The Washington Post - 13.08.2019

TUESDAY, AUGUST 13 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 B3

for the neighborhood, where

businesses hire private pest con-

trol companies to operate sepa-

rately from government efforts.

“It’s a public health risk,” Coats

said to Brown while they were

standing in the alley.

As students filed back into the

rat academy basement room, they

traded notes on what they saw in

the field and how they could use

what they learned to limit food

sources and to restrict movement

for the rats of Adams Morgan.

Their instructor warned they

just got a taste of the complicated

battle.

“People think: Just put out a

bunch of poison and kill them,”

Corrigan said. “You are now

trained to see what others are

overlooking.”

fenit.nirappil@washpost.com

“That bait isn’t doing any-

thing,” Coats observed as he

pointed at a bait box in an awk-

ward position on the hotel’s land-

scaping.

“That’s why it’s important for

people in your position to know

where they should be,” replied

Brown, the District’s rat czar.

Coats came to the rat academy

because workers at several prop-

erties he oversees in Northwest

Washington have been trying to

keep rodents at bay. He has been

deluged by conflicting informa-

tion from pest companies and

wanted to get educated.

Coats grew frustrated as he

walked around Adams Morgan

and spotted open dumpsters, un-

sealed doors and other mistakes

beckoning rodents. No single en-

tity is in charge of rat abatement

sunbaked body resting near the

back door of a restaurant and a

furry creature spotted hobbling

under a dumpster.

“If he’s not dead, he’s dying

soon,” Yaqin Upshaw, another

D.C. Health inspector, remarked

as he walked by.

“Come on, we’ve got to keep

moving,” said Dan Coats, a Dela-

ware-based property manager.

Coats and Upshaw were among

the academy students scoping out

the blocks surrounding the Line

Hotel to identify factors enabling

the rat population to thrive.

Those metal bowls of water left

out for dogs at restaurant patios?

Also a great hydration source for

rats.

The cracks in the brick steps

near restaurants? An easy escape

path for rats.

“When I was a little boy, the
rats were in this alley,” said
Brown, 63. “Now we’re dealing
with the great-great-grandkids of
those rats.”
As part of a pilot program, D.C.
Health officials are trying to stop
the next generation by placing
bait boxes in nine locations across
the city that contain a compound
designed to interfere with ovula-
tion in female rats and with
sperm production in male rats.
The bait is a sweet, fatty liquid
that appeals to rodents.
“You know how the food is so
good you lick the plate?” Brown
remarked as he looked at a bait
box containing sterilizing liquid
in the Adams Morgan alley. “They
are starting to eat the container.”
But the city lacks data on
whether it’s working.
At the Adams Morgan alley, the
city’s contractor for rat steriliza-
tion has installed a camera to
measure the effects.
“The idea is, we don’t see baby
rats,” Brown said. “If there are a
lot of juveniles and babies run-
ning around, we know something
is not right.”
Already, something was not
right. Brown hadn’t received any
photos of rats. He figured the
camera must be in a bad location
as he examined the contraption,
which resembled a bulky walkie-
talkie wrapped around a metal
fence post.
It’s not like there were no rats
around to say cheese.
Cases in point: The carcass
caught in a nearby snap trap, the

RATS FROM B1

toughening the bottom of your

feet,” Abby said.

What started out soft and

fleshy had to become hard and

woody.

“Your feet would get calloused

and permanently ingrained with

dirt,” Abby said. “I remember

once I picked up a big thorn in

the ball of my foot and it didn’t

even bother me. It eventually

worked its way out.”

The only time the Thomas

kids had to wear shoes was when

they went downtown. And that

would involve firing up Marco

Polo, the intrepid four-wheel

explorer.

Reuniting

These area schools are reuniting

in the coming months.

Academy of the Holy Names

(Silver Spring, Md.) All-Class

Reunion — Oct. 26. Email

sharris@snjmuson.org or search

“Academy of the Holy Names @

Silver Spring, MD” on Facebook.

