RAILS TO THE PAST Bowie railroad history preserved with caboose upgrade. A-4
NEWS: Accokeek family finds sweet way to bond. A-3
Gazette-Star 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, July 31, 2014
25 cents
Furry focus
Bowie women wield cameras for canines
BY EMILIE EASTMAN STAFF WRITER
Bowie residents Connie Carter and TeriStumpfknowthatagoodphotograph is worth more than a thousand words to the occupants of the Prince George’s County Animal Shelter. It can mean the difference between being passed over or being placed in a forever home with a loving family. Carter, 67, and Stumpf, 62, have See more of been visiting the the shelter’s county shelter in Upper Marlboro for puppies and the past five years kittens up for to take high quality adoption at photos and videos gazette.net of animals waiting to be adopted. They dress the dogs in fancy bandanas and take free, professional-level photos in an effort to make theshelter’sonlinephotogallerymoreappealing. The two woman visit the shelter weekly and hunt down the sub-par photographs and the culprits who took them.
See FUNDRAISER, Page A-7
Residents will decide on Nov. 4 referendum
BY JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
Four-week-old puppies rest July 24 at the Prince George’s County Animal Services Facility in Upper Marlboro.
Mitchellville woman’s bakery boutique is first locally owned in-line store at outlets BY
KIRSTEN PETERSEN STAFF WRITER
For Mitchellville entrepreneur LaKisa Taylor, serving gourmet cupcakes from her Hyattsville boutique is just one way to celebrate her customers. “That’s for me what the cupcakes are about,” Taylor said. “It’s about celebrating these special times, these special moments, being a part of people’s lives.” Taylor soon will share her cupcake culture with a new crowd when she opens her second Pretty Girl Cupcakery location at Tanger Outlets at National Harbor next week. With this opening, Taylor, 37, will be the first African American businesswoman and local business owner to have an in-line store at the National Harbor outlets, according to Adam Tracey, the assistant general
EMILIE EASTMAN/THE GAZETTE
manager of the Tanger Outlets at National Harbor. Taylor said the Pretty Girl Cupcakery is not a traditional bakery, but rather a retail boutique. She calls herself a “cupcake broker” because she developed a business relationship with a team of professional pastry chefs who bake the cupcakes off-site. As an in-line store, the National Harbor shop will sit in the same row as other small retailers, but Taylor said the store is three times the size of the Hyattsville shop. At the new location, customers will get the chance to take cupcake decorating classes and meet the pastry chefs. During the shop’s celebration day Aug. 15, Taylor and her Pretty Girl Ambassadors will give away free cupcakes. Taylor said she was inspired to start the shop by her grandmother, a decorator who took the time to celebrate any holiday. “She literally made little moments like that special and you always remember them,” Taylor said. “It just continues to make sweet memories
See CUPCAKES, Page A-6
Despite resident concerns, no action has been taken on sidewalks or streetlights BY
KIRSTEN PETERSEN STAFF WRITER
Although some Accokeek residents are concerned that a stretch of Livingston Road with no sidewalks or
INDEX Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Opinion Sports
streetlights poses a safety risk to pedestrians who walk along the road, others worry that sidewalks would ruin the town’s rural charm. “You can see young kids walk up and down here and there’s no place to walk on either side of the highway,” said resident Ray Bank. Bank, who said he has lived in Accokeek for more than 30 years, said it is difficult for drivers to see pedestri-
Grant gives ‘green’ boost to 20 Bowie residents n
KIRSTEN PETERSEN/THE GAZETTE
LaKisa Taylor, 37, of Mitchellville sells gourmet cupcakes.
ans walking along the road at night. “People are forced to walk on the corner of the road,” Bank said. “Late at night, you’ve got to be really careful because if they are wearing dark clothes, you can’t see them.” A 17-year-old man who lived on the 15700 block of Livingston Road was killed when he was struck by a vehicle near his home in 2008, according to Prince George’s County
EMPOWERING THE YOUTH Upper Marlboro coach shares inspirational tools in new book.
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City participates in grant program for first time BY
EMILIE EASTMAN STAFF WRITER
police, but no other pedestrian fatalities could be confirmed. The block is dotted with singlefamily homes and is wide enough to accommodate a hiker/biker trail, said. Bank said he has not seen many changes in the area besides the addition of schools and shopping centers,
Twenty Bowie residents are being green while staying out of the red this summer through new energy efficiency grants the city introduced earlier this year. Bowie has joined several other Prince George’s County municipalities in offering home renovations through the Prince George’s County Municipal Collaboration, which applies for state grants as a group. Bowie City Councilman Henri Gardner, the council liaison for the city’s environmental committee, said the city joined the collaborative program because officials felt it was important to offer residents a way to live more sustainably while also cutting
See SAFETY, Page A-6
See GRANT, Page A-6
NEWS B-8 A-2 B-6 B-3 A-9 B-1
This fall, voters will decide whether the county executive and County Council members should be allowed a third consecutive term or be limited to the two terms currently allowed under the law. Before breaking for its August recess, the Prince George’s County Council unanimously approved a bill on July 23 to increase term limits for County Council members and the county executive from two to three consecutive four-year terms. Bradley Heard of Capitol Heights said that if the council wished to increase term limits,theyshouldhaveexcludedthemselves. “The council members’ choice to make the expanded term limits applicable to themselves...shows that they were motivated primarily by self interest and self-preservation, and not by any desire to improve county government,” Heard said. The primary election, where four council members ran unopposed, was held June 24. The charter amendment, County Bill-542014, was introduced during the council’s June 30 session. The bill was one of several that came out of the county’s Charter Review Commission,
See TERMS, Page A-7
Accokeek residents worried about Livingston Road safety n
Council approves extending term limits n
Hoping for some sweet success n
SPORTS: Douglass football player aims to be a linebacker as a cornerback. B-1
Volume 17, No. 31, Two sections, 24 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette Please
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