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Airman’s Hawaiian roots, leadership qualities find soil in Md.
DCMILITARY.COM
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Morningside swears in new mayor
AN INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION OF COMPRINT MILITARY PUBLICATIONS AT JOINT BASE ANDREWS, MD.
Intramural soccer may come to JBA BY CHRIS BASHAM STAFF WRITER
Are you all about soccer? A group of dedicated, local players hopes to launch Joint Base Andrews’ first-ever Intramural Soccer league. If enough players express interest, the league will receive funding. “I’m out talking to everyone I can to get this up and going,” said Ashley Mata, a civilian on JBA who is spearheading the effort. Interested players must be active duty or dependent of
an active duty service member, DoD civilian or contractors stationed on Andrews. All players must be at least 18 years of age. Contact your unit sports representative about putting together a team of ten committed players. If your squadron does not have enough interested players, individuals in that squadron can sign on to be in the players’ pool and fill in gaps for other teams. For more information, contact Ashley Mata at 301-981-7101 or ashley.wolfe@afncr.af.mil.
Team Andrews gives back with So Others Might Eat
FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2013 | VOL. 2 NO. 20
URBAN COWBOYS RIDE IN FORT WASHINGTON
Speed camera signs in Brentwood rev up driver confusion BY TIMOTHY SANDOVAL PRINCE GEORGE’S GAZETTE
Residents want a speedy solution to a Brentwood speed camera with signs surrounding it that some say is confusing. The speed camera is on the 4500 block of 34th Street in Brentwood, near Thomas S. Stone Elementary School in Mount Rainier. The street saddles the two municipalities, with Mount Rainier’s lanes on the side where the school is and Brentwood maintaining the other side. Speeders going down a hill in front of the school are caught by the camera on the Brentwood side of the street. Some residents said the problem is that the speed limits on the street are inconsistent, with the Mount Rainier side 25 mph and the Brentwood side 15 mph. There also is confusing signage on the streets, they said. On both sides of the street, signs with lights at the top of them say: “Speed limit 15 mph when flashing,” leading some residents to think the speed
limit changes when the lights are not on - even though the speed limit remains 15 mph on the Brentwood side when the lights aren’t flashing. On other streets near the school, the speed limit is 25 mph, leading to further confusion, residents said. Other signs on 34th Street say: “Speed limit 15 mph, photo enforced, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.” Brentwood Police Chief Jason Copeland said the speed limit is 15 mph at all times on the Brentwood side of the street. The camera takes photos of the license plates on vehicles going 12 mph or more over the speed limit, and the vehicle owners are issued a $40 citation, he said. “I feel like it’s a trap that they are trying to make money off of,” said Mount Rainier resident Deborah Hutton, who estimated that she has received at least 10 tickets from the camera, which has been in place for about three months. “There are two conflicting signs, and I don’t understand how that is
see SPEED, page 6
Prince George’s interim superintendent to stay on until August BY JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU PRINCE GEORGE’S GAZETTE
Alvin Crawley, the Prince George’s County Public Schools interim superintendent, has delayed his June 3 resignation, said school system spokesman Briant Coleman. “He’s willing to stay until school reopens in August,” Coleman said. On April 25, Crawley informed the Board of Education of his intent to resign effective June 3. Crawley’s contract was set to expire July 1. Coleman said Crawley was unavailable for comment due to graduations this week. Crawley replaced William Hite, who left PGCPS to head the Philadelphia public school system in September 2012. Crawley, who had been serving as deputy chief of programming for the District of Columbia Public Schools Office of Special Education, accepted the job of interim superintendent in July 2012.
Board of Education chairwoman Verjeana Jacobs (Dist. 5) said Crawley wished to ensure a smooth transition for the start of the next school year. Jacobs said the board is pleased Crawley will be staying on. “Dr. Crawley has been a very good superintendent,” Jacobs said. “He jumped in at a time when we were still dealing with the departure of Dr. Hite and he really held down the fort.” Crawley had declined to comment on the resignation, but Jacobs attributed it at the time to the passage of legislation changing the school system’s leadership structure. The legislation, House Bill 1107, signed into law April 9, allows the county executive to choose the next superintendent from among three candidates put forth by a state-appointed search committee, as well as allowing the county executive
see INTERIM, page 7
PHOTO/BOBBY JONES
A posse of urban cowboys take a Sunday ride May 26 down Allentown Road in Fort Washington, Md.
Officer of the Year seeks recognition for four-pawed partner BY JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU PRINCE GEORGE’S GAZETTE
They come from different lands - one from Pennsylvania, the other from the Netherlands. They don’t speak the same language, but since they were paired together over two years ago, Laurel police officer Jesse Conyngham and his German shepherd partner, Gaston, have been inseparable as they work to nip crime in the bud. Earlier this month, Conyngham was named Laurel’s Officer of the Year, in recognition of his hard work, high number of arrests and role as a department use-of-force trainer and in community activities such as fundraising for Maryland Special Olympics, said Laurel Police Chief Rich McLaughlin. “He’s a well-rounded and very capable officer,” McLaughlin said. “He and his dog have been responsible for a number of arrests. They work very well together and have been a very successful team. We’re fortunate to have them both.” Conyngham thinks Gaston should be recognized for his work as well, and has nominated him for the Hero Dog Award, given out by the American Humane Association. Now in its third year, the Hero Dog Award was created to honor courageous canines, AHA spokeswoman Jody Frusch said. “It’s to really show the vital bonds between humans and dogs, and that’s really what the American Humane Association is all about,” Frusch said. Conyngham, a five-year veteran of the department, had 90 arrests in 2012, and nearly half of them were drug arrests made with Gaston. During one incident in 2011, Gaston helped police seize 17 pounds of marijuana, Conyngham said. “It was on a call for the vice
PHOTO/JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU
Laurel Police Officer Jesse Conyngham recently was named the department’s Officer of the Year, while his K-9 partner, Gaston, is under consideration for the Hero Dog Award from the American Humane Association.
unit for Anne Arundel County,” Conyngham said. “He alerted on a package that was being mailed [from a package shipping business] and so they wrote a search warrant to seize the narcotics.” Gaston is trained to uncover drugs, and in a number of other areas, which Conyngham said fall under the category of “patrol work.” “He does location tracking, human scent tracking, either for criminals or for missing persons. If somebody walks across a field, he can track where they walked. He does article searches, building clearing, area searches,” Conyngham said. Gaston is one of 15 dogs nomi-
nated for the Hero Dog Award in the law enforcement/arson dog category. The Hero Dog Award is determined by online voting at herodogawards.org until July 30. The owner or handler of the winning dog in each of eight categories will receive $1,500 for their favorite charity. The one voted Hero Dog 2013 will receive an additional $5,000. If Gaston wins, the money will go to Vested Interest in K9s, a nonprofit organization run out of Boston that raises money to purchase bullet- and stab-proof vests for K9s, Conyngham said.
see DOG, page 3