Walter Johnson High Class

of 1969 — Oct. 19. Visit

wj69.com or email

benbialek@mac.com.

Surrattsville High (Clinton,

Md.) Class of 1969 — Sept. 27-

29. Visit Surrattsville69.com.
    john.kelly@washpost.com
    Twitter: @johnkelly


For previous columns, visit

washingtonpost.com/john-kelly.

I would start pestering our

parents: ‘Can I go barefoot? Can

I go barefoot?’ ” she said.

When they finally got the

green light to shed their shoes,

there was work to be done.

“You had to work at

for the way it captures a certain

skinned-knee childhood as for

the Packard. The neighbor kids

are barefoot. Abby and Peter are

in shoes, which would not have

made them happy.

“In the spring, my brother and

themselves across its bulky

metalwork for a photo.

That’s Abby on the front left,

with glasses, sandals and socks,

and her brother on the opposite

fender.

I love that snapshot, as much

attached in front of each box for

air, and the trunk lid slightly

open.”

Abby’s father was a

mathematics professor at Duke

University, and with his

summers free, he’d pack the

family into Marco Polo and go

exploring.

“We’d take these long trips out

west, to Wyoming. Daddy was a

lover of the Old West,” she said.

Abby and her younger

brother, Peter, would be

ensconced in the rumble seat,

which had been modified so they

could lay down and doze in it

while the Packard motored on.

“I remember feeling so

secure,” said Abby, 75. “Here you

are in this little, enclosed space.

You know how soothing a car

can be. It’s like sleeping in a

train, just the sounds going on

and on, and here are these

people who you utterly trust:

your parents. Now that I think of

it, it’s probably the safest feeling

I’ve ever had.”

Abby’s father ended up selling

the Packard — twice. He bought

it back once. It left the family

forever in the 1970s, sold to its

long-term mechanic, who

promptly flipped it for a profit.

“We felt betrayed,” Abby said.

The first time Abby’s father

sold the car, the neighborhood

kids held a funeral for it. They

picked flowers and decorated the

Packard with them, then draped

Abby Thomas
soon grew
accustomed to the
reception she’d
get when walking
back to her
family’s car after
shopping in
Durham, N.C., in
the 1960s: two or
three men
standing around, eager to talk to
whoever was driving that
striking antique automobile.
It was Abby in her family’s
beloved 1937 maroon Packard
convertible.
“My father named it ‘Marco
Polo’ because it traveled so far,
taking us all over the country on
annual vacations,” said Abby,
who lives in Silver Spring. She
responded to my recent call for
old-car stories.
The Packard was the car in
which Abby learned to drive a
manual transmission — and to
use her arm as an indicator.
“There were no turn signals or
brake lights,” she said. “No seat
belts, of course; I remember my
mother putting out an arm to
hold us kids when she braked.”
Said Abby: “It had a front
bench seat and a rumble seat,
which my father converted so
that we children could sleep
tucked in behind on long drives.
Sometimes the cats traveled with
us too, each in a box in the
trunk, with an oven grill

Baltimore.

The panel is scheduled to

submit an interim report on

findings and recommendations

to the governor and state

lawmakers by September 2021.

A final report is scheduled to

be submitted by the following

December.

— Associated Press

Dredging of inlet in

Ocean City scheduled

The U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers will be dredging the

inlet in Ocean City.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.)

announced that a dredge vessel

arrived Tuesday. The vessel is

scheduled to dredge for five days

over the coming week, starting

Wednesday.

The dredging is being done to

address sediment accumulation

in an important navigation

channel used by commercial

fisherman and recreational

boaters.

— Associated Press

VIRGINIA

Loans available for

those hit by flooding

The federal government is

making low-interest loans

available to residents and

business owners in parts of

Northern Virginia impacted by

flooding in early July.

The office of Gov. Ralph

Northam (D) said in a statement

that businesses and private

nonprofit organizations may

borrow up to $2 million through

the U.S. Small Business

Administration. The borrowed

funds are meant to help repair

or replace real estate,

equipment and other assets

damaged or destroyed in the

July 8 flooding.

