Although there’s a number of people in this town who could do with a good case of lockjaw, I personally think the frothing at the mouth could get distracting, not to mention a little worrisome for the tourists. So you should keep that in mind when you interact with our wildlife and when you ponder if you should keep Fido and Fluffy’s vaccinations up-to-date.

Just over the river in Arlington, a woman was bitten by a fox which turned out to be rabid. Apparently the shots you have to get now are less horrific than the traditional dozen in the belly, but personally I’d just as soon not experiment. The location where she got the bite is pretty densely populated and close enough to the District that we can be pretty confident that if there’s rabies in one place it’s also in the other.

The linked press release has some good information, though some of the advice strikes me funny.

Prevent bats from entering living quarters or occupied spaces in homes, churches, schools and other similar areas where they might come in contact with people or pets.

Personally bats don’t scare me and I’m glad to have them around eating insects, but still - nobody had to remind me to keep them out of my house.

Red fox pup ( wild ), courtesy of ericbegin2000

As we enter our first spring like week of the year I am starting a series of profiles of area bike trails. I begin with my personal favorite, the Washington & Old Dominion Regional Park trail. In 2005 I rode the length of the trail from west to east in one afternoon.

An early example of the “rail-to-trail” phenomenon, W&OD was simply known as the “bike trail” to me and my friends when I was growing up. Now forty-five miles long, the flat, straight trail starts in Arlington, near Shirlington, and extends all the way past Leesburg to Purcellville. In actuality, the trail is part of W&OD Regional Park, which is the old railroad and current Virginia Power right-of-way (hence the high tension power lines), giving it dimensions of about 45 miles by 100 feet. Those 100 feet provide a buffer of nature through the most populated region of the commonwealth. Much of the Arlington portion traverses Four Mile Run Park while it parallels the windier Four Mile Run trail. Think of W&OD as I-95 to Four Mile’s US 1 and you get the idea of how the two trails exist together.
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In case you have not seen it yet, the CityPaper has an excellent cover story on D.C.’s “indigenous street food”, the half-smoke.

Get ready, my fellow Arlingtonians. We’re getting our own CakeLove in Shirlington in Spring 2007. The new location will combine a full bakery, like the CakeLove bakeries in DC and Silver Spring, but will also have some tables and cake-by-the-slice like at LoveCafe. Pardon me whilst I quiver with the anticipated sugar high.

Fortunately for me, the new location will be a block and a half from my gym, so I can go work out and THEN have a cupcake. I’ll be able to work it out so that the whole adventure will be calorie-neutral.

Now, about how many calories are in a CakeLove cupcake?

Perhaps if Wayan’s couch guest is still looking for a place to stay, he should take a gander at HotPads.com. HotPads appears to be a mash-up between google maps and wikipedia, offering a user-friendly at-a-glance look at available housing options inside the beltway.

Users can customize their search requirements by zip code, city, county or state, using a variety of variables. A quick Georgetown search turned up not a whole lot, whereas a quick search of my home zip code turned up two rental possibilities.

Looking for a roommate? You apparently can use that feature too, although it turned up zilch for me. This appears to be a great tool for relocation professionals who know naught about the new city they’ll call home. Doing a quick search of cities such as Seattle and Boston turned up a whole lot of useful information.

These three Notre Dame former college roommates moved to the D.C. area and created HotPads in early ‘05, relaunching the site last month. The best thing about HotPads? It’s totally free.

Between HotPads and The D.C. Crime Map newcomers to D.C. can learn much more about prospective neighbours before they even put down a deposit. Say ’sayonara’ to moving in sight unseen, suckers.

Virginia Senator George Allen (R) and challenger James "Jim" Webb (D) will face-off in Richmond tonight. The 8 p.m. debate will be moderated be moderated by Russ Mitchell, an anchor on The Early Show and Sunday Evening News on CBS. Viewers in Northern Virginia will be able to watch the debate live on WETA (local channel 26).

So far, both candidates have spent a considerable amount of time issuing and responding to personal questions or attacks. For Allen, the central issues have revolved around his (supposedly hidden) Jewish heritage, his use of the word "macaca," and his office’s showcase of a Confederate flag and rope tied into a noose. Webb has been questioned about a 1979 article on women in combat. Although I am hoping the debate will provide a showcase for both of these candidates to present clearly distinguishable platforms - I’m afraid that most of the debate will end up focused on questions of character…

Allen is predicted to say "Well shucks, you know that I was a bit of a rebel in my younger days, so I’ve always liked having a Confederate flag and noose ready for when the South will rise again."

Webb will think "…jackass," while stretching his hands in anticipation of the vicious pimp slap he is about to lay down.

Not to say that the Presidential and Congressional elections aren’t important – but I believe that local elections are the most important.  I would even go so far as to say the impacts of local elections affect us on a more frequent and direct basis than those of national elections – and this is magnified by “how local” it is.  

For example, if you own a home in Arlington County you may have noticed that taxes have been increasing faster than other areas in the Northern part of the state (Fairfax, I’m looking at you).  At the same time, zoning restrictions on single family homes are among some of the strictest in the state – and parking is a nightmare that grows worse with every new condominium complex and apartment building that is built.

So you assume that the money raised by these taxes must be important for providing some sort of service that you and your neighbors need.  Yet, capital projects for fire stations, libraries, and parks across the county are behind schedule and over budget.  Perhaps you live in the Ballston-Rosslyn corridor, Pentagon City, Crystal City, or Shirlington where there has been a lot of development and improvements over the past few years.  But like too many areas in Northern Virginia, the dividing line between these areas and the forgotten neighborhoods surrounding them is so stark - you can point to individual streets that mark the “boundaries” between us.  

I think Mike McMenamin sums up a lot of people’s concerns when he observes:

“Mr. Zimmerman has been on the Board for more than 10 years, during which he has doubled the County’s debt. The average yearly residential real estate tax bill has increased by nearly $2,700. Spending is up over nine percent - the largest increase in nearly 20 years. He even increased the car tax. Where did all of our money go?”

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Now, I realize that Daily Candy is just trying to help out one of their sponsors, but are we as bad as the author there suggests? “Folks in these parts just don’t seem to take the same pride in their neighborhoods as those in other towns.”

Sure, we’re no Chicago or New York in terms of our love for neighborhoods and names, and the District doesn’t officially recognize the names of the neighborhoods here, but I’d say there’s some serious love for the neighborhood in DC. Jenn even feels bad she can’t get into the ANC meeting!

What say you readers? Are we as neighborhood apathetic as Daily Candy says? If you’re feeling like you want to represent, though, check out DistrictTees or Neighborhoodies.com.