Home Again ...

You'd be excused if you thought the headline referred to the mayor's frequent travel schedule, but we're not writing about that this week.

The mayor's "Home Again" program is putting moderate-income buyers into formerly abandoned houses. Over the past few years, more than 300 homes have been rescued, rehabilitated and restored to use.

"Home again is fulfilling its mission to eradicate vacant and abandoned properties across the District of Columbia," the mayor declared this week as he stood at 12 Farragut Place NW, just off of North Capitol Street.

The mayor's office couldn't have scripted it better when new homeowner Milagros Hernandez spoke. She first called up her extended family, thanked the mayor and various officials involved, and then, in Spanish, emotionally thanked her immigrant parents who were standing by her.

Her mother, Candelaria Hernandez, reached into a purse and dabbed at her eyes as Milagros hugged her and then her father, Jose. Several people in the crowd were tearing up, too.

"I (am) very proud to be a Hernandez child," the new homeowner explained a short time later. "And it's through the hard work that my parents have shown to me that I have been able to overcome so many things and reach today."

She briefly told the story of how her parents had fled political violence in El Salvador in the 1980s to settle here. One of 17 children, she said there are "sadly only 12 left," but the family remains tight and focused on the future. Hernandez holds a masters degree in planning from the University of Maryland. She sheepishly noted that she is one of the last of the siblings "to reach a long family tradition of home ownership."

It was a home run for the mayor, who toured the new house with Hernandez. The Notebook heard her in the kitchen laughing and telling the mayor, "I need the keys."

Fenty Credits The Mayor

Ward 4 Council member Adrian Fenty, who is running for mayor, stood on the front porch with Williams. He credited the mayor with pushing the Home Again program and said he favors even more action. It wasn't hard to notice the half-dozen green "Fenty for Mayor" posters that were stuck in several surrounding yards. Fenty's early troops have managed to get campaign signs posted throughout the city. It's just one more positive step in the early going of Fenty's long and focused campaign.

Legal Drinkers Only

Well, actually, the Notebook doesn't know whether booze will be served or not. But there's a party of sorts being planned for the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law.

That's because the American Bar Association's House of Delegates has approved full accreditation for the law school that has defied the worst of its naysayers and warmed the hearts of its supporters.

"Planning is currently underway for a major community celebration of this milestone," writes Dean Shelley Broderick. "I will keep you apprised and will look forward to seeing you then!"

Broderick credits the staff, faculty and students for the achievement. The law school focuses on "expanding legal educational opportunity to members of groups underrepresented in the legal profession."

Let Them Eat Cake

The Notebook last week accurately complimented the work of DMV Director Anne Witt. She stood outside 65 K Street to explain to grumbling customers why the main parking ticket building was closed and where customers could go for service. But we misspelled Ms. Witt's first name. And hereby correct it.

And that gives us a chance to point out that Witt, using her personal funds, ordered dozens of cakes from Costco to reward her employees who have put up with the bad building or taken some of the overload at other sites.

"There's no government money for cakes," Witt told the Notebook.

Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em

The city of Alexandria has joined a voluntary "smoke-free" program.

It's not likely to satisfy those who want an outright public ban here and elsewhere, but smoking bans in Virginia are not on the horizon.

The Alexandria Department of Health is now encouraging the city's restaurants to voluntarily join its "Proud To Be Smoke-Free" campaign. It says that since July, more than 50 restaurants have signed up, and supporters are encouraging diners to look for restaurants displaying smoke-free decals.

Wait till the General Assembly down in smoky Richmond hears about this.