Sure, everyone’s amped about the presidential inauguration. The pomp. The pageantry. Blah blah blah.
But there’s still a lot of business in Silver Spring to handle before The Penguin’s newsroom staff can even think about hitting The District next Tuesday. I mean, look at this shit:
Monday
7:00 p.m. Silver Spring’s citizens advisory board does its monthly mash-up at the Round House Theatre Educational Center (925 Wayne Ave). This joint is free and open to the public.
Tuesday
1:30 p.m. The county council votes on a proposal to cut commuters a 50-cent break when they transfer from Metro rail to a Ride On bus. This free gig drops at the council’s office building (100 Maryland Ave, Rockville), third floor, and is open to the public.
7:30 p.m. Transportation consultant Peter Sklannik raps about urban transit integration at the Silver Spring Center (8818 Georgia Ave). The advocacy group Action Committee for Transit hosts this free party. It’s open to the public.
Wednesday
Have a steaming cup of hot cocoa, and rest up for Thursday. It’s gonna be busy.
Thursday
9:00 a.m. The county’s planning board votes on whether to postpone until February a public hearing on the Bonifant Plaza residential project. The problem: A squabble to access an adjacent public alley, as well as the crappy housing market, left the project idling for months, says the developer. Hit it at MNCPPC headquarters (8787 Georgia Ave). It’s free, it’s open to the public, so why not?
10:00 a.m. The county’s planning board discusses the Purple Line mass-transit project and which kind of ride — light rail or bus rapid transit — it will back. The deal goes down at MNCPPC headquarters (8787 Georgia Ave). It’s free and open to the public.
Save your impassioned speech on saving trees or social equity for some other time. The board heard enough testimony on Thursday, and they don’t wanna hear no more.
2:00 p.m. The county council’s fiscal-policy committee looks at customer service and overall performance for the area’s cable providers. The dissection goes down at the council’s office building (100 Maryland Ave, Rockville), seventh floor. It’s free and open to the public.
2:00 p.m. The county council’s planning, housing and economic development committee gets an update on the county’s housing initiative fund. They also discuss bill 13-07 (yeah, that “-07″ is for 2007), which would prohibit developers from dropping coin into the initiative fund instead of building moderately priced housing; and bill 38-07 (ditto), which would rewrite pricing methods for moderately priced homes.
Kick it at the council’s office building (100 Maryland Ave, Rockville), fifth floor. It’s free and open to the public.
3:30 p.m. Silver Spring’s urban-district advisory committee gets down with its monthly get-down at Discovery Communications (1 Discovery Pl). The gig is free and open to the public, in case you’re schedule is open on Thursday afternoon.
7:00 p.m. MoCo exec Ike Leggett holds a public forum on the county’s operating budget for fiscal year 2010. The dissapointment drops at the Long Branch Community Center (8700 Piney Branch Rd) until 8:30 p.m. It’s free and open to the public.
Photo: A viewing platform goes up along Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. Guess who gets to kick it there. Hint: It ain’t me. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP.
Read 
What the hell are they building now? Learn more from 
Boxed wines and rosés are back in vogue. Just ask The Penguin's sommeliers.
Jennifer, thanks for snarfling up all this important stuff for us. Now, about next week: Will it be possible to hike all the way down 16th Street to see at least some part of the inauguration? That would be a 3 to 4-hour walk. It is probably doable for some of us, if there were a porta-potty here and there along the way.
If not, and some SS establishment is having a watching party on a big-screen TV, hope they take out an ad in the Penguin.
LuvMyHood,
My suggestion is to bicycle if you can. Should take about 30 minutes. See if you can rent a bicycle if they aren’t all reserved by now. Just be aware that the ride back to SS would be largely uphill.
If pedestrian traffic proves to be too busy on 16th, you might have better luck on 14th.
AFI is going to be piping the event into the large theater. Free tickets go on “sale” today at 1:00. http://www.afi.com/silver/new/nowplaying/events.aspx#presi
Thanks, Jimmy! AFI sounds good!
Regarding bikes, a local bike group has organized something that includes bike parking. I am not a biker, but if I were, I would want to participate in that.
Thanks for the info, Jimmy.
Given the predicted crowds and Metro closures, is there anyone out there reconsidering the trip into DC for the inauguration?
Just curious.
I’m hitting the “Art of Change” ball at the Warehouse that night, but I have no intention of trying to get downtown for the actual Big Deal.
I’m told that folks were lining up at the AFI at 8:00 this morning. Ack!
The line at AFI is all the way down the block past the old Ruby Tuesday’s, and they won’t even start selling til 1. Since they give away 4 tix per person, and the big theater there seats 400… do the math.
What else is going on in SS for the inauguration? So far I’ve hear McGinty’s, Jackie’s and the Across the Street Cafe are hosting screenings/parties… would love a comprehensive list somewhere!
Ask, and thou shalt receive:
“Downtown businesses drop inaugural deals” (Jan 12, 2009)
I just started noticing the new Metrorail discount this week. Didn’t notice the bus costing more on the way back up the hill, though.
As for next Tuesday… I wasn’t a lottery winner. However, I’m still convinced that it won’t be so bad for those of us who are comfortable with the city, are OK with walking, and get in early enough. So I guess I reconsidered the other way — to go without the premium ticket. As long as the weather cooperates.
I think that we should start asking Ike why it took so long to figure out that MoCo was short changed 24 million dollars in Educational Funds. If I remember correctly, MoCo residents pay the highest county tax rate in Maryland. Those tax dollars are supposed to go to the education of our children and to get short changed by 24 million is big. Furthermore, why did take over a year to become public. Any thoughts?
Editor’s notes: Um, nope. — JD (Jan 12, 2009)