Loans of up to $200,000 are

available to homeowners to

repair or replace real estate.

Homeowners and renters are

eligible for loans up to $40,000

to repair or replace personal

property.

The administration will be

opening outreach centers in

Fairfax and Arlington counties

this week to answer questions

and help individuals complete

their applications.

— Associated Press

MARYLAND

Man charged with

attempted kidnapping

An 18-year-old man has been

arrested in the assault of a

woman in College Park, Prince

George’s County police said.

Vashann Robinson of

Greenbelt has been charged

with attempted kidnapping,

second-degree assault and other

counts, police said. On

Thursday, a woman reported

that a man approached her

about 10 p.m. in the 4400 block

of Guilford Drive asking for help

finding his lost dog, police said.

At first, the woman declined.

But when he asked her about 30

minutes later, she agreed, police

said. While the two walked

together, the man grabbed her

from behind and tried to drag

her to a nearby parking lot

before a witness shouted at him

and the man released her, police

said.

The woman was not injured,

police said.

Robinson was arrested

Saturday wearing clothes

matching the description of the

man wanted in the assault,

police said. Police said Robinson

acknowledged his involvement.

Online court records did not

list an attorney for Robinson.

— Lynh Bui

Panel researching

lynchings meets

A Maryland commission that

will research at least 40

lynchings that were committed

in the state between 1854 and

1933 and make

recommendations about

reconciliation held its first

meeting on Monday.

The Maryland Lynching Truth

and Reconciliation Commission

includes historians from each of

the state’s historically black

colleges: Bowie State University,

Coppin State University, Morgan

State University and University

of Maryland Eastern Shore. It

also includes a state archivist

and a staff member for the

attorney general’s office, who

will be able to subpoena

witnesses or documents for the

panel’s work.

Elected as acting chair was

David Fakunle of the National

Great Blacks in Wax Museum in

LOCAL DIGEST

Results from Aug. 12

DISTRICT

Mid-Day Lucky Numbers: 6-1-8

Mid-Day DC-4: 0-8-4-6

Mid-Day DC-5: 1-7-0-0-1

Lucky Numbers (Sun.): 7-0-0

Lucky Numbers (Mon.): 6-6-6

DC-4 (Sun.): 3-9-8-4

DC-4 (Mon.): 1-8-0-4

DC-5 (Sun.): 7-0-0-1-0

DC-5 (Mon.): 3-0-3-0-7

MARYLAND

Mid-Day Pick 3: 1-4-1

Mid-Day Pick 4: 9-1-9-1

Night/Pick 3 (Sun.): 9-2-2

Pick 3 (Mon.): 7-7-7

Pick 4 (Sun.): 6-0-0-8

Pick 4 (Mon.): 8-5-7-3

Multi-Match: 9-14-16-19-33-35

Match 5 (Sun.): 18-19-31-34-38 *24

Match 5 (Mon.): 4-10-25-30-31 *17

5 Card Cash: JD-4D-4H-5D-7H

VIRGINIA

Day/Pick-3: 2-7-5

Pick-4: 7-3-9-4

Cash-5: 11-12-13-19-27

Night/Pick-3 (Sun.): 0-1-0

Pick-3 (Mon.): 5-9-6

Pick-4 (Sun.): 0-4-2-9

Pick-4 (Mon.): 9-8-4-3

Cash-5 (Sun.): 4-11-19-25-28

Cash-5 (Mon.): 11-13-17-21-30

MULTI-STATE GAMES

Cash 4 Life: 7-15-31-50-57 ¶1

Lucky for Life: 2-5-14-27-39 ‡3

*Bonus Ball ‡Lucky Ball ¶Cash Ball

For late drawings and other results, check

washingtonpost.com/local/lottery

LOTTERIES

Family explored American West in beloved 1937 Packard called Marco Polo

John
Kelly's
Washington

COURTESY OF ABBY THOMAS

Abby Thomas, left in sandals, has fond memories of traveling in the old Packard with her parents and

brother, Peter, on opposite fender. On long trips, she liked sleeping in the converted rumble seat.

