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D.C. Area Home Prices Expected To Make Steep Decline

Nigel Stephen — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:30:35 +0000

VIA THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:

The Washington area is still at high risk for drops in housing prices by the end of next year, despite a recent uptick in home sales and prices, according to a new report.

There is a 77 percent chance that local home prices will be lower in the fourth quarter of 2011 than in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to the second-quarter 2010 Risk Index published by PMI, a mortgage insurance company.

Though the figure declined from an 89 percent chance from the third quarter of 2009, the report still classified the area’s risk of price declines as “high.”

The area’s unemployment rate and affordability ranked relatively well, but prices — which declined 15 percent year-over-year from the fourth quarter — really hurt Washington’s score, said PMI spokesman Joel Luebkeman.

Updated data from the first quarter, though, showed price stabilization, Luebkeman said.

“If all other factors remain the same … you would expect the risk score for the D.C. area to show additional improvement,” he said.

The Soul Messengerz Live Recording

Nigel Stephen — Sat, 01 May 2010 17:00:16 +0000

The Soul Messengerz Live Recording (Part II) Reid Temple AME 11400 Glendale Blvd. Glendale, MD 20769 Rev. Dr. Lee P. Washington, Sr. Pastor Also appearing: Michael White & True Praise and The Mighty Men of Reid Temple Saturday, May 15 Doors at 5 pm, Show at 6 pm Free will offering... Read more..

Northrop Grumman Coming To Virginia

Nigel Stephen — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 22:00:05 +0000

VIA THE WASHINGTON POST: Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and Northrop Grumman will announce Tuesday that the defense giant has selected Virginia over Maryland for its corporate headquarters, the Virginia Politics blog is reporting. According to two sources familiar with the deal, the company is still considering sites in Fairfax and Arlington counties for its headquarters, but has ruled out Rockville. Executives at N... Read more..

Sunday Is Internet Evangelism Day

Nigel Stephen — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 20:00:36 +0000

Churches around the country will observe Internet Evangelism Day on Sunday by focusing on digital outreach. The initiative is an opportunity for any church to explore opportunities for sharing God's love online. Internet Evangelism Day was launched in 2005 and over this period digital media has developed dramatically with the advent of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. IE Day has a website with resources coverin... Read more..

Four Teens Arrested On Dale City Church Vandalism Charges

Nigel Stephen — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:00:28 +0000

Four teenage boys are under arrest in connection with three vandalism incidents at a church in Dale City. Prince William County police say the Holy Family Catholic Church in the 14100 block of Ferndale Road was targeted on January 23rd, March 27th and this past Saturday. They say items were moved around outside the church but that there was little damage. A 15, 16 and 17-year-old from Dale City and a 16-year-old from West Virgi... Read more..

DC Priest Removed From Ministry, Ordered Back To Germany

Nigel Stephen — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 21:00:59 +0000

A Catholic priest, who has served in the Washington, DC Archdiocese for the past six years has been removed from ministry and ordered home to Germany to face allegations that he sexually abused teenage girls there some two decades ago. Church officials say the German Bishops’ Conference informed the Archdiocese about the allegations involving Reverend Michael Schapfel, who served as the chaplain of the 75-family German Pastoral Mission of Washington, DC from 2004 until earlier this month. All of the allegations involve young women in Germany and there are no allegations involving the priest’s work in the United States. The Diocese of Mainz in Germany learned of the allegations on March 30th, reported it to authorities and recalled Shapfel during the Easter holiday. An archdiocese spokeswoman said local church officials were not told about it until Tuesday.

Rents On The Rise In D.C.

Nigel Stephen — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:00:08 +0000

VIA DCIST:

Renters who were able to lock in lower prices this past fall as landlords freaked out about the recession may have been the last to have the upper hand, as rents appeared to rebound in the first quarter of this year. From today’s Wall Street Journal:

Apartment rents rose during the first quarter, ending five straight quarters of declines and signaling the worst may be over for the hard-hit sector.

Nationally, the apartment vacancy rate stayed flat at 8%, the highest level since Reis Inc., a New York research firm, began its tally in 1980.

A forecast predicted that D.C. rents will rise at a 2 percent clip over the next 12 months, the second highest rate in the nation. The only city with a higher rate was Colorado Springs.

Suburban Maryland also checked in with an anticipated 1 percent increase.

The period between now and Memorial Day is the peak moving period of the year, so landlords may be coming to renters now with offers to extend leases. Anything less than a 2 percent increase may be a bargain considering the inherent costs of moving.

It appears that the way REIS presents the data, one month of free rent is actually included, so the month-by-month rate might increase by more than 2 percent, but it’s offset by another month that is completely free. That may give renters some leverage with certain kinds of landlords (typically the larger management companies that offer incentives) — if you were willing to move, you could potentially get at least one month either free or at a reduced rate to start.

