DISTRICT BRIEFING

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

WILSON BUILDING

Man Charged in Laptop Theft

A Hyattsville man was arrested yesterday in the theft of a laptop computer that belonged to D.C. Council member Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large). The laptop was stolen Thursday night after a public meeting held to encourage men to be more responsible.

The Protective Services Police of the D.C. Office of Property Management arrested Deon Lamont Branch at 11:50 a.m. yesterday in a parking lot in the 5100 block of Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue NE, according to the property management agency.

Police also recovered the laptop.

Branch, 37, who was charged with felony theft, was identified from surveillance video recorded at the John A. Wilson Building, where the meeting was held, officials said. Public meetings are generally videotaped, and as people mingled after the meeting, a camera was rolling when the laptop was taken from a table.

-- Nikita Stewart

ADULT NIGHTCLUBS

New Locations Considered

Four adult entertainment clubs that lost their locations because of the Washington Nationals baseball stadium construction could move to new sites in Northeast Washington under legislation that a D.C. Council committee approved yesterday.

The clubs -- Edge, Club 55, Ziegfeld's and Heat -- were forced to close because the District acquired their Southeast parcels for the stadium construction. The legislation, if enacted by the full council, would give the clubs one year to open in a largely industrial area of Ward 5, near Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5), whose district includes the area where the clubs would move, vowed to oppose the legislation, saying the community was not sufficiently consulted. Thomas said more than two dozen residents called his office yesterday to complain about the bill.

-- Paul Schwartzman

BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB

Evans Opposes Jelleff Sale

D.C. Council member Jack Evans has called on the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington to reconsider the proposed sale of its Georgetown branch.

In a letter to the parent organization, Evans (D-Ward 2), whose district includes Georgetown, described the Jelleff club as a safe haven that is of vital importance to the community.

The parent organization announced last month that it was seeking proposals to redevelop the Jelleff branch, as well as its club on Capitol Hill, which it plans to close in August.

Will A. Gunn, the organization's chief executive officer, said through a spokesman that he had not yet seen Evans's letter and declined to comment.

Gunn is scheduled to discuss Jelleff's future at a meeting at the club at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

-- Paul Schwartzman