BY PETER HERMANN

He was stabbed a few blocks
from where he grew up in Mar-
shall Heights, while returning
home from a construction job.
His mother believes he got into
an argument that quickly grew
violent.
Pierre Fenner’s death went vir-
tually unnoticed in a city where
the homicide count is rising. His
was the District’s 100th slaying
victim of 2019. And while the
pace of deadly violence has in-
creased over last year, his death
on Aug. 5 also marked the begin-
ning of a respite.
No one else had been killed as
of Monday evening.
“It doesn’t matter at all until
we get that number to zero,” said
David Bowers, the founder of a
group called No Murders D.C.
“It’s good news we have gone six
or more days without a homicide,
and the challenge is how do we
get to seven, and then 10.”
Bowers added, “The bad news
is all the people killed up to this
point.”
Fenner’s mother, Moanick
Fenner, had no time on Monday

to contemplate statistics. She

shuttled between the coroner

and the funeral home, struggling

to organize the service for her

29-year-old son.

“It’s frustrating, period,” said

Fenner, who is 54 and works as an

administrative assistant in the

U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services. “What makes

these young people so violent?

Why are they so angry? Back in

the day, you would get into a fight

and go home and start over

again. People don’t do that any-

more.”

This is not the longest inter-

lude between homicides in the

city in recent months. Twice this

year, the District has gone nine

days without a killing. But sum-

mer months are typically the

most deadly, and it follows a

particularly violent stretch, with

19 people shot in five days last

month.

An 11-year-old boy was among

the victims of eight homicides

reported during that period. The

killings prompted the District’s

police chief and mayor to speak

out against what they said is easy

access to illegal guns and a ten-

dency for petty disputes to turn

violent.

Every year, police chiefs across

the country have to answer for

rising homicide counts or explain

why violent crime dropped.

There are few simple answers to a

complex issue. The city didn’t

reach 100 killings until the end of

August last year, and not until the

end of fall in 2017. The city didn’t

reach the mark at all in 2012,

when 88 people were killed.

Three years later, 162 homicides

were recorded.

D.C. Police Chief Peter New-

sham declined to comment for

this article.

Fenner said her son graduated

from now -closed Spingarn High

School and worked construction

jobs, most recently at a building

on the campus of Howard Uni-

versity. He was working toward

his commercial driver’s license.

“He had a difficult life,” Moan-

ick Fenner said, noting she sus-

pected too late he had develop-

mental problems that were never

addressed in school. He lived

with his mother in the house he

grew up in and spent free time

with his cousins.

She said her son was some-

times quick to grow frustrated.

“His patience is so thin,” she said,

wondering whether that played a

role in the stabbing, which oc-

curred about 9:45 p.m. in the

5000 block of Bass Place SE. No

arrest has been made.

Fenner said she was home but

didn’t learn that her son had died

at the hospital until the next

morning. He didn’t have identifi-

cation on him, she said, and

“nobody knew who he was.”

His mother said her son “was

so funny” and “he wanted to

make sure everyone was okay. He

also was a person who wanted to

tell everyone what to do, especial-

ly his sisters.”

Fenner also said he lacked

street smarts. “He trusted every-

body,” she said.

Pierre Fenner had two adult

sisters who work as government

contractors. His younger brother

died three years ago of natural

causes at the age of 15.

“I had four kids,” Moanick

Fenner said. “Now I only have

two. That is so difficult. I just

hope nobody else gets killed.”

peter.hermann@washpost.com

THE DISTRICT

City records 100th homicide Aug. 5, none since

O∞cials try

sterilization

to cut rat

population

FENIT NIRAPPIL/THE WASHINGTON POST

A camera was installed in an Adams Morgan alley in Northwest Washington to measure the effects on

rats of bait boxes containing sterilizing liquid. The bait boxes are deployed at nine D.C. locations.