th Street in Northeast and walk to the Newton Food Mart at 12th and Newton at 6pm to show support for the Patels and for their loss.

Police have not released any information about the suspects other than they were wearing masks, and using silver handguns. Commander Lamar Greene of the Fifth District said via email yesterday that, “we have other information the detectives are following up on as we speak,” and refused further comment.  MPD is offering a $25,000 reward to those with information that leads to an arrest.