MALCOLM ‘SKIP’ POPP AWARD Bowie scoutmaster to be honored for mentoring. A-4
NEWS: Accokeek Academy students make history in state competition. A-3
Gazette-Star
SPORTS: Summer basketball season opens as teams prepare for next year. B-1
SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNT Y DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Thursday, May 28, 2015
25 cents
Residents cry foul over power plant proposals
Largo High School embraces grads
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Express concerns about environmental effects, feel left out of loop BY
DEREK JOHNSON STAFF WRITER
Largo graduate Jared Kingsley Embrack gets a hug May 20 during the Largo High School graduation in Upper Marlboro.
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Bowie wins back-to-back boys state titles Douglass sprinter wins four gold medals at state championships n
BY
ADAM GUTEKUNST STAFF WRITER
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Charles Flowers’ Jamal Higgs and Bowie’s Maxwell Willis run the boys 200 dash in the 3A/4A State Track Championship meet in Baltimore on Friday.
The Bowie boys’ season seemed to be in question three weeks ago, when star senior Antonio Coleman was deemed ineligible for what turned out to be the remainder of the season. That’s when Bulldogs junior Maxwell Willis took over. The Bowie speedster matched his county and regional trifectas, capturing gold in the 100 meters (10.69 seconds), 200 meters (21.27) and the 400 meters (48.18) to help propel Bowie to back-to-back
state championships. “It shows the makeup of this team,” Bowie coach Rich Andrulonis said. “… The young kids came through. A lot of young kids are going to have to take over next year for the seniors. They came through. I’m so proud of them and the coaches. They did what I [thought] we might not be able to do.” Flowers (59 points) finished second in the Class 4A boys competition, followed by Oxon Hill and Northwest (54). In Class 2A, Douglass finished second (75) in boys competition. Flowers (48) placed third in the girls 4A competition.
See TITLE, Page A-8
Developer to shell out for turtle landmark
Bowie Marketplace redeveloper offers $5K prize for replacement statue
Wanted: One concrete turtle, 7 feet long, 4 feet wide, 1,400 pounds. May or may not answer to the name “Tommy.”
Reward: $5,000. In Maryland, the word “turtle” is typically associated with Testudo, the terrapin mascot for the University of Maryland, College Park. In Bowie specifically, mention the word to lifelong residents and it will conjure up memories of the large turtle statue that for decades sat in the center of Belair Shopping Center on Annapo-
INDEX
NEWS
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BY
DEREK JOHNSON STAFF WRITER
Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Opinion Sports
B-8 A-2 B-6 B-3 A-9 B-1
lis Road. Though it has been gone for nearly 30 years, demand from longtime locals has caused Berman Enterprises, the company redeveloping Marketplace, to offer a $5,000 prize to anyone who can find a replacement for the new openair shopping mall set to open next year. “That turtle was definitely part of everybody’s childhood
FELLOWSHIP WINNER Bowie State University biology professor to travel abroad for study
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who grew up there before it was removed,” said James Kupperman, who lived in Bowie until the 1980s and currently serves as an administrator for the “Tommy the Turtle” Facebook page, which collects pictures, stories and memories from Bowie residents about the statue. “Anybody who grew
See TURTLE, Page A-8
Volume 18, No. 19, Two sections, 20 Pages Copyright © 2015 The Gazette Please
RECYCLE
Residents in rural Brandywine want to know why circumstances have left them with so many power plants for neighbors, and what, if anything, can be done to stop or slow them down. On May 20, residents from Brandywine and surrounding neighborhoods met with representatives from the Maryland Public Service Commission to discuss two power plants that are being considered for the area: the Keys Energy Center owned by Genesis Power near North Keys Road in Brandywine and a future plant proposed by Mattawoman Energy LLC. Along with an existing coal plant owned by NRG Energy at Chalk Point and a natural gas plant on Cedarville Road owned by
Panda Energy, Brandywine soon could find itself housing four power plants within a 10mile radius. “We didn’t want to have one more power plant and we definitely wouldn’t want to have two,” said Joanne Flynn, vice president of the Greater Baden Aquasco Citizens Association, or GBACA. According to Leslie Romine, staff counsel for the Maryland Public Service Commission, the process for approving the construction of plants is largely handled by the state. After a developer chooses a plot of land and applies for permits, there are a series of hearings to determine whether there is a public necessity for a plant as well as an environmental review to determine what impact the plant’s development will have on local air, water and forests, Romine said. The state can even exercise its rights under eminent domain and seize
See POWER, Page A-8
Students receive high school, college diplomas same day n
Dual enrollment school graduates first class BY JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
For 92 Prince George’s County Public Schools seniors, graduation came twice on May 21. In the morning they received their high school diplomas, and then received their Associates Degree in a second graduation the same day. The Academy of Health Sciences at PGCC in Largo is a “middle college,” meaning students are able to simultaneously complete their high school requirements as well as the requirements to receive a twoyear college degree from Prince George’s Community College. It is the first middle college school in the Washington D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region, said Prin-
cipal Kathleen Richard Andrews. Graduate Brice HurlingSpears, 17, of Upper Marlboro, said he was excited when he heard about the program in the spring of 2011 and wanted to attend, even though the school had not yet opened. “I knew I was going to get my high school diploma and my college degree, so I thought, instead of going to private school and paying all that money, I’m getting more out of this program for no cost at all,” Hurling-Brice said. “So there wasn’t really any choice for me, once I was accepted, but to go here.” One hundred students are enrolled each year. Andrews said students must take an assessment to enter into the program, but priority is given to students from low income backgrounds and first generation college students.
See DUAL, Page A-8
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