WINNINGEST ELEMENTARY Largo school falls in Science Bowl championship. A-4
NEWS: Aging and decaying Bowie train car to be replaced with restored caboose. B-1
Gazette-Star SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNT Y
SPORTS: Douglass’ junior quarterback gives track a try, wins state title. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Thursday, April 2, 2015
25 cents
School officials unveil five-year plan for system n
Promises yearly reports on progress toward meeting benchmarks BY JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
The Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department practices locating and rescuing victims in a simulated house fire March 25 at the Bowie Marketplace Shopping Center. Steam simulates smoke from a fire and the mannequin weighs 180 pounds so rescuers are able to practice in conditions that are close to a real fire rescue.
Smoke, but no actual fire for drills Before demolition, Bowie shopping center used for search-and-rescue exercises n
BY
DANIEL LEADERMAN STAFF WRITER
The Bowie Marketplace shopping center will soon be torn down, but in the meantime firefighters from across Prince George’s County have been using it for
some valuable training. Which is why on March 25, a vacant bank building at the center was pumped full of non-toxic fog, to simulate smoke and stormed by fire crews so they could practice searching the makeshift house for mannequins simulating trapped residents. Firefighters from the county and other local jurisdictions have been conducting drills at the shopping center for the past couple of months, said Mark Brady, spokesman for the county fire department.
Reporters were invited to join firefighters March 25 so they could observe the drills from the inside and get a better sense of what firefighters face during a blaze. “This gives us challenges we wouldn’t normally see at the academy,” Brady said, explaining that the practice structure at the department’s academy in Cheltenham is a simpler, cinder-block structure. The twostory bank building, however, was more like a real-life environment, Brady said.
See DRILLS, Page A-7
Bad weather stretches school calendar n
Two inclement days waived
BY JAMIE
ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
Prince George’s County Public Schools has added an instructional day next week and received a two-day waiver from the
state to end the school year on the scheduled day of June 23. PGCPS spokeswoman Sherrie Johnson said April 2, which originally was scheduled as a teacher planning day with no student attendance, will be converted into an instructional day with a two-hour early dismissal for students.
Easter and spring break, April 3-10, is unaffected, Johnson said. The school system received a two-day waiver from the Maryland State Department of Education on Thursday. Due to the waiver, the school system
See CALENDAR, Page A-7
MGM, officials tout local hiring at casino n
National Harbor project hired 1,000th construction worker
BY
DANIEL LEADERMAN STAFF WRITER
MGM says it’s already contracted more than 60 local, minority-owned businesses to
INDEX Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Opinion Sports
help build its new resort and casino at National Harbor, but critics say the efforts aren’t nearly enough. The Nevada-based company celebrated the hiring of its 1,000th construction worker at a ceremony held at the future site of the resort on March 25. The ceremony came days after several local business owners
NEWS B-8 A-2 B-6 B-3 A-9 B-1
accused MGM in the media of not giving contracts to enough local companies. “We are still actively looking to work with minority and locally owned businesses,” said Gordon M. Absher, vice president of corporate communications and public affairs for MGM Resorts International. “It’s very important to us.”
RECOVER YOUR PET Microchip implants can help owners reunite with lost animals.
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By the end of last year, 62 local minority business enterprises, or MBEs, had been engaged on the project, which was only 8 percent completed at the time, Absher said. Charts provided by MGM indicate that the project exceeded its minority-business participation goal in the archi-
See CASINO, Page A-6
Volume 18, No. 10, Two sections, 20 Pages Copyright © 2015 The Gazette Please
RECYCLE
Prince George’s County School System CEO Kevin Maxwell is asking county residents to imagine a school system where 90 percent of students graduate on time, all graduates are college and career ready, and test scores meet or exceed the state average — goals he says are attainable by 2020 with increased funding. “We will move this school system forward and be in the top 10 in the state by 2020,” Maxwell said after unveiling his 2020 Strategic Plan at the March 26 school board meeting, held at Suitland High School. Over 100 people attended. The Strategic Plan that Maxwell unveiled identifies five broad areas where improve-
ment is needed to reach his 2020 goal — academics, workforce development, safe and modernized facilities, community engagement and organizational effectiveness — and the improvements needed to reach Maxwell’s 2020 goals. Maxwell is asking for an additional $133 million in county funding to support the Strategic Plan, which he said is based on data obtained from his Transition Team report and numerous studies and surveys of the school system. According to the Strategic Plan, additional funding would be used to develop a digital literacy program, expand full-day prekindergarten, expand Gifted and Talented, dual enrollment, career academy, foreign language and International Baccalaureate programs, increase teacher compensation and mentoring, expedite facilities maintenance and other initiatives.
See PLAN, Page A-7
Bowie maintains ‘AAA’ bond rating n
Good report can help future investment, officials say
BY
DANIEL LEADERMAN STAFF WRITER
Bowie residents may be pleased to know that the city’s finances are in strong shape and the government shouldn’t have any problem financing future projects, according to a major credit-rating agency. Fitch Ratings recently upheld the city’s “AAA” bond rating, the highest rating it issues, praising the city’s conservative budgeting practices and belowaverage tax rate in a March 19 statement. If the city decides to borrow money — which it may do within the next few years to help build a planned indoor recreation center — the strong bond rating means its likely to get a better interest rate, said City Manager David J. Deutsch. For Bowie residents, the rat-
ing should serve as an assurance that the city is well-managed and is using tax dollars appropriately, Deutsch said. The new facility would include an ice rink as well as basketball and volleyball courts, and is expected to cost around $20 million, Deutsch. It’s not yet clear how much the city would borrow for the project, and officials don’t yet have a site for the recreation center, he said. Fitch issued the annual report as an update on the $12.7 million in general obligation bonds the city sold in 2009 to finance the construction of its new city hall and police headquarters. In its report, Fitch highlighted the $1.1 million surplus with which the city ended fiscal 2014 and its tax rate of 40 cents for every $100 of assessed value, which is below the average for other municipalities in the county. That average is about 61 cents, according to data from
See RATING, Page A-6
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