D.C. is already considered to be the sixth most expensive rental market in the country.

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Metrorail Sets Ridership Records

Nigel Stephen — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 19:00:20 +0000

VIA THE WASHINGTON POST:

Just one day after setting a record for its second-highest ridership day, Metrorail passed that mark on Friday.

The subway counted 891,240 trips on Friday. which the transit agency attributed to heavy crowds for the Cherry Blossom Festival and to people attending the Washington Wizards game against Chicago at the Verizon Center.

The previous record for the second-highest day was set on Thursday, when Metro recorded 877,890 trips. The most riders for the system in its 34-year history occurred last year for the inauguration of President Obama on Jan. 20, 2009.

According to Metro, here are Metrorail’s top five ridership days:

1) Obama Inaugural (Jan. 20, 2009): 1,120,000
2)Cherry Blossom Festival/Washington Wizards (April 2, 2010: 891,240
3) Cherry Blossom Festival/Washington Capitals (April 1, 2010): 877,890
4) Obama Inaugural activities (Jan.19, 2009): 866,681
5) Baseball/Women of Faith (July 11, 2008): 854,638

On Saturday, the agency experienced is fourth-highest ridership day with 674,173 trips. The records come as the agency struggles with historic budget deficits, which officials have blamed on overall declines in ridership due to the economic downturn.

Metrorail and Metrobus provide more than 1.2 million trips on an average weekday, the agency said.

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Three People In Custody After Shootings Leave Four Dead In DC

Nigel Stephen — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:00:24 +0000

(Washington, DC) -- DC police have taken three people into custody for questioning following shootings last night that left four people dead and six others wounded along South Capitol Street in Southeast. Police say the gunfire broke out near South Capitol and Atlantic streets as a group was standing outside an apartment building. They had gathered shortly after attending a funeral... Read more..

Clergy Torn On D.C. Marriage Rule

Nigel Stephen — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:00:26 +0000

VIA THE WASHINGTON POST:

A new D.C. law means the Rev. Mary Kay Totty can now marry same-sex couples. But in the United Methodist Church, the denomination that ordained Totty two decades ago, the act could get her defrocked.

Totty, 46, said she’s willing to take the risk.

“The institutional church has for so many years oppressed and excluded and harmed our [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] sisters and brothers,” Totty said. “We have to say: ‘Enough already. These are people’s lives and loves that we continue to exclude from the fullness of life in the church.’ ”

Nineteen other current and former United Methodist clergy in the District have signed a statement supporting Totty and Dumbarton UMC, the small, liberal congregation that she has pastored since July. Many others campaigned to legalize same-sex marriage in the city. But only Totty has been willing to put her job on the line.

“It’s very hard,” said the Rev. Dean Snyder, who supports Totty and leads Foundry United Methodist Church, one of the city’s largest Methodist congregations, where one in four members is gay or lesbian. “We have no desire to defy the larger denomination; at the same time we want to minister to all members of our congregation.”

As gay rights spread through civil society, an increasing number of clergy are, like Snyder, caught by conflicting loyalties, forced to choose between church law and civil law in pastoring to their gay and lesbian congregants.

The District’s large gay population — it has more same-sex couples per capita than any state — and its spotlight as the nation’s capital only intensify the issue.

“My heart breaks for them,” said the Rev. Amy Butler of Calvary Baptist Church, “because they do not know what to do.” Butler said Calvary, which will marry gay and lesbian couples, is reassessing its ties with several Baptist denominations, including the conservative Southern Baptist Convention.

Most of the country’s large Christian denominations consider homosexuality unbiblical and prohibit clergy from officiating at same-sex weddings.

In the Presbyterian Church (USA), for example, the Rev. Jane Spahr was brought up on church charges this month for marrying a lesbian couple in California in 2008, when it was briefly legal in the state. Church courts in the 2.3 million-member PCUSA have ruled against pastors who presumed to marry same-sex couples, though “blessing” such unions is allowed.

“It certainly gives us pause,” said the Rev. Jeffrey Krehbiel, pastor at D.C.’s Church of the Pilgrims, a PCUSA church that has offered “services of Holy Union,” to gay couples for several years. “You are taking a risk if you publicly perform gay marriages because you don’t know the consequences.”

In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination, the conflict is not between church and civil laws, but within the church itself. One policy, reaffirmed in 2005, says there is “no basis” in Scripture or tradition for establishing rites for blessing gay couples. Last summer, though, the ELCA voted to commit to “finding ways to allow congregations” to recognize same-sex partnerships.

So, which policy should D.C. Lutherans follow? “That’s exactly what we’re trying to figure out,” said Bishop Richard Graham of the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod. “This is a live issue for us.”

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