WETLAND BRIDGE Trail advocates push for project in Fort Washington. A-5
NEWS: Bowie and Hyattsville students brave icy waves for Special Olympics. A-3
Gazette-Star SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNT Y
SPORTS: Tucker Road Ice Rink starts a youth hockey program for southern county. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Thursday, February 5, 2015
25 cents
Residents appeal two proposed developments
Graduating in hip-hop style
Officials say new projects could keep tax rates low n
BY
EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY STAFF WRITER
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Angelita Pollard, 17, of Upper Marlboro leads her students Saturday at her dance studio in District Heights.
Student founds, leads dance company BY
KIRSTEN PETERSEN STAFF WRITER
Earning a diploma may be the ultimate achievement after four years in high school, but when Angelita Pollard, 17, of Upper Marlboro graduates this May, she’ll be celebrating one more — founding and leading a thriving dance company. Angelita, a senior at Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, decided to start Xtra Productions Dance Company in May
2012 as a way to reunite her peers from a former dance studio. However, Angelita said her friends and even mentors were not receptive to the idea and said they could not envision the company’s success as a business. “The most important thing is the love of dance I had and wanting to share my love of dance with others who also had that same passion,” Angelita said. “That allowed me to have the drive to keep going and not accept defeat as the answer.”
Angelita reached out to family members and acquaintances and by June 2012 she had recruited 11 girls to her fledgling company. “By doing that it helped me strengthen friendships I didn’t even know existed,” Angelita said. The District Heights studio took off from there and has since grown in size and evolved in technique, Angelita said. The
See DANCE, Page A-8
Bowie-area residents opposing two major development projects say they’re not anti-business, they’re just picky about what kind of development they want in their backyards. On Feb. 23, the Prince George’s County Council will hear an appeal of a proposed residential and retail complex in Bowie’s Melford Village, and on March 19, the county planning board will hold a public hearing on a new Walmart proposed on the Western outskirts of the city. Community pushback on both projects has largely stemmed from concerns about
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Veterans’ tribute among scheduled projects
BY
EMILIE SHAUGHNESSY STAFF WRITER
A group of Bowie-area artists say they are proud to have helped triple the amount of public art installments in Bowie over
the past four years, and are now planning to double that number. The Bowie Arts Committee — a city-funded volunteer group manned by local visual and performance artists — has prioritized bringing art to the community and scheduled a series of seven public art pieces totaling nearly $150,000 over the next five years.
“I think it is wonderful what [the art committee] has been able to do and look forward to expanding our list of pieces,” said watercolor artist Margaret Suddeth of Bowie, committee vice chairwoman. “It would be wonderful if we could one day become a destination for people to view public art.” In 2011, Bowie had two
public sculptures — the “Ham’s Shadow” horse sculpture near Bowie High School and the “Long Lost Third Blues Brother” blue bird in Old Bowie, said Annette Esterheld, city liaison to the arts committee. Then the arts committee’s 2010 public art master plan
See SCULPTURES, Page A-7
See APPEAL, Page A-7
Prince George’s sees graduation rates rise n
Figures are highest in five years
BY JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
Bowie planning series of public sculptures
traffic and environmental impact and has manifested in the form of written complaints, testimony at government hearings and picketing. In a State of the City Address before the Bowie Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 28, Bowie Mayor G. Frederick Robinson praised the plans to turn Melford — formerly known as the Maryland Science and Technology Center — into a residential, business and shopping center. The site was originally designed as a business park, but was seeing low occupancy rates, Robinson said. “I don’t want to discount concerns, but I think the greater good here is to see that project through,” Robinson said. “Not only is it the right thing to do at the right time, it’s an incredibly
Prince George’s County Public Schools’ graduation rates are at their highest in at least five years, which school officials credit to new programs and renewed collaboration between students, teachers and parents. School system CEO Kevin Maxwell attributed the success of new programs begun last year such as an early warning system for at-risk students and the expansion of credit recovery. “It’s a fantastic sign that we’re moving in the right di-
rection,” Maxwell said of the graduation rate increase. “We still have progress to make, but we’re on the right path.” The Maryland State Department of Education, or MSDE, released graduation and dropout data for the 2013-2014 school year Jan. 27 through the Maryland State Report Card website. Graduation rates in Prince George’s County, based on a four-year cohort, rose from 74.1 percent in 2013 to 76.6 this year, the highest since MSDE began using cohorts to track graduation rates in 2010. The four-year cohort tracks how many students who entered high school in fall 2010 graduated in spring 2014, while
See RATES, Page A-8
Upper Marlboro gets its wheels turning on future bike, walking paths Accessibility study will offer recommendations in May n
BY
KIRSTEN PETERSEN STAFF WRITER
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Kevin Ware rides his bike Saturday through downtown Upper Marlboro.
INDEX Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Opinion Sports
Walking and bicycling around town could become easier and safer for Upper Marlboro residents after an accessibility study is completed later this year. The study, which launched Jan. 28, will offer recommendations for bicycle facilities and multi-use shared paths to connect residential areas to downtown Upper Marlboro, said Emily Leckvarcik, a landscape
architect and urban designer with Silver Spring-based Toole Design Group. Pedestrians and cyclists agree that downtown routes need to be safer, but some say drivers need to be more considerate to ensure the safety of all. Resident Linda Pennoyer said walking with her grandsons to School House Pond can be difficult, especially when trying to cross Old Marlboro Pike. “I remember when they were little I would just be so nervous getting them across the street,” Pennoyer said. “Twentyfive miles an hour means nothing to people.” Pennoyer said she hopes the study will recommend improved accessibility to the Upper Marl-
boro Community Center, which she said lacks a safe walking path. “I would drive down there because there was no other way,” Pennoyer said. “You’re walking on the road. That’s not a good thing with children.” Cyclist Kevin Ware, 54, of Upper Marlboro regularly rides through the town on his way to work. Ware said the town’s open roads make it very bike friendly, but as a former competitive cyclist, he said he may be able to navigate the narrow roads better than others. “For most people they’re scared because if they don’t see a two-car-wide shoulder, they’re not going to do it,” Ware said. For cyclist Nicole Preston,
50, Upper Marlboro, her concern when it comes to narrow roads is safely riding them with her children. “I think it would be better if there were more paths accessible to families,” Preston said. “You’d like to be able to ride alongside traffic and not hold it up.” Ware said teaching drivers how to share the road with cyclists would be a better transportation investment than constructing more bike trails. Leckvarcik said planners face several challenges, such as the town’s diverse topography and narrow roads, when mapping potential pathways.
See PATHS, Page A-8
NEWS B-8 A-2 B-5 B-3 A-9 B-1
MONUMENTAL CONCERNS Upper Marlboro residents say drivers struggle navigating intersection near the Crain Highway Monument.
A-6
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