By Matthew Koehler The SW Soda Pop Shop is only two years old but the Jones sisters, Brittany, Brianna, Andrea, and Lena, who run the shop, have a much longer family legacy down at the Wharf. Their dad Darryl owned Virgos Fish House, which was one of the first black-owned […]
The Press Expands its PPE Production
By Matt Koehler Last month, I spoke to Dianne Lee at The Press about their community initiative of making face shields and two kinds of face masks, and giving them away for free. Since speaking with the part owner and spokesperson, The Press has increased their efforts to produce even […]
“The Bard” Shelved Amid Financial Uncertainty
By Southwester Staff Along a nearly empty sidewalk adjacent to a closed elementary school, the screen over a chain link fence in Southwest flutters gently in the unseasonably cool spring breeze. It surrounds an empty lot where, were it not for the COVID-19 pandemic, the sounds of children playing might […]
Piecing Together Care Packages to Stay in Business
By Matthew Koehler “Right away, like most other businesses, I kind of went into panic mode. Like, oh my gosh, how am I going to pay my rent? How am I going to pay my employees? [It] was a day or two of total shock,” Libby Diament, owner of Diament […]
Washington Nationals Work to Get Shift Done
By Southwester Staff In late April, Washington Nationals Philanthropies and the Greater Washington Community Foundation announced a new partnership with Get Shift Done to launch the Get Shift Done DMV initiative to coordinate, schedule, and pay adversely affected hourly workers in the hospitality industry to work shifts for local food […]
Farmers Market SW Remains Open, with Rules
By Mike Goodman Farmers Market SW is operating under a government issued waiver, and is still operating every Saturday, from April 4 through Nov. 21, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. During the COVID-19 emergency, communities need provisions, and DC has deemed farmers markets as an essential business that can operate […]
The Press Makes Masks for the District
By Matthew Koehler At the beginning of March, when the threat of a global pandemic at home still seemed remote, and the dire news from abroad had not yet pushed national leadership to action, Dianne Lee and her husband Je Kang, owners/operators of The Press dry cleaning at the Wharf, […]