Tuesday, November 13, 2012
A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place Saturday.
Residents and C&O Canal park employees on Saturday will celebrate the opening of the canal towpath at Old Angler's in Potomac, after a year-long repair project of storm damage that washed out part of the path. The $3.3 million project was completed nearly a month ahead of schedule, repairing a 125-foot breach of the towpath caused by Tropical Storm Hannah in 2008, according to a news release. Funds to finish the repair were secured last year and announced at Park After Dark, a fundraiser benefiting the C&O Canal, in fall of 2010. Guests attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony may park at the Great Falls Maryland Visitor Center parking lot at 11710 MacArthur Blvd. in Potomac. Free shuttles will operate from noon until 3:30 p.m. The event …
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
In a city obsessed with security, sandbags are only now being replaced as a first line of defense against disastrous Potomac River flooding
Grey clouds race over the National Mall, seemingly as fast as the airliners that would normally be making their approach to National. The airport is still closed. It is 2018. The city is reeling from a surge of floodwater sent up the Potomac by the fierce winds of a slow-moving hurricane, and is preparing for a second punch. Will the floodwaters gush over Washington DC’s levee? Will they cover Constitution Avenue and threaten the capital’s Maginot Line of bureaucratic fortresses? A touch of New Orleans When we think of levees, we think of New Orleans. But DC also has a levee. The problem is that our levee is not very good, says Gerry Galloway, engineering professor at the University of Maryland. I recently joined Galloway and members of …
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Tickets are still on sale for the second annual Park After Dark fundraiser benefiting the C&O Canal.
Our local national park hosts its largest fundraiser of the year Saturday, allowing visitors a chance to see the C&O Canal National Historical Park in a state few regular visitors have seen before. Tickets are still on sale for the C&O Canal Trust's Park After Dark, an evening benefit that will allowing event-goers to view the canal at twilight while supporting the C&O Park and the Canal Trust. Traditionally, the C&O Park closes at dusk. With nearly 250 guests in attendance, last year’s benefit was a sold out event. This year, event organizers have upped the attendance to allow for 300 guests. According to Matthew Logan, president of the Canal Trust, the 2011 Park After Dark benefit raised around $60,000 to support park programs including …
Thursday, September 27, 2012
The second annual Park After Dark fundraiser benefiting the C&O Canal is coming up.
Our local national park will again host its largest fundraiser of the year, allowing visitors a chance to see the C&O Canal National Historical Park in a state few regular visitors have seen before. On Saturday, Oct. 13, the C&O Canal Trust will host Park After Dark, an evening benefit that will allow those who purchase a ticket to enjoy the canal at twilight while supporting the C&O Park and the Canal Trust. Traditionally, the C&O Park closes at dusk. With nearly 250 guests in attendance, last year’s benefit was a sold out event. This year, event organizers have upped the attendance to allow for 300 guests. According to Matthew Logan, president of the Canal Trust, the 2011 Park After Dark benefit raised around $60,000 to support park …
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
A call button near the site of a July sexual assault has been out of order for months.
The emergency call boxes that line the C&O Canal trail from Cumberland, MD through Georgetown in D.C. will no longer be used or maintained by the National Park Service (NPS). Instead, NPS will post emergency contact information signs for people to call from their personal cell phones. The matter was first brought to Patch's attention by a reader who worried about a broken call box located very near to the site of sexual assault that occurred on the trail in July. In that incident a female jogger told police she was attacked from behind and placed in a chokehold that caused her to pass out. The incident took place around 9 p.m. on a week night on the trail north of the Three Sisters rock formation, near the vicinity of Water Street NW, …
Thursday, August 23, 2012
A 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered in Mineral, VA struck the DC region one year ago on Aug. 23.
Local and federal emergency management officials and geological experts offered advice and updates a year after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake caused extensive damage to buildings close to the epicenter in Mineral, VA as well as national landmarks like the Washington Monument and Washington National Cathedral. Though a 5.8 magnitude quake is small, compared to the incidents that shook Japan in 2011 and Haiti in 2010, "It doesn't take a big earthquake to cause big problems in the Eastern U.S.," said Bob Vogel, the superintendent for the National Mall and Memorials for the National Park Service. The message offered by all was that the region must plan and be prepared for future emergencies and increase awareness of what to do in the case of an…
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
When a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
Check out these pictures of storm damage to our national parks following the June 29 derecho. Luckily, the storm didn't do any significant damage to the repair work on the towpath near Old Angler's Inn, according to the National Park Service.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Park visitors should be aware of periodic parking closures that could affect a visit.
As dozens flock to the C&O Canal National Historical Park this summer, they may find parking to be a little more difficult than normal. After storms washed out parts of the Canal towpath near Old Angler’s Inn, the National Park Service has been hard at work to repair the damage, having received a $2 million grant last fall. Repairs are expected to be completed by fall of 2012. The National Park Service has released the following update: Stonemasons continue to select and place stones recovered during excavation of the historic stonewall. These stones will serve as the face for a new mass concrete retaining wall on top of a new concrete footing. To date, stones have been placed to a height of six to 12 feet above the footing. Behind the …
Monday, May 7, 2012
Visitors will continue to experience parking closures due to construction.
Summer approaches and normally hundreds of area residents would flock to Potomac to take advantage of the area’s C&O Canal access. This year residents will have to find alternative ways to enjoy the National Park, as construction continues on the towpath near Old Angler’s Inn. The site is busy with spring construction, according to the National Park Service. The contractor has placed concrete for the caissons, grade beam and slab for the new land bridge over the Washington Aqueduct. Within the towpath's breach, the stonemasons continue to recover stones for restoration of the stonewall on top of the new concrete footing. The contractor also has installed the first segments of new under-drain pipe within the canal prism. As construction …
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Nearly a decade after NPS Ranger Robert M. Danno uncovered what he says is an illegeal deal between the park service and Dan Snyder, Danno says he is still suffering the consequences.
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Thursday, March 15, 2012
jag
2:03 pm on Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Bill, read the headlines from this year alone. Your head is in the sand if you can't think of 20 "once in a century" weather events that have happened lately. Even as you freakin type 2/3 of the country is STILL in a drought. more ›