. . . or why, even if the Drafthouse were to miraculously re-open (despite the credit crisis - thanks to Chip Py for a very salient point) they'd still have trouble bringing people out to Wheaton for a show:
This is the fourth major crime to take place at the mall since a $140 million renovation was completed over three years ago. In August 2005, four teens were stabbed inside Target in a gang-related incident; in October 2006, a man was assaulted while waiting to pick someone up; little over a year ago, a woman was kidnapped in parking lot and subsequently robbed.
Hey, press? Next time, just call it "Westfield Mall." Forget "Wheaton Plaza." Make people think it's Westfield Montgomery, or Westfield Annapolis. Maybe if we draw attention away from Wheaton, criminals won't find it such an easy target - and its revitalization, slow to start, can finally pick up free of more bad press.
A gunman shot two people outside the Westfield Mall in Wheaton this evening, then fired at a police officer as he fled through a crowded Macy's department store, authorities said . . . Macy's has been closed and a manhunt involving dozens of officers is in progress around the shopping center . . . There were reports that a blood trail was visible in the store.
This is the fourth major crime to take place at the mall since a $140 million renovation was completed over three years ago. In August 2005, four teens were stabbed inside Target in a gang-related incident; in October 2006, a man was assaulted while waiting to pick someone up; little over a year ago, a woman was kidnapped in parking lot and subsequently robbed.
Hey, press? Next time, just call it "Westfield Mall." Forget "Wheaton Plaza." Make people think it's Westfield Montgomery, or Westfield Annapolis. Maybe if we draw attention away from Wheaton, criminals won't find it such an easy target - and its revitalization, slow to start, can finally pick up free of more bad press.
Maybe Wheaton's "undeserved" seedy reputation is now more deserved...
ReplyDeleteChristmas In Washington
ReplyDelete(Steve Earle)
It's Christmastime in Washington
The Democrats rehearsed
Gettin' into gear for four more years
Things not gettin' worse
The Republicans drink whiskey neat
And thanked their lucky stars
They said, 'He cannot seek another term
They'll be no more FDRs'
I sat home in Tennessee
Staring at the screen
With an uneasy feeling in my chest
And I'm wonderin' what it means
Chorus:
So come back Woody Guthrie
Come back to us now
Tear your eyes from paradise
And rise again somehow
If you run into Jesus
Maybe he can help you out
Come back Woody Guthrie to us now
I followed in your footsteps once
Back in my travelin' days
Somewhere I failed to find your trail
Now I'm stumblin' through the haze
But there's killers on the highway now
And a man can't get around
So I sold my soul for wheels that roll
Now I'm stuck here in this town
Chorus
There's foxes in the hen house
Cows out in the corn
The unions have been busted
Their proud red banners torn
To listen to the radio
You'd think that all was well
But you and me and Cisco know
It's going straight to hell
So come back, Emma Goldman
Rise up, old Joe Hill
The barracades are goin' up
They cannot break our will
Come back to us, Malcolm X
And Martin Luther King
We're marching into Selma
As the bells of freedom ring
This is why "regular folks" don't like Wheaton much.
ReplyDeleteGoddamn Gangster Playground, that's why.
Riots in Target (knives free with every visit!) and shootings in Macy's, just walk into the dressing room and pick up optional handgun or two.
I bet "Ike" Leggett and Chief Manger are sweating bullets and heaving a huge sigh of relief that the suspect is not described as a foreign male that they had in custody within the month. Rather, he is described as a black male between 16-25, dressed like a bumblebee in a yellow and black hoodie and white shoes.
This never would have happened if Hechts was still there.
ReplyDelete